Installation

Get Design Mode

Buy Design Mode at jakeinmotion.com/design-mode. A license can be active on two machines at once. After buying, find your download and license key in your Lemon Squeezy account.

Install the extension

1. Unzip the download.
2. Install the .zxp with a ZXP installer. See Installing ZXP Extensions.
3. Restart After Effects.
4. Open Window > Extensions > Design Mode.

Design Mode requires After Effects 2023 or newer, on Windows or macOS.

The three panels

Window > Extensions lists three panels:

Panel	What it is
Design Mode	The editor: canvas, toolbar, and built-in Layers and Properties
Design Mode Layers	Optional. The Layers list as its own panel, to dock anywhere
Design Mode Properties	Optional. The Properties column as its own panel, to dock anywhere

The two optional panels mirror the main one and only work while Design Mode is open. Their results and messages show in the main panel’s status bar. You can also open them from the main panel’s flyout menu (the menu at the panel’s top-right corner): Open Layers panel and Open Properties panel.

Design Mode wants room. Dock it over the Composition viewer, or in a frame of its own.

If Design Mode does not appear after installing, see Troubleshooting.

Activate your license

The first time Design Mode opens, it asks for your license key in place of the editor.

1. Find your key in your order email or your Lemon Squeezy account. Find my key opens the same page.
2. Paste it into License key and click Activate.

Submit feedback on the same screen reaches Jake if activation will not work.

Design Mode checks the key online, activates this machine, and opens the editor. A license can be active on two machines at once.

To see your license later, open the footer menu (the three dots beside the gear) and choose License. It shows the status, the key’s last four characters, how many machines are In use, and the date it was Activated. Re-check license asks the store again, and Use a different key swaps in another key.

Moving to a new machine

Free the old machine’s seat first:

1. On the old machine, open License from the footer menu.
2. Click Deactivate this machine, then Deactivate.
3. Activate on the new machine with the same key.

Design Mode stops working on a deactivated machine until you activate it again. Activating the same machine later uses the same seat.

Working offline

Design Mode checks your license each time it opens, in the background. If it cannot reach the license server, it keeps working for 30 days from the last successful check, and License shows Grace period with the days left. Go online and click Re-check license to reset it.

When the 30 days run out, Design Mode asks for activation the next time it opens. An editor that is already open is never closed by a license check.