The Viewer shows the active composition at the current time. You select and transform layers here with the tools, draw shapes and masks, and drop files to add them. It is the After Effects Composition panel.
The header bar
The Viewer's header bar carries toggles for what is drawn over the frame.
| Button | What it does | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Grid | Toggle the grid. Right-click or double-click for options: grid spacing (Cols, Rows, Spacing) and isometric mode. | ' |
| Hide UI | Hide layer controls: bounding boxes, paths, masks and nulls. | ⌘⇧H (Ctrl+Shift+H) |
| Snap | Toggle snapping. Right-click or double-click to choose what it snaps to (guides, grid, layers, anchor points). | \ |
| Points | Show geometry points. | |
| Safe | Title/action-safe guides (90% action, 80% title). | |
| Rulers | Toggle rulers. Drag from a ruler to pull out a guide. Right-click or double-click for guide presets: Add center guides, Add grid of guides, Clear all guides. | ⌘R (Ctrl+R) |
| Transparency grid (checker icon) | Show a checkerboard behind transparent areas instead of the comp background. | |
| Infinite canvas (icon) | Turn on the workspace around the comp so you can see and work outside the frame; turn off to focus on the comp. | |
| World / Local | 3D comps only. Sets whether gizmo axes follow world space or the layer's own (local) axes. |
Zoom and preview bar
A small bar in the lower-right corner of the Viewer controls zoom and preview quality.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fit | Fit the composition to the window. |
| 33% / 50% / 100% | Jump to that zoom. |
| − / + | Zoom out or in by 5%. |
| Zoom readout | The current zoom percentage. |
| Preview resolution | Auto, Full, Half, Third or Quarter. Full / Half / Third / Quarter always render at that size, playing or not. Auto renders full and steps down only while the viewer is dropping frames. Exports always render at full resolution. |
| Motion blur | Show motion blur in the viewer for comps that have Motion Blur on. Exports render it either way. |
Playback controls
The transport sits over the Viewer.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Jump to beginning | Go to the comp start. Home. |
| Rewind | Play backwards. |
| Play / Pause | Space. |
| Jump to end | Go to the comp end. End. |
| Loop mode | Cycles Loop, Play Once and Ping-Pong. |
| Smooth / fps toggle | Off (shows the comp rate, e.g. "24fps"): playback holds each comp frame, the way a video export looks. Smooth: plays in-between frames at the display rate, the way Lottie players do. |
Composition tabs
Each open comp has a tab above the canvas. Click a tab to switch comps, × to close it, and + to make a new composition.
Shortcuts
| Action | Mac | Windows / Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom canvas in | = | = |
| Zoom canvas out | - | - |
| Toggle grid | ' | ' |
| Toggle snapping | \ | \ |
| Toggle rulers | ⌘R | Ctrl+R |
| Hide layer controls | ⌘⇧H | Ctrl+Shift+H |
| Nudge layer 1 px | Arrow keys | Arrow keys |
| Play / pause | Space | Space |
| Step 1 frame back / forward | PageUp / PageDown | PageUp / PageDown |
Tips
- Right-click empty canvas for a quick menu to add a New Solid, New Background Layer, New Null Object or New Adjustment Layer.
- The Info panel reads the pixel under the mouse while it is over the Viewer.