Draw rectangles, circles, arrows and lines

Draw a shape

1. Press R (Rectangle), O (Circle), A (Arrow) or L (Line). Or click the shape button in the toolbar; to switch shapes, click the small arrow next to it (Shape tool options) and pick one.
2. Drag on the canvas to draw the shape.

What happens next depends on the shape:

• Rectangle and Circle: a text cursor appears inside the shape so you can type a label right away, and the toolbar switches back to Select.
• Line: the toolbar switches back to Select.
• Arrow: the Arrow tool stays active, so you can draw several arrows in a row. Press V when you are done.

New shapes use the color picked in the Draw menu (see draw-on-canvas).

Change an arrow or line

Select one arrow or line. Two buttons appear above it:

Shape color opens a panel with two rows of colors:

1. The top row (filled colors) and the bottom row (outline colors) set the color.
2. Each row ends with an opacity field. Type a percentage from 0 to 100 and press Enter. Press Escape to cancel.

Stroke size opens three choices: Small line thickness, Medium line thickness and Large line thickness.

Click outside the panel to close it.

Change a rectangle or circle

Select one rectangle or circle and a bar appears above it with:

• Stroke size: Small line thickness, Medium line thickness or Large line thickness.
• The text controls for the label inside it: Font, Size, Alignment, Vertical alignment (top, middle or bottom), Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Bullet list and Link. See add-text for how they work.

Double-click the shape to type in it.

Who can draw shapes

Owner and Can edit members. Can review and Can view members do not see the shape tools.

Good to know:

• These buttons only appear when exactly one shape is selected. Freehand drawings use the Draw menu instead (see draw-on-canvas).
• If an arrow or line is tiny on screen, its buttons are hidden; zoom in to see them.
• Undo any change with Cmd/Ctrl + Z.