You’re a wizard, Array.

I often find myself wanting to arrange layers in a row or grid, and this After Effects preset makes it easy. Apply it to each of the layers, and they organize themselves in an array that fits perfectly within your comp. Even easier, apply it to a single layer and duplicate the layer as many times as you need.

The number of columns can be set manually, in which case you must ensure that the slider is set to the same value on every array layer. More awesomely, you can let the preset figure out the number of columns automatically. In this case, it's useful to leave on the Limit by Layer Name Prefix toggle, which will cause the preset to only include other layers that start with the same word in its calculations. This allows you to have other non-array layers in your comp.

If you want to manually adjust the column count after applying the preset, you can choose From Comp Name under Set Columns. With this chosen, the preset looks for a number followed by the word “up” in the comp name. Name the comp “Foo 6up Bar” and the preset will use six columns. This way you can control all of the layers together, without requiring a global controls layer.

The stacking order of the layers determines their sequence in the array.
The array layers should all be the same size, but they do not need to be the same size as the comp.
There’s a Scale control that allows you to grow or shrink each layer in proportion to its tile size.
If you want to crop the comp to perfectly frame the array, the preset helpfully shows you the Ideal Comp Height to match the current width.
Layer visibility is accounted for. If you turn a layer's eyeball off, the others shuffle in to fill the gap.

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