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Every feature in Paragraph Plus works the same way: select some box text, adjust a control, and watch it update live. This page covers the shared mechanics so the feature pages can focus on what each setting actually does.

Box text only

Paragraph Plus only affects box text: a paragraph text layer created by dragging out a text box with the Type tool (rather than clicking once to type at a point).
If you’re not sure whether a layer is box text, select it. If Paragraph Plus’s controls light up, it is. If they stay dimmed, it’s point text (or nothing suitable is selected). See Troubleshooting.

Selecting layers

Select one or more box text layers in your active composition. The panel reads their properties as soon as you select them, and again whenever your mouse moves back over the panel, so it always reflects your current selection.
  • Nothing selected, or no box text selected: every control dims and stops responding.
  • One layer selected: controls show that layer’s exact values.
  • Multiple layers selected: controls show a shared value if all selected layers agree, or a dash () if they don’t. Changing a value while layers disagree applies your new value to all of them.

Adjusting a value

Each numeric control is a draggable field:
1

Scrub

Click and drag left or right on the number to increase or decrease it.
2

Type an exact value

Click once to turn the field into a text box, type a number, and press Enter (or click elsewhere) to confirm.
3

Move between paired fields

For controls with two values (like position or size), press Tab while editing to jump to the next field, or Shift+Tab for the previous one.

Precision modifiers

While dragging, or while nudging with the arrow keys, hold a modifier key for finer or coarser steps:
KeyEffect
(none)Move in steps of 1px
ShiftMove in steps of 10px
Alt / OptionMove in fine steps of 0.1px

Presets

Some controls have a small triangle next to them. Click it to open a menu of common preset values, so you don’t need to type them by hand.

Undo

Every change you make is its own step in After Effects’ undo history, so Cmd/Ctrl+Z steps back through your Paragraph Plus edits exactly as it would through any other change.