A line in GLEA is a shape layer drawn as a stroke instead of a fill: a rule, an underline, a connector, a route on a map, a hand-drawn arrow, a signature. On top of the plain stroke (width, dashes, ends, corners) you can trim it to draw it on, and stack Stroke options in the style of After Effects stroke plugins: taper, width profiles, a calligraphic brush, warps, copies, arrowheads, stamps and paint along the path. Almost every number and colour can be keyframed.
Make a line
Any of these gives you a stroked shape:
- Layer ▸ Shape in the timeline toolbar, then set the Shape dropdown in the SHAPE section to Line. A new Line starts as a straight line.
- A Path shape with Closed unticked: an open outline, drawn as a stroke.
- A closed Path with Appearance set to Stroke: the whole outline drawn as a line, so a circle or a traced logo can draw itself on.
- Create shape from path in a layer’s MOTION PATH section, which adds a Line that traces the layer’s route. See Create shape from path.
Shape the line on the canvas with Edit points in the Line path group: drag anchors, bend handles, Alt-click for a corner, click the outline to add a point. Presets offers Straight, Arc, S-curve, Wave, Zigzag and Corner. The Copy path icon in the SHAPE header replaces the line with any other curve in the project: a motion path, the camera path, another Path or Line, or a layer mask. The whole point editor, and keyframing the path to morph one line into another, is described in Borders, Shadows and Shapes.
The stroke is painted with the shape’s COLORS section, so a line can be a solid colour, a gradient, a live shader, a pattern or an image. The card-style BORDER section doesn’t apply to a stroked shape: the stroke is the outline.
Stroke
The Stroke group in SHAPE sets the line itself:
| Control | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Width | Stroke thickness in composition pixels. Keyframable. | 0–400 px / 8 px |
| Dash | Solid, Dashed, Dotted or Custom (your own pattern, below). | Solid |
| Ends | Flat stops exactly on the end point; Round and Square extend half the stroke width past it. | Round |
| Corners | How the stroke turns at an anchor: Round, Miter or Bevel. | Round |
| Style | Solid draws a filled stroke; Outline draws only its edge. Arrowheads and stamps are outlined together with it as one shape. | Solid |
| Outline width | The thickness of the edge, with Style: Outline. Keyframable. | 0.5–40 px / 3 px |
Dashes
Dash: Custom shows Dash, Gap, Dash 2 and Gap 2 (0–400 px each; 30, 18, 0, 0 to start), so you can build dash-dot and other two-step patterns. A 0 px dash with Round or Square ends draws a dot.
Any dashed, dotted or custom line also gets:
| Control | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Dash offset | Slides the dashes along the path. Keyframable. | −1000 to 1000 px / 0 |
| March | The dashes crawl along the path by themselves: marching ants. Negative runs backwards. Keyframable. | −400 to 400 px/s / 0 |
| Dash ends | The caps on each dash: Same as Ends, Flat, Round or Square. | Same as Ends |
| Fit to length | Stretches the pattern so it ends cleanly at both ends of the path. A very short dotted line keeps a dot at each end. | Off |
Dashes are anchored to the path, so when Trim draws the line on, the dashes are revealed in place instead of sliding along with the end.
Trim and draw-on
The Trim group draws only part of the line, measured along its own length. It’s the After Effects “Trim Paths” idea and the standard way to make a stroke write itself on.
| Control | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Where the visible stroke begins. Keyframable. | 0–100% / 0% |
| End | Where it ends. Keyframe it from 0 to 100 and the line draws itself on. Keyframable. | 0–100% / 100% |
| Offset | Slides the visible span along the path; it wraps round a closed path, so a segment can chase its own outline. Keyframable. | −100 to 100% / 0% |
| Each segment | Trims every anchor-to-anchor segment on its own, so all segments draw on at once. | Off |
| Ghost track | A faint copy of the whole path under the trimmed stroke: the track the line draws along. Keyframable. | 0–100% / 0% |
A typical write-on: keyframe End from 0% to 100%, add Arrowheads so the head rides the drawing end, and add a little Ghost track so the route shows before the line arrives. Keyframe Start a little later than End and the line wipes away behind itself.
