AI layer resizes +1 pixel more when imported into After Effects

[THreeSH98]

When I import my AI file into After Effects, +1 pixel is added to any layer size, for example, if it is 500x500, then it becomes 501x501. I gave examples in the screenshots, in 1 screenshot you can see how in AI all elements in the layer have 500x500 pixels, when imported to AE in the second screenshot you can see how this layer is converted to 501x501, with absolutely any import settings, I first imported as "footage" and selected a specific layer, then as "composition" with "layer size". It's not about the import settings. I tried to experiment with another illustration, in screenshots 3-6. It's not even the resolution itself, in screenshot 7 it happens in 1920x1080. As if in AE there are settings to add +1 pixel in width and height to any vector layer. Why is this important to me? The bottom line is that when I convert the layers to shapes, they have 500x500 as they should, but they lose the anchor point both in the layer itself from the shapes, and in the shapes themselves inside, that is, they take values ​​from the old value of 501x501, this is very annoys. Especially if there are a lot of shapes. Is it possible how to fix this?

[Rick Gerard]

Open your Illustrator file, and select all layers. If you have the latest version of AI, select make pixel perfect. If I remember correctly, the option is in the View menu.

Converting vector layers to shape layers is only necessary if you are going to use Shape Layer animators, extrude the layers, or actually edit the vector path. Render times increase, and there is no gain in quality. 

When creating AI files for video you should always make sure that the Artboard in the same size or bigger than the comp, make sure that Snap to pixel is always turned on, and make sure that thin lines are perfectly aligned with the pixel grid by turning on Pixel Preview and magnifying the view to at least 400%.

Let us know if that solves your problem. 

[THreeSH98]

It did not help, and cannot help in principle. I deliberately used large and even numbers, I looked at the pixel mode, the coincidence of artboard lines and objects with the pixel grid is perfect, pixel perfect is turned on. Everything matches perfectly, objects in the 500x500 layer, artboard 2000x2000, much more rounded and clearer? This is not the point here, as I already wrote, after turning into shapes, they have their own size, without an extra pixel. After Effects seems to be hard-coded to add this one extra pixel, as if to avoid something, but this does not happen if I separately export the layer in PDF format, it does not have an extra pixel when imported. But then all the magic of working with a pre-prepared illustration in AI is lost if I have to export each layer to PDF and set the position in AE. For the sake of experiment, you can test it yourself.

[Warren Heaton]

Do you have any 500-by-500 objects with a Stroke?  That can cause artwork to be at slightly larger dimensions than expected.

[THreeSH98]

Of course not, the problem is not as easy as it might seem. I checked the strokes first of all, they are not there.

[Warren Heaton]

@THreeSH98 

I am able to reproduce the unexpected behavior that you're experiencing with an Illustrator version 2020 file in After Effects 2021 (18.6.4), 2022 (22.6.4),  2023 (23.4), and the current Beta (23.6) under macOS Ventura (13.4) on an Apple Silicon based Mac with After Effects running both as Silicon native and using Rosetta.

I was able to work around it by doing any of the following:

• Workaround #1:  In Illustrator, save the document as Version 8 in the Illustrator Options dialog box and then import that as "Composition - Retain Layer Sizes".
• Workaround #2:  When importing as a Composition, choose "Composition" instead of "Composition - Retain Layer Sizes".
• Workaround #3:  Open the Illustrator file in Adobe XD, select it, and then use File > Export > After Effects.  

Workaround #1 is probably what you're looking for (a layered Composition with each layer having the correct dimensions from the corresponding Illustrator layer).  Please give that a try and report back.  You may already be aware that saving to an older version of Illustrator may cause a change in appearance.  I'd consider using an Illustrator version 2020 document for editing and an Illustrator version 8 document with "for AE" appended to filename for import into After Effects.

I was not able to reproduce the unexpected behavior with an Illustrator version 2020 file in any currently available version of After Effects under Windows 11 or on an Intel based Mac running macOS Monterey (12.6).  So, it seems this issue may be limited to illustrator version 2020 files on Apple Silicon hardware.  Also of note, opening an After Effects project that was saved as expected on Windows or Intel based Mac presented a PDF error message when opened on an Apple Silicon based Mac with the source footage switching to the Document Size instead of the Layer Size.

[THreeSH98]

Thanks for the answer, I checked all the ways to save, everything is the same, the behavior is exactly the same, but version 8 does not set its own size for layers when importing into AE, each layer has the size of an artboard. And in version 3, when importing, there are no import settings at all, it is imported as a whole composition. It's not about saving, it's most likely a bug or so conceived, but it interferes very much. Until the developers of the program respond, we will not know what exactly is the reason for this import behavior.