Draw and shapes

Every stroke is a vector path, so lines stay sharp no matter how deep you zoom. Strokes land on the exact frame you are viewing.

Select (V)

Pick, move, and delete anything you have drawn. Click a stroke or shape to select it, then move it or press Delete. Shift+click adds to the selection (or removes from it), and dragging a selected element moves the whole group together.

Brush (B)

A freehand stroke with a soft edge. Pressure-sensitive when your pen supports it: press harder for a thicker line.

Pencil

A tighter, sketchier stroke. Also pressure-sensitive.

Highlighter

A translucent stroke for marking over footage without hiding it.

Eraser (E)

Removes strokes, shapes, and notes as you drag over them.

Rectangle (R) and Filled Rectangle

Drag to draw. The filled variant fills the shape with the fill color. Hold Shift for a perfect square, Ctrl to draw from the center, or both.

Ellipse (O) and Filled Ellipse

Drag to draw a circle or oval, with or without a fill. Hold Shift for a perfect circle, Ctrl to draw from the center, or both.

Line (L)

Drag from start to end to draw a straight line. Hold Shift to snap it horizontal or vertical, or Ctrl to snap it to 15° increments.

Shape and line modifiers

Modifier keys change what a drag draws. They are read live, so you can press or release them while already dragging. On macOS, use ⌘ instead of Ctrl.

  • Shift + Drag (rectangle or ellipse). A perfect square or circle — the size locks to the dominant axis.
  • Ctrl + Drag (rectangle or ellipse). The shape is drawn from the center: the press point stays in the middle.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Drag (rectangle or ellipse). A perfect square or circle drawn from the center.
  • Shift + Drag (line). A perfectly horizontal or vertical line, whichever the drag is closer to.
  • Ctrl + Drag (line). A line snapped to 15° increments (0°, 15°, 30°, …) with its length preserved.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Drag (line). The 15° snap, which already includes the horizontal and vertical angles.

Tool settings

The quick bar shows the settings for the active tool. Pick a tool, then adjust these before you draw:

  • Stroke color. The color of the current tool, picked in the quick bar.
  • Size. Stroke width. The brush and pencil also respond to pen pressure.
  • Opacity. How transparent the stroke is. Handy for light pass marks over footage.
  • Fill color. Only for the filled shape tools.

Pressure sensitivity

With a pressure-sensitive pen, the brush and pencil vary their width with how hard you press. The highlighter and shapes do not.

Drawing on other frames

Each stroke belongs to the frame you were on when you drew it. Step to the next frame with the arrow keys, turn on onion skin to see where you are going, and keep drawing.