Stroke options
A stroked shape has a STROKE OPTIONS section right under COLORS. Pick an option from Add option, the same searchable picker as Layer Effects, grouped into Width, Path and Decorate. Each option you add becomes a card:
- The dot mutes the card and keeps every setting.
- Clicking the name folds the card; a folded card still shows a short summary (for example “Arrow → Stealth arrow”).
- ✕ removes the card together with its keyframes.
Each option can be on the layer once. The dot in the STROKE OPTIONS header shows when options are on the layer, and clicking it removes them all, with their keyframes. Inside a card, some groups (Zig zag, Wiggle, Wave, Core highlight, Fade) fold on their own, and fields that only matter once another value is set stay hidden until then.
The options draw into the shape’s own texture, so the fill still colours them, shadows still apply, and the preview matches the render on both graphics engines. A line with no options draws exactly as a plain stroke. Options that don’t move are painted once; moving ones (March, Flow, wiggle, boil, a travelling zig zag or wave) repaint every frame.
Taper
Thins the stroke toward its start and end.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Follows | What the lengths are measured along: Whole path, Visible (trim) or Each dash. Visible (trim) makes a comet: the taper rides the drawn span while Trim animates. | Visible (trim) |
| Start length / End length | How far the taper reaches from each end, as a share of that span. | 0–100% / 30% |
| Start width / End width | The width at each tip, as a share of the stroke width. | 0–100% / 0% |
| Start ease / End ease | 0 gives a straight taper; higher values round the nose. | 0–100 / 0 |
Width profile
Shapes the width along the line.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | Lens, Bulge, Taper in, Taper out, Fishtail, Spindle, Teardrop, Beads, Pulse, Steps or Custom. | Lens |
| Curve | The profile drawn as a silhouette. Drag it to shape the width (this switches to Custom); double-click a point to remove it. | — |
| Repeat | How many times the profile repeats along the span. | 1–40 / 1 |
| Offset | Slides the profile along, as a share of one repeat. Keyframable. | 0–100% / 0% |
| Flow | Makes the profile travel along the line on its own, in repeats per second. | −3 to 3 /s / 0 |
| Minimum width | A floor, so the thin parts never vanish. | 0–100% / 0% |
The profile is measured along the same span as Taper’s Follows (the visible trimmed span when there is no Taper).
Width wave
The width pulses along the line, and can travel.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | How deep the pulses are. | 0–100% / 60% |
| Wavelength | The distance between pulses. | 4–800 px / 120 px |
| Phase | Shifts the pulses along the line. | 0–360° / 0° |
| Speed | Makes the pulses travel, in cycles per second. | −6 to 6 /s / 0 |
Brush
A calligraphic nib, pen pressure, rough edges and a hand-drawn boil.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Nib | Round, or Calligraphic for a flat pen whose width changes with direction. | Round |
| Nib angle / Nib roundness | The pen’s angle and how round it is (Calligraphic only). | −90 to 90° / 35°; 0–100% / 20% |
| Pressure | Varies the width as if drawn with a pressure-sensitive pen. | 0–100% / 0% |
| Pressure scale | How long each pressure swell is (shown when Pressure is above 0). | 20–1200 px / 300 px |
| Rough edges | Ragged, ink-on-paper edges. | 0–100% / 0% |
| Rough scale | The size of the roughness (shown when Rough edges is above 0). | 1–80 px / 10 px |
| Boil | Re-rolls the roughness this many times a second: the hand-drawn, alive-line look. | 0–24 fps / 0 |
| Seed | Picks a different random pattern. | 1–99 / 7 |
Warp path
Bends the path itself before the stroke is drawn. The warps apply in this order: round corners, offset, zig zag, wiggle, wave. Each group’s other controls appear once its size is above 0.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Round corners | Rounds every sharp corner of the path. | 0–300 px / 0 |
