Stroke Menu

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Strokes

This page covers many of the tools in the Strokes menu. These are tools that work primarily on strokes, however, some also work with point selections.

Transform

Strokes can be edited by transforming the locations of points.

Translation, Rotation, Scale

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Panel:Toolbar ‣ Tools ‣ Transform
Menu:Stroke ‣ Transform ‣ Move, Rotate, Scale, ...
Hotkey:G, R, S

Like other elements in Blender, points and strokes can be moved G, rotated R or scaled S as described in the Basic Transformations section. When in Edit Mode, Proportional Editing is also available for the transformation actions.

Transform Snapping

Basic move, rotate and scale transformations for selected points/strokes. See Move, Rotate, Scale Basics for more information.

Tools

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Strokes ‣ Transform
Panel:Toolbar ‣ Tools ‣ Stroke Tools

The Bend, Shear, To Sphere, Extrude and Shrink fatten transform tools are described in the Editing tool section.

Mirror

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Hotkey:Ctrl-M

The Mirror tool is also available, behaving exactly the same as with mesh vertices.

Snap

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Strokes ‣ Snap
Hotkey:Shift-S

Mesh snapping also works with Grease Pencil components.

Animation

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode, Draw Mode
Menu:Strokes ‣ Animation, Strokes ‣ Interpolation

The animations and stroke interpolation tools are described in the Animation section.

Extrude Points

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Panel:Toolbar ‣ Tools ‣ Stroke Tools ‣ Extrude
Hotkey:E

Extrudes points by duplicating the selected points, which then can be moved. The new points stay connected with the original points of the edit line.

Note

Since Grease Pencil strokes can only have one start an end point, a new stroke will be created when extrude intermediate points in the strokes.

Duplicating

Duplicate

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Duplicate
Hotkey:Shift-D

Duplicates the selected elements, without creating any connections with the rest of the strokes (unlike Extrude, for example), and places the duplicate at the location of the original elements.

Copy

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Copy
Hotkey:Ctrl-C

Copy the selected points/strokes to the clipboard.

Paste

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Paste, Stroke ‣ Paste & Merge
Hotkey:Ctrl-V
Type
Copy
Paste the points/strokes copied from the clipboard.
Merge
Paste the points/strokes copied from the clipboard into the active layer.

Subdividing and Smoothing

Smooth

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Smooth

Softens strokes by reducing the differences in the locations of the points along the line, while trying to maintain similar values that make the line fluid and smoother.

Repeat
The number of times to repeat the procedure.
Factor
The amount of the smoothness to apply.
Selected points
When enabled, limits the effect to only the selected points within the stroke.
Position
When enabled, the operator affect the points location.
Thickness
When enabled, the operator affect the points thickness.
Strength
When enabled, the operator affect the points strength (alpha).
UVs
When enabled, the operator affect the UV rotation on the points.

Subdivide

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Subdivide

Subdivides the strokes by inserting points between the selected points.

Number of Cuts
The number of subdivisions to perform.
Smooth
The amount of the smoothness on subdivided points.
Repeat
Number of times to repeat the procedure.
Selected points
When enabled, limits the effect to only the selected points within the stroke.
Position
When enabled, the operator affect the points location.
Thickness
When enabled, the operator affect the points thickness.
Strength
When enabled, the operator affect the points strength (alpha).
UVs
When enabled, the operator affect the UV rotation on the points.

Simplify

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Simplify

Reduce the amount of points in the strokes.

Fixed

Deletes alternated points in the strokes, except the start and end points.

Steps
The number of times to repeat the procedure.
Adaptive

Uses the RDP algorithm (Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm) for points deletion. The algorithm tries to obtain a similar line shape with fewer points.

Factor
Controls the amount of recursively simplifications applied by the algorithm.

Separating

Trim

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Trim

Trims selected stroke to first loop or intersection.

../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_trim-1.png

Original stroke.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_trim-2.png

Result of trim operation.

Separate

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Separate
Hotkey:P

Separate the selected elements into a new Grease Pencil object.

Selected Points
Separate the selected points into a new Grease Pencil object.
Selected Strokes
Separate the selected strokes into a new Grease Pencil object. If one point of a stroke is selected, the entire stroke will be separated.
Active Layer
Separate all the strokes in the active layer into a new Grease Pencil object. See 2D Layers for more information.

Split

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Split
Hotkey:V

Splits (disconnects) the selected points from the rest of the stroke. The separated points are left exactly at the same position as the original points but they belong to a new stroke.

Merging

Merge

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Merge

Combine all selected points into a unique stroke. All the selected points will be connected by new edit lines when needed to create the new stroke.

Join

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Join ‣ Join, Join and copy
Hotkey:Ctrl-J, Shift-Ctrl-J

Join two or more strokes into a single one.

