Drawing Tools

Rive gives you a full set of vector drawing tools. Use the Pen tool to draw custom paths, procedural shape tools (rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, triangle) to drop in ready-made shapes, and vertex editing to fine-tune any path point by point.

Pen Tool

The Pen tool lets you draw any custom shape by placing points (vertices) on the canvas.

Press P to activate the Pen tool, or select it from the Create Tools menu in the Toolbar.

• Click to place a straight vertex (a sharp corner point).
• Click and drag to place a curved vertex with bezier handles (control arms that shape the curve).
• Press Esc to finish the path without closing it.
• Click the first vertex to close the path.

Vertex Handle Types

Each curved vertex has two bezier handles. There are two handle modes:

Mode	Behavior
Mirrored	Moving one handle adjusts the opposite handle symmetrically. Default for smooth curves.
Straight	The two handles move independently. Use for sharp direction changes.

Pen Tool Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Detach handle while drawing	Alt/Opt
Toggle handle type on a vertex	Ctrl/Cmd + click vertex
Remove a handle	Ctrl/Cmd + click handle
Detach a handle	Alt/Opt + click handle
Delete a vertex	Alt/Opt + click vertex
Duplicate vertices	Alt/Opt + drag

Procedural Shapes

Procedural shapes are preset geometric shapes you can drop onto the canvas and adjust with numeric properties — no manual point-by-point drawing needed.

Select a shape tool from the Toolbar (or press the shortcut key), then click and drag on the Stage to draw it.

Shape	Shortcut
Rectangle	R
Ellipse	O
Triangle	—
Polygon	—
Star	—

Each shape type shows its own properties in the Inspector: corner radius for rectangles, inner/outer radius for stars, number of points for polygons and stars, and so on. All of these properties can be animated.

Edit Vertices

Vertex editing lets you move individual points and handles on any path.

Select a path in the Hierarchy, then press Enter to enter vertex editing mode. The path's vertices and handles become selectable and draggable.

Press Esc to exit vertex editing and return to the shape level.

Fill and Stroke

Every shape layer can have one or more fills and strokes. Select a shape to see its fill and stroke options in the Inspector.

• Fill — Solid color, linear gradient, radial gradient, or image fill.
• Stroke — Set color, width, cap (butt, round, square), and join (miter, round, bevel).
• Blend Mode — Controls how the shape's colors blend with elements beneath it.

Both fills and strokes are fully animatable.

Clipping

A clipping path masks one object with another — like a cookie cutter hiding everything outside the cutter's edge.

The top object acts as the clip mask. Only the area within the clip shape stays visible.

To clip: place a shape over the object you want to clip, select both, and use the Clipping option in the Inspector.

Procedural Shapes

Explore all procedural shape types and their animatable properties.

Fill and Stroke

Details on fill types, stroke caps and joins, and blend modes.