Pen drawings

Pen drawings are freehand marks on the canvas. Use them to circle something during review, highlight a detail, sketch a rough boundary, underline a label, or add a fast visual note that would be awkward as a formal shape. A pen drawing is best as emphasis. It should point attention somewhere, not become the only place important information lives.

For structured relationships, use arrows and lines. For stable blocks, lanes, and diagram nodes, use shapes. For readable words, use text objects.

Availability and permissions

The Drawing tool is available from the documented desktop and mobile canvas toolbars. Object-level actions depend on selection, permissions, lock state, and mobile toolbar coverage.

When to use pen drawings

Use pen drawings when the shape of the mark matters more than perfect geometry. Circle a suspicious number in a screenshot. Highlight the row the team is discussing. Sketch a boundary around a cluster that is still too rough to deserve a formal shape. Draw a quick underline under the final decision.

Pen drawings are not a replacement for structured text. If the mark contains words that someone must read later, use a text object. If the mark defines a section, use a shape. If the mark explains a relationship, use an arrow or line. Freehand drawings feel immediate, which is exactly why they can make a canvas messy when every review comment turns into ink.

Treat drawing as review markup unless the team has a clear reason to keep it. After the review, delete marks that no longer add value or convert them into proper shapes, arrows, comments, or text.

Draw with pen, highlighter, and eraser

Choose Drawing from the toolbar or press D when the canvas has keyboard focus. The drawing controls include pen, highlighter, and eraser modes. The highlighter uses a wider, more transparent stroke than the pen, which makes it better for emphasis over existing content. The eraser removes drawing strokes rather than canvas objects like sticky notes or shapes.

Keyboard shortcuts are available when the canvas owns focus. D returns to pen drawing, H switches to highlighter, and E toggles eraser mode. The bracket keys adjust stroke thickness; using Shift with the bracket keys changes thickness in larger steps. Press 2 to cycle drawing color, and press Shift + 2 to move to the previous color. These shortcuts stay out of the way while you are typing in text or comments.

On touch devices, use the mobile Drawing tool for stylus or finger markup when it is available. Because mobile controls are more compact, check the final mark before moving on, especially if the canvas will be shared with people who are not in the room.

Select, move, and delete drawings

After a stroke is created, it behaves like a canvas drawing object. Select it to move it, change supported styling, lock it, duplicate it, or delete it. The inline toolbar can show drawing-related controls such as stroke, visual styling, line style, and delete actions depending on the selected drawing.

Use the element menu for object-level actions such as lock, unlock, copy, duplicate, and delete where those actions are available. Drawing marks do not behave like text boxes. If you need editable wording, create text instead of drawing letters by hand.

If a drawing is meant to stay aligned with the object it marks, consider grouping the drawing with that object after review. Group only after the mark is stable; grouping too early can make selection and cleanup harder.

Format and keep drawings readable

Use color intentionally. Red or dark strokes can signal review attention, but they can also make a canvas feel like everything is urgent. A yellow highlighter stroke is better for "look here" without adding alarm.

Use thickness based on zoom and purpose. Thin lines work for detail annotations. Thick lines work for large circles, underlines, and presentation-scale emphasis. If a mark hides the content it is supposed to explain, reduce thickness, use the highlighter, or replace the mark with an arrow and label.

Do not stack too many pen marks in one area. A few circles clarify a screenshot. Ten overlapping circles make it harder to see the actual issue.

Collaboration and comments

Pen drawings are useful during live collaboration because everyone can see exactly what is being referenced. They are less useful as long-term discussion records. If a circled area needs follow-up, add a comment near the relevant object or attach a comment to the object being discussed. See Comments and mentions for threaded discussion.

Use drawing during critique, then clean it up. Convert unresolved issues into sticky notes, comments, arrows, or text labels. Leave only the marks that still help someone understand the canvas later.

Examples

During a design review, use the highlighter to mark the part of a screenshot being discussed, then add a comment to the screenshot or nearby object with the actual request.

During a workshop, circle the sticky note cluster the group has chosen to explore next. After the group moves on, delete the circle or replace it with a labeled shape.

During a diagram discussion, sketch a rough boundary while the structure is still changing. Once the group agrees on the region, replace the sketch with a proper shape.

What can go wrong

If the Drawing shortcut does not work, the keyboard focus is probably inside a text field, text object, comment editor, or another input. Click empty canvas space, then try D again.

If drawing marks make the canvas feel messy, remove them after the conversation. Freehand markup should support the work, not become visual debt.

If a drawing will not move or delete, check whether it is locked, selected by someone else, or outside your permission level. Use the element menu to see the available actions.