Brand colors usually start in Illustrator and end up in After Effects, but moving a palette between the two apps means re-entering hex codes by hand. This article covers the native workflow and a faster way to keep one palette synced across both.
The native workflow
Illustrator handles palettes well on its own. The Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) holds individual colors, gradients, and patterns, and the New Color Group button organizes them into named groups. If a project's artwork already uses the right colors, selecting it before clicking New Color Group lets Illustrator build the swatch group automatically from the Selected Artwork option.
From there, Illustrator gives two options for using palettes in other projects. Save Swatches (Swatch Library Menu > Save Swatches) writes a local ASE file that loads through Window > Swatch Libraries > Other Library, but it lives on one machine. Creative Cloud Libraries syncs swatches across devices and into other Adobe apps including After Effects, with the caveat that each library color group caps at five swatches, so anything larger has to be split across groups.
In After Effects, there is no native Swatches panel. Color values live on individual layer properties, the Character panel, or solid layers, and there's no shared palette concept to import into. ASE files don't open in After Effects directly. Designers passing colors to motion typically paste hex codes into a doc, save reference JPGs, or build a color comp guide for the motion designer to sample from, and any palette edits made downstream rarely make it back to the source.
How do I share a color palette between After Effects and Illustrator?
Motion Studio's Color extension installs in both After Effects and Illustrator and pulls from a shared palette library managed in the Motion Studio app under Library > Color. Any palette in that library appears live in both extension panels. Editing a swatch in one app immediately updates the palette across the other apps.
Click a swatch in either Color panel to apply it. In After Effects it sets fill or stroke on selected layers. In Illustrator it sets fill or stroke on selected objects.
Palettes can be reordered by dragging in the app, and changes reflect immediately in any open extension panel. Palette groups aren't capped at five swatches, so brand systems with extended color ranges stay in one place.
How do I import an ASE file into After Effects?
After Effects doesn't natively support ASE files. You can use Motion Studio to sync palettes from ASEs between both apps. Drop the ASE file into the Color library in the Motion Studio app, or import it through an open extension panel. Either route lands the palette in the same library and syncs it across After Effects and Illustrator. Existing Illustrator swatch libraries saved as ASE move over without re-entering colors.
ASE files store swatches in different color spaces. RGB and grayscale swatches import straight into the library. If the file contains CMYK swatches (common in print-oriented brand palettes), Motion Studio shows an import dialog before adding the palette, because CMYK has to be converted to RGB to display on screen.
The dialog exposes two options:
- CMYK Profile: lists every CMYK ICC profile installed on the system. Motion Studio scans the standard ColorSync and Adobe Color directories on macOS, and the Windows color directory and Adobe Color folders on Windows, and reads each profile's header to filter for CMYK profiles specifically. US Web Coated SWOP is selected by default when available.
- Rendering Intent: Relative Colorimetric (with Black Point Compensation), Perceptual, Saturation, or Absolute Colorimetric. Relative Colorimetric is the default and matches the standard Adobe conversion behavior.
For palettes already exported from Motion Studio, the app uses JSON. Right-click a palette and choose Export Palette to save a .json file named after the palette (e.g. brights.json). Import works the same way: bring the JSON back into the app or an extension panel and the palette syncs everywhere. This is useful for sharing across machines or with co-workers who also have Motion Studio installed.
How do I build a palette from a brand image or reference?
The Color library includes a Create Palette from File button. Drop an image into the window and the app generates a range of palettes from it. The generated palettes land in the library and sync to both extensions like any other palette.
What's in the Color extension panel itself?
Beyond palettes, the Color panel handles fill and stroke for selected layers (AE) or objects (Illustrator):
- Fill / Stroke: set or adjust either independently
- Eyedropper: sample color values from anywhere on screen, including outside the host app
- Copy Color / Paste Color: store and apply color properties between selections
- Swap: exchange fill and stroke values
- Sliders: Hue, Saturation, Vibrance, Opacity, and Stroke Width
The Info drawer in the app exposes HEX, RGBA, CMYK, and HSL values for any selected swatch, all copyable to clipboard. Individual swatches can be edited, deleted, or copied and pasted between palettes.
