# Draw rectangles, circles, arrows and lines

> Pick Rectangle (R), Circle (O), Arrow (A) or Line (L) and drag on the canvas; select an arrow or line to change its color, opacity and thickness, or a rectangle or circle to change its line thickness and the text inside it.

Category: Canvas
Web page: https://www.pactto.com/help/shapes-and-arrows
All guides: https://www.pactto.com/help.md

## 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](https://www.pactto.com/help/draw-on-canvas.md)).

## 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](https://www.pactto.com/help/add-text.md) 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](https://www.pactto.com/help/draw-on-canvas.md)).
- 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**.

## Related guides

- [What does each tool in the canvas toolbar do?](https://www.pactto.com/help/canvas-toolbar.md): The toolbar in the top bar of the room holds the canvas tools (Pan, Select, Laser, Comment, Draw, Text, shapes, Sticky note, Doc, Table, Board and Add asset), and each one has a single-key shortcut.
- [Draw freehand on the canvas](https://www.pactto.com/help/draw-on-canvas.md): Click Draw (P) in the toolbar, pick a color and pen thickness from the menu that opens, and draw on the canvas; press E for the eraser.
- [Add and format text on the canvas](https://www.pactto.com/help/add-text.md): Press T (or click Text), click on the canvas and type; select the text to change its font, size, alignment, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, bullet list or link from the bar above it.
- [Select, move, resize, duplicate and delete items on the canvas](https://www.pactto.com/help/select-move-resize.md): Use the Select tool (V) to click an item, then drag it to move, drag its corners to resize, and use the right-click menu or shortcuts to copy, duplicate, group, lock, reorder or delete it.
- [Undo or redo a change on the canvas](https://www.pactto.com/help/undo-redo.md): Press Cmd/Ctrl + Z to undo your last change on the canvas and Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z to redo it.