AEScripts SUMI v1.8.0 Free Download

AEScripts SUMI v1.8.0 Plugin for After Effects Free Download

Traditional Japanese ink painting depends heavily on the relationship between ink, paper, moisture, and time. Recreating that behaviour digitally can be difficult because a convincing ink bleed needs to feel organic rather than like a simple expanding mask. AEScripts SUMI v1.8.0 is designed specifically for this purpose, simulating ink travelling through paper fibres directly inside Adobe After Effects.

SUMI is a native C++ effect plugin that creates deterministic ink-and-paper simulations. Instead of relying on stock footage or manually animated masks, artists can control how ink spreads, absorbs, blends, and dries across a simulated paper surface.

What Is SUMI for After Effects?

SUMI is an ink and washi bleed simulation plugin for After Effects. It simulates ink travelling through paper fibres frame by frame, with the underlying paper model influencing how the pigment spreads.

The plugin includes models for Washi, Watercolor, and Kent paper, as well as a Texture Map option. Fibre scale, fibre strength, and absorbency variation can be adjusted to influence the resulting bleed.

This makes SUMI useful for recreating traditional Japanese sumi-e aesthetics while also providing enough procedural control for modern motion graphics.

Simulate Ink Travelling Through Paper

Rather than simply expanding the shape of an ink layer, SUMI treats the paper as part of the simulation. The ink moves according to the properties of the selected paper, giving the result a more organic appearance.

The plugin can simulate pigment spreading gradually across the surface, with different fibre characteristics producing different results. This makes it possible to create controlled variations while maintaining the unpredictable qualities associated with real ink and absorbent paper.

Because the simulation is deterministic, the same frame consistently produces the same result, making it suitable for After Effects rendering and animation workflows.

Use Your Own Paper Texture

SUMI allows any layer to be used as a texture map for the paper. The luminance of the supplied layer determines the absorbency characteristics of the simulated surface.

This feature allows artists to work with scanned washi, custom paper textures, photographs, logos, or other imagery as part of the simulation. Instead of being restricted to the included paper models, the visual behaviour of the ink can be influenced by the artist’s own material.

The result can therefore be adapted to a project’s specific visual style.

For the full feature set and compatibility details, visit the official AEScripts SUMI page.

Natural Sumi-Style Edges

SUMI includes several details intended to make the resulting ink feel closer to physical sumi. Pigment can gather around drying edges while water can move ahead of the main ink.

The fill can also contain grain, blotch, and ring textures, while overlapping droplets become darker and blend together. These behaviours help prevent the effect from looking like a clean digital shape with a blur applied to it.

Such details are particularly useful for close-up shots where the texture and edges of the ink need to be visible.

Ink in Any Colour

Although sumi ink is traditionally associated with black, SUMI is not restricted to monochrome artwork. Artists can assign individual colours to ink and introduce per-drop hue variation.

When differently coloured wet areas overlap, the colours can diffuse into one another, producing a more organic painted appearance. This allows the simulation to be used for stylised animation, colourful liquid-ink graphics, and abstract motion design in addition to traditional-inspired black ink.

Manual Drops, Scatter and Paths

SUMI provides several ways to place ink. In Manual mode, artists can craft individual drops, while Scatter mode can distribute drops across a region or along a path.

The system can also produce splash droplets and radial streaks, adding secondary marks around the primary ink movement. Placement itself becomes part of the design, giving users more control over the composition before the simulation begins.

Up to five crafted drops can be created in manual workflows, with each drop capable of participating in the surrounding colour diffusion.

Soak and Fill Modes

When starting ink from a shape, SUMI provides Soak and Fill behaviours. Soak makes the ink seep outward from the outline of the supplied shape, while Fill floods the shape itself.

These modes are particularly useful for animation because they provide different ways to reveal text, logos, illustrations, or graphic elements through simulated ink.

A simple piece of typography can therefore become the starting point for a spreading sumi effect without requiring a separate hand-animated mask system.

Adjustable Simulation Controls

The plugin exposes its core behaviour through several control groups covering Drop Mode, Scatter Drops, Manual Drops, Streaks and Splash, Bleed, Texture, Paper, Time, and Output.

Because these elements remain parameter-driven, artists can refine the simulation while developing the composition. The workflow can therefore range from relatively clean controlled bleeding to more expressive and irregular ink behaviour.

This makes SUMI suitable for both straightforward reveals and more elaborate ink-based animation.

SUMI v1.8.0

SUMI v1.8.0 is the initial release on AEScripts, dated September 15, 2026. The first version introduces the complete ink-and-paper simulation system, including multiple paper models, texture-map support, manual and scatter placement, colour controls, Soak and Fill modes, and procedural edge and texture behaviour.

The current listing also includes separate Windows and macOS installers and a free trial.

Compatibility and Pricing

SUMI currently supports Adobe After Effects 2024, 2025, and 2026 on both Windows and macOS. The official listing shows a regular price of $99.99, with a special price of $74.99 through September 25, 2026.

Who Should Use SUMI?

SUMI is particularly suited to motion designers, VFX artists, title designers, illustrators, and creators working with Japanese-inspired visual styles.

It can be used for ink reveals, animated calligraphy, sumi-e-inspired transitions, logo treatments, painterly effects, abstract liquid animation, and other projects where the physical behaviour of ink needs to become part of the visual design.

Final Thoughts

AEScripts SUMI v1.8.0 brings a specialised paper-and-ink simulation workflow into After Effects. Its paper models, texture-map system, controlled bleeding, drying-edge behaviour, colour diffusion, splash generation, and shape-based Soak and Fill modes provide substantially more control than a conventional ink texture or animated mask.

The plugin’s deterministic simulation is also important for production, allowing artists to build complex ink movements while keeping the output predictable from frame to frame. For creators interested in Japanese ink aesthetics, organic paint movement, or procedural liquid reveals, SUMI offers a focused way to bring those characteristics directly into an After Effects composition.

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