Complete Guide to the “Properties” Docker in CorelDRAW: Outline, Fill, and Transparency Explained

One of the most essential tools when working in CorelDRAW is the “Properties” docker.
This panel lets you manage all visual styling options—such as outlines, fills, and transparency—from a single, centralized location.

In this article, we’ll give you a complete overview of everything you can do with the Properties docker, using clear explanations and visual examples to make it easy to follow in one place.

What Is the Properties Docker?

The Properties docker in CorelDRAW is a context-sensitive control panel that allows you to adjust a wide range of object settings—such as outlines, fills, sizes, and effects—based on the currently selected object.

What Can You Adjust in the Properties Docker?

■ Outline (Stroke)

This section allows you to control the appearance of an object’s outline—such as stroke weight, color, and end shapes. These are essential for achieving precise and expressive designs.

Main Settings

1. Outline Color: You can also right-click a color in the Color Palette to assign it to the outline.

2. Line Weight: Supports variable outline thickness.

Line Styles: Solid, dotted, dashed, etc.

3.Corners and Caps: Customize how corners and endpoints are rendered.

4. Start/End Shapes: Add decorative markers such as arrows, circles, dimension lines, or airplanes.

5. Variable Width Outlines: Create dynamic stroke widths along a single path to emphasize areas.

6. Pen Tip Settings: Adjust the thickness and angle of pen strokes.

■ Fill

Fills define how the inside of an object is colored or patterned. From solid colors to complex patterns and textures, CorelDRAW offers a wide variety of fill options.

Basic Fill Options:

• Enable/Disable Fill: Toggle fill on or off with a single click.
• Standard Fill: Choose from Color View, Color Sliders, or Color Palette.
• Color Modes: Supports CMYK, RGB, HSB, Lab, and Hexadecimal input.
• Eyedropper Tool: Sample colors from anywhere on your desktop, even outside CorelDRAW.

Gradient Fills:

• Multi-Color Gradients: Create smooth blends between two or more colors.
• Transparency in Gradients: Apply individual transparency levels within the gradient.
• Shapes: Linear, Elliptical, Conical, and Rectangular.
• Blend Direction: Linear, clockwise, or counter-clockwise.
• Repeat Modes: Standard, repeat, or mirrored.
• Steps & Smoothing: Adjust the number of color steps and smoothness for optimal blending.

Pattern Fills:

• Vector Pattern Fills
  • Resolution-independent and scalable without quality loss.
  • Support for mirror (horizontal/vertical), transform (position X/Y, size, skew, rotation), and offset adjustments.
• Bitmap Pattern Fills
  • Use image-based fill patterns.
  • Choose between radial or linear blend modes.
  • Adjust brightness, lightness, and color to fine-tune results.
  • Supports transformation, mirroring, and offset, similar to vector patterns.
• Other Fill Types
  • Two-Color Patterns
  • Texture Fills
  • PostScript Fills: Ideal for print and technical illustrations.

■ Transparency

Transparency settings allow you to make objects partially see-through, enabling advanced layering effects and subtle visual styles.

Key Features:

• Enable/Disable Transparency: Can be applied to any object.
• Uniform Transparency: Apply consistent transparency across the entire object.
• Gradient Transparency
  → Creates a fading effect from opaque to transparent.
  → Supported Shapes: Linear, Elliptical, Conical, and Rectangular.
• Composite Transparency
  → Use vector, bitmap, or two-color gradients as transparency masks.

■　How to Show the Properties Docker

To open the Properties docker:

Go to the top menu → Window → Dockers → enable Properties

This will make the panel appear on the right side of the workspace, ready to manage outlines, fills, transparency, and more.

Advanced Techniques: Making the Most of the Properties Docker

Once you’re familiar with the basics of the Properties docker, it’s time to unlock its full potential with some advanced techniques to enrich your design expressions.

Advanced Outline Techniques: Add Emphasis with Dynamic Strokes

Outlines can be adjusted to have variable thickness along a single path, making your designs more expressive and impactful.

Ideal for:

• Character outlines and eyelashes in comics or illustrations
• Enhancing contrast against backgrounds
• Emphasizing specific parts of a shape or diagram

How to Use:

1. Select a straight or curved object.
2. From the top Property Bar, select the Variable Outline Tool
   (Also available as a button inside the Properties docker.)
3. Click on the area where you want to change the width.
   Two perpendicular arrows will appear on the stroke.
4. Adjust the width using mouse drag or enter values directly.
5. You can add multiple width control points, move or edit them freely.
6. Even after width adjustment, the object path (nodes) can still be modified.

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■ Advanced Fill Techniques: Create Depth by Layering

Fills don’t have to be flat or repetitive. By layering multiple fills, textures, and effects, you can add visual richness and depth to your design.

Recommended Techniques:

• Layering patterns or effects
• Using multiple overlapping objects for complex color compositions

For targeted fill areas:

💡 Use the PowerClip feature (masking tool) to limit fills to specific shapes.

• Place an object (e.g., image, pattern, or effect) inside another shape.
• Combine multiple fills or visuals within a single clipping area.
• Helps you organize and edit complex visuals more efficiently.

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■ Advanced Transparency: Smooth Overlays & Fading Effects

Using transparency creatively allows you to soften objects and create depth in your artwork.

Key Effects:

• Seamless blending of overlapping objects
• Transparent overlays to let the background show through
• Fade-in/fade-out effects for text, shapes, or illustrations

💡 Combine transparency with gradient modes to create smooth transitions like:

• “Gradually fading away”
• “Partially see-through sections”

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✅ Take Your Design to the Next Level

CorelDRAW’s Properties docker isn’t just for basic settings—it supports expressive, creative techniques that elevate your work.

By fully utilizing outlines, fills, and transparency effects, you can develop a distinctive design style and bring your artistic vision to life.

Combine these advanced tips with the core concepts in the first half of this guide, and start mastering property-based design workflows in CorelDRAW!

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