To chain layers in Templater, you attach each layer to the one before it along an edge. To group them, you give the first layer the Cap position, the last the Base, and everything between Middle. To align a layer, you pick an edge or corner of its composition and set the padding. This page walks through all three as one build, in the order that works.
We are going to build it in steps because the three features depend on each other. Alignment pins your first layer to a place. Chaining hangs the other layers off it. Grouping tells Templater to treat the finished chain as one object. If you do them out of order, you spend the afternoon wondering why layers land where they do. Everything below comes from our own documentation for Templater, and we mark the few places where we are adding general practice that the documentation does not state. If you want the broader comparison of all the layout tools first, read our overview of layout rules.
Step one: align the first layer, with padding
Open a composition and make a new layer, or pick the layer that will act as the master. Apply the Templater Settings effect. In its effect controls, find the Alignment parameters. This is where you tell the layer which part of its parent composition to anchor to.
Build order
Three steps to chain, group and align
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Align the first layerApply the Templater Settings effect and use the Alignment parameters to anchor the layer to a side or corner of its parent composition, then set Padding.
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Chain the other layersIn each layer’s Attachment controls, choose the previous layer in Attach to Layer and choose an edge in Attach On so changes cascade down the chain.
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Group the chainAssign Cap to the first layer, Middle to every layer between, and Base to the last, then set Group Direction to Vertical or Horizontal.
The Align to menu lists the choices. For sides, you have Left, Left centered, Top, Top centered, Right, Right centered, Bottom and Bottom Centered. For corners, you have Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left and Bottom Right. There is also None Centered. Choose the one that matches where this layer should live in the frame, whatever the data says. A name that belongs in the lower left of a lower third gets Bottom Left.
Alignment options
Align to menu: sides and corners
| Option type | Named choices | Example use |
|---|---|---|
| Sides | Left, Left centered, Top, Top centered, Right, Right centered, Bottom, Bottom Centered | Text that lives along one edge |
| Corners | Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right | Lower-third name in the bottom left |
| Center | None Centered | Layer centered in the frame |
The Padding field comes next, and it is easy to skip. Padding adds a cushion of pixels on the side or corner you selected. The reason you want it is that text aligned flush against an edge looks cramped. Padding is a number you pick for yourself, and we are not going to hand you one, because the right value depends on your frame size and design. Pick a value, render a preview, and adjust.
Two checkboxes change how the alignment is measured. Initialize to Center makes the layer start from the center of the composition before it moves to the alignment you chose. Consider anchor point measures the alignment relative to the layer’s anchor point instead of its bounding box. The bounding box is the default behavior. That matters for text, because a text layer’s box grows and shrinks with its content, so aligning by the box keeps the visible words against the edge. If you have moved the anchor point on purpose, for a design reason, switch Consider anchor point on so the alignment honors it.
Last, check your work without leaving After Effects. In the Templater panel, the Preview uses dropdown has a current state option. Choose it, and Templater shows how its layout engine interprets your alignment choice. Do this after every setting for the first project. It shows what Templater thinks you asked for.
One limit belongs here, because it affects all three features. Layout rules will not function correctly for any layer property that has Separate Dimensions enabled. If you have split position into separate X and Y on a layer, combine them again before you rely on alignment.
Step two: chain the other layers to the first
Chaining is a series of attachments. You are not learning a new tool here. You are repeating one move several times, and the move is attaching a layer to a sibling.
Take a composition with four dynamic layers named a, b, c and d. Layer a is the master, the one you aligned in step one. Now work down the line.
Select b. In its Templater Settings controls, go to Attachment. In the Attach to Layer drop down, choose a. In the Attach On drop down, choose the bottom edge. Layer b now repositions itself under a whenever a updates with new data. Select c, attach it to b along the bottom edge. Select d, attach it to c along the bottom edge.
The reason this works is in how Templater processes a row. When it updates a dynamic layer’s position and scale, it adjusts the position of any sibling layers attached to that layer. So when a takes a longer string and grows taller, b moves down. When b moves, c moves. When c moves, d moves. You changed one layer’s data and the whole stack responded. That is what the documentation means when it says changes to a single dynamic layer cascade to all chained layers.
