Paint Bucket

The Paint Bucket tool fills closed regions with the current fill color. Click inside any enclosed area to apply a fill, even if the region is formed by multiple overlapping shapes.

Activating the Paint Bucket

• Select the Paint Bucket from the toolbar
• Or press G to activate
• The cursor shows a paint bucket icon

Basic Usage

1. Select a fill color from the color picker or swatches
2. Activate the Paint Bucket tool
3. Click inside any closed region
4. The region fills with the selected color

What Gets Filled

The Paint Bucket can fill:

• Closed Paths - Any path that forms a complete loop
• Intersecting Regions - Areas created by overlapping shapes
• Compound Paths - Inner regions of shapes with holes
• Open Paths - Treats start and end as connected

Fill Options

• Solid Color - Fill with the current color
• Gradient - Apply the current gradient
• Pattern - Fill with the current pattern

Gap Detection

Control how the tool handles gaps in paths:

• No Gap Tolerance - Only fill perfectly closed paths
• Small Gaps - Ignore gaps up to 2px
• Medium Gaps - Ignore gaps up to 6px
• Large Gaps - Ignore gaps up to 12px

Adjust gap tolerance in the tool options bar.

Working with Overlapping Shapes

When shapes overlap, the Paint Bucket creates new fill shapes:

• Click in the intersection to fill just that area
• The fill becomes a new shape on top
• Original shapes remain unchanged

Modifier Keys

• Shift + Click - Fill and expand to adjacent regions
• Alt/Option + Click - Sample color from clicked area (Eyedropper)
• Cmd/Ctrl + Click - Fill all similar regions

Common Use Cases

• Coloring Illustrations - Fill line art with colors
• Quick Fills - Faster than selecting and applying fill
• Complex Regions - Fill areas formed by many shapes
• Map Design - Color regions in diagrams

Troubleshooting

• Fill spills out - Path has gaps; increase zoom to find and close them
• Nothing fills - Region may not be closed; check path endpoints
• Wrong area fills - Click more precisely inside desired region

Tips

• Use with the Shape Builder for interactive region filling
• Combine with Expand Stroke to fill outlined text
• Great for coloring imported SVG illustrations
• The created fill shape can be edited independently