How to Use the Typewriter Preset in After Effects

The Typewriter preset in After Effects is undoubtably one of the most handy built-in presets. It automatically animates text one character at a time.

How to use the Typewriter preset

1. Select a text layer.
2. Apply the Typewriter preset from the Effects & Presets panel.
3. Adjust the applied keyframes. By default the animation begins at the current time indicator and runs for 2.5 seconds. You can modify keyframes to speed up or slow down the animation.

How the Typewriter preset works

The preset modifies hidden Animator properties accessible via Animate > All Transform Properties. Specifically, it:

1. Sets Start (Animator 1 > Range Selector 1) to 100%
2. Adds 0% & 100% keyframes to End (Animator 1 > Range Selector 1)
3. Sets Smoothness (Animator 1 > Range Selector 1 > Advanced) to 0%
4. Sets Opacity (Animator 1) to 0%

Typewriter limitations

Type is only animated in by opacity -- This works for many applications but creates unnatural results with center or right paragraph alignment.

Text box remains static -- The text box size doesn't change with displayed content, breaking the sourceRectAtTime() expression used in tools like Type, Get Rect, and Parental Controls.

Keyframes are imprecise -- The animation doesn't align accurately with keyframes, potentially finishing before the Start value reaches 100%.

Typewriter+

To address these limitations, we created Typewriter+, a free improved version using an expression-based approach that overcomes the default preset's constraints while maintaining similar ease of use.