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 shapes

You can flip shapes horizontally or vertically using the two buttons in the Inspector. These states will stay selected (so you can click again to reverse the change) unless you flatten the shape using Layer > Combine > Flatten.

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.

Holding ⇧ when you rotate a shape in 15° increments.

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

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, simply click and drag the crosshair at its center to the point you want to rotate around. To reset the center point, simply select your shape again.

You can commit 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.

The paths between your shape’s different points can be straight lines or Bézier curves, depending on the kind of point connecting them. Double-click on a straight point connecting straight paths 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.

Flattening your shape by selecting Layer > Combine > Flatten will create points at each end of the curve.

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. Alternatively, 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 click and drag on a corner point, an opposite corner will move in the opposite direction at the same time — depending on whether you’re dragging horizontally or vertically. To control a single corner only, hold down ⌘.

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, open the Tools menu in the Toolbar and select the Scissors tool from there.

As with most tools in Sketch, you can add the Scissors tool directly to the Toolbar via View > Customize Toolbar.

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.

You can also add the Rotate Copies tool directly to the Toolbar via View > Customize Toolbar.

Use the handle that appears in the centre to set where you want your copies to be positioned. When you’re done, press Escape Esc or Return ↵.