Dive in to the documentation here --> https://motion-studio.mtmograph.com/libraries/palettes
Common Questions about Sharing Color Palettes in After Effects
Can I sync Illustrator swatches to After Effects?
Natively, the closest option is Creative Cloud Libraries. Add the Illustrator swatch group to a library through the Add Selected Swatches and Color Groups button, and the colors appear in the After Effects Libraries panel on any signed-in device. Color groups are capped at five swatches, so larger palettes get split across multiple groups.
With Motion Studio installed, save the Illustrator swatch group as ASE through the Swatch Library Menu and import the ASE file into the Color library in the Motion Studio app, or into the Color panel in either host. The palette syncs to both the AE and Illustrator Color panels with no swatch cap.
Can I use Creative Cloud Libraries to share palettes with After Effects?
Yes. CC Libraries is the native cross-app option. Swatches added to a library in Illustrator appear in the After Effects Libraries panel, and the library follows your Adobe account across devices. The two practical limits are the five-swatch cap per color group and that swatches apply through the Libraries panel rather than a dedicated color UI.
Motion Studio's Color library covers the same cross-app goal without the swatch cap and applies colors directly as fill or stroke on selected layers.
How do I share a color palette with another designer?
Natively, save the Illustrator swatch group as ASE (Swatch Library Menu > Save Swatches) and send the file. The recipient loads it through Window > Swatch Libraries > Other Library. CC Libraries also has a Collaborate or Share Link option that shares the whole library with view or edit access, with the note that you can only share a full library, not a single color group.
In Motion Studio, right-click the palette in the app and choose Export Palette. This saves a JSON file named after the palette. The recipient imports it through their Motion Studio app or extension panel, and it syncs to both their AE and Illustrator panels.
Does After Effects support ASE files natively?
No. After Effects has no native ASE import. The closest native path is Creative Cloud Libraries: add the swatches to a library in Illustrator and they show up in the After Effects Libraries panel.
Motion Studio's Color extension imports ASE files directly, including CMYK ASEs through a color-managed conversion, and surfaces the palette in a dedicated Color panel in After Effects.
How do I convert a CMYK ASE file to RGB for After Effects?
Natively, the conversion happens in Illustrator (or Photoshop): open the ASE swatches, change the document color mode to RGB, and the swatches convert using the document's color settings. The converted swatches can then be re-saved as an RGB ASE or added to a Creative Cloud Library.
In Motion Studio, importing a CMYK ASE opens a conversion dialog with a CMYK ICC profile picker (defaulting to US Web Coated SWOP if installed) and a rendering intent picker (defaulting to Relative Colorimetric with Black Point Compensation). The conversion uses Little CMS and the resulting RGB palette syncs to both the AE and Illustrator Color panels.
Can I edit a palette in After Effects and have it update in Illustrator?
With CC Libraries, edits made to a library swatch in one Adobe app propagate to the same library in other apps once the library re-syncs, though After Effects edits go through the Libraries panel rather than a swatch editor.
In Motion Studio, palettes are managed in the Motion Studio app. Edits in the app, including reordering, renaming, and editing individual swatches, reflect immediately in any open Color panel in After Effects or Illustrator.
How do I generate a color palette from an image?
In Illustrator, place the image, select it, and use Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork, or use the Color Themes panel (Window > Color Themes) to extract a theme from the active document. The extracted colors can be saved into the Swatches panel or a Creative Cloud Library.
In Motion Studio, the Color library includes a Create Palette from File button. Drop an image into the window and Motion Studio generates a range of palettes. The results land in the library and sync to both AE and Illustrator.
Can I share palettes across workstations?
Creative Cloud Libraries handles this natively for any swatches added to a library, since libraries follow your Adobe account across machines. Locally saved ASE files in Illustrator's user library don't travel between computers on their own.
In Motion Studio, export the palette as JSON from the app and import it on the other workstation. The palette then syncs to that machine's AE and Illustrator Color panels through its Motion Studio app.
Motion Studio's Color extension is available in After Effects and Illustrator. Try Motion Studio free for 7 days, no credit card required.