Insider Tips: Two Ways to Make After Effects’ UI Easier to Read

Every week, Frame.io Insider asks one among our knowledgeable contributors to share a tip, instrument, or approach that they use on a regular basis and couldn’t stay with out. Laurence Grayson shares two methods to make After Effects extra legible.

We don’t all have sharp eyes—or displays, for that matter—so in case you wrestle to get a deal with on issues in After Effects, then you definitely would possibly discover these two suggestions helpful.

How to make After Effects path handles bigger

Path handles are a necessary a part of After Effects. If you didn’t already know, they’re the squares that you simply click on and drag whenever you need to manually resize a masks or form layer. Making these path handles bigger is extraordinarily simple: 

1. Open After Effects’ Settings (Opt+Cmd+; / Ctrl+Alt+;)
2. At the highest of the General part, search for Path Point and Handle Size.
3. Enter a brand new worth (between 4 and 15 pixels) and hit OK

Now whenever you create a form layer or masks, your newly-sized handles will likely be as massive as you want them to be.

How to make After Effects’ UI textual content bigger

In comparability, making the UI textual content in After Effects extra legible is extra complicated. If you must make menu gadgets and labels extra readable, then you definitely’ll have to observe this course of: 

1. Open the After Effects Console with Cmd/Ctrl+F12
2. Click on the hamburger menu and choose Debug Database View
3. Search for “font” and search for the AdobeCleanFontSize setting.
4. Adjust the AdobeCleanFontSize worth to a setting that fits you.
5. Restart After Effects.

A cautious method is advisable right here. Take this worth too far and you could break a few of After Effects’ interface components.