Draw shapes and vector graphics

The term drawing in image editing apps refers to creating or adding simple forms (such as triangles, ovals, and so on) to the composition. We call those forms shapes. Shapes can be used to enhance your photos, create Web elements, icons, logos, posters, and much more. The reason why shapes are so popular is that they are vector-based image elements. This means that you can go back to the image element and adjust the changes you’ve made without losing any quality. You can also freely enlarge or reduce the shape’s size, and the quality will stay intact.

The Shape tool in Pixelmator Pro offers a collection of custom vector shapes — rectangles, speech bubbles, arrows, and other graphics. Some of these shapes also have smart controls that you can use to quickly customize the shape; those shapes are called Smart Shapes. You can also customize the Tools sidebar to add some of the commonly used shapes (rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, or line) as separate tools.

Insert a shape

1. Select the Shape tool by doing one of the following:

   • Choose the Shape tool in the Tools sidebar.
   • Press U on your keyboard (selects the last used shape).

2. Select a shape from the shapes browser at the top of the Tool Options pane. You can also add shapes by clicking Insert a layer in the Layers sidebar and then choosing Custom Shape, or do it directly from your toolbar.
3. Click or drag on the canvas to add the selected shape. The more you drag, the bigger the shape will be drawn.

💡 Tip: To switch from drawing to selecting shapes, press and hold the Command ⌘ key on your keyboard.

Insert a commonly used shape

Commonly used shapes like the rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, or line can be used as separate tools and quickly added to the canvas from the Tools sidebar, Pixelmator Pro toolbar, or the menu at the top of the screen.

To insert a commonly used shape:

• Select the shape in the Tools sidebar. If you can't see the shape, you can customize the Tools sidebar to add it.

• Choose Tools > Draw > Shape from the Tools menu at the top of your screen and pick one of the options there.

• Choose Insert > Shape from the Insert menu at the top of your screen and pick one of the options there.

💡 Tip: To switch from drawing to selecting shapes, press and hold the Command ⌘ key on your keyboard.

Customize the look of a Smart Shape

Smart Shapes have smart handles that let you quickly customize their appearance, for example, by adjusting the number of points in a star, or the shape of an arrowhead.

The Pixelmator Pro Smart Shapes are: rounded rectangle, triangle, polygon, rhombus, star, double-headed arrow, an arrow from point, simple arrow, elliptical speech bubble, and rectangular speech bubble. To customize a Smart Shape, simply drag one of its smart handles.

When customizing rounded rectangles, you can additionally adjust the radius of individual corners by dragging blue smart handles or entering the desired radius into the Radius field.

📘 Note: To adjust the radius of any individual corner, Command ⌘ — drag the corner handle.

In the Corner Style pop-up menu, you can also switch from rounded to smooth corner style to create especially smooth rounded rectangles.

Edit a shape

Once you add a shape to the canvas, the options for its customization will appear in the Tool Options pane. Here, you can change the shape size, and color, add shadows or strokes.

There are several other ways you can edit shapes in Pixelmator Pro:

• Use the Arrange tool to move, resize, flip, or rotate the shape.

• Use the Transform tool to freely transform the shape, stretch, skew, or change its perspective.

• Make the shape editable and adjust individual anchor points of the shape.

📘 Note: After making Smart Shapes editable, they become no longer customizable and lose their special controls, such as the corner radius for Rounded Rectangle, etc.