Fill and Stroke
Fill & Stroke
Section titled “Fill & Stroke”Fill & Stroke in Properties shows the fill and stroke of everything selected. Selecting a layer or group reaches every shape inside it.
| Setting | Does |
|---|---|
| Fill Color, Stroke Color | Swatch, a Sample color eyedropper, and a type menu: None, Solid or Gradient |
| Fill Opacity, Stroke Opacity | 0 to 100% |
| Stroke Width | In pixels |
| Line Cap | Butt, Round or Projecting |
| Line Join | Miter, Round or Bevel |
| Miter Limit | Shown with a Miter join |
- When the selection disagrees, a value reads Mixed. Set it to give them all the same value.
- None switches a fill or stroke off and keeps its settings. Solid or Gradient brings them back.
- Choosing Solid or Gradient where there is no fill or stroke adds one. Clicking the empty swatch of a None does the same.
- The Sample color eyedropper picks a color from anywhere on the canvas. Escape cancels it.
- A fill or stroke that belongs to a group above the shape changes every shape that group paints.
For gradients, see Gradients.
One fill or stroke
Section titled “One fill or stroke”Select a Fill or Stroke in Layers to edit it on its own. Its settings appear at the foot of Fill & Stroke, headed Editing and its name: Color and Opacity; for a stroke, Width, Line Cap, Line Join and Miter Limit; Blend Mode, Composite (Above or Below), and for a fill Fill Rule (Non-Zero Winding or Even-Odd). A stroke also gets the Taper, Dashes and Wave sections below.
With several fills and strokes selected, Color and Opacity change all of them. The other settings change the first.
Taper lives only here, on the selected stroke.
| Setting | Does |
|---|---|
| Length Units | Percent or Pixels |
| Start Length, End Length | How far each taper runs |
| Start Width, End Width | Width at each end, as a percent of the stroke |
| Start Ease, End Ease | How the width changes along the taper |
The Width tool sets the same values on the canvas.
Dashes
Section titled “Dashes”Add dash adds a Dash and Gap pair, up to three pairs. Each pair’s Remove button takes it away. Add offset adds an Offset.
Amount (0 to 100%), Units (Pixels or Cycles), Wavelength or Cycles, and Phase in degrees.
Blend modes
Section titled “Blend modes”Fills, strokes, groups and layers each have a Blend Mode. Design Mode draws most modes exactly. A few are approximate, and some draw as Normal on the canvas; the setting says so when that happens. The canvas always draws Composite as Above. After Effects renders the real result after you push.
Colors
Section titled “Colors”Colors, the last section in Properties, lists every color in the selection, or in the whole document when nothing is selected. Each row shows a swatch, the hex, and how many times the color is used.
- Change the swatch, or type a hex and press Enter, to change every use at once.
- The target button selects every object using that color.
- A gradient is one row. Click its ramp to edit it in Fill & Stroke.
Eyedropper (I)
Section titled “Eyedropper (I)”- Click a shape to copy its whole look onto the selection: fill, stroke, width, caps, dashes, taper and wave, including gradients. Anything the selection has that the clicked shape does not is switched off.
- Shift-click to take only the color under the pointer. It goes to the fills and strokes selected in Layers, or else to the selection’s fill if you clicked a fill and its stroke if you clicked a stroke.
The Eyedropper can sample locked artwork and text.