Pens and Brushes

Most objects use a pen and a brush. The pen is the outline of the object and the brush is the fill. These tools make each object especially customizable. To edit the brush and pen of the object, click on the object in the Dashboard Object View window. The Dashboard Object Properties window will show a list of everything you can customize about that object. Towards the bottom of the window you will find the Pen section followed by the Brush section.

Pen

To open the Pen section, click the + to the left of the title. A menu will appear if it is not open already, giving you the following options:

PROPERTY REFERENCE
Width	This is the width of the pen in relation to the percentage of the window. (For example, the default width is 0.5, which is 0.5% of the screen size. To make the pen thicker, increase the width.)
Dash Sizes	When the dash and gap sizes are set to 0, the pen will be a solid outline. To make the line dashed, set the size here. The higher the number, the longer the dash will be. Multiple dashes can be used here. Just separate each value with a comma.
Gap Sizes	In order for a line to be dashed, the gap size must be greater than 0. Enter in the size of the gap you desire in between each dash. *You can also make a width list on the dashes and gap sizes. To make it work, there must be the same of dash size values as gap size values. For example, if you want to have a dash pattern of short, longer, longest, and keep your gap sizes the same, you could enter the values 1,5,10 in your dash size list and 1,1,1 in your gap size list.
Color	You can select the color of the pen by either entering the RGB color coordinates on this line or selecting the box at the right of this line. (Click on the line and the box will appear.)
Opacity	255 is the default setting, which is completely opaque. To make it 50% translucent, set it to about half of 255, or 128.
Cap	This is the setting you adjust for the finishing endpoints of the dashes. There are three styles you can select from: round, square, and butt. The round and square add length onto the dashes, whereas the butt keeps the dash length the same.
Style	To make the pen transparent, select it here. This should be preferred over setting the pen width to zero, since it will turn the pen off completely, which will speed up the rendering.

Brush

To open the Brush section, click the + to the left of the title. A menu will appear if it is not open already, giving you the following options:

PROPERTY REFERENCE

Color

You can select the color of the brush by either entering the RGB color coordinates on this line or selecting the box at the right of this line. (Click on the line and the box will appear.)

Opacity

255 is the default setting, which is completely opaque. To make it 50% translucent, set it to half of 255, or 128.

Style

Here is where you select which fill you will use.

Solid- Fills the object with the color selected using the opacity that was set.
Transparent- No fill on the object.
Gradient- Fills the object using a value scale. More properties on Gradient are described below.
Hatch- Fills the object with a pattern selected from the hatch style drop-down menu. More properties on Hatch are described below.
Image- Tiles an image from your computer to fill the object. More properties on Image are described below.

Gradient Style

You can select the style to be linear or radial. Here are examples of the two styles, respectively:

Gradient Point 1

If the selected gradient style is radial:

As a radial gradient is a value scale that goes from one circle to another, this is the center point for your first circle, at which point the gradient will start. Here is an example of a radial gradient. The first circle is outlined in red. The second circle is outlined in green.

The color stops on this gradient go from white at offset 0 to red at offset 50 to black at offset 100. Note that the gradient reflects over the second circle.

(For more information on offset, see Color Stops below.)

Gradient point 1 is the center point of the first circle.

If the selected gradient style is linear:

This is the starting point for your gradient, where your offset value will start (see color stops for more information on the offset).

Gradient Point 2

If the selected gradient style is radial:

This is the center point for your second circle (see gradient point 1 for an explanation).

If the selected gradient style is linear:

This is the ending point for your gradient, where your offset value will end (see color stops for more information on the offset).

Gradient Radius 1

This value is used for the radial gradient only. This represents the radius of the first circle (see illustration above).

Gradient Radius 2

This value is used for the radial gradient only. This represents the radius of the second circle (see illustration above).

Gradient Color Stops

Editing a gradient's color stops allows you to change the colors of the gradient and transparency of each color, as well as where in the gradient the color will change. To edit a gradient's color stops, click in the box, then click the box at the right. The window below will appear. Here, you can enter or edit color stops. To enter a new color stop, enter the values needed and click Add Color Stop. To edit an existing color stop, select it on the list, modify the values, and then click Update. You can also remove a color stop using its corresponding button and move color stops up and down (although changing the order of the color stops is not necessary). The values in the color stops are explained below:

Offset-This is the location of where the color stop is in relation to the the gradient points. 0 is the offset for the first gradient point, and 100 is the offset for the last. 50 is the midpoint between the two points. The offset is the first value shown on the color stop. For example, the first color stop on the list at the left has an offset of 50, or halfway between gradient points 1 and 2.
Color- The color selected will be the color the gradient is at the offset location entered. It will show up in the color stop as RGB values, like the values (255, 0, 0) for red in the first color stop on the list at the left.
Opacity- 255 is completely opaque. If you would like it to be half transparent at the offset you entered, enter half of 255, or 128. The opacity value is the last value on the color stop, which is 255 (completely opaque) for the first color stop on the list at the left.

Here are some examples of gradients with their corresponding color stop lists:

Hatch Style

There are several different styles to choose from in this drop-down menu.

Hatch Color

Select the hatch color here.

Hatch Opacity

Set the opacity to the hatch fill here. 255 is completely opaque, 128 is half translucent, and 0 is completely translucent.

Hatch Scale

The larger the number here, the larger the hatch.

Image Pattern

Select the image you want to tile as your fill. If you are pulling an image off of the internet, save it to your computer first. Then click inside this box and the box will appear at the right. Click this to browse on your computer and select the image.

Image Opacity

On a scale of 0 to 255, 0 being completely translucent and 255 being completely opaque, you can set the opacity of the image fill here.

Image Scale

You can make the image tile larger or smaller by adjusting this value.

Image Rotation

Set the angle of rotation, if any, you would like the fill to tile on. Click here for more information on angles and degrees.

Click an object below to learn about its other characteristics, or click here to go to the Dashboard Object Property Reference page.