Trim Path
Trim, dash, or reverse path segments.
What it does
Trim Path reshapes the paths inside a shape without changing what generated them: it can reverse a path's direction, cut it down to a sub-range, and break it into a dash pattern of real, separate segments. The three operations are independent toggles and always apply in the same order, reverse then trim then dash, so they combine freely.
This is a geometry operation, not a stroke effect. Dashing here splits the path into distinct sub-paths, so each dash becomes its own piece to scatter objects along, transform individually, or export. For a dashed look on a stroke alone, use the Stroke node's dash, which is a visual effect with no geometry split.
When to use it
Revealing or animating a path drawing on progressively: enable Trim and animate Trim Start/End.
Shifting a trimmed window along the path without changing its length: Travel.
A dashed line made of real, separate segments, for scattering objects along each dash or exporting dash geometry: enable Dash.
Flipping which end of a path is the start: enable Reverse.
| Parameter | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
input | Primitives | — | Input shapes containing paths to process |
reverse | Boolean | false | Reverse path direction |
enable_trim | Boolean | false | Show only a sub-range of the path |
trim_start | Number | 0 | Start of visible path (%) |
trim_end | Number | 100 | End of visible path (%) |
travel | Number | 0 | Shift the trim window along the path (%) |
enable_dash | Boolean | false | Break the path into a dash pattern |
dash_pattern | String | "10, 5" | Comma-separated dash and gap lengths (e.g. '10, 5') |
dash_offset | Number | 0 | Shift dash pattern along path |
strength | Number | 1 | Effect strength / wet-dry (0 = no effect, 1 = full). Editable, wirable, keyframable. |
Gotchas
Reverse, Trim and Dash always compose in that fixed order, regardless of which order they are toggled on in the panel.
Trim Start/End are percentages along the path (0–100). Travel shifts the whole trimmed window forward or backward without resizing it, which is the simplest way to animate a moving highlight of constant length along a path.
Dash Pattern is a comma- or space-separated list of dash and gap lengths, for example 10, 5. Non-numeric entries are skipped and negative lengths are dropped, with no error, so a malformed pattern can shrink to fewer segments than typed.
Worked example
Add Trim Path and wire in a shape.
Enable Trim, then animate Trim End from 0 to 100 to draw the path on over time.
Enable Dash and set Dash Pattern to "10, 5" to break the visible range into dashes; nudge Dash Offset to slide the pattern along the path.
Turn on Reverse to read the trim and dash from the opposite end of the path.