Shape tools

Eighteen parametric shapes, from Rectangle to Cloud, each drawn by dragging a box and tuned from the Tool Options bar or from handles on the canvas.

The shape tools share one slot in the Tools panel and one way of working: pick a shape, drag a box on the canvas from one corner to the other, and let go. Every shape makes a new Shape layer, whatever you had selected before the drag, so there is no need to prepare the right kind of layer first. The one exception is a Vector Cells layer: with it or one of its drawings selected, the shape becomes a drawing in the cel on screen, and the layer stays selected afterwards, so a colour picked next is for the next drawing.

A shape stays parametric after you draw it. Select it and change a value on the Tool Options bar, and the shape on the canvas is rebuilt at once. The values on the bar always belong to the selected shape when there is one, and to the next shape you draw when there is not.

Picking a shape#

The shape list is a dropdown at the left of the Tool Options bar, with an icon and a name for each entry. U selects the shape tool and brings back the shape you last drew with. Shift+U steps to the next shape in the list and wraps round at the end; the slot in the Tools panel follows, so its icon always shows the active shape.

• Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon and Star
• Donut and Pie
• Triangle, Diamond and Trapezoid
• Cog, Crown and Segment
• Crescent, Heart and Drop
• Spiral, Scallop and Cloud

Drawing#

Every shape is drawn corner to corner inside the drag box. Hold Shift while dragging to keep the box square, which gives you a circle, a square or a regular polygon or star. A drag shorter than about half a document unit counts as a stray click and draws nothing.

Keep Selected, the icon beside Anti-alias near the right of the bar, is on by default. A shape you have just drawn keeps its move, resize and rotate handles while the shape tool stays in your hand, so you can place and size it without switching to the Move tool. Moving a shape this way snaps and shows alignment guides exactly as the Move tool does.

What every shape has#

The bar starts with the same controls for every shape, before the shape's own settings:

• The fill and stroke swatches, which open the same colour and gradient popup as the Properties panel
• Width: the stroke width, from 0.5 to 50, 2 by default
• Position: whether the stroke sits Inside, Center or Outside the outline

Near the right end sit Keep Selected and Anti-alias. Anti-alias only affects paint layers, so it is greyed out while a Shape layer is selected.

When the window is too narrow for a shape's settings, the ones that do not fit tuck behind a small arrow at the end of the row and come back out when there is room.

Each shape's settings#

Percentages run from 0% to 100% unless the table says otherwise. The signed values run from -100 to 100, with 0 as the neutral middle.

Angles are in degrees and run clockwise, with -90 at the top of the circle. Total Angle decides how much of the circle is drawn, so a Donut with a Total Angle below 360 becomes an arc of the ring, and a Pie at 360 is a clean full circle. Segment's Trim slides its straight edge toward the centre, independently of the angle, until at full Trim it becomes a Pie wedge.

A few settings are easier to understand by what they move. Crown's Sway leans every spike to one side, for flames, foliage or wind-blown hills. Crescent's two curves shape the inner and outer edges on their own, and pushing them far enough thins the crescent to a sliver. On the Heart, Pinch sets the depth of the dip between the lobes, Tail Position leans the bottom tip sideways and Bend curls it into a hook. On the Drop, Ball Size sets the round body, Sharpness the taper, Tail Position how far across the box the tip sits, and Bend curls the tip.

Scallop is a smooth ring of round bubbles. Cloud has the same two settings but builds full, round petals that meet at pinched points.

Spiral styles#

Style chooses how the coil opens out: Linear, Decaying, Semi-circular, Counter Semi-circular, Fibonacci or Plotted. Arc Angle sets how finely each turn is curved, and Use Cusped Segments swaps the smooth coil for straight-sided facets.

Corners#

A Rectangle's corners are set on the bar. With Single Radius on, one Corner type and one Radius apply to all four corners. Switch it off and the bar shows four groups, one for each corner, so every corner gets its own type and radius. Turning Single Radius back on makes the four corners match again.

Triangle and Diamond can be rounded too, with the same orange corner handle on the canvas that a Rectangle has.

Handles on the canvas#

A selected shape shows orange handles for its main settings, so you can drag a value instead of typing it. The corner radius handle on a Rectangle, Triangle or Diamond, the bulge handle on each edge of a Triangle or Diamond, Donut's ring thickness, Trapezoid's top width, Pie's start and total angles, Segment's total angle and trim, Cog's inner and hole radii, Crown's sway and bumpiness, Crescent's curve, Spiral's inner radius, the Heart's pinch, tail and bend, and the Drop's ball size, tail and bend all work this way.

A value handle follows the cursor exactly and ignores snapping, so nothing nearby can pull it off the value you are aiming for. Resizing a Rectangle by its own handles keeps rounded corners round rather than squashing them into ovals.

Turning a shape into a path#

Right-click a shape and choose Convert to Curves when you want to edit its points by hand. The shape becomes an ordinary path with the same outline, and it stops being parametric. Pathfinder operations, the Eraser and the Knife bake the corners the same way before they cut, so a rounded shape keeps its rounded outline.