Tools
Piko organizes its tools around three editor modes, each tailored to a different workflow. This guide explains every mode and tool so you can pick the right one for the job.
Editor modes
Section titled “Editor modes”Piko has three editor modes. The active mode determines which tools are available in the toolbar. Switch between them using the three-button mode switcher in the center of the menu bar.
| Mode | Purpose | Available Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Vector | Shape creation, path editing, text | Select, Frame, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Star, Line, Pen, Pencil, Text |
| Paint | Bitmap painting and editing | Select, Frame, Brush, Eraser, Fill, Eyedropper |
| Pixel Art | Pixel-perfect drawing | Select, Frame, Brush, Pencil, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, Fill, Eraser, Eyedropper |
When to use each mode
Section titled “When to use each mode”Use Vector mode when you need scalable shapes, editable paths, or text. Vector objects can be resized without quality loss and are ideal for logos, icons, UI mockups, and illustrations with clean lines.
Use Paint mode for freehand painting, photo editing, or any work that involves brush strokes on bitmap layers. Paint mode gives you pressure-sensitive brushes, erasers, and flood fill.
Use Pixel Art mode for retro-style art, sprites, and tile sets. Tools in this mode operate on individual pixels with hard edges — no anti-aliasing, no sub-pixel positioning.
Common behaviors
Section titled “Common behaviors”Before diving into individual tools, here are behaviors that apply across all modes:
- Auto-switch to Select — After creating a shape with any creation tool, Piko automatically switches to the Select tool so you can immediately move or transform what you just drew.
- Shift constrains aspect ratio — Holding Shift while dragging to create a shape constrains it to equal proportions (square for rectangles, circle for ellipses).
- Auto-parenting into frames — If the center of a newly created shape lands inside a frame, the shape automatically becomes a child of that frame.
- Minimum size threshold — You must drag at least 3x3 pixels to create a shape. Smaller drags are discarded to prevent accidental micro-shapes.
Select tool — V
Section titled “Select tool — V”The Select tool is the most-used tool in Piko. It uses a finite state machine internally, so its behavior depends on what you click and how you interact.
Actions
Section titled “Actions”| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Click a shape | Select it |
| Shift + click | Toggle add/remove from the current selection |
| Drag a selected shape | Move it (with snapping guides). Live-reparents into or out of frames as you drag |
| Drag a corner or edge handle | Resize from the opposite anchor. Hold Shift to lock aspect ratio |
| Drag near a corner (rotation zone) | Rotate around the shape’s center. Hold Shift to snap to 15-degree increments |
| Drag on empty space | Draw a marquee selection box. Hold Shift for additive marquee |
| Double-click a group or frame | Enter container editing mode (only children inside are selectable) |
| Double-click a text object | Enter text editing mode |
| Double-click a path object | Enter path editing mode |
| Double-click a rectangle, ellipse, polygon, or star | Enter virtual path editing mode (edit the shape’s control points directly) |
| Click empty space while editing a container | Exit container editing mode |
| Escape | Exit current editing context — path editing first, then container editing (in priority order) |
Frame click-through
Section titled “Frame click-through”When a frame is selected and you click one of its children, Piko uses a deferred selection model. If you click and immediately drag, the frame itself moves. If you click and release without dragging, the child gets selected instead. This lets you reposition a frame without accidentally selecting its contents.
Frame tool — F
Section titled “Frame tool — F”Frames are clip containers. Any child element that extends beyond the frame’s bounds is visually clipped.
- Press F to activate the Frame tool.
- Click and drag on the canvas to define the frame’s size.
- Draw or paste shapes inside the frame — they become children automatically when their center is inside the frame bounds.
Frames are useful for masking, creating scrollable regions in UI prototypes, and grouping related elements with a visible boundary.
Rectangle tool — R
Section titled “Rectangle tool — R”Click and drag to create a rectangle. Hold Shift while dragging to constrain to a perfect square.
Creates a vector rectangle. You can adjust corner radius, fill, and stroke in the Properties panel. Double-click the rectangle with the Select tool to enter virtual path editing mode, where you can drag individual corners.
Creates an axis-aligned pixel rectangle drawn with the current foreground color. No anti-aliasing is applied.
Ellipse tool — O
Section titled “Ellipse tool — O”Click and drag to create an ellipse. Hold Shift while dragging to constrain to a perfect circle.
Creates a vector ellipse. Adjust fill and stroke in the Properties panel. Double-click to enter virtual path editing mode.
Creates a pixel-grid ellipse using the Midpoint algorithm. Drawn with the current foreground color, no anti-aliasing.
Polygon tool — Y
Section titled “Polygon tool — Y”Click and drag to create a regular polygon. By default, polygons have 5 sides.
Polygon properties
Section titled “Polygon properties”Configure these settings in the Properties panel:
| Property | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sides | 3 — 64 | Number of sides on the polygon |
| Inner radius ratio | 0.01 — 1.0 | Ratio of inner radius to outer radius. Values below 1.0 create star-like indentations |
Star tool — S
Section titled “Star tool — S”Click and drag to create a star shape. By default, stars have 5 points.
