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jordan_1642
jordan_1642
Participant
February 16, 2026
Question

AE 2026 is not handling Illustrator gradients correctly. If I understand I should be able to now natively edit AI gradients when converting to shape layer, but all I get is a grey fill. I know this is a new feature - bugged?

  • February 16, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 1 view

I’m trying to use the new feature that’s supposed to allow me to manipulate the gradient baked into an Illustrator file. However, when I import and convert vector to shape, I just get a grey fill instead of any gradient options.

 

I’m not the most advanced Illustrator user, so I suspect there’s something within that file that’s causing trouble. I’ve attached.

Any help is appreciated - thanks!

    1 reply

    nishu_kush
    Community Manager
    nishu_kushCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    February 17, 2026

    Hi Jordan,

     

    Thanks for reaching out. You’re correct. Illustrator gradients can not be edited in After Effects. However, it is true for the Linear and Radial Gradients. Freeform gradients (used in the file you shared) are not yet supported.

    Let me know if there are any other questions.

     

    Thanks,

    Nishu

    jordan_1642
    jordan_1642Author
    Participant
    February 17, 2026

    Ah, that makes sense. Thank’s for your help!

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