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How to add glowing effect in After Effects

Add glowing effect to make highlights bloom — it’s perfect for sci-fi, neon, or anything that needs extra polish in After Effects.

Steps to add glowing effect

Select your layer and go to Effect → Stylize → Glow.

Applying Glow from Effect Stylize Glow in the After Effects menu

Lower Threshold to include more pixels in the glow, raise Radius to spread it out further, and adjust Intensity to control how strong the glow appears.

Adjusting Glow Threshold Radius and Intensity in the Effect Controls panel in After Effects

Stack multiple Glow effects with different values for richer, more layered results.

Layer glowing with multiple Glow effects stacked for a stronger result in After Effects

One more thing

Precompose complex layers first, then apply Glow for cleaner edges and better performance.

Related how-tos

How to add gradient ramp background in After Effects
How to add adjustment layers in After Effects
How to add a shadow in After Effects

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