About the Rectangle, Ellipse and Line Tool Modes

When you select the Rectangle, Ellipse, Polyline or Line tool, the Tool Properties view displays the different modes that control how the shape is drawn. Different modes are available depending on the selected tool and whether the layer is vector or bitmap.

Draw Behind Mode

When enabled, your drawing strokes will be added underneath the existing artwork instead of over it.

NOTE Your stroke will appear over your artwork as you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If you want a live preview of your stroke, activate the Realistic Preview option by selecting View > Realistic Preview from the top menu.

Auto Fill Mode

When enabled, the shape you draw is automatically filled with the selected colour. By default, drawing a shape only creates its outlines.

Snap to Contour

When enabled, while you're drawing, the mouse cursor will automatically snap to the nearby contours of existing artwork, allowing you to draw shapes that connect with other parts of your drawing.

NOTE If you draw a line with the Line tool and make its tip snap to a contour or another control point in your artwork, they will be locked together. You can then manipulate both simultaneously using the Contour Editor tool. You can also separate two drawing strokes that have been snapped together by selecting one of them with the Select tool and moving it away.

Snap and Align

When enabled, while you're drawing, the mouse cursor will automatically align with the edges of strokes and shapes in your artwork, allowing you to draw shapes that align with parts of your drawing.

Auto Flatten Mode

By default each pencil line you draw is a separate drawing object which can be manipulated individually. With the Auto-Flatten mode enabled, overlapping pencil lines will be merged together into single drawing objects. Pencil lines will be broken where they intersect, allowing you to select any segment of your artwork as if it was a separate stroke.

Auto Close Gap Mode

When enabled, small gaps between the pencil lines you draw will be closed by an invisible stroke to make sure your shapes are closed and that they can be filled with the Paint tool.

When drawing contours with pencil lines, the centreline is used to determine whether or not the contour is closed, but the visible tips of the pencil line will extend a bit beyond the tips of its centreline, making it possible to have shapes that appear closed, but are not really. This can prevent the shape from being filled with the Paint tool. Enabling this option when drawing with the Pencil or Line tool will prevent you from leaving invisible gaps in your contours.

NOTE This option is only available with the Line tool, as the Rectangle and Ellipse tools will always create closed shapes.