The Stroke effect creates a stroke or border around a mask or along a Bezier path. You can also specify stroke color, opacity, and spacing, as well as brush characteristics. Specify whether the stroke appears on top of the image, on a transparent image, or if it reveals the original alpha channel. To use a path created in Illustrator, copy the path and paste it into a layer in After Effects.

This effect works with 8-bpc color.

Original (top left), with mask (bottom left), and with effect applied (bottom right)

Brush Hardness

Specifies the edge quality of the stroke, between hard and soft.

Spacing

Specifies the spacing between stroke segments.

Paint Style

Specifies whether the stroke is applied to the original layer or to a transparent layer.