Connect objects with smart arrows

Smart arrows are the freeform whiteboard version of arrows. They still look like arrows, but they understand what they are connected to. Use them when the relationship matters: a source image leading to a generated draft, a research note explaining a design change, a customer quote supporting a requirement, or one object becoming the input for another.

This is especially important for AI Studio. A normal arrow can tell a human reader what came first. A smart arrow can also help ALLO understand previous context for AI Studio and Object Chat when both ends are attached to real canvas objects.

Availability and permissions

Create a smart arrow

Start from a freeform whiteboard, then choose one of these entry points:

1. Press A while the canvas has keyboard focus.
2. Choose the Arrow tool from the toolbar or Shapes picker.
3. Hover near an object and drag from the + handle when the handle appears.

Drag from the source object toward the target object. When the endpoint snaps to an object edge, ALLO stores that object connection. If the arrow should point to open space instead of an object, hold Cmd on Mac or Ctrl on Windows while placing or dragging the endpoint. That bypasses object snapping and creates a free endpoint.

After one smart arrow is created, ALLO returns to Select. Press A again when you want to create another arrow. That one-shot behavior keeps you from accidentally drawing a chain of arrows while trying to select or move the next object.

Where endpoints can attach

Smart arrows can attach to an object edge, to an object body, to a point on an image, or to empty canvas space. Use the attachment type that matches the job.

If the endpoint attaches to the wrong object, select the arrow and drag the endpoint handle again. Dense canvases can make nearby objects compete for the endpoint, so zoom in before fine placement.

Style and edit smart arrows

Select the visible arrow path to edit it. The transparent interaction area around the line helps with selection, but it should not block normal selection of nearby objects.

Use the inline toolbar to choose route, line style, thickness, color, and marker direction. Smart arrows support curved routes and rounded right-angle routes, plus solid, dashed, or dotted strokes. Marker controls let you choose whether the arrow points forward, backward, both ways, or uses a different endpoint style.

Use a consistent visual language. Solid arrows should mean the primary relationship. Dashed arrows can mean possible, proposed, optional, or lower-confidence relationships, but only if the canvas explains that convention nearby.

Use smart arrows as AI context

AI Studio and Object Chat can use a smart arrow as previous context when the arrow connects one real object to another real object on the same canvas surface. The direction matters. The source end is treated as earlier context for the target end.

For example, connect a product image to an AI-generated launch copy draft when the draft came from that image. Connect a research quote to a proposed requirement when the requirement depends on that evidence. Connect a rough concept sketch to a refined version when the refined version should remember the earlier idea.

This does not mean every arrow becomes AI input. ALLO only treats the relationship as AI context when it is clear enough to be safe:

If AI Studio or Object Chat does not seem to use the relationship, check the endpoints first. The arrow needs to be attached to the source object and the target object, not just visually near them.

Copy and duplicate smart arrows

Copying only a smart arrow creates a free arrow because the copied arrow no longer has the original source and target objects selected with it. This is safer than silently pointing the copy back to the old objects.

Copying the arrow together with the connected objects keeps the relationship inside the copied set. Use this when duplicating a small workflow, before-and-after pair, or source-to-result example.

If you duplicate a diagram and the arrow no longer behaves like a connection, reattach the endpoints manually. Treat endpoint review as part of copying important diagrams.

Good examples

Use smart arrows to connect a PDF source to a summary note, a screenshot detail to a design decision, a customer quote to a requirement, a generated image to the prompt or reference it came from, or a draft object to a revised version.

Use standard arrows or free endpoints when the arrow is only a visual cue: a label pointing to a region, a suggested path through a workshop, or a temporary callout that should not imply source history.

What can go wrong

If A creates a standard arrow instead of a smart arrow, check the canvas type. Smart arrows are for freeform whiteboards. Page canvases use the normal arrow and line objects.

If the endpoint keeps snapping to an object when you want a free arrow, hold Cmd or Ctrl while dragging the endpoint.

If AI does not use the relationship, confirm that both ends are attached to real objects and that the arrow direction matches the intended context. A visual line near an object is not the same as an attached endpoint.

If a copied arrow points nowhere useful, copy the connected objects with it or reattach the copied arrow after duplication.