Importing Illustrator Files into After Effects as Layers

If your layered Adobe Illustrator file is importing into Adobe After Effects with layers mysteriously cropped (especially anything extending beyond the artboard), this quick walkthrough explains why it happens—and the clean fix. You’ll see the difference between importing as Composition vs Composition – Retain Layer Sizes, why both can still clip artwork outside the artboard, and the key detail After Effects is implicitly expecting: a two–artboard Illustrator document—one artboard to define the comp dimensions, and a second (larger) artboard to define the “safe boundary” that contains all artwork. What you’ll learn Why “missing” artwork outside the artboard is not an After Effects bug How AE treats Illustrator imports when it assumes multiple artboards The correct Illustrator setup: Artboard 1: comp size (e.g., 1080×1080 square) Artboard 2: oversized boundary that encloses all artwork A fast workaround if your file wasn’t created from a Film/Video preset Chapters / Timestamps 00:00 — Overview: AE + Illustrator layered workflow (and the common misunderstanding) 00:20 — Starting Illustrator file: 1 artboard, 3 layers (1080×1080 square example) 00:31 — Import options in After Effects (flat vs layered comps) 00:59 — Why layers get cropped with “Composition” 01:43 — Why “Retain Layer Sizes” still clips artwork outside the artboard 02:08 — Key point: this is expected behavior based on how AE reads AI files 02:36 — The solution: the “two artboards” assumption (Film/Video presets) 04:06 — Fixing an existing file: duplicate an artboard without duplicating artwork (lock layers first) 04:54 — Scale the second artboard to enclose everything (Option/Alt + Shift) 05:33 — Re-import into AE: “Composition – Retain Layer Sizes” and confirm nothing is trimmed 06:03 — Final guidance: center/align artboards to avoid shifts Quick takeaway If you want all Illustrator layer content preserved in After Effects, set up two artboards: the exact comp size, and 2) a larger boundary artboard that contains all artwork. Keywords: After Effects Illustrator import, layered AI into AE, retain layer sizes, cropped layers fix, artboards workflow, motion graphics pipeline