Basic Shape Tools

Basic Shape Tools

Working with the basic shape tools such as the Rectangle Tool, Rounded Rectangle Tool, Ellipse Tool, Polygon Tool, and Star Tool.

When to use

These basic shape tools are great starting points for building more complex shapes.

Instructions

Rectangle Tool and Rounded Rectangle Tool

• Select the Rectangle Tool or use the keyboard shortcut 'M'.
• Click and drag out a square while holding the Shift Key.
• With the Rectangle Tool still active, double-click on your artboard and manually enter a value of 200 pixels by 200 pixels and press Return on the keyboard.
• This is another way you can create squares or rectangular shapes with specific dimensions.
• After creating the square, try rounding the corners by clicking on any of the small circles on the inside of the corners and dragging inwards.
• If you click on one of the circles before dragging them in you should see the small white circle fill with black. You can now just round that one corner. 
• Repeat this with the Rounded Rectangle Tool and notice that in addition to manually entering values for the height and width, you can also enter a value for the rounded corners.

Ellipse Tool

• Select the Ellipse Tool or use the keyboard shortcut 'L'.
• Click and drag out a circle while holding the Shift Key.
• With the Ellipse Tool still selected, double-click on your artboard and manually enter a value for the height and width.

Polygon Tool

• Select the Polygon Tool and click and drag with and without holding the Shift Key to see how you can rotate the shape while scaling it.
• If you double-click on your artboard while you have the Polygon Tool selected, you can manually enter values for the radius and the number of sides.
• Try adding a polygon with 3 sides, 6 sides, 8 sides, and 12 sides to see how the shapes differ.
• You can also round the corners like what we did with the square.

Star Tool

• Select the Star Tool and click and drag to rotate the star while scaling.
• Holding the Shift Key will ensure that the star stays upright, just like the Polygon Tool.
• Move the small circular icon on the right side of the star up or down to increase or decrease the number of points.
• You can also double click on your artboard while the Star Tool is active to manually enter values for Radius 1, Radius 2, and the number of points. 
• Try this by double clicking and adding a star shape with 6 sides.
• Click and drag either of the two small circles on the inside of the star in and out. Doing this will adjust Radius 1 and Radius 2 giving you more control over the appearance of your shape. 

Hints & tips

• You can select any of the basic shape tools and double click on your artboard to manually enter values for your shapes.
• Notice that many of the shapes have sliders or small circular icons on the inside that allow you to round the corners or change the radius of the shape.
• The Star Tool has a very handy slider on the right side that you can drag up or down to increase or decrease the number of points.