Fill, outline and colour
User manualDefaults and selected-object properties
NEW SHAPES controls the appearance of future shapes. Properties controls objects that are already selected. If an existing object does not change when you adjust the top bar, select it and use the right-hand inspector.
| Setting | How it behaves |
|---|---|
| Fill | Choose Solid fill, No fill or Gradient for supported shapes. Paths must be closed to use an interior fill. |
| Fill colour | Choose a colour for the interior. A page has a palette of up to 256 colours; when full, a custom choice may use the nearest palette colour. |
| Gradient | Uses the chosen fill colour toward cyan at a 45-degree angle. |
| Opacity (%) | Controls the object's fill/appearance opacity. Lower values show more of the artwork behind it. |
| Outline colour | Choose a concrete colour or ByLayer, where offered, to follow the object's layer colour. |
| Outline (mm) | Controls line thickness. Fractional widths are supported; 0 removes the outline. |
| Line style | Choose a named/rendered line pattern or ByLayer. ByLayer colour and line style are independent choices. |
Use layers for consistent styling
Open Layers to set the layer's colour and line style. Objects assigned ByLayer follow those settings. An object with an explicit colour can still use the layer's line style, and an object with an explicit line style can still follow the layer colour.
For mixed selections, an empty or mixed field indicates different current values. Editing that field applies a common value to the selection. Untouched fields preserve individual assignments. Text has its own fill and character-outline fields; images use their image properties and filters.
Note: A group's children retain their own appearance. Ungroup before changing the children's fill or their individual stacking order. Save in .meldraw to retain the complete native appearance information.