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Penpal 2

  • Compatibility After Effects
    Please check exact version compatibility under the "COMPATIBILITY" tab below

Author: Animatable

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Quick Overview

The vector editor missing from After Effects.

Penpal 2   +$0.00
Penpal 2 Virtual   +$0.00

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Penpal 2

Powerful Path editing

Penpal gives you the power and precision of dedicated vector editing software, inside After Effects so you can do more, without leaving the app.

Flip paths horizontally or vertically, break a path into two separate paths, align and distribute points within a shape, snap points to pixels, reverse path direction, delete unwanted tangent handles, simplify paths with too many points… and much more, with over 40 path-editing functions.

“Penpal needs more love in the mograph community, it's up there with Flow and Overlord in terms of everyday usefulness.” - Ryan Summers

You already know how to use it

Penpal’s visual UI is closely based on the one you already know from After Effects, so you can start using it without learning anything new.

Drag a marquee or just click to select elements. Click and drag points around in the canvas. Hold Shift to constrain to axes. Option-drag to smooth or break tangents.

Penpal is a one-off purchase that lasts forever, not a subscription.

Shapes as they really are

After Effects is great for nesting shapes inside groups and layers that have their own animatable transforms, like rotation. But it's not so good at displaying and editing those paths in their original state.

You can find yourself struggling to un-pick all of the transforms that are affecting how a shape looks in the comp.

With Penpal, you can see and edit your paths as they actually are, by switching to Local Space mode.

Click here to instantly download a feature-limited* 10-day trial.

Here for you

We love motion design and we love supporting motion designers to make their best work.

Our series of YouTube videos will teach you the fundamentals in your coffee breaks. The rich, online User Guide is the definitive reference manual for when you need it (which probably won't be often).

Something you want to ask? Join our dedicated Discord community or you can simply email me - I always enjoy helping folks to get the most out of our tools.

“Penpal has made my workflow so much easier. It gives me really smart basic shape layer functions that I've been wanting for years inside of AE” - Claudio Salas

Upgrades

If you purchased Penpal 1 after October 25, 2022, you can upgrade for free. If you purchased it before then, you can upgrade for $30. Log in to aescripts and the discounted price will be shown automatically. If you need help, open a support ticket.

I just upgraded penpal to penpal 2 and its SO GOOD


Nina

Highly recommend this to anyone who does a lot of path animation like myself!


JD Horton

Penpal 2 is a wonderful and radical new way to interact with your paths in After Effects. Definitely give this a try if you have pernicious path problems.


Evan Abrams

This is everything and more that I've wanted from Penpal! QoL improvements across the board.


Matthew Sienzant

I just picked up Penpal and it’s so nice. I was running the trial version and I used it to edit some mask and it was an instant buy. So buttery smooth and accurate.


Kevin Snyder

"Penpal" is pretty neat if you want to avoid illustrator.


Ben Gregoire

After Effects 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, CC 2019, CC 2018