Booleans, offset path and outline stroke
Combine shapes with union, subtract, intersect and difference, and turn strokes into shapes.
Path operations live in the Stage menu and, for vectors, in the selection bar. Booleans combine two or more selected shapes (paths, rectangles, ellipses) into one editable path.
| Operation | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Union | ⌥⌘U | Merges the selected shapes into one |
| Subtract | ⌥⌘S | Cuts the upper shapes out of the bottom one |
| Intersect | Stage menu | Keeps only where the shapes overlap |
| Difference | ⌥⌘X | Keeps what doesn't overlap |
| Outline Stroke | Stage menu | Turns a stroke into a filled shape |
| Offset Path… | Stage menu | Grows or shrinks a shape by a distance |
| Reverse Path Direction | Stage menu | Flips the direction a stroke draws in |
| Flatten Transform | Stage menu | Bakes rotation and scale into the points |
After a boolean, a notice says “Union of 3 shapes · one editable path now”.
Offset a path
- Select a shape (a path, rectangle or circle).
- Choose Stage → Offset Path… (or Offset Path… in the selection bar).
- Enter a Distance in points. Negative values shrink the shape.
- Click Offset.
Screenshot coming soonvector-and-paint-booleans.png
Troubleshooting
| If this happens | Try this |
|---|---|
| “Select two or more shapes to union them” | Booleans need at least two shapes selected. |
| “These shapes don't overlap” | Intersect found nothing in common. Move them together first. |
| “The selection has no stroke to outline” | Add a border first, then Outline Stroke. |