Editing shapes

Editing shapes in the Inspector

Some shapes come with unique customization options, which you’ll find in the Inspector. For example, you can choose different start and end point styles with arrow shapes. Or, if you added a polygon or a star shape, you can adjust the number of sides and points respectively using the sliders.

Flipping and rotating shapes

Flipping shapes

You can flip shapes horizontally or vertically using the two buttons in the Inspector, or with the keyboard shortcuts ⇧H and ⇧V. The flip buttons stay active until you flatten the shape using Layer > Combine > Flatten, so you can click again to reverse the change.

Rotating shapes

You can quickly rotate any shape you’ve selected by placing your cursor near its corner handles and dragging when the rotate cursor appears. If you click without dragging in the rotation area, it will select the layer behind instead. Clicking and dragging rotates the selected layer. Hold ⌘ and drag to skip rotation entirely — this selects and moves the layer behind in one action.

Hold ⇧ while rotating to snap to 15° increments.

To rotate a shape, you can enter a value in degrees in the Inspector. Use positive values to rotate clockwise, or negative for counter-clockwise.

Alternatively, select a shape and press ⌃⌘R, then click and drag anywhere outside the shape to rotate it.

To change the axis on which your shape rotates, click and drag the crosshair at its center to the point you want to rotate around. To reset the center point, select your shape again.

You can apply your changes and reset the rotation value to 0° by flattening the shape with Layer > Combine > Flatten.

Editing shapes in vector editing mode

To edit a shape in vector editing mode, either double-click on it, or select it and press the Return ↵ key.

When you enter vector editing mode, you’ll see circular points connected together by paths. Click on any of the points and drag them to change a layer’s shape.

To insert a new point, enter vector editing mode, hover over a path and click. To delete a point, select it and press the Delete ⌫ key.

When you select one or more points in vector editing mode, the Inspector shows a Corners · Selected Point section with three controls: Corner settings to adjust smoothing, Toggle maximum corner radius to set the radius to its maximum value, and a Corner radius field to enter a precise value.

The paths between your shape’s different points can be straight lines or Bézier curves, depending on the point type. Double-click on a straight point to change it to a Bézier curved point.

When you change a point to create a curved path, you can use the two handle control points that appear to adjust the curve.

To create points at each end of the curve, flatten your shape with Layer > Combine > Flatten.

Using the Transform tool

Use the Transform tool to skew or otherwise change a shape.

Select one or more shapes and head to Layer > Transform > Transform, or open the Tools menu in the toolbar and select the Transform tool from there. You can also use the keyboard shortcut ⌃⌘T.

The Transform tool adds points to each corner of your shape(s), as well as points between each corner. Click on a point and drag it to transform and skew your shape(s).

If you click and drag on a point between two corners, you’ll move both corners at the same time.

When you drag a corner point, the opposite corner moves in the opposite direction. This depends on whether you’re dragging horizontally or vertically. To control a single corner only, hold ⌘.

Using the Scissors tool

Use the Scissors tool to cut away paths from shapes.

Select the shape you want to edit, enable the Scissors tool via Layer > Path > Scissors and click on any paths to remove them. Alternatively, select the shape and open the Edit menu in the toolbar, then select the Scissors tool from there.

When you’re done cutting paths, click outside of the shape, or press Escape Esc or Return ↵.

Using the Rotate Copies tool

The Rotate Copies tool takes a single shape and rotates copies of it around a point.

Select a shape and head to Layer > Path > Rotate Copies, enter how many copies you want to create, then click Rotate. Alternatively, select the shape and open the Tools menu in the toolbar, then select the Rotate Copies tool from there.

Use the handle that appears in the center to position your copies. When you’re done, press Escape Esc or Return ↵.