Offset and frame
A hole inside, or a ring outside
Offset
In the Shape panel of rectangles, circles, ellipses, polygons, paths and boolean operations:
| Value | What happens |
|---|---|
| positive | a hole: an outline inside, and what lies between stays empty — a ring, a frame |
| negative | an outward frame: the shape becomes the hole, and a ring of that thickness grows outside |
The slider ranges from minus to plus half of the shape's short side.
How it closes at corners
For paths and boolean operations, the Join row sets how the eroded outline closes at corners: round, miter, bevel — the same three joins as the stroke. Rectangle and polygon have sharp corners.
Where it matters
The hole is part of the outline: it is taken into account by boolean operations, distortions, snapping, SVG export and Convert to path, which writes the actual outline into the new path.