Each attachment has two refinements. Attach padding is a slider that adds a cushion of pixels along the attached edge or corner. Use it so the lines of a stack do not touch. Center on edges is a checkbox for when you are attaching to an edge and want the layer centered on that edge of the sibling. It suits a badge sitting centered above or beside a line of text.
The edge you pick in Attach On also has a list of options beyond the bottom. You can attach on the left edge, left centered, top, top centered, right, right centered, bottom, bottom centered, and the four corners. Choose bottom when building a vertical stack. Choose right when you are building a row. Choose a corner when the follower should hang diagonally off the sibling.
The documentation includes one explicit warning. A layer cannot be attached to itself. If you do it by accident, for example by picking the wrong name in a long list of layers, you get unexpected results. When a chain misbehaves, the first thing to check is the Attach to Layer field on each link. A chain is only as good as its links. A layer pointing at the wrong sibling, or at itself, breaks everything behind it.
A chain also does not have to carry text on every link. You can apply the Templater Settings effect to a layer that holds no dynamic data, such as a fixed logo or a divider line, and use it just for its transform properties. In that case Templater adjusts how the layer is positioned and leaves its contents alone. That is how a static graphic can follow a dynamic text layer. Our walkthrough on making a graphic follow a changing text layer covers that case in detail.
Step three: group the chain so it moves as one object
A chain by itself gives you correct spacing between layers. A group goes further. Grouping tells Templater to consider the chained siblings as a single object and lay them out together, instead of as individual objects. As of Templater 3.3 you can group dynamic comp layers horizontally or vertically. If you are on an older version, upgrade first. Our page on system requirements, installation and upgrades explains how.
You repeat the same steps for each layer in the chain. Go to the Templater Settings effect, open the Layout controls, and pick a value from the Group Position drop down.
The first layer in the group gets Cap. Every layer after it and before the last gets Middle. The final layer gets Base. Picture the a, b, c, d chain as a horizontal group. Then a is the Cap on the left, b and c are the Middle layers in that order, and d is the Base on the right. In a vertical group, the Cap is at the top and the Base is at the bottom.
After Group Position, set the Group Direction. The default is Vertical, and vertical groups are built from top to bottom. A Horizontal group is built from left to right. The reason the direction matters is that the group is one object with one axis. Templater needs to know whether it is laying out a column or a row.
Then click the Magic Wand tool in the Transport area of the main Templater panel to see how the layout engine interprets the result. Run it on a row with short text and a row with long text. The short row confirms the spacing you intended. The long row shows what the chain does under pressure.
Here is the one hard limit, and it shapes how you design. You can only have one group or chain per composition. That is a rule in the documentation, not a suggestion. If your design needs a more complex layout, pre-compose a group and then use that pre-composition inside another group in the parent composition. It does add nesting, and nested compositions come with their own traps, which we cover in our page on essential properties on nested pre-comps.
A labeled example, and where it can go wrong
The scenario below is a hypothetical we wrote to show the full sequence. It is not a customer project.
Imagine a vertical text card for a regional event video. Four layers sit in a stack: an event name, a date line, a venue line and a ticket note. Event names and venues have no fixed length. You want the whole stack to sit in the bottom left of the frame, with the first line at the top of the stack and everything else beneath it, no matter how the data lands.
You would start by aligning the event name layer to Bottom Left with padding, so it has a home in the frame. You would attach the date line to the event name on its bottom edge, the venue line to the date line, and the ticket note to the venue line. That completes the chain. Then you would give the event name Cap, the date and venue lines Middle, and the ticket note Base, with the default vertical direction.
Now think through what happens when a row arrives with a long event name that wraps to two lines. The event name layer gets taller. Everything attached below it moves down. This is the behavior you wanted. But notice that the first layer was aligned to the bottom left, and its height grows. Whether the card grows upward or downward depends on how the alignment and the chain interact, and the documentation does not spell out that interaction for this exact case. So do not assume. Preview the row with the longest event name and look at where the stack ends up, using the current state view and the Magic Wand. If the stack collides with the edge, adjust the padding, or reconsider which layer is the master. That is general practice, and it applies to any chained layout.
