by Maher Wali·Workflow
Images © Maher Wali. Used for product review; image policy.
PathLink earns its place in the aescripts library for keeping Illustrator paths editable after transfer and for working in both directions between the two applications.
PathLink moves complex designs between Illustrator and After Effects. Illustrator vectors convert into After Effects shapes without losing fidelity, and the resulting paths stay editable, so you can refine and animate them in After Effects without redrawing.
The workflow runs in both directions: send paths from Illustrator to After Effects for animation, or send them from After Effects back to Illustrator for refinement, with gradient and text support on the return. Transfers preserve nested group structures and clipping masks with mask and content intact, and support Illustrator text-on-path. You can transfer Drop Shadow, Gaussian Blur, and Feather effects, deliver selected artwork into several open compositions at once, and send images from Illustrator to After Effects — images with no linked files are stored in an assets folder beside the After Effects project. Transferred layers start at the current time indicator position.
PathLink is listed on aescripts and is compatible with After Effects 2026 and 2025 and Illustrator 2026 and 2025. Version 1.6.1 arrived on April 6, 2026, and a demo video is available.
PathLink is best for artists moving Illustrator artwork into After Effects for animation, and sending refined paths, text, and gradients back to Illustrator.
PathLink is completely free to download and use.
PathLink lists compatibility with After Effects 2026 and 2025, and Illustrator 2026 and 2025. An earlier update added automatic installation for After Effects 2026 and Illustrator 2026, and version 1.6.1 brought support for clipping masks, text-on-path, compound paths, and Drop Shadow, Gaussian Blur, and Feather effects. If you run a different release of either application, check the developer's page to confirm current support before installing.
PathLink works in both directions. You can send paths from Illustrator to After Effects for animation, then send them from After Effects back to Illustrator for refinement. The return trip includes gradient support and can send text back to Illustrator. Going the other way, transfers from Illustrator to After Effects preserve nested group structures and clipping masks with the mask and its content intact, and support Illustrator text-on-path workflows.
PathLink converts Illustrator vectors into After Effects shapes without losing fidelity, and those paths remain editable once inside After Effects, so you can refine and animate them there without redrawing. Transferred layers start at the current time indicator position for timing control, and you can deliver a selected piece of Illustrator artwork into several open After Effects compositions in one pass. Images transfer too — any image with no linked file is stored in an assets folder in the same directory as the After Effects project.
PathLink can send images from Illustrator to After Effects. When an image has no linked file, PathLink stores it in an assets folder created in the same directory as the After Effects project, so the transferred artwork stays available. Image support arrived in version 1.4.0 on February 16, 2026. Alongside images, PathLink also transfers vector paths, nested groups, clipping masks, text-on-path, and Drop Shadow, Gaussian Blur, and Feather effects from Illustrator into After Effects.
PathLink is listed as free in this catalog. Since licensing and any pricing can change, check the developer's page on aescripts for the current terms before you download. The current build is version 1.6.1, released April 6, 2026, which added clipping masks, text-on-path, compound paths, and Drop Shadow, Gaussian Blur, and Feather effects, along with improvements to nested groups and separate fill and stroke opacity.
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