Templater runs inside Adobe After Effects on Windows 7 or newer, or on macOS from 10.15 through 15.x Sequoia, on Intel or Apple Silicon. It works with After Effects CS5 and later. Much of the work is in the checks you make before and after the installer.
This guide covers what Templater needs from your machine and your network, how to install it when you buy through the aescripts + aeplugins manager app, how to confirm the install actually worked, and how to upgrade from an older version without losing your place. It also says where our own documentation stops, so you know when to ask us a question instead of guessing.
What your machine and network need to provide
Start with the operating system and the After Effects version, because everything else depends on them. Templater supports Windows 7 or newer and macOS 10.15 through 15.x, on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. It is compatible with After Effects versions CS5 and later. For the system requirements of a specific After Effects release, check Adobe’s own pages, since Adobe sets those and they change.
We are candid about one limit. We do our best to keep supporting legacy versions of After Effects, but we cannot guarantee full compatibility across every combination of operating system release and After Effects host version. The reason our documentation gives is that software development kits and other Templater dependencies have their own minimum requirements. So “CS5 and later” is the supported range, not a promise that every pairing inside it behaves perfectly. If you run an older host on a newer operating system, or the other way around, test a real project before you rely on it for a deadline.
The second thing to check is the network. Templater is a desktop plugin, but some of what it does needs the internet. Our documentation lists the cases. An internet connection is necessary for activating some features, for validating edition features, for using cloud-based footage sources, for connecting to Dataclay QUE, and for using Google Sheets documents as data sources. If your machine will never touch the network, you can still work. The Templater help pages cover the offline route for licensing. But the cloud footage, QUE and Google Sheets features are off the table on a machine like that.
The Google Sheets point deserves a closer look. To use a Google Sheet as a data source, your system must be able to reach your Google Drive account from inside your local network. A corporate firewall or security software that blocks Google’s servers will stop it. If Templater cannot read a sheet, a reasonable first check, and our own suggestion rather than a documented step, is whether that machine can reach Google Drive from your network. Our complete reference on using Templater with Google Sheets covers the data side once the connection works.
One more requirement hides in plain sight. Templater needs After Effects to be allowed to write files and access the network. In After Effects this is a preference called “Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network”, and it must be enabled. In After Effects Creative Cloud 2019 and newer, you find it under Preferences, then Scripting & Expressions. In Creative Cloud 2018 and earlier, it sits on the General page. We repeat this because an unchecked preference is easy to miss when you verify an install.
If you are new to the whole idea of plugins and scripts in After Effects, our short explainer on what an After Effects plugin is sets the vocabulary. And if you want the full picture of what you are installing, the complete guide to automating After Effects from data is the place to read next.
Installing through the aescripts + aeplugins manager
If you bought Templater from aescripts + aeplugins, you can install it with their manager app, a standalone desktop application. For help with the manager app itself, their own manager app FAQ is the right reference. What follows is the Templater side of the process.
By default the manager installs the standard node-locked license version of Templater for modern versions of After Effects. Two cases need different steps: the floating license version, and After Effects 2021 or earlier. We cover the main path first and then the legacy path.
After Effects 2022 and newer. First, make sure your operating system user account has administrator privileges. Our steps list this first, so do not skip it. Second, quit After Effects before you start. Third, launch the manager app and sign in with your aescripts + aeplugins account if you are not already signed in. From the All Products view, select Templater and click Install in the product’s right sidebar. The app downloads the installer and starts it. Follow the wizard prompts.
When the wizard finishes, do not assume it worked. Verify it. Launch the After Effects version that received the install and confirm the scripting preference described above is enabled. Then open the Effect menu and choose Dataclay. If you see the Templater Settings effect, the native After Effects plugin is installed correctly. Next open the Window menu. If you see a Templater menu item ending in .jsxbin, the panel is installed correctly. Those are two separate pieces, the effect and the panel, and you want both. Seeing one without the other tells you which half to look at when you troubleshoot.
The last step is activation, and here the manager has a limit worth knowing. It cannot activate a Templater license key for you. You click the Licenses button in the product’s sidebar, copy your key, return to After Effects, open the Templater panel and click Preferences. In the Licensing tab, click Activation and paste the key. You can also activate offline. Until you do this, Templater runs in trial mode. In trial mode, the Templater Settings effect puts a graphical watermark on all rendered layers, and you can replicate target compositions only when the “Send Replicates to the Adobe Media Encoder” preference is enabled. Activation removes both limits.
