Fill Tool

Use the Fill Tool to fill an area with hatch lines (or cross-hatching), one colour or a gradient. Mark a point inside an area the drawing closes off, and the area round it is filled. Like the Area Tool, it shows the area under the cursor as you move it: its outline, its fill, and in Result its area, perimeter and (for a hatch) the hatch lines' number and length.

Usage

1. Choose what to Fill with in Tool Options:
   • Hatch: the Spacing, Angle, Cross-hatch (and the angle between the two sets) and Shift across.
   • Solid: the Colour, with its opacity, or The layer's colour.
   • Gradient: Linear (across the area at the Angle), Radial (out from the middle), Conic (round the middle, from the Angle) or Corners (a colour at each corner, blended across); its colours, and what it does Beyond the ends (pad, reflect, repeat or none).
2. Set Fill round text and its Clearance, the layers whose elements bound the area, and the Layer the fill goes on.
3. Move the cursor into the area: its outline and fill are shown.
4. Click^* to mark the point. The point is defined from points already in the drawing, never as a position in space, and the fill is added round it.

Notes

• Bounded by elements on layers: tick the layers whose elements close off the area (for example only Cut, so creases inside a panel don't split it). With none ticked, every layer's elements bound it.
• Closed shapes inside the area (holes, windows) are left empty. Text inside it is filled round: each line of text is kept clear by a box round it, the clearance out from the text (0: half the text's height).
• Only what is shown counts: hidden elements, elements on hidden layers and anything on the Construction layer are disregarded, so they neither close off the area nor are filled round.
• The fill follows the drawing: change a size, move a line or add one across it, and it is worked out again. A gradient stretches with the area's box. Its hatch lines aren't drawing elements, points or snaps; the fill is one element. Change what it is filled with, its hatch, colour or gradient in the Properties panel.
• A solid or gradient fill is selected by clicking anywhere inside it.
• If the point isn't inside a closed area, or is on one of its edges, no fill is made. A point straight up or across from a corner (Ortho) lies on the edge: use Offset X and Y (across and up from a corner), Two-Point (across from one point, up from another), Tween (between two corners) or Angle to mark a point inside.
• More gradients (a focal point, several colours, a gradient in drawing units) can be written with the FILL command.

See this in action

^*Depending on the chosen snap mode, several clicks may be required to define the point parametrically. Read more about Snap Modes

See also: FILL.

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