How to Edit Scale Easing Without Warping a Character’s Proportions

Scale controls size along each axis. When horizontal and vertical scale use the same multiplier, the character retains its aspect ratio. When those multipliers differ, its shape changes. MDN’s technical documentation describes this distinction as uniform versus nonuniform scaling. MDN: scale() CSS function

Easing controls how an animated value progresses between keyframes. Suppose both axes start at 80% and finish at 100%. If horizontal scale reaches 96% while vertical scale is still at 88%, the character temporarily becomes wider relative to its height. The endpoints can look correct while the transition visibly stretches.

For an initially undistorted character, equal X and Y scale values throughout the transition preserve its proportions. More generally, preserve the approved baseline ratio: if a prepared asset intentionally begins at unequal scale values, multiply both by the same changing factor. Do not automatically replace that baseline with equal numbers.

Save a working copy and identify the transform that controls the whole character. For this walkthrough, begin with a single 2D character layer whose appearance is already correct at its reference size. If the artwork has separate parts, first establish one shared transform for the overall size change; otherwise, editing only the body can change its size relative to the face or accessories.

In After Effects, select the character layer and press S to reveal Scale. Enable Constrain Proportions, the icon beside the scale values, when entering proportional size changes. Adobe documents this control specifically for linked scale edits. Adobe: Adjust layer properties in After Effects

Record the approved starting values, ending values, and keyframe times before changing anything. Inspect existing intermediate keys too. Treat the link control as an editing aid, and verify the actual values throughout the animation rather than assuming that enabling it has repaired earlier edits.

Choose the growth origin before refining timing. After Effects scales around the layer’s anchor point. A centered anchor suits expansion around the middle; a bottom-center anchor can suit a character that should remain visually grounded while growing. Adobe: Layer anchor points

Use the Value Graph to inspect size and the Speed Graph to shape how quickly size changes. Adobe defines a value graph as property values over time and a speed graph as their rate of change. Select the graph explicitly from the Graph Editor’s options instead of relying on its default view. Adobe: Animation basics in After Effects

In the Value Graph, examine all relevant scale components together. With equal baseline values, their curves should coincide throughout a uniform scale animation. A gap between them is a useful signal to inspect the corresponding frame. With unequal approved baselines, compare proportional changes instead of expecting the curves to overlap.

Use the Speed Graph when you want to alter acceleration or settling while retaining the same keyed sizes. Return to the Value Graph after each meaningful adjustment. This gives you two separate checks: whether the timing feels right and whether the size relationship remains correct.

Use this controlled example: a correctly proportioned 2D character grows from 80%, 80% to 100%, 100% over 12 frames. These are illustrative settings, not a required duration or size range.

1. Select the character layer, reveal Scale, and enable Constrain Proportions.
2. Set the first Scale keyframe to 80%, 80% and the second, 12 frames later, to 100%, 100%.
3. Select both Scale keyframes and apply Animation > Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease.
4. Open the Graph Editor and choose Edit Speed Graph.
5. Select the scale keys together. Adjust the relevant components consistently, using small handle changes.
6. Switch to Edit Value Graph and inspect the axis values between the keys.

Easy Ease provides a starting transition with zero speed at the selected keys. For more precise changes, use Animation > Keyframe Velocity to edit incoming or outgoing speed and influence. Adobe explains that moving speed handles horizontally changes their influence toward neighboring keys. Adobe: Apply and control speed changes in After Effects

For this example, try a quick enlargement followed by a longer settle. Adjust the incoming influence at the final key, preview, and compare against the original. Keep the endpoint sizes and 12-frame duration fixed during this pass so you can judge the easing change on its own.

If the character stretches after an adjustment, undo that change and inspect which components were selected. Recheck both the intermediate values and the endpoints before continuing. Adobe’s Graph Editor tutorial demonstrates selecting keys, exposing their handles, adjusting the Speed Graph, and previewing the result. Adobe: Create dynamic movement between keyframes with the Graph Editor

Use a proportional-change test when the curves are hard to compare. At a chosen frame, divide each axis’s current scale by its approved baseline scale. The results should match for a uniform size change. This test follows directly from applying one multiplier to both dimensions.

State	X scale	Y scale	X ÷ baseline X	Y ÷ baseline Y	Interpretation
Approved baseline	80%	80%	1.00	1.00	Reference shape
Correct intermediate frame	92%	92%	1.15	1.15	Proportions preserved
Distorted intermediate frame	96%	88%	1.20	1.10	Horizontal growth is greater
Approved endpoint	100%	100%	1.25	1.25	Reference proportions restored

In the distorted example, the width-to-height ratio is multiplied by 96 ÷ 88 ≈ 1.091. That makes the character approximately 9.1% wider relative to its height than at the baseline. These figures are illustrative arithmetic, not measurements from a particular animation.

For an intentionally unequal baseline of 120%, 100%, a uniform enlargement by 1.10 produces 132%, 110%. Both axes have grown by 10%, so the approved appearance is preserved. Changing that endpoint to 132%, 132% would alter the existing proportions.

Diagnose the visible symptom before making another easing adjustment. Use a paused frame to distinguish a shape change from a shift in position or a change in image detail.

Symptom	Next check
Width and height diverge during the transition	Compare axis values, intermediate keys, and curve handles at that time.
The whole character moves while growing	Inspect the anchor point and Position animation.
Only one character part changes relative size	Inspect that part’s transform and the shared character transform.
The character becomes larger than intended before settling	Inspect the Value Graph for an excursion beyond the target size.
The silhouette stays proportional but edges become blocky	Inspect the source artwork’s resolution and enlargement amount.

A temporary size overshoot can preserve proportions if both axes overshoot together. Decide separately whether that larger size belongs in the animation. If the brief calls for a straightforward grow-and-stop motion, keep the scale values within the chosen start and end range.

Raster enlargement can also change how the artwork looks without changing its proportions. Adobe notes that scaling raster layers up substantially can produce blocky pixels, while scaling down can soften them. Changing easing will not correct that source-detail issue. Adobe: Scale or flip a layer

Review the starting frame, several intermediate frames, the largest-size frame, and the endpoint. Check more densely wherever the scale changes fastest or the shape appears to shift. Sampled frames help locate problems; inspecting the full curves helps catch differences between those samples.

Then preview at the intended playback rate. Adobe’s Graph Editor tutorial recommends checking the Info panel to confirm whether the preview is running in real time, since an incomplete preview can make timing harder to judge. Adobe: Preview and adjust Graph Editor animation

Finish when the character reaches the intended sizes, retains its approved proportions throughout the transition, and accelerates and settles as intended. Keep one shared scale multiplier as the organizing rule, use the graphs to inspect its timing, and verify the intermediate shape before accepting the edit.

• Adobe — Adjust layer properties in After Effects
• Adobe — Animation basics in After Effects
• Adobe — Apply and control speed changes in After Effects
• Adobe — Create dynamic movement between keyframes with the Graph Editor
• MDN — scale() CSS function