Get started for free
1Getting started

Draw shapes: rectangles, ellipses, stars and lines

Shapes are the fastest way to get something real on the canvas. Rayzia keeps its shape tools in two slots on the rail, and each shape you draw keeps its numbers so you can change your mind later. This lesson covers both slots, their option bars, and what "parametric" buys you.

The shape slot and the line slot

The rail down the left side is not a flat list of every tool. Related tools are collapsed into slots, and a slot shows a small triangle in its corner. Click the triangle to open the flyout, pick a member, and that member takes over the slot until you pick a different one. Your choice is remembered on your device, per slot.

Two slots cover shapes:

  • Shape slot (Rectangle by default): Rectangle, Ellipse, Star, Flare.
  • Line slot (Line by default): Line, Arc, Spiral, Rectangular Grid, Polar Grid.
RRectangle
CEllipse
LLine
ISpiral
VSelect tool
Star, Flare, Arc and the two grids have no keyboard shortcut. Pick them from the flyout. If the Star tooltip shows a key, ignore it; that label is generated from the tool's declaration and no handler is wired to it.

Because a slot remembers your last pick, never think of a tool as "the fifth icon". If you last drew a star, the shape slot shows a star. Pressing R still activates the Rectangle and pulls it back into the slot.

Draw your first rectangle

  1. Press R The shape slot switches to Rectangle. This works whichever member the slot happens to be showing.
  2. Drag on the canvas Press, drag, release. You get a real SVG <rect>, not a picture of one. The document is SVG all the way down.
  3. Press V and adjust The Select tool gives you the selection box. Drag inside it to move, drag the handles to scale or rotate.

Ellipses work the same way with C. Lines work the same way with L, except the Line tool also responds to a single tap: it drops a line of the length and angle currently set in its option bar.

The option bar sets the next shape, then edits the one you drew

Each of these tools carries an option bar, and the numbers in it are the defaults for the next shape you draw. Set them before you drag.

  • Rectangle: W, H, RX, RY and a unit (px, pt, mm, cm, in). RX and RY are the corner radii, and they default to 0.
  • Ellipse: Rx, Ry, a unit, start and end angles (0 to 360) and three arc types, Slice, Arc and Chord. Slice is the default.
  • Star: a polygon/star mode pair plus corners (2 to 1000, default 5), spoke ratio (0 to 1, default 0.5), rounded and randomised.
  • Spiral: Turns (default 3), divergence (default 1) and inner radius (default 0).
  • Line: stroke width, length, angle and a unit.
As soon as you finish a rectangle, ellipse, star or spiral, the bar swaps to that shape's edit bar, bound to the live shape. Change the numbers there and the shape on the canvas follows. Tap empty space to go back to drawing.
Tip: the Ellipse bar controls the start/end angles for arcs and pie slices; the Star bar controls corners, rounding and randomness. Play with them, Undo always brings you back.

Arcs, spirals and grids

The rest of the line slot is worth knowing about because these shapes are tedious to build by hand.

  • Arc drags out an open quarter-ellipse segment.
  • Spiral draws a parametric spiral as an open, stroke-only path.
  • Rectangular Grid drags out a rows by columns grid of lines.
  • Polar Grid drags out concentric rings plus radial spokes.
Both grids arrive as one compound path, not as a stack of separate lines. That keeps the layer list clean, but it means you cannot select a single grid line with the Select tool.

Shapes stay editable

A star in Rayzia is not a frozen outline. Its corner count and radii live in the element's own attributes, so the star edit bar can rebuild it whenever you change a number. The spiral does the same with its revolutions, divergence and inner radius. Rectangles and ellipses are genuine <rect> and <ellipse> elements, which is why their width, height and radii keep working forever.

When you want to move individual points instead, press F2 for the node editor. It reads the element type and gives you the right editor for it: rectangle handles for a rect, anchors and beziers for a path, radius handles for an ellipse.

Common questions

Why does my shape slot show a star instead of a rectangle?

Because you last picked the Star from that slot's flyout, and the pick sticks per slot on your device. Press R and the slot goes back to Rectangle.

The Star tooltip shows a keyboard shortcut. Why does nothing happen?

That tooltip is built from the tool's declared shortcut string, and for the Star no key handler was ever wired to it. The same is true of the Width tool's tooltip. Pick both from their flyouts. It is a bug on our side, not yours.

Can I change a rectangle's corner radius after I have drawn it?

Yes. RX and RY in the draw bar apply to the next rectangle, but once you finish drawing, the bar swaps to the rectangle's edit bar bound to the shape you just made. Change RX and RY there.

Can I break a grid into separate lines?

Not from the grid tool. Both grids are emitted as a single compound path. If you need individual segments, draw lines instead, or cut the path with the Scissors tool in the eraser slot.