Three things can cause trouble in a build like this. The first is a link pointing at the wrong layer, which we covered above. The second is a second chain or group in the same composition, which the one-per-composition rule does not allow. The third is a layer whose properties have Separate Dimensions turned on, which keeps layout rules from working correctly on it.
A fourth is not a bug in the rules but a limit on what they can do. These features move and place layers. They do not make text fit a box that is too small, and they do not choose a legible size for you. If your longest row cannot fit on screen at a size a viewer can read, the answer is a design change or a shorter string in the data. The layout rules will not fix that.
Before you scale up, preview more than one row. In manual preview mode you step through consecutive rows from your data source with the arrow icons, and Templater re-reads the source each time. Cycle mode steps through a range for you but reads the source once at the start, so changes to your data will not appear until you restart the cycle. A small range makes previewing faster. Our guide to preview modes and spot checks has the details. If something still looks wrong after that, the page on Templater problems and how to fix them is the next stop.
Preview modes
Manual preview vs. Cycle mode
- How you move through rows
- Manual preview modeStep through with arrow icons
- Cycle modeSteps through a range for you
- When data source is read
- Manual preview modeRe-reads the source each time
- Cycle modeReads the source once at the start
- Sees mid-session data changes
- Manual preview modeYes
- Cycle modeNot until you restart the cycle
A small range makes previewing faster.
The bottom line
Build in this order. Align the master layer and give it padding. Attach each following layer along the edge that matches your direction. Assign Cap, Middle and Base, set the Group Direction, then check the result with the Magic Wand on your shortest and longest rows. Keep to one chain or group per composition, and pre-compose when you need two.
Before you scale up
What to do before running your full data set
- Align the master layer and give it padding
- Attach each following layer along the edge that matches your direction
- Assign Cap, Middle and Base, then set the Group Direction
- Check the result with the Magic Wand on your shortest and longest rows
- Keep to one chain or group per composition
- Pre-compose when you need two
This approach is the right fit when your layers hang off one dynamic layer and the stack’s shape follows its content. It is the wrong fit when you need two independent stacks in one flat composition without nesting, or when the real problem is that the text does not fit. For the first, plan your pre-compositions before you start. For the second, change the design. If you are new to the plugin itself, start with how to set up and use Templater inside After Effects.
That is the whole sequence from alignment to grouping. Here are the specific questions that follow from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I chain layers in Templater?
Apply the Templater Settings effect to each layer. For the second layer, open the Attachment controls, choose the first layer in Attach to Layer, and choose an edge in Attach On, such as the bottom edge. Then attach the third layer to the second, and so on. A change to the first layer’s data then cascades down the chain.
What do Cap, Middle and Base mean in a Templater group?
They are the Group Position values. The first layer in a group is the Cap, the final layer is the Base, and every layer between them is a Middle. In a horizontal group built left to right, the Cap is on the left and the Base is on the right. In a vertical group built top to bottom, the Cap is at the top.
Can I have more than one group in a composition?
No. You can only have one group or chain per composition. If you need a more complex layout, pre-compose a group and then use that pre-composition inside another group in the parent composition.
What does the Padding field do when aligning a layer?
Padding adds a cushion of pixels on the side or corner you picked in the Align to menu. It keeps the layer from sitting flush against the edge of its composition. The value is yours to choose, so preview a few rows and adjust it until the spacing looks right in your frame.
What is the Consider anchor point option for?
By default, alignment is measured against the layer’s bounding box. Checking Consider anchor point measures it from the layer’s anchor point instead. Use it when you have moved an anchor point on purpose and want the alignment to honor that position. Leave it off if you want the layer’s visible edge against the side of the composition.
How can I see what the layout will do before I render?
Choose current state from the Preview uses dropdown in the Templater panel, or click the Magic Wand tool in the Transport area. Both show how the layout engine interprets your settings. Then step through your shortest and longest rows in manual preview mode to see how the chain and group respond to different text lengths.
