Apply color, gradients, and stroke to elements

Change the color of elements in your scene with the fill and stroke tools. Apply a solid color, build a gradient, or sample a color from anywhere on screen with the eyedropper. Fill and Stroke are both available in the Properties panel and the hover toolbar. Text elements use Border instead of Stroke.

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Open the picker

Two entry points open the same picker, depending on what you’re coloring:

• For most elements, select the element in the Scene Editor or Properties panel, then select Fill or Stroke in the hover toolbar. For text elements, Border replaces Stroke.
• Scene backgrounds can only be adjusted via the Properties panel. Open the panel in the right-hand sidebar, then select the fill in the Background section. Background colors cannot be edited via the hover toolbar.

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Apply a color

Pick a swatch or use the color controls to choose a custom color or gradient.

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Apply a gradient

Select the Gradient tab, then pick a preset gradient or choose a gradient style. If you already have a solid color selected and switch to the Gradient tab, Descript starts you off with a gradient based on that color.

• Vertical: colors flow from top to bottom
• Horizontal: colors flow from left to right
• Center: colors radiate from the middle
• Corner: colors radiate from a corner

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Customize a gradient

For finer control over color values and the position of each transition, select Advanced controls in the Gradient tab. From there:

• Drag any stop along the gradient slider to change where its color appears
• Edit a stop’s hex value or position percentage to fine-tune
• Select + next to Stops to add more, up to 64 stops
• Select the trash icon next to a stop to remove it

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Save and reuse brand gradients

Add reusable gradients in Brand Studio so your drive’s editors can apply them across projects.

1. Add the gradient to your brand kit in Brand Studio.
2. Select an element in the Scene Editor, then open Fill.
3. Select the saved gradient from the Brand studio palette.

To customize a gradient on the selected element, select Select color in the brand palette, then open Advanced controls in the Gradient tab. To update the saved brand asset, edit the gradient in Brand Studio.

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Apply a stroke or border

Stroke and Border use the same color and eyedropper options as Fill (Stroke for most elements, Border for text). To set how thick the outline is, enter a value in the numeric field next to Stroke or Border in the hover toolbar. Gradients aren’t currently available for Stroke or Border.

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Sample a color with the eyedropper

The eyedropper grabs any color visible on screen and applies it to your element. It works for solid fills, individual gradient stops, strokes, and the Chroma Key effect. Select the eyedropper icon in the swatch grid, hover over the color you want to sample, then click to apply it.