Inspector reference
Every section and field of the layer inspector, with ranges, defaults and what each one does.
This page lists every control in the layer inspector, in the order the sections appear. For a guided introduction, see Inspector: fills, borders, shadows and effects. Every edit applies to all selected layers as one undo step and goes into the draft.
| Control | What it does |
|---|
Kind icon, @id, kind | The layer's id (what you type after @ in chat) and its kind: Rect, Circle, Text, Symbol, Line, Image, Path, Group, Instance or Video |
| Lock (Lock for AI) | AI edits leave the layer untouched. EaseKit restores it if an answer changes it anyway |
| × (Deselect) | Clears the selection (esc) |
Instance#
Instances only. See Instances.
| Field | What it does | Range / default |
|---|
| Edit Component | Opens the component | ⌘↓ |
| Main | The component shown; pick another to swap it | Components that don't contain this one |
| Start | When the instance's clock starts; Playhead sets it to the playhead | Seconds, default 0 |
| Speed | Clock rate | ×, default 1 |
| Play | Once, Loop, Hold | Default Once (or Loop if the component loops) |
| Frame | With Hold: the component time shown | Seconds, default 0 |
| Variants | One menu per variant set | The set's default value |
| Transition | How this instance's variant switches tween: Default (the set's), Quick ease, Smooth spring, Bouncy spring, Instant | Default |
| Switch at playhead | Adds a timeline switch to a variant value at the playhead; switches are listed as “1.2 s → state: on” with × to remove | |
| Props | One typed control per prop, with a reset button | The component's value |
Expose as prop#
Layers inside an open component. Click ◇ to expose a field (it becomes ◆ with the prop's name); click ◆ to remove it. Fields per kind: text: Text, Text color, Font size; image: Image; nested instance: Instance; symbol: Color; shapes: Fill, Border (with a stroke), Corner radius (rectangles); every layer: Opacity, Scale, Visibility. A nested instance also lists its own component's props under Pass through from the nested instance: ◇ makes one a prop of the open component that forwards to the nested instance.
Auto Layout#
Groups only. See Auto Layout.
| Control | What it does | Options / default |
|---|
| + / − | Add Auto Layout (infers direction, gap, padding and alignment from how the children sit) / Remove Auto Layout (the children keep their positions) | |
| Direction | Row or column | Horizontal, Vertical |
| Gap | Space between children | Points |
| Padding | All four sides at once; shows the largest | Points |
| Top, Right, Bottom, Left | Padding per side | Points, 0 and up |
| Distribute | Placement along the axis | Left / Top, Center / Middle, Right / Bottom, Between |
| Align | Alignment across the axis | Top, Middle, Bottom (rows) or Left, Center, Right (columns); default centered |
| Width, Height | The group's sizing | Hug (default), Fixed |
In Auto Layout#
Children of a group with Auto Layout (also in the Layers tab). The group's direction is shown next to the title.
| Control | What it does | Options / default |
|---|
| Width, Height | The child's sizing in the flow | Fixed, Hug (text and layout groups only), Fill container. Text hugs its width by default; other layers are fixed |
| Collapse when hidden | While it fades out, its slot and the gap close | Off |
| Absolute position | Out of the flow, keeps its own position | Off |
Text#
| Field | What it does | Range / default |
|---|
| Text field | The text; applies as you type | Up to four lines shown |
| Font | Project, Google and installed fonts; Replace… when missing | System font |
| Size | Font size | 4–400 pt, default 24 |
| Weight | The family's weights | |
Video#
| Field | What it does | Range / step |
|---|
| Trim · In / Out | The part of the source that plays | Seconds, step 0.1 |
| Timing · Start | When the clip starts in the scene | Seconds, step 0.1 |
| Timing · Rate | Playback rate | 0.1–8×, step 0.05 |
| Fades · In / Out | Fade picture and sound at the clip's start and end (a looping clip only fades in) | Seconds, step 0.1, default 0 |
| Sound | Mute toggle and Vol | 0–100 %, step 5 |
| Playback | Loop, hold first and last frame, reverse (silent), Fill / Fit | Default Fill |
Layer#
| Control | What it does | Range / default |
|---|
| Blend mode | Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Darken, Lighten, Color Dodge, Plus Lighter | Normal |
| Opacity | Layer opacity | 0–100 %, default 100 % |
| Vectorize | Opens Trace Image (images only) | |
| Mask button | Use as Mask / Release Mask. Clips the layers above it in the same group, up to the next mask; opacity 0 hides it and it keeps clipping | Not for groups |
Corners#
Rectangles only. See Corner radius.
| Control | Options | Default |
|---|
| Corner style | Smooth (continuous, Apple style), Rounded (circular arcs) | Smooth |
| Radius (with a corner mark) | 0 and up, in points; drag the corner mark to scrub. With independent corners it sets all four | 0 |
| Presets (chevron) | 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, Full (half the shorter side: a pill) | |
| Independent corners | A 2×2 grid: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right. Click again (Same radius on every corner) to use the largest corner for all | Off |
On the stage, a selected rectangle shows a radius dot in each corner: drag it to round all corners, ⌥-drag to round only that one.
