How to use the Drawing Tools

This article explains how to add and draw shapes, rectangles, circles, and lines in Canvas to create mood boards, design presentations, and custom floor plans and layouts.

Canvas Toolbar

• From your Canvas dashboard, either select one of your Canvas boards or click on + New Canvas.

• At the top is your toolbar is where you can access the drawing functions quickly.

• Click on the Pen icon and select either Polyline, Rectangle or Circle. As a shortcut, you can type P to draw a straight polyline, R to draw rectangles or E to draw a circle.

The Drawing tools in the toolbar

A polyline is a straight line. Use polylines to draw custom shapes and accurate floor plans and layouts of your space!

An ellipse is a circle or oval. Hold down the Shift Keyto draw a perfect circle.

Drawing a Polyline

• Select either Polyline from the toolbar or type P and click on the area of your Canvas where you want to start your polyline.

• Holding down the shift key while drawing your polyline constrains the angle of the line you're creating and will allow you to draw a straight line in the direction you drag your cursor.

• Clicking your left mouse key will create a connected anchor point

• Click Enter to complete the polyline.

• Click ESC to start your drawing over.

Drawing a straight, or constrained, line with polylines

Drawing a Precise Polyline

• You can draw lines with precise dimensions in Canvas. With the Polyline tool activated, type in your desired length in any format (ft, in, cm, etc.) into the designated box at the bottom of your screen.

• ClickEnter to accept your inputs.

• Now place the end point of that line segment to your liking, knowing that it is now dimensioned to your desired measurement.

  • Remember, if you want a straight line, hold down the Shift key.

• A second polyline will automatically begin. To complete and exit your drawing, click Enter.

Using precise polylines to create a layout of a 12' x 15' bedroom

Drawing a Freeform Custom Shape with Polylines

• Select either Polyline from the toolbar or type P and click on the area of your Canvas where you want to start your polyline.

• With each mouse click, an anchor point is placed.

• To close your shape, click on your first anchor point.

• When your drawing is complete, click Enter.

Drawing freeform shapes with polylines

Drawing a Rectangle

• Select Rectangle from the toolbar or type R and click on the area of your Canvas where you'd like to place your shape.

• Click once to start drawing your Rectangle. When you are done drawing, click a second time to complete your rectangle.

Drawing Precise Rectangles:

• You can draw and edit squares and rectangles to precise dimensions in Canvas. With the Rectangle tool activated, type in your desired width and height in any format into the designated box at the bottom of your screen.

• Dimensions are automatically converted to feet and inches.

• Use Tab to go between inputs, and Tab or Enter to accept your inputs.

Dimensions appear when actively drawing a Rectangle.

You can also hold down Shift to maintain equal proportions of your rectangle.

Drawing a Circle

• Select Circle from the toolbar or type E and click on the area of your Canvas where you'd like to place your shape.

• Hold the left mouse key and drag to create your ellipse, or circle. Holding the shift key while dragging will create a perfect circle. Let go of your mouse key when you're done.

Drawing Precise Cirlces:

• You can draw and edit circles to precise dimensions in Canvas. With the Circle tool activated, type in your desired width and height in any format into the designated box at the bottom of your screen.

• Dimensions are automatically converted to feet and inches.

• Use Tab to go between inputs, and Tab or Enter to accept your inputs.

Dimensions appear when actively drawing an ellipse.

Resizing your Shape

• Click on your shape and hover along the corners or edges until the shape arrows are activated. Hold down your left mouse key and drag to resize.

• To resize with a fixed aspect ratio, hold down both your shift key and left mouse key and drag to resize.

Formatting Shapes

• There are formatting options available for your shapes. Left mouse click and then drag-select to select your line or click on your shape to select your shape.

• When selected, the formatting icons will appear below your shape. You have the option to set fill style or set stroke style.

  • Fill = Inside the shape

  • Stroke = Border of the shape

Set Fill Style menu.

Set the Stroke Style