Hi all,
I realize this is an old thread but it stills show up on top in google search and I found this very helpful and still applicable today.
So to anyone reading this, yes- you can work in AE to do print but you need to figure out the ratio of inches (and DPI) to pixels. In other words, “8.5 x 11 @ 150 DPI” means a different pixel amount compared to “8.5 x 11 @ 300 DPI”. I found this simple website to convert the inches to pixels / pixels to inches for you, though Photoshop can certainly do it too.
https://auctionrepair.com/pixels.html
I’m so comfortable with design in AE that I personally find it a lot easier to work in it where possible. It’s not a great habit, I must admit- both Photoshop and Illustrator are designed for this. But, whatever gets the job done!