After Effects 2021 and earlier. The older versions use a separate installer. With the manager app open and signed in, select Templater from the list. In the right sidebar, under Downloads, click the Download button for “Templater for AE 2021 and earlier”. When the download completes, click that title or the folder icon next to it to open the download location. Inside the temporary Installer folder you find the legacy versions of Templater. The installers have LEGACY_MFG_AES at the end of the filename. Run the one for your operating system, follow the wizard, and then verify the install the same way as above.
There are also two ways to get the installers without the manager. If you are logged into your aescripts account, go to My Account, then My Downloads & Licenses, and find Templater in the list of purchased products. A Download link in the rightmost column opens a window with links for After Effects 2022 and newer and for the legacy version for 2021 and earlier. You can also find a TRY download link on each Templater edition’s product page on the aescripts marketplace. That link goes to the full installer, and the software starts in trial mode.
If you need the floating license version, the steps differ again. The floating installers live in a Floating License Support folder, and their filenames end in MFG_FLOAT_AES. The Templater help pages describe that path step by step.
So which route fits you? If your After Effects is 2022 or newer and you bought a Standard license, the manager’s Install button is the shortest path. If you run After Effects 2021 or earlier, you need the legacy download, and a modern install will not serve you. If you bought a floating license, you use the floating installers and not the default one. And if you would rather not use the manager at all, the manual download from your aescripts account is another place to find the latest installers. Match the route to your After Effects version and your license type before you click anything, because the manager’s default installs the standard version for modern After Effects, and picking the wrong installer is an easy mistake.
When the verification fails, read what is missing. No Templater Settings effect under Dataclay means the plugin half did not land. No Templater item in the Window menu means the panel half did not land. Both present means you should still confirm the scripting preference is on, since it is part of the same checklist. Each symptom points to a different place to look, which is why we ask you to check all three and not just open the panel and hope.
Here is a short scenario, built from the steps above and not from a customer story. A studio adds a new Mac for rendering. Someone with an admin account quits After Effects, installs Templater through the manager, opens After Effects and checks the scripting preference. They find the Templater Settings effect under Dataclay and the Templater panel under Window. They copy the key, paste it into the Licensing tab, restart After Effects, That short check catches the common problems before a real project is queued. That is the point of verifying right after the install and not on deadline day.
Upgrading, and what to check afterward
Upgrading is where a careless step costs the most, because it touches both software and licensing. Our documentation covers two upgrade paths. Both are older, so many readers will never need them, but anyone maintaining an old machine will.
From Templater 2.5 to 2.6 or higher. As of version 2.6.0, Dataclay standardized its licensing framework across all Templater builds. If your Templater 2 license code was provisioned by a vendor other than Dataclay, the steps matter and the order matters. Make sure your account has administrator privileges. Deactivate Templater 2.5 on the machine first. Uninstall 2.5. Run the installer for version 2.6 or higher for your operating system and finish the installation. Verify that the new version installed into After Effects, using the same two checks as before. Activate Templater with your product key code, and then quit and restart After Effects to begin using your license.
Why deactivate first? The documentation lists the steps in this order without giving a reason. Our reading is that an activation belongs to a machine, so it makes sense to release it before you remove the software.
From Templater 1 to Templater 2.x.x. Make sure the account you are logged into has administrator privileges. Quit After Effects. Unzip the product download archive, find the Templater installer for your operating system, and follow the wizard prompts. To verify, launch the After Effects version you selected in the installer. In the Templater Settings effect controls, click About and look for version v2.x.x. Then click Preferences on the Templater panel, click About there, and verify that you are running version 2.x.x. If your previous installation was authorized to use Google Drive, re-authorize Templater to access your Google Drive once the upgrade is complete.
The upgrade leaves a safety net. Afterward you will find a folder on your desktop named Templater Upgrade Backup. It contains directions for reverting Templater 2.0 to Templater 1.1.2. Keep that folder until you are sure the new version is working with your projects.
