Drawing Tools & Canvas
A comprehensive guide to every drawing tool, element property, and canvas control in whiteboard mode.
Drawing Tools
Whiteboard mode provides 8 native drawing tools. Press the shortcut key to switch instantly — no need to reach for the toolbar.
Select
VClick to select a single element. Drag to move it. Draw a selection box to select multiple elements at once. Hold Shift and click to add to the current selection.
Freehand Pen
PDraw freely with your mouse or trackpad. Strokes follow your cursor exactly — great for quick sketches, annotations, and hand-drawn emphasis. Line smoothing is applied automatically.
Rectangle
RClick and drag to draw a rectangle. Hold Shift to constrain to a perfect square. Rectangles support fill color, stroke, and rounded corners.
Ellipse
OClick and drag to draw an ellipse. Hold Shift to constrain to a perfect circle. Works well for callouts, badges, and grouping indicators.
Arrow
ADraw directional arrows between elements. Arrows can bind to shapes — when you move the shape, the arrow follows. Supports start/end arrowheads and labels.
Line
LDraw straight lines without arrowheads. Useful for dividers, underlines, and structural separators. Hold Shift for perfectly horizontal, vertical, or 45° lines.
Text
TClick anywhere to place a text block and start typing. Double-click existing text to edit. Supports font size, alignment, and can be bound inside shapes as labels.
Eraser
EClick or drag across elements to remove them from the canvas. The eraser deletes entire elements it touches — it does not partially erase strokes.
Element Properties
After selecting an element, use the properties panel to customize its appearance. These settings apply to shapes, lines, arrows, and text.
Stroke Color
The outline/border color of shapes and the color of lines, arrows, and text. Choose from a color picker or enter a hex value.
Background Color
The fill color inside shapes. Set to transparent for outlined-only shapes, or choose a solid color for filled shapes.
Fill Style
Controls how the background color is applied: Solid (flat fill), Hachure (diagonal hand-drawn lines), or Cross-Hatch (crosshatch pattern).
Stroke Width
The thickness of outlines and lines. Thinner lines (1px) for subtle details, thicker lines (4px) for emphasis and primary elements.
Roughness
Controls how hand-drawn elements appear. 0 = clean straight lines. 1 = slight wobble (default sketchy look). Higher values = more organic feel.
Opacity
Element transparency from 0% (invisible) to 100% (fully opaque). Lower opacity is useful for background layers and watermark-style elements.
Element Manipulation
Transform, organize, and layer elements on the canvas.
Resize
Drag corner or edge handles on selected elements. Hold Shift to maintain aspect ratio while resizing.
Rotate
Drag the rotation handle above a selected element. Hold Shift to snap to 15° increments.
Group / Ungroup
Select multiple elements and group them (⌘/Ctrl+G) to move and transform as a unit. Ungroup with ⌘/Ctrl+Shift+G.
Lock / Unlock
Lock elements to prevent accidental moves or edits. Locked elements cannot be selected by clicking — use the context menu to unlock.
Z-Ordering
Right-click an element to bring to front, send to back, or move forward/backward one layer. Controls overlap order.
Canvas Navigation
Pan
Scroll with your mouse wheel or trackpad to pan the canvas. On a trackpad, use two-finger scroll. You can also hold Space and drag to pan while any tool is active.
Zoom
Use ⌘/Ctrl + + / - or pinch on a trackpad. The toolbar also has zoom in/out buttons with a percentage readout.
Fit to View
Press ⌘/Ctrl + 0 or click the Fit View toolbar button to zoom and center so all elements are visible. Essential after scrolling far from content.
Grid Snapping
Toggle the grid from the toolbar. When enabled, elements snap to grid intersections when dragged or resized — great for structured layouts. Disable for freehand work.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Complete shortcut reference for whiteboard mode
Tips & Tricks
Shift-constrain: Hold Shift while drawing to lock aspect ratio (perfect squares, circles, horizontal/vertical/45° lines).
Quick text in shapes: Double-click any shape to add a bound text label inside it. The text stays centered as you resize the shape.
Arrow binding: Drag an arrow endpoint onto a shape to bind it. Now moving the shape automatically repositions the arrow — no manual reconnecting needed.
Space + drag to pan: Hold Space and drag to pan the canvas without switching tools. Release Space to return to the active tool.