Choose the source and properties
Select the source layer, then add destination layers in the same composition. Check the from chip before applying anything. Ditto uses the first layer in the selection returned by After Effects as the source.
Click the source chip, or right-click either action button, to open the picker. Check an effect to use all its parameters. Expand its arrow to choose individual parameters.
Uncheck the parameters you want each layer to keep. A dash in the effect's checkbox means only some parameters are picked.
You can also pick Transform properties. The available rows follow the source layer’s 2D or 3D state and whether Position has separated dimensions. Ditto does not convert destination layers to 3D or separate their Position for you. Match those states first when copying the corresponding properties.
If the source has applied Layer Styles, Layer Styles picks them together, including their blending options. You cannot choose one style in this picker. Target styles absent from the source are left in place.
Click Done to close the picker. Changing the source, its effect types, or its selected After Effects properties can reset the picks. When no After Effects properties are selected, the initial pick is the source’s first effect. A source with no effects needs a manual transform or style pick.
Copy the value at the playhead
Move the playhead to the value you want, then click Copy. Ditto reads each picked source property with its expression evaluated.
On an unanimated destination property, this sets a value. If the destination already has keyframes, it sets or updates a key at the playhead and keeps the other keys. Copy does not remove expressions. A destination expression can still control the visible result.
For independent values on a Ditto-linked destination, unlink it first. The still linked result count warns that copied properties remain connected.
Copy animation
Hold Shift and click Copy. The button reads Copy keys while Shift is held. This replaces the destination property’s existing keys with all the source property’s keys, preserving their easing and interpolation where supported, including spatial keyframe data.
By default, keys follow each destination’s in point. Their offset from the source’s in point stays the same.
| Source | Destination in point | Copied keys |
|---|---|---|
| In point at 0 seconds, keys at 0 and 1 | 2 seconds | 2 and 3 seconds |
| In point at 1 second, keys at 1.5 and 2 | 4 seconds | 4.5 and 5 seconds |
Enable Keys at Absolute Time in Settings to keep the original composition times instead. Cmd+Shift-click on macOS or Ctrl+Shift-click on Windows flips that saved choice for one copy.
If a picked source property has no keys, Copy keys removes the destination keys and writes the source’s current value. Expressions are kept on the destination in either copy mode. Source expression text is never copied.
How effects find their matches
Ditto matches the underlying effect type and its occurrence among effects of that type. The second Glow goes to the second Glow, regardless of renamed labels or other effects between them. Other destination effects are left alone.
With Add Missing Effects on, a missing match gets one new effect, named like the source. This also applies when only one parameter is picked. The other parameters of that new effect keep their defaults. Picking a whole effect also copies its enabled state; picking parameters alone leaves an existing effect’s enabled state alone.
For repeated effects, arrange the required earlier instances on each destination first. Adding a missing second Glow creates one Glow for that operation, rather than filling every earlier gap. See repeated effects.
Turn Add Missing Effects off when only existing matches should change. Missing effects or styles are skipped. Locked destinations are also skipped. Custom parameters that After Effects cannot script are disabled in the picker and counted if a whole effect includes them.