Expression to Change the words in part of a text layer?

[Joshua Williams]

figured it out with this –

// Original text

var originalText = “© 2025 XYZ Corp. All Rights Reserved. YYY-ZZ-XXXXX“;

// Substring to replace

var substringToReplace = “YYY-ZZ-XXXXX“;

// Layer to Replace From

var otherLayer = thisComp.layer(“REPLACE TEXT”);

// New substring

var newSubstring = otherLayer.text.sourceText.value.substring(0, 50);

// Replace the substring

var newText = originalText.replace(substringToReplace, newSubstring);

newText;

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Hey Joshua!

If you’re looking for an easier solution, here’s what I usually do (see the screenshot as well):

I create invisible text layers that are included in the Essential Graphics panel for editors to modify. These text layers are then assembled and linked to the main visible text layers. Here’s what the expression looks like:

var year = thisComp.layer("Year").text.sourceText; //linking the text layer for the year
var endTxt = thisComp.layer("End text").text.sourceText; //linking the text layer for the end part
"© " + year + " XYZ Corp. All Rights Reserved. " + endTxt //assembling everything together

in this case, I have a text layer for the year and one for the ending like in your case. so that way, the year can also be adjusted.

Let me know if you got any questions !

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I like using Template Literals – so, my solution would look like this –

const baseText = text.sourceText;

const addText = thisComp.layer(“add Text”).text.sourceText;

${baseText} ${addText}

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Hey Roland!
I don’t think After Effects expressions support modern JavaScript template literals. because they use an older version of JavaScript (specifically JavaScript 1.2).
Instead, you can achieve the same result using standard string concatenation methods. Here’s how you would rewrite your expression in After Effects:

var baseText = text.sourceText;
var addText = thisComp.layer("add Text").text.sourceText;
baseText + " " + addText

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I’ve been using Template Literals for years, in After Effects.

You may be confused between ExtendScript which requires ECMA 3 compliance and the After Effects Javascript Expression Engine which supports quite a fair number of Modern Javascript.

More Info here –
https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/expression-language-reference.html

It does state – On Windows, After Effects uses the V8 open-source JavaScript engine.

I’m now wondering what the difference is on macOS.

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Hey Roland,

I checked out the link you shared, and you’re absolutely right that After Effects’ expression engine supports modern features like let and const. Unfortunately, template literals (${} syntax) aren’t part of the supported features, at least not yet.

If you’ve found a workaround or a unique method where template literals actually work, I’d be super curious to hear about it! Always happy to exchange ideas.

Cheers!

Yoan

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I’ve been using Template Literals in AE for years and so have others.

What happens when you try it on your system? Do you get any specific error or a silent exit/non-display?