Fill symbol layers are components of symbols that cover areal geometries. They are most often used in polygon symbols. There are different types of fills:
Solid fill | Fills polygonal geometry with a single solid color. |
Hatched fill | Fills polygonal geometry with a uniform series of parallel line symbols. |
Gradient fill | Fills polygonal geometry with a color scheme. Only continuous color schemes are supported. |
Picture fill | Fills polygonal geometry with an image file. |
Procedural fill | Fills polygonal or multipatch geometry with procedural symbology based on the properties exposed by a rule package. |
Animated fill | Fills polygon geometry in a scene with symbology that simulates motion. Only available in 3D scenes, not 2D maps. |
Material fill | Material fill applies color to 3D object features in mesh symbols. |
Use the pull-down menu within each layer as they are listed in the Format Symbol mode of the Symbology pane, on the Properties tab. Click the Layers tab 
to set the layer type.
Learn more about symbol layers
Solid fill symbol layers
Solid fill symbols contain only a single property, Color, which can be partially transparent.
Hatched fill symbol layers
Hatched fill symbol layers use an existing line symbol to draw a uniform series of parallel lines. In the Format Symbol mode of the Symbology pane, on the Properties tab, on the Layers tab , expand the Appearance group. Pick a preset line symbol from the Hatch line symbol pull-down gallery, or click More line symbols in that gallery to choose one from an available style.
You can only change the basic properties—Color and Line width—for the selected line symbol. These properties are also in the Appearance group.
To edit additional properties of the line symbol, click the Hatch line symbol menu and click Format line symbol. The line symbol used to draw the hatch opens in the Format Embedded Line Symbol subpane. Adjust the properties of the hatch line symbol as you would any other line symbol. To save the custom line symbol for reuse, click the menu button 
in the upper right corner and click Save embedded symbol to style. Click Return to previous symbology page 
to return to the Format Polygon Symbol pane.
You define the arrangement of the hatch lines using the properties in the Pattern group. Define the angle of the lines by choosing from the Angle pull-down menu or typing a custom value. The Separation property defines the distance between the line symbols. Adjust the Offset property only if it is necessary to customize where the drawing of the line symbols originates from relative to the polygon boundaries.
Gradient fill symbol layers
Gradient fill symbol layers use a color scheme to draw an arrangement of colors across the polygonal area. In the Format Symbol mode of the Symbology pane, on the Properties tab, on the Layers tab , expand the Appearance group. Pick a preset color scheme from the pull-down gallery, or click More color schemes in that gallery to choose one from an available style. Only continuous color schemes can be applied to gradient fill symbol layers.
You can reverse the direction of the color scheme, and if it is a simple two-color continuous color scheme, you can change the colors. To use a different color scheme, click the color scheme menu and click More color schemes to access color schemes in the project styles. If you need a different color scheme not available in a style, click the color scheme menu and click Color scheme properties to open the Color Scheme Editor dialog box. Construct the color scheme as necessary. To save the custom color scheme for reuse, click Save to a style. Click OK to return to the Format Symbol pane.
You define the arrangement of the gradient colors using the properties in the Pattern group. Define the direction of the gradient by choosing from the Direction pull-down menu: Linear, Rectangular, Circular, or Buffered. Define the gradient type as Discrete—unique bands of color—or Continuous—smooth transitions from one color to another—from the Type pull-down menu. The Interval property defines how many bands draw in the discrete case. The Extent and Size properties define how much of the feature is covered by the color scheme in an absolute distance or in a relative percentage.
Note:
Buffered gradients can only be of type discrete.
Picture fill symbol layers
Picture fill symbol layers use an image file to fill polygonal area. In the Format Symbol mode of the Symbology pane, on the Properties tab, on the Layers tab , expand the Appearance group. Click Picture to browse to an image file. Valid file formats are *.bmp, *.jpg, *.png, or *.gif. Adjust the Quality, Tint, and Size properties as necessary. If the image file exceeds 2048 pixels in either dimension, the picture fill symbol layer does not draw.
Tip:
Set the Tint property to white, which is the default setting, to draw the image in its native colors. Setting this property to no color causes no image to be drawn at all.
Each of the Quality settings corresponds to a different resampling method:
- Draft—Nearest-neighbor resampling
- Picture—Bilinear resampling
- Text—Anisotropic resampling
Procedural fill symbol layers
Procedural fills draw only in a 3D context. They are ignored when the symbol is used in 2D. Their symbol properties are dictated by a source rule package (.rpk file). Rule packages are created in ArcGIS CityEngine. If the fill layer is used in a polygon, point, or line symbol, the @StartRule of the rule package must specify @InPoly annotation. If the fill layer is used in a mesh symbol, the @StartRule must specify @InMesh annotation so it can be applied to multipatch geometry.
Animated fill symbol layers
Water is the only animated fill type currently available. The appearance of the water surface can be modified by changing the primary Color, Waterbody size, Wave strength, and optionally Wave direction properties. Specify the Waterbody size value to ensure that the relative size of the waves is appropriate to the size of the polygon. If you specify that waves have a directionality (by checking Waves have direction), specify the Wave direction value in angular units. The Wave direction is the direction that the waves are headed (unlike wind direction, which is expressed as the direction the wind originates from).
Animated fill symbol layers only draw in the 3D Layers category of a scene. They look best when applied to planar polygons. If a layer symbolized with animated fills is moved to the 2D Layers category of a scene, or into a map, the polygon symbol draws with a solid fill using the Color specified in the animated fill symbol layer.
Material fill symbol layers
Material fills are only available in mesh symbols that are applied to 3D object features. The color applied to the object is based on the selected material mode:
| Material mode type | |
|---|---|
Multiply | The RGB values of the object are multiplied by the RGB values of the selected color. This is generally the best choice when the object is white, or nearly white. |
Tint | The hue and saturation components of the selected color replace those of the object. The value components of the selected color and the object color are multiplied together to obtain the final value component. This is generally the best choice when you want to overlay color to an already colored object. |
Replace | The texture and color of the object are fully replaced by the selected color. |