Use fills, strokes, gradients, and appearance

Use the right-side Inspector to control a layer’s color, outline, transparency, and interaction with layers behind it.

The representative video demonstrates this exact workflow: Add a stroke to a selected rectangle from the Inspector.

Verified result: The selected rectangle shows a visible stroke on the canvas and in the Inspector.

Add a strokeAdd a stroke to a selected rectangle from the Inspector.Result: The selected rectangle shows a visible stroke on the canvas and in the Inspector.

Transcript

1. Add a strokeChoose Add stroke in the Inspector to add an outline to the rectangle.

Download the tutorial videoDownload English captions

Before you start

• Select one unlocked shape, path, or frame.
• Open the Design tab in the right panel.
• Use Appearance for opacity and blend mode. Use Fill and Stroke for paint.

The Inspector changes with the selected object. A frame’s Fill controls its background, while a shape or path exposes its editable fill and stroke paint.

Apply a solid fill

1. In Fill, choose the color swatch.
2. Keep Fill type set to Solid.
3. Pick a color, sample an available screen or canvas color, or enter a six-digit hexadecimal value such as #6E56CF.
4. Close the color picker when the canvas shows the result you want.

Choose Remove fill to make a supported shape or path unfilled. If a color field does not accept your input, use the full #RRGGBB form.

Create and edit a gradient

1. Choose the Fill swatch, then change Fill type to Linear, Radial, Angular, or Diamond.
2. Select a gradient stop and change its color or position.
3. Choose Add gradient stop to add another color between existing stops.
4. Drag stops on the gradient ramp, or use the stop position field for an exact value.
5. Use Flip gradient or Rotate gradient to change its direction quickly.

You can also edit the start and end coordinates when you need precise placement. A newly created gradient starts with two stops based on the previous solid color.

To return to a solid fill, choose Solid in Fill type. Editor v2 keeps the first gradient stop’s color as the solid color.

Add and edit strokes

1. Choose Add stroke.
2. Set the stroke color and width.
3. Choose Inside, Center, or Outside alignment.
4. Add more strokes when one outline is not enough.
5. Use the arrow controls to change stroke order, the visibility control to hide one temporarily, or Remove stroke to delete it.

Open More for cap, join, miter limit, dash pattern, dash offset, and Scale stroke settings. Paths also offer line styles, and supported paths can use a width-profile preset such as a tapered or calligraphic stroke.

Stroke paint can be Solid, Linear, Radial, Angular, or Diamond. Select a gradient stroke’s stops in its gradient editor just as you would for a fill.

Change opacity and blend mode

1. In Appearance, enter an Opacity percentage. 100% is fully opaque; lower values let underlying content show through.
2. Choose a Blend mode when the layer should combine with colors behind it. Start with Normal, then try modes such as Multiply, Screen, or Overlay.
3. Check the result against the actual background. A blend mode may appear unchanged over white or empty space.

Opacity affects the complete selected layer. To fade only a shadow or other effect, edit that effect’s own opacity instead.

Reuse a color variable

Use the variable button beside Fill or the first Stroke to bind a compatible color variable. A bound paint shows the variable name instead of a hexadecimal field. Choose its clear action to unbind it while keeping the currently resolved color.

Recover from an unexpected result

• Choose Undo if a gradient, stroke order, blend mode, or color is not what you expected.
• If the object disappears, check whether its fill and strokes were removed, whether its opacity is 0%, and whether the layer is hidden in Layers.
• If a blend mode looks wrong, return it to Normal and confirm the layer order.
• If the color picker will not open, select one editable object and unlock it.
• If a gradient stop cannot be removed, keep at least the minimum stops needed to define a gradient, or switch the fill back to Solid.

Current limitations

• A frame’s Fill is its background color; the complete shape/path paint controls are not shown for a frame.
• The Inspector exposes one primary fill for direct editing, while strokes can be stacked, reordered, hidden, and removed individually.
• Linear stroke gradients render as gradients. Radial, Angular, and Diamond stroke gradients currently show their first stop color on the canvas.
• Paint controls are shown only for compatible selections. Images use Object fit and image filters instead of shape Fill controls.