Freeform & vectors

A freeform is a shape you own point by point. Anything can become one — a rectangle, a star, a word, a logo you only have as a PNG — and a freeform can hold other elements, so it doubles as a group with a custom outline.

What a freeform is

  • Points and curves. Drag a point to move it; curve handles bend the segment. Add Point Here and Remove Point Here are in the menu, ⌘] and ⌘[ add or remove at the end.
  • Smoothness, in the inspector, rounds the whole outline at once. Reduce Points thins a busy one.
  • Everything a shape has, a freeform has: fill, gradient, stroke, dash, shadow, opacity, blur.
  • Open or closed. Open Path turns the outline into a stroked path; Close Path makes it a shape again.
A freeform path on a watch face, selected on the Mac: every point is a handle, and the inspector's Freeform section holds Smoothness and Points.
A freeform path on a watch face, selected on the Mac: every point is a handle, and the inspector's Freeform section holds Smoothness and Points.

Six ways to make one

From How You get
A shape Edit › Convert to Freeform The same rectangle, circle, star, badge or shield, as editable points.
Text Edit › Convert to Freeform, up to 250 characters Every letter as a path: a wordmark you can stretch, cut into, or fill with a gradient.
An image Edit › Convert to Vector The picture traced into paths, on the device. Best on logos, icons and flat artwork.
A drawing Edit › Convert to Freeform Your pencil strokes as vector shapes.
A line or path Convert to Path, then Close Path A line becomes a curve with points; closing it makes a shape.
From scratch Path, in the Elements quick row A path with a few points to drag where you want them; close it when it is done.

A freeform is a group

  • Drag elements into it the way you drag into any container — hold still over it — and they are clipped to its outline and move with it. A photo inside a blob, a screen inside an arch, a title inside a ribbon.
  • Convert to Freeform Group takes a plain group and gives it four corner points; pull them into any silhouette and everything inside stays put and clipped.
  • Merge Paths joins several freeforms or paths into one compound shape — a ring, a letter with a hole. Unmerge Freeform splits it again.
Both at once: "MockApp" converted to freeform, every point still editable, with a photo dropped inside — the letters are the mask.
Both at once: "MockApp" converted to freeform, every point still editable, with a photo dropped inside — the letters are the mask.

When to rasterize

A traced logo can carry a lot of points. Once it looks right, Rasterize turns it into a flat image that is cheap to move and copy around; keep a vector copy to the side if you might edit it again.