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How to animate strokes in After Effects

Animate strokes to outline drawings, reveal logos, or create any effect where you want something to draw on screen over time.

Steps to animate strokes

Select your shape layer. Go to Add → Trim Paths.

Selecting a shape layer and choosing Add Trim Paths in After Effects

Open Trim Paths and keyframe End from 0% to 100%.

Trim Paths property opened with End animated from 0 to 100 percent in After Effects

The stroke will draw on smoothly from start to finish.

Shape stroke drawing on smoothly in the After Effects composition viewer

One more thing

Animate Start and End together for traveling lines that animate across your shape instead of just drawing it in place.

Related how-tos

How to use trim paths on shapes in After Effects
How to add strokes to a shape in After Effects
How to fill shapes with color in After Effects

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