# Fill elements with color, halftone or an image

You can fill any element or page with a solid color, gradient (two or more colores that blend into one another), halftone (a color dot effect that is used a lot in comic book art) or image (that can provide texture or a speedline effect).

Use the Style Format Inspector to choose a fill option. Select the element, click the Fill well, and then choose a gradient from the gradient matrix or click Show Gradients to open the Gradients window for more choices.

The color fill choices include a set of preset colors. You can also create your own custom color fills by using the full color wheel and other color controls.

1. Select the element.
2. In the Format sidebar, click the Style tab.
3. Choose Color from the Fill pop-up menu (if it is not already selected).
4. Click the color well below the Fill pop-up menu to reveal the color picker and choose one of the following:
   - A preset color or gradient: Click on any of the options provided in the color or gradient palettes.
   - Any color: Click on "Show Colors" to activate the standard color picker. Click on the color wheel to pick a color.
   - A gradient fill: Click on "Show Gradients" to activate the gradient designer. Here you can create gradients with two, or many, colors and choose whether the gradient should be linear or radial.

     To learn more about using the Gradients window, see The Gradients Window.

- Select the element.
- Click on Inspector in the toolbar, and then click the Graphic button.
- Choose Halftone from the Fill pop-up menu.
- Click the halftone well below the Fill pop-up menu to reveal the halftone gradient tool. The gradient guides the layout of the halftone dots. Where the gradient is brighter the dots will be larger. Where the gradient is darker the dots will be smaller. You can switch between linear and radial gradients for different halftone effects.

  To learn more about using the Gradients window, see The Gradients Window.

- Click the foreground color well to choose a color or gradient with which to fill the halftone dots.
- Click the background color well to choose a color or gradient for the background.
- Change the dot size to adjust the median dot size.

1. Select the element you wish to fill with an image.
2. Click on Inspector in the toolbar, and then click the Graphic button.
3. In the Fill popup in the inspector, choose image mode:
   - Image: The image is drawn
   - Colorized Image: The chosen color is used to replace the midtones of the image. White and black are preserved.
   - Tinted Image: The chosen color is replaces all the other colors except for blacks.
   - Lightened Image The chosen color replaces all the other colors except for whites.
4. To pick an image click on the image well and choose an option from the pop-up menu:
   - Halftones: A selection of halftone fills with variety of dot sizes.
   - Speedlines: A selection of dynamic speed line effects.
   - Textures: A selection of textures.
   - Tiles: A selection of screen tone tiles. Best when used with the Tile image scale option.
   - Choose: Presents a file picker where you can select an image of your own. You can also simply drag an image in to the image well if you prefer.
5. Choose an image scale from the pop-up menu.
   - Scale to Fit: Resizes the image to fit the element's dimensions as well as possible. If the element's shape is different from that of the original image's, parts of the image may not appear; blank space may also appear around the image.
   - Scale to Fill: Makes the image appear larger or smaller, sizing it to ensure the element is completely covered by the image, even if the element and image have different shapes.
   - Stretch: Sizes the image to fit the element's dimensions but distorts it if the element has a shape different from that of the image.
   - Original Size: Places the image inside the element without altering its original dimensions. If the image is larger than the element, you see only a part of the image in the element. If the image is smaller than the element, there is blank space around it.
   - Tile: Repeats the image inside the element, if the image is smaller than the element. If the image is larger than the element, you see only part of the image inside the element.
6. If you chose Colorized Image or Lightened Image Fill, click the color well (to the right of the image well) to choose a color. Colorizing an image preserves blacks and whites and applies the selected color or gradient to all the mid-tones. Lightening an image replaces any color that is darker than the selected color or gradient.

   If you chose Tinted Image Fill the color is applied to everything except the blacks. To adjust the tint amount drag the slider to the right or left.