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Explode Shape Layers 3

Take control of your shape layers! Explode & merge for greater precision.

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  $29.99

25% off until June 12th

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Description

Do you deal with a lot of shape layers, or shape layers from Adobe Illustrator? Explode will take a shape layer and split each shape out into its own individual layer, for finer control & easier access. Alternatively, you can Merge multiple shape layers together into a new layer!

Tired of having to right-click your .ai layer to make it into a shape layer? Use Convert!

If any of your Illustrator layers have non-100% opacity or go outside of the frame, you've probably noticed that converting brings in an empty artboard artifact that gets in the way. No more! Remove it with Remove Artboard.

Now, your new shape layers probably have a ton of strokes and fills that need adjusting-- that's what Select Fills and Select Strokes are for. One-click buttons to select all fills or all strokes in your comp, or hold shift to find any fills or strokes with the same colour as the selected.

Explode

Explode

(Tap to view)

Endorsements

Upgrade Offer

If you purchased the old "Explode Shape Layer" version you will get a discount equal to 50% of what you paid (since it was "Name Your Own Price"). The discount will be automatically added if you are logged in to the same account. If you have any questions or need any assistance please open a support request

Discussions

Want to talk about it?

Head over to r/aescripts to chat with fellow users about this product.

Need Support?

Please open a support ticket to be connected directly with the author of this product

Version History

3.5.4b -

Dec 2, 2024

Added manifest for better installation using aescripts manager app

3.5.4 -

Feb 19, 2024

Added

• Support for MacOS Monterey and newer



Changed

• Options hotkey modifier from "ctrl/meta" to "ctrl/meta AND alt"

• Updated licensing framework; made online activation period more graceful



Fixed

• CONVERT layers not respecting solo switch

• Error message when trying to EXPLODE 1 item

• Error when using EXPLODE with a path shape selected

3.5.3 -

Jul 19, 2021

Added

• Error message when trying to EXPLODE not enough items



Changed

• EXPLODE now works with nested shape groups

3.5.2 -

May 24, 2020

Changed

• Improved error handling



Fixed

• Crash when EXPLODING a matted layer

• Crash in non-English AE installs

3.5.1 -

Feb 5, 2020

Fixed

- CONVERT inheriting traits from first layer in the comp

3.5.0 -

Jan 10, 2020

Added

• Headless buttons

• CONVERT for AE text layers to shape layers

• Warning when EXPLODING too many items

• Option to toggle whether CONVERT should also REMOVE ARTBOARD

• Option to toggle whether EXPLODE should explode top-level fills/strokes/etc

• kbar argument support for main toolbar file

• Improved error logging



Changed

• Removed the confusing "Use All" switch!

• MERGE will set new layer's in/out points to source in/out points

• REMOVE ARTBOARD can now delete empty shape groups

• Modifiers now work with toolbar

• CONVERT will now copy layer settings from source layer

• Improved progress bar behaviour

• Updated and improved button icons

• Updated licensing

• Tweaked Options panel



Fixed

• Various bugs when centering anchor points

3.4.8 -

Oct 22, 2019

- Add support for MacOS Catalina

3.4.7 -

Mar 20, 2019

- Fix bug with converting multiple layers in old versions of AE

- Fix bug with 'remove artboards' failing in some cases

3.4.6 -

Mar 13, 2019

Update licensing version

3.4.5 -

Nov 3, 2018

- SELECT FILL/STROKES now works on selected layers, or all layers if none selected-- no more modifier!

- Fix inverted behaviour with SELECT FILL/STROKES

- Fix crash when merging properties with non-linear keys using very small eases

- Fix crash with MERGE failing on more properties

3.4.4 -

Jan 29, 2018

- Fixes bug with CONVERT failing in some cases, including non-English installs of AE

3.4.3 -

Mar 11, 2017

- Fixes bug with CENTER ANCHOR POINT failing on 2d layers with separated dimensions

3.4.2 -

Jan 19, 2017

- Fixes bug with MERGE failing on certain properties (like line caps)

3.4.1 -

Dec 14, 2016

- MERGE now preserves keyframe easings

- MERGE preserves layer in/out points

3.4.0 -

Dec 11, 2016

- MERGE now preserves expressions, label colour & first found parent

- REMOVE ARTBOARDS expanded to remove more artboards! Yay!

- CENTER ANCHOR POINT now works with 3d position/anchor/scale - no rotation yet!

- Fixes bug with CONVERT not centering anchor points

- Fixes bug with CONVERT failing on non-.ai file types (like .pdf and .eps)

- Fixes bug with CONVERT failing on AE14.0+ (CC17+)

- Fixes bug with EXPLODE and MERGE failing if 'Contents' is highlighted

- Fixes bug with MERGE failing if gradient properties exist on layer

- Better error handling

- Plenty of code optimizations

3.3.0 -

Aug 5, 2015

'Remove Artboards' now goes deeper;

internal change to how settings are saved;

improved progress bars;

fixed position-offset bug with exploding a rotated layer;

exploding a layer with separated dimensions no longer crashes ESL;

improved 'convert' experience

3.3.1 -

Aug 4, 2015

Hotfix for 'Convert' not working properly in some situations

3.2.1 -

Jun 18, 2015

Adds CC 2015 compatibility, and toolbar now defaults to show icons

3.2 -

Apr 24, 2015

Select fill/stroke behavior changed; only looks at current layer by default; hold shift to look at the whole comp, and/or hold alt to select same fill/stroke.



Convert now respects anchor points & auto-removes artboards.



Merged layers inherit parent switches. Hold shift when removing artboards to remove empty groups.



Removed count alerts. Several bug fixes & improvements.

3.1 -

Mar 11, 2015

Headless version & images now integrated into the main file!

Convert layers removes 'Outlines' text, moves new layer above original and now respects 'delete source'

Added 'Select Same' functionality for fills & strokes, based on colour

Can now toggle count alerts and appending the layer name to exploded shapes when exploding

Fixed bug with script failing when exploding a position-animated layer

3.0 -

Jan 31, 2015

New tools, new UI, lots of bug features and minor tweaks

Compatibility

After Effects

2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, CC 2019, CC 2018, CC 2017, CC 2015.3, CC 2015, CC 2014, CC, CS6, CS5.5, CS5

EULA

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Updated: Oct 21, 2025 1:35 AM