Glossary
The terms used in EaseKit and these docs, with the German UI term where it differs.
EaseKit is in English unless you choose Deutsch in Settings → Appearance → Language. In German, most labels are translated while product terms (Timeline, Keyframe, Layer, Component, Spring, Easing, Lottie) stay English. The German term is in parentheses where it differs.
Workspace
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Session | One animation with its chat and version history |
| Version (Version) | A saved state of the animation with its own quality score |
| Versions (Versionen) | The strip of all versions |
| Checkpoint | A named version, set with Set Checkpoint (Checkpoint setzen) |
| Draft | Unsaved hand edits on top of a version, saved with Apply (Übernehmen) or dropped with Discard (Verwerfen) |
| History (Verlauf) | The list of all versions |
| Stage | The live preview, and the menu of stage commands |
| Preview (Vorschau) | The playing picture on the stage |
| Canvas | The animation's frame and size |
| Playhead (Abspielkopf) | The current time |
| Scene (Szene) | The whole animation, as opposed to a component |
| Inspector | The side panel with properties and tabs |
| Refine (Verfeinern) | The panel with Tuning and Camera (Kamera) |
| Render (Rendern) | The export sheet |
Motion
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Layer | One element: rectangle, ellipse, text, symbol, line, path, image, video, group or instance |
| Timeline | Lanes, clips and keyframes over time |
| Keyframe | A value at a moment |
| Track | All keyframes of one property on one layer |
| Easing / curve (Kurve) | How a segment accelerates; see Curves (Kurven) |
| Spring | Physical motion described by duration and Bounce |
| Stagger | The delay between elements |
| Action | A ready-made motion: In (Rein), Idle, Out (Raus) |
| Motion path (Bewegungspfad) | The route a layer travels; Show Motion Paths (Bewegungspfade einblenden) |
| Tuning | Dials that scale Speed (Tempo), Stagger, Bounce and Distance (Distanz) |
| Reduced Motion | The calmer variant for people with Reduce Motion on (Vorschau mit reduzierter Bewegung) |
| Sub-composition (Unterkomposition) | A group made from the timeline that acts as one clip |
Paint and vectors
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Fills (Füllungen) | The fill stack |
| Borders (Rahmen) | The stroke of a shape; Stroke (Kontur) in vector mode |
| Shadows / Inner Shadows (Schatten / Innere Schatten) | Drop and inner shadows |
| Effects (Effekte) | Glass (Glas), Fade (Ausblenden), Layer Blur (Layer-Unschärfe), Background Blur (Hintergrundunschärfe), Motion Blur (Bewegungsunschärfe), Zoom Blur (Zoom-Unschärfe), Color Adjust (Farbkorrektur) |
| Blend mode (Füllmethode) | How a layer mixes with what's behind it |
| Corners (Ecken) | Smooth (Glatt) or Rounded (Abgerundet), set with Corner Style (Eckenstil) |
| Corner Radius (Eckenradius) | How round a rectangle's corners are; Radius presets (Radius-Vorgaben) go up to Full (Voll), a pill |
| Independent corners (Einzelne Ecken) | A radius per corner; Same radius on every corner (Gleicher Radius für alle Ecken) goes back to one |
| Radius dots | The handles inside a selected rectangle's corners; ⌥-drag rounds one corner |
| Mask | A layer that clips the layers above it: Use as Mask (Als Maske verwenden), Release Mask (Maske aufheben) |
| Trim (Trimmen) | The visible part of a stroke: start, end, offset |
| Draw On (Einzeichnen) | A stroke drawing itself in |
| Taper (Verjüngung) | A stroke narrowing to a point |
| Paths (Pfade) | One by One (Nacheinander) or Together (Zusammen) |
| Marching Ants | Dashes flowing along a stroke; Animate Dashes (Striche animieren) |
| Shape keyframe (Form-Keyframe) | A path's shape at a moment, for morphing |
| Edit Points (Punkte bearbeiten) | The vector tool for points; also Pen (Zeichenstift), Pencil (Buntstift), Scissors (Schere) |
| Union, Subtract, Intersect, Difference | Booleans (Vereinigen, Subtrahieren, Schnittmenge, Differenz) |
| Trace Image… (Bild nachzeichnen …) | Turns a bitmap into vector paths |
Layout
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Auto Layout | A group that flows its children in a row or column, solved at every moment; Add Auto Layout (Auto Layout hinzufügen), Remove Auto Layout (Auto Layout entfernen) |
| In Auto Layout (Im Auto Layout) | The inspector section of a child in a layout group |
| Direction | Horizontal, Vertical (Vertikal) |
| Gap (Zwischenraum) | Space between the children |
| Padding (Abstand) | Space inside the group's edges |
| Distribute (Verteilen) | Placement along the axis; Between (Verteilt) spreads the children to the edges |
| Align (Ausrichten) | Alignment across the axis: Top (Oben), Middle (Mitte), Bottom (Unten), Left (Links), Center (Mitte), Right (Rechts) |
| Hug (Umschließen) | Sized to the content |
| Fixed (Fest) | Keeps its size |
| Fill container (Container füllen) | Takes the free space |
| Collapse when hidden (Ausgeblendet zusammenziehen) | A fading child's slot closes with it |
