Image fills

You can fill any selected path or shape with an image by choosing the Image Fill swatch from the Appearance category of the Properties panel. To change the image, click the Import button to the right of the fill image sample. You can use any of the bitmapped image file types Expression Design can read (such as .jpg, .tif, and .bmp). Alternately, if you have saved a fill image as a custom swatch , you can choose it from the Swatches gallery .

If the image is smaller than the shape, Expression Design tiles (repeats vertically and horizontally) the image so that it fills the path.

Four sample image fills

When you import an image fill from disk, Expression Design links to that file (it does not embed the image fill into your document). If you move that image file or move the Expression Design document to another computer that does not have the same image on disk, the fill will not function.

Another way to fill a shape with an image is to combine the shape and a bitmap image object as a clipping mask.

Image Fills and Object Transformations

Whether or not an image fill is transformed (rotated, scaled, skewed, and so on), when you transform the shape or path depends on whether you select the Transform image fill  check box in the General page of the Options dialog box. When this option is cleared, the only way to transform the pattern fill is with the Fill Transform tool.

For more information on how to rotate, scale, move, or skew an image fill inside an object, see Transforming Image Fills.