by Alfie Dawes·Motion Graphics
Images © Alfie Dawes. Used for product review; image policy.
Handy Hands 2 earns its place in the aescripts library as a free hand toolkit for After Effects, with support reaching through After Effects 2026 and a bug-fix release in April 2024.
Handy Hands 2 is an After Effects plugin from Alfie Dawes for creating, styling and posing hands at the click of a button. The panel groups its tools into compact icon-based tabs, with a detailed view that carries text descriptions for each button and feature.
Style buttons apply preset looks, including Simple Fill, Separated, Tapered Stroke and Advanced Stroke. A set of manage buttons handles common tasks: swapping left and right, rotating a hand 180 degrees, and adding a linked hand. A 3-fingered mode gives you three fingers rather than four in some styles.
The plugin is at version 1.2, released April 11, 2024, and runs on After Effects 2020 through 2026. It's listed as free in this catalog; for current licensing and downloads, see the developer's page on aescripts.
Handy Hands 2 is best for after Effects artists who need to create, style and pose hands quickly.
Handy Hands 2 is completely free to download and use.
Handy Hands 2 supports After Effects 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020, covering a wide span of recent releases. If your studio keeps older projects on 2020 or 2021 while moving newer work onto 2025 or 2026, the plugin spans both. For the current compatibility list and any requirements tied to your exact build, check the developer's page on aescripts before installing.
Handy Hands 2 is listed as free in this catalog. Licensing terms and distribution can change over time, so for the current details, download links and any conditions attached to use, visit the developer's page on aescripts. That page also carries the full version history and the compatibility list, both worth checking before you add the plugin to a production project.
Handy Hands 2 reached version 1.2 on April 11, 2024. That release was a bug fix that resolved an issue with the advanced stroke when using a non-English version of After Effects. The earlier 1.1 update, from August 2023, fixed a problem where some users could create hands but ran into trouble posing, styling and managing them. If you work in a localized copy of After Effects, running the latest version avoids the advanced stroke issue.
Handy Hands 2 includes style buttons that switch between preset looks, among them Simple Fill, Separated, Tapered Stroke and Advanced Stroke. Alongside styling, it adds management buttons to swap left and right, rotate a hand 180 degrees, and add a linked hand. A 3-fingered mode gives you three fingers rather than four in some styles. All of this sits in a panel with compact icon-based tabs and a detailed view carrying text descriptions for each button and feature.
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