In a traditional vector drawing program, all shapes can have a stroke and a fill. A fill is a color that fills the interior of a shape. A stroke is a line drawn around the outline of a shape.

Shapes in Omber do not have strokes and fills. Instead, Omber has separate objects to represent filled shapes and lines. These objects can be welded together so that they behave like a single shape. This is more flexible and more powerful than the strokes and fills of traditional vector drawing program.

Making Strokes and Fills

Since Omber has no strokes and fills, Omber has a different set of steps for creating and outline around a shape or for filling in an outline.

One approach is to use the Stroke ⇄ Fill Supertool from the Supertool menu. This will add a fill to a line or add a line to a fill with just a single click.

To experience the full flexibility of Omber though, you should use Omber's tools for quickly drawing shapes that fill-in outlines or draws lines around a shape. Below is an explanation of how to draw an outline around a shape (the process for filling in an outline is similar).

Here is a shape that we want to create an outline for.

A shape that we will draw an outline around

To begin drawing the outline, we select the Shape tool. Then, we choose "Line" from the context panel to draw a line outline. Finally, we choose "Follow Segments" to indicate that we want to draw along the outline of another shape.

Choosing the Follow Segments mode makes it easy to create a line that follows around the outline of an existing shape

We bring our pointer near to one of the points of the shape we want to draw a line around. When we are near, Omber will automatically snap the pointer to that point. Set a point there. Then, move the pointer along the outline of the shape. Omber will automatically highlight the segment of the shape next to the point. Clicking the mouse will extend the line over that segment. You can then extend the line around the whole shape until you've created a full outline around the shape.

Omber will automatically snap to points and segments of the original shape, so that you can quickly draw a line around it

Although the line and the solid shape are separate objects, they are welded together. If you move the shape, the line will automatically move as well.

Advanced

Having separate objects for strokes and fills gives you more flexibility with your designs. For example, consider this simple hat made up of two shapes that have been welded together.

Simple hat made of two shapes whose points have been welded together

In traditional vector drawing tools, a stroke must completely surround a single shape. With Omber, you can draw a line that covers only part of an outline. The line is still welded to the shape, so when the shape moves, the line will still move too. For example, we can add a line just between the crown and the brim of the hat.

In Omber, a line can be welded to only part of a shape and does not need to completely surround it

With Omber, you can also draw a line that surrounds two shapes instead of just one. The line will be welded to the two shapes, so if the shapes are moved, the line will automatically follow along.

Unlike strokes in traditional vector drawing tools, Omber allows you to draw lines around more than one shape