Workflower User Guide
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  • Introduction
  • What's new in v2.5?
    • What's new in v2.0?
    • What's new in v1.1?
  • Releases
    • Download Old Versions
  • Compatibility
  • F.A.Q.
  • Known Bugs
  • Installation
  • Video Tutorials
  • Ask Workflower GPT
  • Main Functions
    • Main Menu
    • Shortcuts
    • Layout
    • Connections
    • Scripting API [Beta]
  • Group Functions
    • Create and Duplicate Groups
    • Collapse and Select Groups
    • Delete, Ungroup and Dissolve Groups
    • Parent Group Layers
    • Disable, Solo and Lock Groups
    • Miscellaneous Group Functions
  • Layer Functions
    • Matting
    • Cloning
    • Adjustment Layers
    • Renaming
    • Relabeling
    • Storing Layers
    • Tagging Layers
    • Pre-Rendering
    • Precomposing
    • Miscellaneous Layer Functions
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On this page
  • Shortcut Modes
  • Single Script Mode (Windows only)
  • Individual Scripts Mode (Windows + Mac)
  • Shortcut Issues for Japanese Users on Windows (others might be affected too)
  • Switching the OS Language
  • Default Shortcuts
  • Main Functions
  • Group Functions
  • Layer Functions
  • Panel Shortcuts
  • Double-Click Shortcuts

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  1. Main Functions

Shortcuts

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Last updated 4 months ago

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For more information on how to install the shortcuts for the first time, go to the page.

Shortcut Modes

On Windows, you can choose between two ways on how Workflower applies its shortcuts: Single Script Mode and Individual Scripts Mode. To change the mode, go to Settings / Shortcuts.

On Mac, due to scripting limitations, you only can use the Individual Scripts Mode.

Single Script Mode (Windows only)

Single Script Mode unifies all shortcuts in one script in AE's Script folder. You can apply as many shortcuts as you like. Within AE, all shortcuts get applied to the one Workflower script. All shortcuts call the script and within the script itself, it is being determined which specific keys are being pressed in order to execute the corresponding function.

Advantages of Single Script Mode

The advantage of Single Script Mode is that you don't need multiple scripts within AE's scripts folder which can get messy, especially when adding other scripts to the folder. Also because you can only apply a maximum of 20 shortcuts to scripts, you otherwise couldn't apply shortcuts to all Workflower functions. It would limit the number of shortcuts you can apply to non-Workflower scripts, too.

Disadvantages Single Script Mode

In some instances, there might be some sort of lag between pressing the shortcut and the execution of the function.

Also, in very rare instances, the Workflower Main Menu will come up although you pressed another shortcut. This happens when you let go of the keys too early because, at the moment when the script is called, there are no keys to gather information from. And when no shortcut is being registered, the Workflower Main Menu will always come up.

In rare instances as well, no function might be executed at all. An error message will pop up telling you that this is a known bug. Often you can just keep on working but sometimes pressing shortcuts will continue not to work. This is because of a bug within the Adobe scripting environment. The variable that reads the currently pressed key will return without result and will be broken from then on. You will have to restart your computer. (Sometimes just restarting After Effects will help, too.) After that, shortcuts should work without a problem.

If you encounter too many problems when using shortcuts on Windows, switch to Individual Scripts Mode instead. You will only have a maximum of 20 shortcuts t o assign but you will not encounter any bugs anymore. However, because of its advantages, we still recommend Single Script Mode for most users.

Individual Scripts Mode (Windows + Mac)

Individual Scripts Mode will create one script for every shortcut within AE's Script folder.

On Windows, you will have to run After Effects as administrator when opening up the Keyboard Shortcuts panel in Individual Scripts Mode. After setting the shortcuts, you don't have to run it as an administrator anymore. On Mac, this isn't necessary.

Shortcut Slots

Within the Keyboard Shortcuts panel, you can define how many Workflower scripts (slots) should be created. You can create up to 20 shortcut slots. When you create 20 slots, however, you cannot assign shortcuts to non-Workflower scripts, since After Effects only allows for up to 20 shortcuts to be applied to scripts. If you want to assign shortcuts to other scripts, lower the number of slots via the dedicated dropdown.

