Shape tool

Shapes are common layers in files and are one of the most basic elements in design.

Create shapes

Motiff provides 6 basic shapes: Rectangle, Line, Arrow, Ellipse, Polygon, and Star. Click next to in the toolbar to select, or press the shortcuts for the specific shape, then click and drag on the canvas to create a shape.

To enhance the precision and efficiency when creating shapes, you can choose from the options below.

• Create perfect shapes: Hold Shift to create precisely proportioned shapes or create lines and arrows at 45 degrees, in horizontal, or vertical directions.
• Scale relative to the center: Hold ⌥ Option / Alt to scale relative to the center rather than the top-left corner.
• Perform both actions: Hold both Shift and ⌥ Option / Alt to perform both actions simultaneously.

For unique or complex graphics, you can freely draw with the Pen tool.

Advanced options

Change the corner radius of rectangles

Besides regular control points, rectangles come with four circle handles positioned inside each corner for adjusting the corner radius. Learn more about how to adjust corner radius and smooth corners.

Draw pie charts and rings

You can adjust ellipses or circles into other shapes, such as pie charts and rings. First, you need to use the Ellipse tool to draw a circle.

Create a pie chart: After a circle is drawn, a circular control point will appear when the mouse hovers over it and becomes the starting point of the sector. You can drag it to adjust the Sweep, which indicates the completeness of the circle.

• Create rings: The Ratio handle can adjust a circle into a ring.
  • For broken rings, dragging the control point outward determines which part of the ring (the gap or the remaining circle) is shown, while the drag distance sets the ring's size.

• For closed rings, you can close the ring by adjusting the Ratio of the arc：
  1. a.Drag the Sweep handle to make a sector.
  2. b.Drag the Ratio handle point to adjust the width of the ring.
  3. c.Drag the Sweep handle back to the position of the Starting Angle to close the ring.

Add or remove sides from polygons

You can drag the point to control the sides, with a minimum of three and a maximum of 60.

Change the corner radius of polygons

You can set the corner radius for the polygon. Hover the mouse over the handle inside the polygon, and start dragging when the corner radius value is shown. Drag the handle towards the center of the object to round the corners.

Polygons and bounding boxes

When drawing a polygon, the blue bounding box around the shape does not always fit the shape (such as a triangle). This allows the geometric center of the shape to be in the center of the bounding box when adjusting the number of sides of a polygon.

If you want the bounding box to fit the actual boundaries of the shape, you can combine shapes. Select Flatten from the right-click menu, or use the keyboard shortcut:

• macOS: ⌘ Command + E
• Windows: Ctrl + E

Add or remove sides from stars

• Count: Controls how many points the star has, with a minimum of three and a maximum of 60.

Change the ratio and radius of stars

• Ratio: Controls the percentage ratio of the distance from the center of the star to the inner points versus the outer points.

• Radius: Sets rounded corners for the star's points, which is similar to the effect of rounded corners on a rectangle.

Edit shapes

You can also edit the shape by double-clicking the shape layer or click Enter to enter vector editing mode and continue editing based on the shape.