Fills#
All kinds except groups, images and instances. Text and symbols have one fill (their color); shapes can stack several.
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|
| + (Add fill) | Adds the main fill, or one more in the stack | #D9D9D9 |
| Switch | Shows or hides the fill (a hidden fill is kept) | On |
| Swatch | Opens the paint editor: Solid, Linear, Radial, Angular | |
| Hex | The color; a complete 6- or 8-digit hex applies as you type | |
| Opacity | The fill's opacity | 0–100 %, default 100 % |
| − (Remove fill) | Removes a stacked fill. Only vectors can drop their main fill; boxes and text hide it instead | |
| Blend to Another Paint | On a gradient fill: crossfades to a second paint from the playhead (gradientMix 0 → 1 over 1 s) | |
| Blend to | The second paint, with − to remove the crossfade | |
Paint editor#
| Control | What it does |
|---|
| Solid / Linear / Radial / Angular | The paint kind. From a color, a new gradient fades that color out |
| Gradient bar | Click to add a stop; drag a stop to move it; drag it away from the bar to remove it (two stay) |
| Angle dial | Linear and angular gradients; ⇧ snaps to 15°. New linear gradients start at 180° |
| Size | Radial gradients, 0.1–1.5 |
| Reverse the stops | Flips the stop order |
| Color picker | The selected stop's (or the solid) color, with the scene's palette |
Borders#
Rectangles, ellipses and paths.
| Control | What it does | Range / default |
|---|
| + (Add border) | Adds a border | White, 1 pt |
| Switch | Shows or hides the border | On |
| Swatch | Color or gradient | |
| Position | Inside, Center, Outside | Center |
| Width | Stroke width | 0 and up, pt, step 0.5 |
| Details (slider button) | Opens the details below the row; lights up while there are dashes | |
| − (Remove border) | Removes the border | |
Border details#
| Control | Options | Default |
|---|
| Join | Miter, Round, Bevel | Miter |
| Cap | Butt, Round, Square | Butt |
| Dash | Dash length and gap length (a new dash gets a gap of half its length, at least 1) | Solid |
| Dash presets | Solid, Dash (8 / 4), Dot (1 / 3) | |
| Animate Dashes / Restart Dash Loop | Marching ants to the end of the scene (dashOffset) | With dashes |
Draw (vector paths)#
| Control | What it does | Range / default |
|---|
| Draw On / Redo Draw On | Trim end 0 → 100 % over 0.8 s from the playhead, ease-in-out | |
| Presets menu | Draw On, Draw Off, Write On, Trace, Pulse, Dash Flow | |
| Start + ◆ | Trim start | 0–100 %, default 0 % |
| End + ◆ | Trim end | 0–100 %, default 100 % |
| Offset + ◆ | Shifts the visible part; wraps around | 100 % = one lap, default 0 % |
| Paths | One by One, Together (paths with several parts) | One by One |
| Stagger | With Together: 0 % together, 100 % one after another | 0–100 %, step 5 |
| Direction | Reverse, From Centre | Off |
| Taper | Start (tail) and end (head) | 0–100 %, step 5, default 0 % |
Shadows and Inner Shadows#
Shadows: all kinds. Inner shadows: rectangles, ellipses and paths.
| Field | What it does | Default (shadow / inner) |
|---|
| Switch | Shows or hides this shadow | On |
| Swatch and hex | Color | #000000 |
| Opacity | Shadow opacity (the color's alpha) | 25 % |
| X, Y | Offset in points | 0, 4 / 0, 2 |
| Blur | Blur radius, 0 and up | 12 / 6 |
| Spread | Grows or shrinks the shadow | 0 |
Effects#
All kinds. One effect of each kind per layer; adding one again switches it back on. Removing an effect also removes its keyframes.
| Effect | Fields | Defaults | Animatable as |
|---|
| Glass | Blur | 16 | |
| Fade | Angle (0° = up, clockwise), Edge (share of the box) | 180°, 50 % | |
| Layer Blur | Blur | 4 | blur (a separate track) |
| Background Blur | Blur | 20 | backgroundBlur |
| Motion Blur | Amount, Angle | 12, 90° | motionBlur |
| Zoom Blur | Amount (0–100), center X, Y | 20, 50 %, 50 % | zoomBlur |
| Color Adjust | Hue (°), Sat (%), Bright (−100 to 100 %), Contrast (%) | 0°, 100 %, 0 %, 100 % | hue, saturation, brightness, contrast |
| Shimmer | A gradient sheen to the end of the scene (text and rectangles) | | gradientShift |
Text animation#
| Control | What it does | Range |
|---|
| Presets | Typewriter, Fade up, Blur in, Wave, Pop, Morph | |
| Morph to | The new text (Morph only) | |
| Timing | Start · each letter · gap (Morph: start · duration) | Letter or duration up to 5 s, gap up to 1 s |
| Clear | Removes the text animation | |
Motion#
Actions from the playhead, in three groups: In, Idle, Out (the choice is remembered). Added actions show under On this element with × to remove. See Actions.
Related articles#
