Create dotted or dashed lines

Last updated on Oct 27, 2025

Learn how to use the Stroke panel to create dotted or dashed lines with custom gaps and dash lengths.

Select the object in your artwork, and then select Stroke in panels.

Select Window > Stroke to open the Stroke panel.

Select Dashed Line checkbox to activate dash settings.

To control how dashes appear on corners and path ends, select one of the following:

  • Preserve exact dash and gap lengths: This retains the original dash and gap lengths without aligning them to corners or path ends.
  • Align dashes to corners and path ends, adjusting lengths to fit: This makes the dashes at the corners and ends of the paths consistent and predictable.
The Stroke panel displays dashed line settings, with options to adjust dash lengths, gaps, and alignment for corners and path ends.
Enable Dashed Line to customize dash patterns and alignment on corners and path ends.

Specify a dash sequence by entering values for the lengths of dashes and the gap between them.

Note

Once you set a dash pattern, the numbers you enter repeat in sequence automatically, so you don’t need to fill in all the text boxes.