Pinch the ends
Select shape layers or specific Stroke properties. Click the small ring on the sample’s sloping segment, the Taper control. With default settings, it sets both taper lengths to 50. Click again to set both lengths to zero.
Drag the ring along the sample to adjust the pinch. Moving toward the start increases taper length. The sample previews the change, and the selected strokes update on release.
Hold Shift while clicking or dragging to change only the start. Hold Alt/Option to change only the end. If both are held, Shift takes priority.
In the tile layout, drag Taper right to increase lengths or left to reduce them.
The click toggles the chosen end or ends. If either chosen length is already above zero, the click turns those lengths off. The amount used to turn them on comes from Taper Click in Settings.
Set a precise shape
Right-click any Butthead control. Under Taper, set Start and End separately. Set Tip for the width at both tips, and Ease for the softness at both ends. The controls reference lists the ranges and numeric gestures.
Turning taper off changes its lengths only. It keeps the existing tip widths and ease, ready for the next taper. Butthead edits native Stroke Taper properties. If a changed property already has keyframes, it writes a keyframe at the playhead.
Check length units and compatibility
The panel labels taper lengths as percentages. Butthead writes the numbers into the stroke’s existing taper settings without changing its length units. For the panel’s percentage values to match After Effects, set the stroke’s native taper length units to Percent first.
Taper needs After Effects 2020 or later means the stroke does not expose the native taper properties Butthead needs. Use a compatible After Effects version and stroke. Parametric paths can use caps, joins, taper, and dashes without the pen-path conversion required for arrowheads.