| Absolute position (Absolute Position) | A child outside the flow |
| Reflow | Siblings moving and a hugging group resizing when one child changes |
Components
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Component | A reusable part with its own clock and layers |
| Instance (Instanz) | A placed copy of a component; Detach Instance (Instanz lösen) |
| Main component (Haupt-Component) | The component an instance shows; Go to Main Component (Zum Haupt-Component) |
| Main timeline (Haupt-Timeline) | The scene's timeline, first item of the component path |
| Open Component (Component öffnen) | Edit mode; Back to Parent (Zurück zur übergeordneten Ebene), Done (Fertig) |
| Props | Fields an instance can set; Expose as prop (Als Prop freigeben) |
| Variants (Varianten) | Sets of differences from the Base (Basis) |
| Play (Abspielen) | An instance's play mode: Once (Einmal), Loop, Hold (Halten) |
| Transition (Übergang) | How a variant switch tweens: Default (Standard), Short spring (Kurze Feder), Quick ease (Schnell auslaufend), Smooth spring (Sanfte Feder), Bouncy spring (Federnd), Instant (Sofort), Custom (Eigene) |
| Switch at playhead (Am Abspielkopf wechseln) | A variant switch on an instance's timeline |
| Pass through (Durchreichen) | A prop that forwards to a nested instance: Pass through from the nested instance (Von der verschachtelten Instanz durchreichen) |
Interactions
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| States (Zustände) | Named looks such as Hover or Pressed |
| Triggers (Trigger) | Events that switch states: Tap, Hover, Hover end (Hover-Ende), Press (Drücken), Release (Loslassen), Load (Laden), In view (Im Sichtbereich), Drag (Ziehen), Scroll progress (Scroll-Fortschritt) |
| Drag options | Axis Horizontal, Vertical (Vertikal), Free (Frei); distance Past 20 pt (Ab 20 pt) |
| State colors | Fill (Füllung), Stroke (Kontur), Text color (Textfarbe) |
| In any state (In jedem Zustand) | A trigger without a gate; Only in … (Nur in …) gates it |
| Trigger actions | Go to (Gehe zu), Toggle (Umschalten), Set variant (Variante setzen), Play (Abspielen), Pause, Restart (Neu starten), Reverse (Umkehren) |
| Interactive (Interaktiv) | The live preview of states: Interactive preview (Interaktive Vorschau) |
| Editing state (Zustand wird bearbeitet) | Recording changes into a state |
| Instant (Sofort) | A state transition without animation |
AI and review
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AI power (KI-Leistung) | Eco, Balanced (Ausgewogen), Max |
| Feedback chips (Feedback-Chips) | One-click feedback like Too hectic (Zu hektisch) or More punch (Mehr Punch) |
| Session style (Session-Stil) | Timing, curves and palette the AI follows |
| Session memory (Session-Gedächtnis) | Preferences the AI keeps for the session |
| Skills | The motion knowledge base |
| Lock for AI (Für KI sperren) | Protects a layer from AI edits |
| Reference Selection in Chat (Auswahl im Chat referenzieren) | Points the AI at layers (@id) |
| Why it moves like this (Warum es sich so bewegt) | The AI's reasoning, in the Layers tab |
| Quality (Qualität) | The score and six dimensions: Clarity (Klarheit), Consistency (Konsistenz), Readability (Lesbarkeit), Start & end (Anfang & Ende), Craft (Handwerk), Style fidelity (Stiltreue) |
| Findings (Befunde) | Quality issues with suggestions |
| Audit | The frame-by-frame smoothness test, with the badges Pass (OK), Check (Prüfen), Fail (Fehler) and Perf (Leistung) |
| Comments (Kommentare) | Stage and share comments; Resolve (Erledigen), Reopen (Wieder öffnen), Reply (Antworten) |
| Comment Mode (Kommentarmodus) | The comment tool, ⌥⌘C |
| Share Link (Share-Link) | A web page that plays the animation; Include my comments (Meine Kommentare mitschicken) |
Media and export
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sequence (Sequenz) | A video built from screens with a Transition (Übergang) per cut |
| Recorder | Captures UI states from any app as still frames |
| Record Screen… (Bildschirm aufnehmen …) | Records a window, app or display as a video layer; Stop Screen Recording (Bildschirmaufnahme beenden), Stop recording (Aufnahme stoppen) |
| Fades (Blenden) | A video clip's fade in and out |
| Playback (Wiedergabe) | A video clip's loop, hold and reverse toggles |
| Music / Voice & FX (Musik / Stimme & FX) | The two audio lanes |
| Other formats (Weitere Formate) | Everything in Render besides the video |
| Copy as SVG (Als SVG kopieren) | The frame at the playhead for Figma; Copy Frames for Figma… (Frames für Figma kopieren …) |
| Import from Figma… (Aus Figma importieren …) | Brings a Figma frame or component set in with its Auto Layout, components and variants; Connect Figma (Figma verbinden), Create token (Token erstellen), Figma link detected (Figma-Link erkannt) |
| Copy link to selection (Link zur Auswahl kopieren) | Figma's command for the link EaseKit imports |
.easekit | A project file with its assets |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol: how Claude and other clients use EaseKit |