Apr 4, 2021
How to scale a shape in one direction in After Effects
If you want to create a shape in After Effects and then be able to adjust the size of the shape, but only in one direction, this is how you can do it.
First, create a shape by right clicking in the Timeline window, go to New and then “Shape layer”. Now the layer is created but there’s still no shape in it, so go to the toolbar, click and hold on the “Shape icon” until the different shape options appear, then select the shape you want to create.
Go to the Composition window and then click, drag and release to create your shape.
Now go back to the timeline, click Transform and unselect the little link-icon next to Scale. Now you can adjust the width and height individually.
The next step, to only adjust ONE side of the rectangle, is to move the anchor point.
Go to the composition window, click Y, select and drag the anchor point to one of the four corners of the rectangle (depending on what direction you want the shape to grow in. Hold down “cmd” while doing this so it snaps in place.
Now, when you change the width or height of the Shape Layer, it will increase or decrease in only one direction.
If it looks like it’s still growing in two directions, it might be because you have a stroke around your shape. Remove the stroke by clicking your shape in the timeline, go down to Stroke and change Stroke width to 0.
I really hope this helped you! Let me know in the comment section below if you have any questions and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to more quick tutorials!