Type
Join Ctrl-J
Join selected strokes by connecting points.
Join and copy Shift-Ctrl-J
Join selected strokes by connecting points in a new stroke.
Leave Gaps
When enabled, do not use geometry to connect the strokes.

Close

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Close
Hotkey:F

Close or open strokes by connecting the last and first point.

Type
Close all
Close all open selected strokes.
Open all
Open all closed selected strokes.
Toggle
Close or Open selected strokes as required.
Create geometry
When enabled, points are added for closing the strokes. If disabled, the operator act the same as Toggle Cyclic.

Flip Direction

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Flip Direction

Reverse the direction of the points in the selected strokes (i.e. the start point will become the end one, and vice versa).

Layer and Materials

Move to Layer

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Move to Layer
Hotkey:M

A pop-up menu to move the stroke to a different layer. You can choose the layer to move the selected strokes to from a list of layers of the current Grease Pencil Object. You can also add a new layer to move the selected stroke to.

Assign Material

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Assign Material

Changes the material linked to the selected stroke. You can choose the name of the material to be used by the selected stroke from a list of material of the current Grease Pencil Object.

Arrange Strokes

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Arrange Strokes

Change the drawing order of the strokes in the 2D layer.

Bring Forward
Moves the selected points/strokes upper the next one in the drawing order.
Send Backward
Moves the selected points/strokes below the previous one in the drawing order.
Bring to Front
Moves to the top the selected points/strokes.
Send to Back
Moves to the bottom the selected points/strokes.

Toggle Cyclic

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Toggle Cyclic

Toggles between an open stroke and closed stroke (cyclic).

Type
Close all
Close all open selected strokes.
Open all
Open all closed selected strokes.
Toggle
Close or Open selected strokes as required.
Create geometry
When enabled, points are added for closing the strokes like when using the Close tool. If disabled, the stroke is close without any actual geometry.

Toggle Caps

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Toggle Caps

Toggle ending cap styles of the stroke.

Default
Sets stroke start and end points to rounded (default).
Both
Toggle stroke start and end points caps to flat or rounded.
Start
Toggle stroke start point cap to flat or rounded.
End
Toggle stroke end point cap to flat or rounded.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_cap-1.png

Stroke ending with rounded caps.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_cap-2.png

Stroke ending with flat caps.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_cap-3.png

Stroke ending with combined caps.

Cleaning Up

These tools help to cleanup degenerate geometry on the strokes.

Loose Points

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Clean Up ‣ Loose Points

Removes disconnected points.

Boundary Strokes

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Clean Up ‣ Boundary Strokes, Boundary Strokes All Frames

Removes boundary strokes used by the Fill tool. See Fill tool for more information.

Mode
Active Frame Only
Removes boundary strokes from the current frame.
All frames
Removes boundary strokes from all frames.

Reproject Strokes

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Clean Up ‣ Reproject Strokes

Sometimes you may have drawn strokes unintentionally in different locations in the 3D space but they look right from a certain plane or from the camera view. You can use Reproject Strokes to flatten all the selected strokes from a certain viewpoint.

Front
Reproject selected strokes onto the front plane (XZ).
Side
Reproject selected strokes onto the side plane (YZ).
Top
Reproject selected strokes onto the top plane (XY).
View
Reproject selected strokes onto the current view.
Surface
Reproject selected strokes onto the mesh surfaces.
Cursor
Reproject selected strokes onto 3D cursor rotation.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_reproject-strokes-1.png

Original drawing from the front view.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_reproject-strokes-2.png

Original drawing in the 3D view.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_reproject-strokes-3.png

Strokes reprojected onto the front plane to fix strokes misalignment.
../../../_images/grease-pencil_modes_edit_stroke_menu_reproject-strokes-1.png

Drawing after reprojection operation from the front view.

Deleting

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Stroke ‣ Delete
Hotkey:X, Delete, Ctrl-X

Options for the Erase pop-up menu:

Points
Deletes the selected points. When only one point remains, there is no more visible stroke, and when all points are deleted, the stroke itself is deleted.
Strokes
Deletes all the strokes that selected points belongs to.
Frames
Deletes all the strokes at the current frame and in the current layer/channel.
Dissolve Ctrl-X
Deletes the selected points without splitting the stroke. The remaining points in the strokes stay connected.
Dissolve between Ctrl-X
Deletes all the points between the selected points without splitting the stroke. The remaining points in the strokes stay connected.
Dissolve Unselect Ctrl-X
Deletes all the points that are not selected in the stroke without splitting the stroke. The remaining points in the strokes stay connected.
Delete All Active Frames
Deletes all the strokes at the current frame in all layers/channels.