There is one trap in the Templater 1 to 2 path. The Templater panel installed with Templater 1.0 through 1.1.2 is compatible with the Templater Settings plugin effect that ships with Templater 2.0 and later. So if you have 1.1.2 installed when you install 2.0, your Window menu in After Effects shows both Templater.jsxbin and Templater 2.jsxbin. You will have the panel for both versions but only the Settings effect plugin from the upgrade. Do not run both panels at once. Running Templater.jsxbin and Templater 2.jsxbin at the same time gives unexpected results. Open one or the other, never both.
That compatibility is useful, though. You can keep using the render and replicate features of Templater 1 while you use Templater Rig to rig your After Effects project files. We still encourage an upgrade to Templater Pro or Templater Bot for the expanded feature set those editions offer. Our licensing guide explains how the editions compare, and the Templater page lists what each one does. If you plan to connect Templater to QUE, the QUE page is the place to start, and remember from the requirements section that QUE needs an internet connection.
What does this documentation not tell you? It does not give disk space or memory minimums, so we will not invent numbers. It does not say how to install Templater without the manager app beyond the manual download options above, and the general installation page in our help system only lists related pages for the manager app and the floating version. If you need a figure we have not stated, ask our support team before you buy hardware around it. We would rather answer a question than let you guess.
The short version
Check the operating system and After Effects version first. Make sure the machine can reach the network services you plan to use, especially Google Drive for Sheets. Install with an administrator account and with After Effects closed. Verify the install with the scripting preference, the Templater Settings effect and the Window menu item. Activate by hand, because the manager cannot do it for you. When you upgrade, deactivate the old version before you uninstall it, never run two Templater panels at once, and keep the backup folder until the new version has earned your trust.
If your setup is unusual, such as an old After Effects release on a new operating system, test before you commit to a deadline. Here are the questions people ask us most often before they install.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which operating systems does Templater support?
Templater works with After Effects on Windows 7 or newer and on macOS from 10.15 through 15.x Sequoia, on both Intel and Apple Silicon. It is compatible with After Effects versions CS5 and later. We cannot guarantee full compatibility for every combination of operating system and After Effects version, so test a real project on older pairings before depending on them.
Does Templater need an internet connection?
Some features do. Internet access is needed for activating some features, validating edition features, using cloud-based footage sources, connecting to Dataclay QUE, and using Google Sheets as a data source. If your machine is offline, you can still activate a license using the offline process. Cloud footage, QUE and Google Sheets will not work without a connection.
How do I know the install worked?
Launch After Effects and confirm that “Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network” is enabled in the scripting preferences. Then open the Effect menu, choose Dataclay, and look for the Templater Settings effect. Finally open the Window menu and look for a Templater item ending in .jsxbin. If you see both the effect and the panel, the install is complete.
Why is there a watermark on my renders after installing?
Templater installs in trial mode. In trial mode, the Templater Settings effect puts a graphical watermark on all rendered layers, and you can replicate compositions only when the “Send Replicates to the Adobe Media Encoder” preference is on. Activating your license removes both limits. The aescripts manager cannot activate for you, so copy the key from its Licenses button and paste it into the Licensing tab of Templater Preferences.
How do I install Templater on After Effects 2021 or earlier?
In the aescripts + aeplugins manager, select Templater and click the Download button for “Templater for AE 2021 and earlier” under Downloads. Open the download location, go into the Installer folder, and run the installer whose name ends in LEGACY_MFG_AES for your operating system. Verify and activate the same way as a modern install.
What should I do before upgrading from Templater 2.5 to 2.6?
If a vendor other than Dataclay provisioned your Templater 2 license code, work through the steps in order. Use an account with administrator privileges, deactivate Templater 2.5, uninstall it, run the 2.6 or higher installer, and verify the install in After Effects. Then activate with your product key and restart After Effects. The documentation lists deactivation first without stating a reason.
Can I run Templater 1 and Templater 2 panels together?
No. After you upgrade from Templater 1.1.2 to 2.0 or later, the Window menu shows both Templater.jsxbin and Templater 2.jsxbin, and running both at once produces unexpected results. Open only one at a time. The upgrade also leaves a Templater Upgrade Backup folder on your desktop with directions for reverting 2.0 to 1.1.2 if you need it.