| Offset | Moves the whole line sideways, parallel to itself. Keyframable. | −150 to 150 px / 0 |
| Zig zag ▸ Size | The height of the zig zag. Keyframable. | 0–120 px / 0 |
| Zig zag ▸ Ridges | How many ridges along the line. | 1–160 / 24 |
| Zig zag ▸ Points | Corner for sharp ridges, Smooth for a wave-like zig zag. | Corner |
| Zig zag ▸ Travel | Makes the ridges crawl along the line, in ridges per second. | −8 to 8 /s / 0 |
| Wiggle ▸ Size | A random, organic wobble. Keyframable. | 0–160 px / 0 |
| Wiggle ▸ Detail | How many wiggles, per 1000 px of line. | 0.5–40 / 5 |
| Wiggle ▸ Wiggles / s | How fast the wobble changes. | 0–12 /s / 1.5 |
| Wiggle ▸ Pin ends | Keeps both ends of the line still. | On |
| Wave ▸ Amplitude | A regular sine wave along the line. Keyframable. | 0–240 px / 0 |
| Wave ▸ Wavelength | The length of one wave. | 20–1400 px / 320 px |
| Wave ▸ Travel | Makes the wave run along the line. | −2000 to 2000 px/s / 0 |
| Wave ▸ Pin ends | Keeps both ends of the line still. | On |
Copies
Repeats the line, as parallel lines or as a repeater.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | Parallel lines side by side, or Repeater, where each copy is moved, rotated and scaled from the one before. | Parallel lines |
| Count | How many copies. | 1–24 / 3 |
| Spacing | The distance between parallel lines. Keyframable. | −120 to 120 px / 30 px |
| Move X / Move Y | Repeater: how far each copy moves. | −400 to 400 px / 0 |
| Rotate | Repeater: how far each copy turns. | −180 to 180° / 15° |
| Scale | Repeater: each copy’s size relative to the one before. | 50–150% / 95% |
| Width falloff / Opacity falloff | Each copy thinner or fainter than the last. | 0–100% / 0% |
| Colour | Same paint as the stroke, Cycle colours, or Gradient across the copies, with two or three Colours. | Same paint |
| Trim stagger | Each copy plays the keyframed Trim this much later, so the copies draw on one after another. | 0–2 s / 0 |
| Order | Which copy goes first when staggered: First → last, Last → first or Centre out. | First → last |
| Blend | Normal, or Add (overlaps glow) so overlapping copies brighten. | Normal |
Arrowheads
Arrows, dots or bars on the start and end of the line.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Start / End | None, Arrow, Stealth arrow, Open arrow, Dot, Ring, Square, Diamond or Bar. | None / Arrow |
| Size | Head size, as a multiple of the stroke width. Keyframable. | 1–12× / 3.2× |
| Ride the trim | On: the heads sit on the trimmed ends, so they travel with a draw-on. Off: they stay on the path ends and are always shown. | On |
| Grow in | Scales the heads in while the drawn span is still short (with Ride the trim on). | On |
A head pulls the stroke back by its own length, so the line never pokes through the tip, and it fades with the stroke where Paint along path fades it out.
Stamps along path
Places shapes along the line, like a dotted route or a row of chevrons.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Dot, Ring, Square, Diamond, Triangle, Chevron, Star, Bar (tie), Heart or Cross. | Dot |
| With stroke | Stamps only, Under the stroke or Over the stroke. | Stamps only |
| Spacing | The distance between stamps. | 2–300 px / 36 px |
| Offset | Slides the stamps along the line. Keyframable. | −1000 to 1000 px / 0 |
| March | The stamps travel along the line on their own. | −400 to 400 px/s / 0 |
| Size | Stamp size. | 1–200 px / 18 px |
| Aspect | Stretches each stamp. | 10–400% / 100% |
| Size follows width | Stamps shrink and grow with Taper and the width profile. | On |
| Rotation | Follow path, Fixed or Random, with an Angle. | Follow path; −180 to 180° |
| Jitter size / Jitter rotation / Jitter offset | Random variation per stamp. | 0–100%; 0–180°; 0–120 px |
| Seed | Picks a different random pattern (shown when anything is random). | 1–99 / 7 |
| Colour | Stroke paint, or Own for a separate stamp colour. | Stroke paint |
Stamps follow the original line only, not its copies.
