Collect the artwork
- Open the composition containing your artwork.
- Select at least two unlocked 2D shape layers with contents in the Timeline.
- Click Merge.
The selected result is named after the top source layer with merged added. Expand Contents to see one group per source, named after that source. Groups follow the sources’ Timeline order. Merge collects shapes; it does not unite paths into a single outline.
Merge uses After Effects’ clipboard to preserve shape contents, including gradient colors. Copy anything you need to keep elsewhere before merging. It also needs After Effects’ Group Shapes command. If that command is unavailable, Merge reports the problem and does not proceed.
Locked layers, 3D layers, non-shape layers and shape layers with empty Contents are skipped. At least two eligible layers must remain. The troubleshooting reference explains the selection and paste messages.
Understand the result
| Source property | Result |
|---|---|
| Shape contents | Kept inside a group named after the source, including shape keyframes and gradients. |
| Layer Anchor Point, Position, Scale, Rotation and Opacity | Transferred to the source’s new group transform. Ordinary keyframes and their interpolation are copied. |
| Separated Position dimensions | Sampled at the current playhead time. Their animation is not transferred. |
| Transform expressions | Copied as written. References can behave differently on a group in a new layer. |
| Layer effects | Not copied. The success message reports their count. |
| Label, blend mode and motion blur | Taken from the top source layer for the whole result. |
| In and out points | The result spans the earliest source in point through the latest source out point. Individual groups do not retain separate visibility ranges. |
| Parent | Kept when all sources share the same parent and that parent is outside the selection. Otherwise the result has no parent. |
Masks, track mattes, layer styles and other individual layer relationships are not transferred into the new shape groups. Check the result when source layers depend on those features, different blend modes, overlapping opacity or different timing. A mixed parent hierarchy is not baked frame by frame.
Keep or remove the sources
Merge follows Original layer in Settings. Hold Cmd on macOS or Ctrl on Windows while clicking to use the opposite choice once. Precompose pieces applies only to Explode.
After merging animated artwork, scrub the composition and check expressions before continuing. Use Edit > Undo to reverse the merge in one step.