Draw shapes and paths with the Pen
Rectangles, ellipses, polygons, stars and lines, then the Pen, Curvature pen, Freeform pen and Direct select for custom vector shapes and paths.
Intermediate5 min readUpdated 25 September 2026Editor · Shapes and Pen
On this page
Shape layers are vector: they stay crisp at any size, and their fill, outline and corners can be changed at any time. This article covers the Shape tool for quick geometric shapes and the Pen tools for anything custom, plus the Paths panel and Pathfinder.
Shortcuts use Ctrl. On a Mac, press Cmd.
Draw a shape
- Press U for the Shape tool.
- In the options bar choose Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon or star or Line.
- Drag on the canvas. Hold Shift to keep it even (a square or circle). A click without dragging makes a 300 pixel shape.
- The Move tool is picked for you afterwards, so you can place and resize the shape straight away.
New shapes are filled with the main colour. Lines use the main colour as a 6 pixel outline. The Add button's Shape tile drops a square in the middle of the design.
Polygons and stars
With Polygon or star chosen, set Points (3 to 40) and Star depth (0% to 90%). At 0% you get a regular polygon; raise Star depth to pull the inner points in and make a star. Both can be changed later in Properties.
Style a shape
Select the shape and use the Style section in Properties:
- Fill and Outline: Add or Remove each, and pick a colour.
- Outline width: 1 to 120 px.
- Rounded corners for rectangles, up to half the shorter side.
- Ends (Flat, Round, Square) and Corners (Sharp, Round, Bevel) for outlines.
- For shapes drawn with the Pen: Stroke position (Inside, Centre, Outside) and Dashes (Solid, Dashed, Dotted, Dash dot).
Resizing a shape changes its real width and height, so outlines and corners stay the thickness you set. Shapes also take drop shadows (the Shadow section) and every layer style.
The Pen tools
Press P for the Pen. Shift+P cycles through the family: Pen, Curvature pen, Freeform pen and Direct select. Direct select also has its own key, A, and edits the points.
Pen
- Click to place a corner point. Click and drag to place a curve point and pull out its handles.
- Click the first point to close the shape. Press Enter to finish an open path.
- Hold Shift to keep lines and handles to 45 degree steps. Hold Alt while dragging to break a handle so the curve can turn a corner. Hold Space while dragging to move the point you are placing.
- Hold Ctrl to switch to Direct select for as long as you hold it.
- With Auto add/delete on, hovering a line lets you click to add a point, and hovering a point lets you click to remove it.
Curvature pen
Click points and a smooth curve flows through them, with the handles worked out for you. Double-click or Alt-click for a corner. Drag a point to reshape. It is the easiest way to draw smooth organic shapes.
Freeform pen
Draw freely and smooth curves are fitted when you let go. Curve fit (0.5 to 10 px) sets how closely it follows your hand: lower keeps more detail and more points. Turn on Magnetic to trace along edges in a photo, with Width (how far to look for an edge) and Contrast (how strong an edge must be).
Shape or path
The Pen tools have two modes in the options bar:
| Mode | Makes | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | A shape layer, filled with the main colour (untick Fill for none) and outlined in the second colour at the Stroke width you set (0 means no outline) | Icons, badges, custom graphics |
| Path | A path in the Paths panel, with no layer | Precise selections, masks, strokes, text on a path |
The next menu sets how a new part combines with the shape: Normal (overlaps make holes), Combine, Subtract, Intersect or Exclude. Hold Shift as you start a part to add it to the selected shape layer.
Edit points with Direct select
- Drag points, handles or the line itself to reshape.
- Shift-click, or drag a box, to pick several points. Ctrl+A picks every point. Alt-click the line to pick the whole path.
- Arrow keys nudge picked points by 1 pixel, or 10 with Shift. Delete removes them.
- Corner and Smooth in the options bar convert the picked points.
- Path… in the options bar has more: join picked end points, cut the path at a point, average points, close, reverse and simplify.
The Paths panel
Open it from Window, Paths. Each saved path is listed with a preview. Double-click to rename. The buttons turn the selected path into something useful: Make selection (or Ctrl-click the path, or Ctrl+Enter), Make shape, Fill with colour, Stroke, Layer mask, From selection (trace the current selection into a path), Duplicate and Export SVG.
Pathfinder
Select two or more shape layers and use Pathfinder (in Properties under Style, or Layer, Pathfinder) to combine them into new shapes:
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
| Unite | One shape covering all of them |
| Minus front | The back shape with the front ones cut out |
| Minus back | The front shape with the back ones cut out |
| Intersect | Only the area where they overlap |
| Exclude | Everything except the overlap |
| Divide | Separate pieces wherever they cross |
Outline stroke turns an outline into a filled shape, so it scales and combines like any other. Expand parts bakes combined parts into one clean path.
Take paths elsewhere
Layer, Path, Copy path as SVG puts the path on your clipboard to paste into Figma or code. Export path as SVG… downloads it as a file. Copy shape outline to Paths turns a shape layer's outline into a saved path.
On a phone
Tap Shape in the bottom bar for Rectangle, Circle, Line and Polygon. With a shape selected, the sheet has Fill and Stroke colour chips. The Pen tools are under More tools in the Select sheet.
Common problems
- My shape has a hole where parts overlap. The part mode is Normal, where overlaps make holes. Set it to Combine, or use Pathfinder, Unite.
- The Pen made a path but no layer. It is in Path mode. Switch to Shape, or click Make shape in the Paths panel.
- Stroke position and Dashes are missing. They appear for shapes drawn with the Pen, once the shape has an outline.