Be aware that every time you change the number of slots, all non-Workflower script shortcuts will get deleted.

When you set shortcuts for the first time, or when you change the number of slots, you will have to restart After Effects after saving to correctly apply the shortcuts. This is because Workflower scripts will have to created/removed and After Effects only loads new scripts when starting up. If the number of slots stays the same, however, you don't have to restart After Effects.

If you have other scripts before --- Workflower ---.jsxbin within AE's Script folder, your available number of slots will be lower than 20 since shortcuts can only be applied to the first 20 scripts. Change the name of the other scripts or move them out of the folder to increase the number of slots.

When you switch from Single Script Mode to Individual Scripts Mode, only the first 20 functions within the panel will have a shortcut. Click on Reset to Default to set shortcuts to the 20 most important functions instead.

When you switched from Individual Scripts Mode back to Single Script Mode and you want to remove the created Workflower script files from AE's scripts folder, you need to run AE as administrator, go to Wokflower's shortcuts panel, and just hit Save. (You can also simply manually remove the files AE's scripts folder. Make sure to keep your original --- Workflower ---.jsxbin!) Now restart AE and the additional script files will be gone from the menu.

Shortcut Issues for Japanese Users on Windows (others might be affected too)

Japanese users on Windows seem to encounter two main issues with Workflower's shortcuts:

These issues are due to an AE bug which only occurs when the OS language is Japanese. It has been reported to Adobe but as long as they haven't fixed this, Japanese users will have to rely on the following solutions:

  1. (You might have to restart AE for the change to take effect.)

  2. Open up Workflower's shortcuts panel, type in your shortcuts, and save them.

  3. Now switch your OS language back to Japanese.

Switching the OS Language

If you need to know how to switch the language of your OS, here's how you do it:

  1. If you haven't installed the US language yet, go to Windows' Language settings.

  2. Click on Add a language, then add English (United States).

  3. You can even choose to use the Japanese keyboard layout with the English language: After installing, click on English (United States), then on Options, and then on Add a keyboard to add the Japanese keyboard.

  4. Now, on the right side of Windows' taskbar, just click on the language button and choose English (United States) / Japanese keyboard (or just English (United States) if you haven't added the Japanese keyboard layout to it).

Default Shortcuts

To make room for those, the following functions have been removed from the list of functions with default shortcuts:

Sometimes language-specific shortcuts (like German or French) won't get applied correctly by default because the OS or AE language can't get detected accurately. In that case, the English shortcut will be applied. If you want the best user experience, change the shortcuts to their default according to this table (most relevant in the case of Refresh Layout).

Main Functions

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+X

macControl+X

Settings

Ctrl+Alt+F1

-

Ctrl+Alt+F2

-

Shift+Z

Shift+Z

- German

Shift+Y

Shift+Y

- French

Shift+W

Shift+W

Shift+I

-

Shift+O

-

-

-

Ctrl+Alt+Q

macControl+Q

Alt+F2

macControl+2

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I

(removed in v2.0 ->) macControl+I

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+0

-

Alt+Shift+F2

-

Group Functions

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Shift+F1

macControl+1

Shift+X

Shift+X

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+B

-

Shift+D

Shift+D

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M

-

Shift+FwdDel

Shift+Delete

Shift+H

Shift+H (added in v1.1)

Ctrl+Shift+FwdDel

-

Ctrl+Alt+3 (changed in v2.0 from Shift+J)

-

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3 (changed in v2.0 from Shift+K)

-

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+9 (added in v1.1)

-

Shift+B

Shift+B

Ctrl+Alt+D

macControl+D

-

-

Ctrl+Shift+Space

Option+Space

Layer Functions

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+Z

macControl+Z

- German

Shift+Z

macControl+Z

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z

-

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+W

macControl+W

Shift+N

(removed in v1.1 ->) Shift+N

Ctrl+Shift+Return

macControl+Return

Ctrl+Alt+Return (added in v2.5)

-

Ctrl+Alt+.