Paint along path
Colours the stroke along its length instead of across the screen.
| Option | What it does | Range / Default |
|---|---|---|
| Paint | Shape fill (the COLORS fill), Gradient along path or Rainbow. | Gradient along path |
| Colours | The gradient’s colours, shown for Gradient along path. + Add a third colour adds one more. | 2–3 colours |
| Spans | What one run of the gradient covers: Whole path, Visible (trim) or Each dash. | Whole path |
| Repeat | How many times the gradient repeats, with Mirror repeats to bounce it back and forth. | 1–12 / 1 |
| Offset | Slides the gradient along. Keyframable. | 0–100% / 0% |
| Flow | Makes the gradient run along the line on its own. | −2 to 2 /s / 0 |
| Core highlight ▸ Enabled | A bright centre line for a tube or neon look, with Core colour, Core width and Softness. | Off; 35%; 50% |
| Fade ▸ In / Out | Fades the stroke in from its start and out toward its end. Keyframable. | 0–100% / 0% |
The fades are measured along the same span as Taper’s Follows. With any stroke option on, the line is still painted with the shape’s own fill unless Paint along path uses a gradient or rainbow, Copies has its own colours, or the stamps have their own colour.
Animating strokes
Every number that can move has a keyframe stopwatch: Width, the trim, the dash fields, Outline width and Ghost track, and every numeric field in the option cards (nib angle, zig zag ridges, copy rotation, stamp spacing, repeat, softness…). Every colour has one too: each gradient colour, the core colour, the stamp colour and each copy colour. Dropdowns and On / Off switches stay static.
Clicking a stopwatch adds the track flat at the current value, so nothing changes until you move a key, and opens it in KEYFRAMES, where stroke tracks are listed under Shape (for example Stroke width, Trim end, Taper start length, Arrowhead size, Fade out). A card’s tracks are offered only while that card is on the layer. See Keyframe Builder.
Smooth a line
A traced, tracked or hand-drawn line often has far more points than it needs. Smooth… in the Line path group (it needs at least three points) opens a panel that previews its result live on the canvas, with the point count before and after, the maximum deviation and the change in length:
- Fit refits the curve with as few points as the tolerance allows.
- Reduce deletes only the redundant points and keeps the rest exactly where they are.
- Even rebuilds the line with an exact number of evenly spaced points.
- Relax keeps every point and averages out the shake.
Apply keeps the result; Cancel, Escape or clicking away puts the original back. The same tool is on shape outlines, layer masks, motion paths and the camera path; every setting is described in Smooth a path.
Create shape from path
A layer’s route can become a line you can see. In the layer’s MOTION PATH section, Create shape from path adds a Line shape layer named Path Shape on its own channel directly below the layer, traced from the motion path, with the same start and length as the layer and a 6 px stroke. It is an independent copy: editing the motion path later doesn’t change it. Keyframe its Trim ▸ End to draw the route on as the layer travels, or give it stamps or a dashed style for a map route. See Motion Paths.
Glow on a line
Running Glow switches to Thin lines / outlines on a stroked shape and matches its Edge Width to the line, so the line lights up straight away. To show only the light, use Glow only — hide the layer rather than a transparent fill. See Borders, Shadows and Shapes.
Where to go next
- Borders, Shadows and Shapes — shape kinds, the point editor, fills and clipping masks
- Motion Paths — copy curves between layers, smooth a path, trace a route as a line
- Keyframe Builder — easing and timing for draw-ons and stroke animations
- Layer Effects — Running Glow and other effects on a line
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