I've certainly used AE as a print tool many times over the years.
Before the existence of Smart Layers in Photoshop, the big advantage of using AE was that it allowed non-destructive editing. If you scale a non-Smart layer in Photoshop, it is effectively changed forever. Scale it down 50%, then change your mind and scale it up 200%, you've lost half your resolution. But in AE, because every footage item is simply a reference to an external physical file, you can endlessly rescale without ever damaging the original or losing any pixels. This advantage is mostly negated with Smart Layers (which effectively work like AE does by storing protected copies of the layer).
Another reason to use After Effects is to use the wealth of third party plugins available. Back in the early 2000s when every graphic in the world had light beams coming out of it (thank goodness that's over!) filters like CC Light Rays and Trapcode Shine in After Effects were a really fast way to project light beams out of text and other objects. After Effects has a lot more out-of-the-box effects included than PS.
After Effects is also a great place to render 3D extruded text and objects. In the days before PS had a decent 3D engine in it, I often used the Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator plugin to generate extruded text for print work. And there's few faster ways to throw together some really slick 3D text these days than VCP Element 3D.