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How to scale objects in After Effects

Big, small, subtle zooms — scaling is one of the core transforms you’ll use constantly. It’s fundamental to almost every animation.

Steps to scale objects

Select your layer and press S to reveal Scale.

Using the S shortcut to reveal Scale property in After Effects

Drag the percentage value to resize. Keep the chain icon linked to scale uniformly so your layer doesn’t get stretched.

Object in the After Effects composition viewer scaled up in size

To animate scale, click the stopwatch to set a keyframe, move the playhead forward, change the value, and After Effects automatically tweens between them.

Object in the After Effects composition viewer with animated scale

One more thing

Hold Shift while dragging a corner handle in your comp viewer to keep proportions when scaling visually. Prevents accidental stretching.

Related how-tos

How to rotate objects in After Effects
How to change anchor point in After Effects
How to use easing for smooth animation in After Effects

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