Operation Manual

92 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency
Setting fill properties
Any closed shape, such as a closed curve or QuickShape, or text has an
interior region that can be filled. The fill type can be solid, gradient,
bitmap or plasma or vector.
Fill types fall into several basic categories, illustrated above:
• Solid fills, as their name implies, use a single colour.
• Gradient fills provide a gradation or spectrum of colours between
two or more "key" colours. Mesh fills work like gradient fills but
with a more complex fill path.
• Bitmap and Plasma fills apply bitmapped images or patterns to
the object, each with unique properties. Think of bitmap fills as
named “pictures” that fill shapes. Plasma (or “fractal”) fills use
randomized patterns, useful for simulating cloud or shadow effects.
• Vector fills are similar to bitmaps but apply repeating patterns,
shapes or images such as shading or hatching to the object. Like
bitmaps, vectors are also named "images" but the fill is based on co-
ordinates which define where lines are placed.
Solid colours
Applying a fill is easy, whether you’re selecting a colour from the Colour
tab or the Swatch tab.