Harsha Vardhan N
Curved arrows in design are used for various purposes, such as to indicate movement, direction, flow between elements, etc. In this guide, we will help you make a curved arrow through a simple demonstration to get you covered.
Before getting started: Open Figma on your browser and sign in with your credentials. Access your design file from Recently viewed and to get started, click on the New design file.
What we cover
Make a Curved Arrow in Figma using a Pen
- After the new or existing design is loaded, navigate to the toolbar, click on Creation tools, and select Pen tool. Alternatively, you can press P to load it.
- Once the Pen tool is loaded, draw a straight line with only two points.
- Next, navigate to the Design tab and the Stroke section. The two points on the line created are represented as Start and End points, each with a dropdown menu.
- Now, select the dropdown of the respective point and select the type of arrow.
- You will now have a straight arrow. To curve it, click the Bend tool on the toolbar or press Ctrl/Command.
- After the bend tool is loaded, click on the part of the straight line you want to bend and drag it. You will now have a curved arrow whose curve can be adjusted. Also, it can be rotated and resized to your liking.
Make a Curved Arrow in Figma using an Ellipse [Alternate Approach]
- Navigate to the toolbar, click on Shape tools, and select Ellipse. Alternatively, you can press O to load it.
- Once the Ellipse tool is loaded, draw it so that part of it looks like the arrow you want to create. For demonstration, we added an ellipse without fill and a stroke, where the bottom part is used to create a curved arrow.
- Now, double-tap on the ellipse. You will notice four anchor points, and the Move tool will be loaded.
- To remove the desired part from the ellipse, first select the anchor points by holding the Shift key and clicking them. Here, we have selected two anchor points.
- After the anchor points are selected, press the Delete key. While doing so, ensure you don’t select more than two points, as it deletes the entire ellipse. For comparison, we have displayed the results when deleting two and one anchor points of the ellipse.
- Once you have the part of the ellipse that looks like a curved arrow, go to the Design tab and then the Stroke section. There, you will find the Start and End point dropdowns.
- Select the dropdown of the respective point and select the type of arrow.
- If done correctly, you will have a curved arrow whose curve can be adjusted with the bend tool. You can also rotate and resize it to your liking.
Wrapping Up
Congratulations on learning how to make a curved arrow in Figma!
We have presented two approaches to creating a curved arrow for better understanding and flexibility. While both do the job, we suggest you use the Pen tool for better results. It is also simple compared to the other approach, which involves using Ellipse.
Related Reading
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