Fill, Stroke, & Advanced Stroke

The Fill option determines the color or pattern that is applied to the inside of an object. The Stroke option determines the color, thickness, and style of the line that is drawn around the object. The Advanced Stroke option allows for further customization of the stroke, such as setting the corner radius and end caps.

These options can be accessed through the Properties panel on the right-hand side of the Figma interface. By using the Fill, Stroke, and Advanced Stroke options, you can create a wide range of visual effects and styles for your designs.

Fill

In the Figma editor, the color panel is named as 'Fill', and it's located on the Properties Panel on the right side of the editor.

Let's create a Rectangle shape by selecting the Rectangle tool (R). Then you'll see the Color panel is activated and the shape is filled with gray color.

There are 4 main sections to notice on the Color panel.

1. Color Value: You can input any #hex color values into the input field. Or you can click on the color icon to open the color palette to select colors manually.
2. Transparency: You can increase/decrease the transparency of your shape by increasing/decreasing the percentage. 100% transparency means the shape is fully visible, and 0% means it is fully invisible.
3. Activate/deactivate Fill: You can activate/deactivate your fill color by clicking the Eye icon next to the transparency value. Clicking on the Minus (-) icon will remove the fill, and clicking on the Plus (+) icon will add another fill on top of the current fill color.
4. Color Style: You can save any color as a Style by clicking the four dots ': :' icon, and reuse it for your next design. We talk more about Color Styles in our Color Styles in Figma chapter.

Paints in Figma

In Figma, paints can be colors, gradients, or images. The Color picker can be used to apply paints to fills and strokes.

Paint Types

There are 3 types of paints you can apply to your Figma:

1. Solid: This is the most basic type of paint, and it will cover the entire surface.

2. Gradients: choose from four different gradients:

   • Linear (gradient): a progressive transition between two colors on a straight line. You can choose the angle of the line and the length
   • Radial (gradient): a circle gradient where the color starts off in the center and fades out along the edge. This could be another color, or a fade to transparent.
   • Diamond (gradient): is a shape with four points and a gradient between the points. The gradient can be adjusted on both the x and y axis, allowing you to create smooth transitions between colors
   • Angular (gradient): a gradient clockwise. If you use the starting color and end color of the gradient, you can adjust the location of both colors in the gradient. You can also create a softer or harsher angle
3. Image or GIF: a static image or animated GIF is a type of file that you can use to add images to your work.

Fill Gradients

Figma's gradient fill is a shape fill that gradually changes from one color to another across the surface of the shape. It can be a variation of one color as shown above, or a blending of two or more different colors to create stunning effects like the examples below.

Add Fill

The Fill Tool allows you to easily add fills to your text layers, frames and any vector objects. You can even add more than one fill to a single layer. This allows you to layer gradients over images, or apply blend modes to create unique effects.

• To add a fill to a layer, you first select the layer(s) that you want to add the fill to
• Next, in the Fill section of the right sidebar, click on the + icon to add a fill to the layer

• Figma will add a default Solid fill with a hex value of C4C4C4. Click on the fill swatch to open the color picker
• From the color picker, you can select a paint type (Solid, Image or Gradient), choose a color, and apply blend modes

• Add another fill, this time linear
• You can add 3 colors to your design. The first color is black with an opacity of 0%, the second is black with an opacity of 70%, and the third is black with an opacity of 80%.

• To move the second color onto the first color, simply click and drag with your mouse.
• Add text to the image.

Fill Image

You can quickly apply an image to an existing shape by tapping the color picker. You will need to have the image downloaded to your computer and uploaded

Note: Only JPEG, PNG, TIFF or HEIC images are accepted.

Upload an image

• Choose the shape you want to use from our collection of shapes, or create a new one by drawing it on the canvas.
• Click the Fill swatch in the right sidebar to open the color picker.
• To fill an image, select the Fill mode and then click on Image from the options.
• A placeholder image of black and white checks will be applied to the shape. Click the Choose image  button in the preview:

Replace Image Fills

Replacing an image fill is easy!

If you have an image applied to a shape as a fill, you can replace it with a new image. This will keep any fill mode settings you've applied, including any cropping or positioning. There are a few ways to do this:

• Drag the image file you want to fill over the image preview in the Fill panel.

• Drag the image file over the Fill in the right sidebar:

**Add Video to Prototypes Using Fill**

If you're building a prototype, then you probably want to include video. Adding video to your prototypes can help you replicate the experience your users would have in a site or app with video playback or previews.

Types of Video in Prototype:

• Should be in mp4 format
• Cannot exceed 30MB in size
• Are shape fills and behave as such
• Are not currently supported in the Figma mobile app

Add Video to Any Shape

Similar to images, video can be added to any shape as a fill as long as the video matches the size of that shape.