-

-

-

Shift+Return

Shift+Return

-

-

Ctrl+Shift+6

(removed in v1.1 ->) Shift+macControl+6

Ctrl+Shift+7

-

Ctrl+Shift+8

-

Ctrl+Alt+6

macControl+6

Ctrl+Alt+7

-

Ctrl+Alt+8

-

Ctrl+Shift+B (added in v2.0)

-

Ctrl+Shift+2 (added in v2.0)

macControl+R (added in v2.0)

Ctrl+F3 (added in v2.0)

-

Ctrl+F5 (added in v2.0)

-

Ctrl+F6 (added in v2.0)

-

Alt+F1

macControl+3

-

-

Ctrl+F2 (added in v2.5)

-

Ctrl+Alt+Space (added in v2.5)

-

Ctrl+F1 (added in v1.1)

macControl+C (added in v1.1)

-

-

-

-

Alt+F9 (changed in v2.0 from Alt+F5)

-

Panel Shortcuts

Panel shortcuts can't be modified.

All Panels (Main Menu, Rename Layer/s, Relabel Layer/s, Tag Layer/s) (Windows only)

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Move Panel left

Ctrl+Alt+Left

-

Move Panel right

Ctrl+Alt+Right

-

Move Panel up

Ctrl+Alt+Up

-

Move Panel down

Ctrl+Alt+Down

-

Center Panel

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left

-

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right

-

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Up

-

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Down

-

Rename Panel

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Re-Rename on Dependency

(surrounding Layers)

Ctrl+Alt+Return

Cmd+Option+Return

Re-Rename on Dependency

(all Layers in Comp)

Ctrl+Return

Cmd+Return

Rename all Instances of Name

Shift+Return

Shift+Return

Switch Split <-> Full Mode

Alt+Return

Option+Return

Flip one Name Level backward

Alt+Left

Option+Left

Flip one Name Level forward

Alt+Right

Option+Right

Add new Name Level

Alt+Up

Option+Up

Delete current Name Level

Alt+Down

Option+Down

Relabel Panel

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Change Label Color

Shift+Click on Color

Shift+Click on Color

Change and Apply Label Color

Ctrl+Click on Color

Cmd+Click on Color

Open AE Label Color Preferences

Alt+Click on Color

Option+Click on Color

Relabel entire Keyframe Label Group in Comp (added in v2.0)

Ctrl+Alt+Click on Color

Cmd+Option+Click on Color

Apply Label Color by Shortcut (added in v2.0)

1 - 9, A - G

1 - 9, A - G

Tag / Untag Layer/s Panel

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Rename / Remove Tag Group

Shift+Click on Color

Shift+Click on Color

Tag / Untag Layer/s by Shortcut

1 - 9, A - G

1 - 9, A - G

Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s Panel

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Toggle States when performing Action

Left-Click on Color

Left-Click on Color

Enable States when performing Action

Center-Click on Color

Center-Click on Color

Disable States when performing Action

Right-Click on Color

Right-Click on Color

Activate / Deactivate (Apply directly)

Ctrl+Click on Color

Cmd+Click on Color

Solo / Unsolo (Apply directly)

Alt+Click on Color

Option+Click on Color

Select / Deselect (Apply directly)

Ctrl+Alt+Click on Color

Cmd+Option+Click on Color

Jump To (Apply directly)

Ctrl+Shift+Click on Color

Cmd+Shift+Click on Color

Continue to Perform Actions

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Click on Color

Cmd+Option+Shift+Click on Color

Activate / Deactivate (Select on Panel)

T

T

Enable / Disable (Select on Panel)

N

N

Solo / Unsolo (Select on Panel)

O

O

Lock / Unlock (Select on Panel)

L

L

Select / Deselect (Select on Panel)

S

S

Toggle Effects (Select on Panel)

F

F

Toggle Motion Blur (Select on Panel)

M

M

Jump To (Select on Panel)

J

J

Rename / Remove Tag Group

Shift+Click on Color

Shift+Click on Color

Perform Action on Tag Group by Shortcut

1 - 9, A - G

1 - 9, A - G

Double-Click Shortcuts

Please note that by double-clicking a group header, you can only execute the action if you have a single group header selected. If you want to execute the action on multiple groups, you have to execute Workflower's dedicated functions for that.

