Palf PixelPaint

1. 01

   Quit Adobe After Effects completely.

2. 02

   Copy PixelWriteOn.aex and PixelStroke.aex (Windows), or each .plugin (macOS), into the Plug-ins folder.

3. 03

   Start After Effects. Both effects appear under Effect > Palf. If After Effects was already running, restart it so the plug-ins load.

Windows

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects <version>\Support Files\Plug-ins\

macOS

/Applications/Adobe After Effects <version>/Plug-ins/

Requirements: After Effects 2023–2026 / Windows / macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or later.

Palf Pixel Write-on: apply to the layer and animate Brush Position. Palf Pixel Stroke: create or select mask paths, apply the effect, then set Path and Start / End.

Brush Position

Brush centre in layer space. Sampled from effect time zero to the current time to rebuild the trail.

Colour / Brush Size

Stamp colour (default white) and brush diameter in full-resolution pixels (1–4096, default 8). Cell count scales with Resolution.

Shape

Round / Square. Default: Round.

Stroke Length (sec) / Brush Spacing (sec)

Seconds of past brush motion at the current time (default 2.0) and the time interval between stamps (current time always included; default ≈ 1/24 s).

Resolution

Paint-grid resolution 1–100%. At 100%, one cell = one pixel. Lower resolutions expand the binary mask with nearest-neighbour; the source image is never resampled.

Paint Style

On Original Image / On Transparent / Reveal Original Image. Changes compositing for covered and uncovered cells.

Path / All Masks

Select the mask path when All Masks is off. When on, strokes every mask as geometry only (mode, inversion, opacity and feather are ignored).

Stroke Sequentially

Available when All Masks is on. On: Start–End is split evenly across paths in index order. Off: every path uses the same Start–End independently.

Colour / Brush Size / Shape

Same brush settings as Write-on.

Start / End

Trim along path length (0–100%). No paint if Start ≥ End.

Spacing / Resolution

Stamp distance as a percentage of Brush Size (not a time unit), plus the same Resolution behaviour as Write-on.

Paint Style

The same three compositing styles as Write-on.

Only the paint mask is binary. Reveal Original Image keeps source colour / alpha inside covered cells. For a progressive multi-path reveal, enable All Masks and Stroke Sequentially, then animate Start / End. Combine both effects when you need freehand trails and mask strokes together.

The free DEMO includes both Write-on and Stroke with the same controls as the full set, plus a red cross watermark on every frame. Effects appear as “Palf Pixel Write-on DEMO” and “Palf Pixel Stroke DEMO” (PixelWriteOn_DEMO / PixelStroke_DEMO) and can sit alongside the full plug-ins.