How to Insert Video

First thing, you need to upload a mp4 video format. After this, you can add them to any vector or shape.

Here's a list of ways to add a video prototype to design files:

• Drag and drop video file from your computer into the canvas
• Create a shape and applies the video as a fill (as in the example below)
• Copy a video from another layer in the current file, or from another file
• Paste any video from your clipboard into the canvas

The gray rectangle layer is the placeholder for the video.

Stroke

By default, the Stroke panel is also deactivated, and it's located next to the Fill panel. Click on the Plus (+) icon to add a stroke to your shape.

You can see a new color panel for stroke has appeared. You can set the color of the stroke by following same process we did for adding fill to the shape. Also, there are some other options in the next row.

1. Stroke Size: You can set the stroke size by inputting any number. 1 means the stroke size is 1px all around the shape. Let's input 2, to set the stroke width to 2px.
2. Align Stroke: By default, the Align Stroke is set as Inside. Click on the drop-down icon to change the alignment to Center or Outside of the shape. Inside means that the 2px stroke is set inside all areas. Outside means the stroke will be set outside of the 100px*100px shape. Center means the stroke will be added to the borderline - 1px all over the inside areas, and 1px all over the outside areas.
3. Advanced Stroke: Click on the 3 dots (...) icon to open the Advanced Stroke panel.

Advanced Stroke

There are 4 different sections in the Advanced Stroke panel. Cap, Dashes, Join and Miter Angle.

Cap

Let's create a Line by Pressing 'L' on your keyboard. Press and hold Shift when dragging to make the line straight. Set the stroke width to 10px to see the differences better.

Now, open the Advanced Stroke panel by clicking the 3 dots (...) icon again and click on the drop-down menu to open different stroke Caps.

1. None: By default, the Cap is set to None. When None is selected no additional style is added to the end of the line.
2. Round: It creates a rounded cap on both the sides
3. Square: It creates a squared cap to both sides of the end point. It looks the same as None
4. Line Arrow: It makes arrows appear on both ends
5. Triangle Arrow: It creates triangular arrows on both sides

You can set different types of caps by entering the Vector Mode. We describe more about Vector Mode in the Vector Mode in Figma chapter.

Select the line, and press 'Enter' on your keyboard. Now you can select a single point at a time, and set different types of Caps to different points.

Dashes

You can create dashed lines by inputting the dash-length and the distance between dashes. Let's enter 20, 10 into the input field, it will create dashed lines with 20px dashes, and 10px gaps.

Join

Different types of Joins define how two lines of a vector shape will join with each other. Let's create a Square with 100px width and height, input 10px stroke width, and set the Align Stroke to the Center or Outside. Changing the joins doesn't make any difference when Inside is selected.

There are 3 types of Joins.

1. Miter: By default the join is set to Miter, and it makes the corners look sharp.
2. Bevel: By selecting bevel the corners look flat and cut off.
3. Round: By selecting Round the corners look rounded.

You can set different types of Joins by entering the Vector mode. We describe more about Vector Mode in the Vector Mode in Figma chapter.

Select the shape, and press 'Enter' on your keyboard. Now you can select a single point at a time, and set different types of Joins to different points.

Miter Angle

Miter Angle activates when you select the Miter Join, and it changes when you set the angle to 90° or more than 90°. By doing so, the joins will look like Bevel.

Use Stroke with Fill

Using the Stroke with Fill feature in Figma is a great way to add texture and definition to your designs. This feature allows you to add a stroke to a shape or text, while keeping the same color as the fill of the shape or text. This feature is great for adding a unique touch to logos, icons, and other graphics. You can also use it to create interesting effects on shapes, such as outlining or shading. The Stroke with Fill feature makes it easy to quickly add texture and detail to your designs.

• Select the object you wish to add a stroke to. This could be a shape, text, or a combination of both.
• In the right-hand panel, choose the Stroke option and select the Stroke with Fill option.
• Adjust the stroke size and color to your preference. You can also choose to add a rounded or dashed stroke line.
• If you want to add more definition to the shape, you can add a drop shadow or blur effect.

And you’re done! You’ve successfully added a stroke with fill to your design. With the Stroke with Fill feature in Figma, you can easily add texture

Copy & Paste Property

You can copy and paste properties between layers to reuse them. You can copy fill, stroke, and text properties.

To do this, first select the layer whose properties you want to copy. Then:

• Click the Edit dropdown in the main menu bar and choose Copy Properties or right-click.

• Select the layer whose properties you want to paste into your selection, then click Edit > Paste Properties or right-click.

Conclusion

Color plays the most prominent role in every design. By using different types of strokes as patterns, you can take your design to another level. In Figma it's super easy to add, customize and control the colors and strokes in your design project