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Is there a way in Sketch to expand a shape? For example, let's say I have an outline of something. I'd like to expand that outline to be a solid shape so I can apply boolean operations to it with other shapes. Is that possible?

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  • What do you mean by "expand"? Why don't you just fill it? Or resize (while holding SHIFT) if you want to change size.
    – Sven
    Jan 24, 2014 at 14:26
  • I'd like to be able to apply boolean operations on the stroke. A example would be to make this image. You have to expand the stroke to create a solid outline, as opposed to a path with a width. Then you subtract a diagonal shape from it, leaving the blank space.
    – Edward Loveall
    Jan 24, 2014 at 17:31
  • Please include external images in your post so we can all see them - some of us work behind a firewall where sites like imgur are blocked.
    – Paul
    Mar 14, 2016 at 9:09

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The accepted answer seems to be deprecated as of Sketch 3.6.1

Layer > Paths > Vectorize Stroke is gone, instead now we got Layer > Convert to Outlines

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EDIT for Sketch 3.6.1

Choose Layer > Convert to Outlines.

Strokes cannot be expanded (currently, v2.4.3). Edit: You can choose vectorize stroke in Layer (or Edit for older version) > Paths > Vectorize Stroke

However, you could create the shape and then use a mask to make the diagonal cut. In the example I have made the mask visible in red (normally this would not be shown).

shape (black/white) with mask(red)

You can create a mask by drawing a single shape (can be constructed using boolean shapes). Then select 'Use as Mask' when ctrl-clicking the layer in the layer pane. Make sure you position the layer right below the layer you want to mask (in the layer pane).

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  • Turns out you can expand strokes in v2.4.3. Go to the Edit menu, select Paths and then select Vectorize Stroke.
    – Igor van Oostveen
    Feb 27, 2014 at 14:44
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    Don't have the rep to reply to the selected answer, but at least as of Version 3.1.1, it's now under Layer > Paths > Vectorize Stroke.
    – mandynicole
    Nov 17, 2014 at 4:32
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    This doesn't seem to work with arrow ends, at least in Sketch 43.2
    – Eric
    May 30, 2017 at 9:55
  • @Eric: there might be plugins that will make it work with arrowheads... I found this one, but it has not been updated in a while... github.com/joclin/arrowfy
    – Igor van Oostveen
    Jun 2, 2017 at 22:09
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Choose the border you want to convert into the shape and go to Layer > Convert to outline

That's it.

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