Shape
Generates geometric shapes (rectangle, circle, ellipse, polygon, or star) with optional fill and stroke.
Shape draws from a signed distance field, so outlines stay exact at any size or rotation and a stroke follows the true edge of the shape. Use it for masks, simple graphics, and structural pieces of a procedural graph. Besides the image, it publishes the shape’s coverage on a separate Alpha output, which ignores the Background fill.
Drag the shape in the preview to move, scale, and rotate it instead of typing into the fields. Dragging turns Lock Center off, since the shape is no longer centered; with Lock Size to Output on, the shape’s box always matches the canvas, so unlock it first to make the shape smaller than the output.
A positive Rotation turns the shape clockwise on screen, the same way as Transform’s Rotate and every rotation ring on the Preview. Before ArcBrush 1.7.2 Shape turned the other way; a Shape from an older document, preset, or copied node has its angle converted when it opens or is pasted (30 becomes 330), so it draws exactly the picture it did.
Over an image
Section titled “Over an image”Wire a picture into the optional Background input and the shape is drawn straight over it, at the picture’s size and depth, with no Composite node. Nothing changes while the input is empty.
- Output Mode, Blend, and Opacity join the Output section, under Color Mode, while a background is wired. Output Mode is Composite, or Shape Only for the shape alone at the picture’s size. Shape starts at Normal and full opacity, since a shape is a solid you place, and its own Background color rows step aside while a picture is wired.
- Size. The background sets the size, so Width and Height (and a wired Size Reference) are grayed.
- Mask. An optional Mask input says where the shape appears; Mask From and Mask Fit show while one is wired. With no background, the mask fades the shape itself.
- Transparent areas. Opacity 0 returns the picture unchanged, and the shape adds its own coverage where it lands.
- Depth and channels follow the picture. A 32-bit picture stays 32-bit, and a grayscale picture stays grayscale. A batch of pictures or trims keeps each frame’s name, color, and place on the sheet.
- The Alpha output stays the shape’s own coverage in every mode.
- On a texture set, a Map row heads the Output section: pick Base Color, Roughness, Metallic, Ambient Occlusion, Height, or Emissive, and the shape draws into that map only while every other map and the Opacity pass through. The Normal and the Opacity are not offered. See Drawing into one map.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”Pins
Shape
Shape type to rasterize
Clockwise rotation of the shape in degrees
Smooth shape edges.
Turn it off for crisp, pixel-perfect edges, best for pixel art and small canvases. Diagonals, circles, and rotated shapes look blocky when it is off.
Shape width as a percentage of the cell width
Shape height as a percentage of the cell height
Size the shape to fill the output image. Turn off to set Shape Width and Height yourself
Shape bounding box width
Shape bounding box height
Rounded corner radius (Rectangle only)
Number of sides for the regular polygon
Number of points on the star
Inner radius ratio. 0.01 = very spiky star, 0.99 = almost circular
Layout
- Single: one shape at a specific position.
- Tile: repeat the shape in a grid pattern.
Number of columns in the tile grid
Number of rows in the tile grid
Gap between grid cells
Margin around the edges of the output image
Output
Width of the output image in pixels.
Overridden when size_ref is connected.
Height of the output image in pixels.
Overridden when size_ref is connected.
A grayscale output may be re-promoted to color by a downstream color node
Which map of the texture set this node edits. Every other map passes through unchanged. Shown while a texture set or a library is wired
How the shape blends over the background
How strongly the shape shows over the background. 0 returns the background unchanged
Position
X position of the shape center
Y position of the shape center
Keep the shape centered in the output image, even when the output size changes. Dragging the shape in the Preview turns this off
Fill
Fill color
Enable solid fill on the shape interior
Gray level of the shape interior in Grayscale mode, from black to white. In a 32-bit document the slider runs from 0 to 1, and a typed value can go from -16 to 16
Stroke
Enable stroke outline on the shape edge
Stroke color
Stroke thickness
Whether the stroke grows inside, outside, or centered on the shape edge
- Solid: one continuous outline.
- Dashed: repeating dashes with a gap between them.
- Dotted: round dots spaced along the outline.
Length of each dash measured along the outline
Space between dashes measured along the outline. In Dotted style this is the distance from the center of one dot to the center of the next
- Butt: flat ends, exactly the dash length.
- Round: semicircular ends, extending half the stroke width past each end.
- Square: flat ends, extending half the stroke width past each end.
Shift the pattern along the outline. 100% advances by exactly one dash plus one gap
Stretch the pattern slightly so a whole number of dashes fits the outline. Turn off to keep the exact lengths you typed, which can leave a short dash where the pattern wraps
Gray level of the stroke outline in Grayscale mode, from black to white. In a 32-bit document the slider runs from 0 to 1, and a typed value can go from -16 to 16
Background
Background color
Background gray level in Grayscale mode, from black to white. 0 (default) leaves the canvas at zero outside the shape. In a 32-bit document the slider runs from 0 to 1, and a typed value can go from -16 to 16
Mask
How the connected color image is read as a mask
How the mask is sized when it doesn't match the image
- Some parameters are only visible depending on the current settings. Corner Radius only appears for rectangles. Sides only appears for polygons. Points and Inner Ratio only appear for stars. Stroke settings only appear when Stroke is enabled. In Single layout mode you can set the shape size and position. In Tile layout mode you can set columns, rows, and spacing instead.
Usage Tips
Section titled “Usage Tips”- Turn Fill off and Stroke on for rings and outlines.
- Set Style to Dashed with Fit Dashes to Outline on for cut lines, selection outlines, and technical callouts that close cleanly at any shape size.
- Use Corner Radius on a rectangle for rounded rectangles; a radius of half the shorter side makes a pill.
- Set Color Mode to Grayscale for a crisp single-channel image, a quick way to author masks and height fields. In a 32-bit project the Fill, Stroke, and Background grays are full precision; see Gray levels keep full precision.
- Give the Background an opaque color to flatten the shape onto a solid plate in one node, instead of adding a Canvas and a Composite behind it.
- Feed an antialiased Shape straight into Bevel to turn it into a height ramp and normal map; the smooth edge is exactly the sub-pixel input Bevel reads.