Star properties
Section titled “Star properties”| Property | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 3 — 64 | Number of points on the star |
| Inner radius ratio | 0.01 — 0.99 | How deep the indentations are. Lower values create thinner, more dramatic spikes |
Line tool — L
Section titled “Line tool — L”Click and drag to draw a straight line between two points.
Creates a vector line with configurable stroke properties. You can add arrowheads to either end.
Arrowhead options (configured in the Properties panel):
| Arrowhead type | Description |
|---|---|
| None | No arrowhead (default) |
| Triangle | Solid filled triangle |
| Open | Open chevron shape |
| Diamond | Rotated square |
| Circle | Filled circle |
Both the start and end of the line have independent arrowhead settings.
Draws a pixel-aligned straight line using the current foreground color. Uses Bresenham’s algorithm for clean pixel lines at any angle.
Pen tool — P
Section titled “Pen tool — P”The Pen tool creates precise vector paths by placing anchor points one at a time.
Pen actions
Section titled “Pen actions”| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Click on canvas | Place a new anchor point with straight segments |
| Drag after placing a point | Pull out symmetric bezier handles to create a curve |
| Click near the first point (3+ points placed) | Close the path into a shape |
| Escape or Enter | Finish the path as an open path |
| Click on an open path’s endpoint | Extend the existing path from that endpoint |
- Press P to activate the Pen tool.
- Click to place your first anchor point.
- Click elsewhere to add more points connected by straight segments, or click and drag to create curved segments.
- To close the path, hover over the first point until you see the close indicator, then click.
- To leave the path open, press Enter or Escape.
Pencil tool — N
Section titled “Pencil tool — N”The Pencil tool draws freehand vector paths. Click and drag to sketch freely — when you release, Piko automatically smooths the path using Ramer-Douglas-Peucker simplification and converts the result to smooth bezier curves via Catmull-Rom spline fitting.
This gives you the speed of freehand drawing with clean, editable vector output.
In Pixel Art mode, the Pencil draws pixel-perfect lines at 1px width using Bresenham’s algorithm. Each pixel is placed precisely on the grid with no anti-aliasing, making it ideal for detailed sprite work.
Text tool — T
Section titled “Text tool — T”The Text tool creates and edits text objects on the canvas.
Text actions
Section titled “Text actions”| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Click on canvas | Create an auto-width text object and enter edit mode. The text box grows as you type |
| Drag on canvas | Create a fixed-width text object (minimum 20px wide) and enter edit mode. Text wraps within the box |
| Click on existing text | Select the text object and enter edit mode |
- Press T to activate the Text tool.
- Click on the canvas to create a text object and start typing.
- Use the Properties panel to change font, size, weight, alignment, and spacing.
- Press Escape or click outside to finish editing.
Brush tool — B
Section titled “Brush tool — B”The Brush paints on bitmap layers using your current foreground color. It interpolates between sample points for smooth, continuous strokes.
Brush properties
Section titled “Brush properties”| Property | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 1+ pixels | Diameter of the brush tip. Adjust with [ and ] keys |
| Hardness | 0 — 1 | Edge softness. 1 = hard, crisp edge. 0 = soft, feathered edge |
| Opacity | 0 — 1 | Overall stroke transparency |
| Flow | 0 — 1 | How quickly paint builds up. Lower flow lets you build density with overlapping strokes |
| Shape | Round / Square | Brush tip shape |
Eraser tool — E
Section titled “Eraser tool — E”The Eraser removes bitmap pixels by setting their alpha to 0 (fully transparent). It uses the same size and hardness settings as the Brush tool and is also pressure-sensitive.
- Press E to activate the Eraser tool.
- Set the eraser Size and Hardness in the Properties panel.
- Click and drag on the canvas to erase pixels.
Fill tool — G
Section titled “Fill tool — G”Flood-fills a contiguous region of same-color pixels with the current foreground color.
- Press G to activate the Fill tool.
- Choose your foreground color from the color picker.
- Click on the area you want to fill.
The fill uses exact color matching (tolerance = 0) and only fills contiguous pixels that match the color at the click point.
Eyedropper tool — I
Section titled “Eyedropper tool — I”Click on any bitmap pixel to sample its color. The sampled color becomes your active foreground color immediately.
Tool quick reference
Section titled “Tool quick reference”This table summarizes every tool, its keyboard shortcut, and which editor modes it appears in.
| Tool | Shortcut | Available Modes | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select | V | Vector, Paint, Pixel Art | Selection |
| Frame | F | Vector, Paint, Pixel Art | Container |
| Rectangle | R | Vector, Pixel Art | Shape |
| Ellipse | O | Vector, Pixel Art | Shape |
| Polygon | Y | Vector | Shape |
| Star | S | Vector | Shape |
| Line | L | Vector, Pixel Art | Shape |
| Pen | P | Vector | Path |
| Pencil | N | Vector, Pixel Art | Draw |
| Text | T | Vector | Type |
| Brush | B | Paint, Pixel Art | Draw |
| Eraser | E | Paint, Pixel Art | Edit |
| Fill | G | Paint, Pixel Art | Edit |
| Eyedropper | I | Paint, Pixel Art | Utility |
For the complete list of keyboard shortcuts, see the Keyboard Shortcuts reference.