Function
Shortcut (Win)
Shortcut (Mac)

Double-Click on group header

Double-Click on group header

Alt+Double-Click on group header

Option+Double-Click on group header

Shift+Double-Click on group header

Shift+Double-Click on group header

Ctrl+Shift+Double-Click on group header

Cmd+Shift+Double-Click on group header

Ctrl+Shift+Double-Click on regular layer

Cmd+Shift+Double-Click on regular layer

When the OS language is Japanese, Single Script Mode doesn't seem to work. Please switch your OS language to US or similar, or use instead. .

In case you experience issues when trying to assign a shortcut to a another script, please read first.

doesn't work.

Typing in custom shortcuts on Workflower's doesn't work.

Japanese users can use Single Script Mode and type in custom Workflower shortcuts when . As it might be unpractical to have the OS language changed for the whole time you're running AE, using Single Script Mode that way doesn't seem like a viable workaround for most users, though. (You will have to use which will work without a problem in your OS language.) However, you can use this workaround to at least type in custom shortcuts on Workflower's shortcut panel:

Temporarily .

Notice for Windows users with enabled:

Due to AE now occupying Shift+J and Shift+K, the default shortcut for has been changed to Ctrl+Alt+3 and for to Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3.

Additionally, in AE 22 and below: Due to now occupying Alt+F5, the default shortcut for has been changed to Alt+9.

Notice for Mac users or Windows users with enabled:

New default shortcuts have been added in and :

(Win: Alt+F3, Mac: macControl+R) [added in v2.0]

(Win+Mac: Shift+H) [added in v1.1]

(Win: Alt+F3, Mac: macControl+C) [added in v1.1]

[removed in v2.0]

[removed in v1.1]

[removed in v1.1]

(only when using AE 22 or below)

(Added in )

For double-clicking behavior to work, you need the WQ plug-in installed that you find in your installation files. For installation instructions, please read the user guide chapter on .

(added in v2.5; has to be enabled in Layout Settings)

Individual Scripts Mode
More info on shortcut issues for Japanese users
Single Script Shortcut Mode
Shortcut Panel
they switch the OS language to US or similar
Individual Scripts Shortcut Mode
switch your OS language to US or similar
Individual Scripts Mode
Main Menu
Keyboard Shortcuts
Single Script Mode
Parent Layers to Group
Set Parent Exception Layer
Parent Layers to Group
Set Parent Exception Layer
version 2.0
version 2.0
version 1.1
version 2.0
Create Matte
Merge Mattes
Unshy Layers
Unshy Layers
Activate / Deactivate Tag Group 2
Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s
Tag / Untag Layer/s
Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s
Activate / Deactivate Tag Group 1
Activate / Deactivate Tag Group 2
Activate / Deactivate Tag Group 3
this F.A.Q. entry
Precompose
Precompose
Store Layers 1
Store Layers 1
Store Layers 2
Store Layers 3
Paste Stored Layers 1
Paste Stored Layers 2
Paste Stored Layers 3
Installation
Shortcuts Installation
Clone in Comp
Clone and Precomp
Clone in Comp
Show Clone Layers
Show and Clone Layers
Add Layer References
Refresh Connections
Quick Refresh Connections
Add / Remove Layer / Mask References
Link / Unlink Properties
Center Group Header
Expand / Collapse Group
Expand / Collapse all Sub-Groups
Select Group
Expand / Collapse Group
Select Group
Ungroup Layer/s
Delete Layer / Clone / Group
Ungroup Layers
Dissolve Group
Create Group
Duplicate Group
Refresh Layout
Toggle Non-Indented
Toggle Expression Mode
Show / Hide Layer Relationships
Sort Project Items
Show / Hide Movie Indicator
Show / Hide Move Indicator
Shortcut Mode Dropdown (on Windows only)
Unrecognized Keypress Error Message
Shortcut Slots Dropdown
Enable / Disable Group
Solo Group
Lock Group
Enable / Disable Group
Solo Group
Rename Layer/s
Rename Layers by Number
Pre-Render
Show / Hide Pre-Render
Relabel Layer / Group / Keyframe
Reveal Layer Opacity
Trim Layers to Keyframes
Trim Layer to Layer
Linked Adjustment Layer
Matted Adjustment Layer