Shapes

Shapes give a canvas structure. Use them for frames, blocks, zones, diagram nodes, highlights, callout backgrounds, swimlanes, and simple visual containers. A shape can make a busy canvas legible by showing where work belongs and how people should scan the page.

Shapes are different from sticky notes. A sticky note captures one idea. A shape creates space around ideas. Shapes are also different from text objects. Text names or explains a section; a shape gives that section visual weight.

Availability and permissions

Shapes are not supported as a mobile creation or editing tool. Use desktop when you need to add shapes, resize them, or build shape-heavy layouts.

When to use shapes

Use shapes when a canvas needs structure before it needs more content. A rectangle can become a section background. A rounded rectangle can become a process step. A circle can draw attention to a metric, decision, or review status. A rhombus can mark a decision point in a flow. A speech bubble can frame a quote or callout. The exact shape matters less than the consistency of the pattern.

Use shapes as visual regions, not as private codes. If a shape means "approved", add a clear label or legend. If a shape represents ownership, add a text label or place the owner information in the visible content. People should not need to remember a private shape code to understand the canvas.

For relationships between areas, use arrows and lines. For freehand emphasis around existing content, use pen drawings.

Add shapes

Choose Shapes from the desktop canvas toolbar or press S when the canvas has keyboard focus. The shape picker includes common diagram and layout shapes, including lines, arrows, rectangles, rounded rectangles, circles, triangles, diamonds, stars, speech balloons, block arrows, cylinders, cubes, polygons, and flowchart-style blocks.

Pick the shape that communicates the role of the object, then place it on the canvas. If the canvas is a diagram, decide on a small shape vocabulary before adding many objects. For example, rectangles can be tasks, diamonds can be decisions, and cylinders can be data stores. Consistency helps readers more than novelty.

If you need a line or arrow rather than a filled figure, choose the line or arrow options from the shape picker. The Arrow shortcut A selects the arrow-style line family from the same tool area.

Format shapes

The shape controls include fill, stroke, and line style options where those options apply. Figure shapes can use fill color and stroke color. Line-family shapes use stroke and line styling rather than a filled area. The shape picker also keeps recent color choices so repeated diagram work stays consistent.

Use fill for structure and stroke for boundaries. A pale fill with a clear border works well behind sticky notes because it defines a zone without fighting the notes. A strong fill is useful for status blocks, warnings, or high-level process nodes, but it can overwhelm nearby text.

The inline toolbar and element menu expose formatting and object actions that apply to the selected shape. The available controls can include background color, stroke, opacity, shadow, text styling, links, comments, and deletion.

Two details matter when a shape carries text:

• When you are editing text inside a supported shape, the same rich text rules used by sticky notes and text objects apply. See Use the rich text editor.
• Use shadow sparingly. It can help separate an important object from the canvas, but too many shadows make diagrams feel noisy.

Arrange, layer, and lock

Shapes often sit behind other content. Use send backward, send to back, bring forward, and bring to front from the element menu to control layering. If a shape is meant to be a background lane, send it behind the sticky notes or text it supports.

Group a shape with its label when the two should move together. For example, group a rounded rectangle process step with the text label inside it. Group a large section background only if the whole section should move as one unit. If people need to keep editing the notes inside a section, grouping the entire section may make selection harder than necessary.

Lock structural shapes once the layout is stable. Locking prevents accidental drags while the team works on notes, arrows, and comments above the shape. Unlock the shape before changing its size, fill, or layer.

Collaboration and comments

Comments on shapes are useful when the structure itself is under review. Comment on a decision diamond to ask whether the branch is correct, or comment on a section background to ask whether the category name still fits. If the comment is really about a sticky note or text label inside the shape, comment on that object instead so the thread stays attached to the specific content. For the full thread workflow, see Comments and mentions.

During live collaboration, avoid changing the meaning of color or shape type halfway through a session. If green rectangles meant "ready" for the first half of the workshop, do not switch them to "owner needed" without updating the legend and telling the group.

Examples

For an affinity map, add large pale rectangles as topic zones, label each zone with a text object, then move sticky notes into the right area. Lock the rectangles once the zones are set.

For a workflow diagram, use rounded rectangles for steps, diamonds for decisions, and arrows and lines for flow. Keep labels inside the shapes short enough to read without zooming.

For a critique canvas, use a transparent or lightly filled shape to highlight the area under review, then add comments to the exact object that needs feedback.

What can go wrong

If a shape keeps getting selected instead of the notes on top of it, send the shape backward or lock it. Large background shapes are useful, but they should not interfere with the work they frame.

If colors feel meaningful but no one can explain them, add a legend. Visual structure only helps when the team shares the same interpretation.

If a shape will not edit, it may be locked, selected by someone else, or outside your permission level. Use the Element menu to check available actions. If only view actions are visible, ask for edit access before changing the canvas.