Arrows direct a reader's eye to a specific part of an asset. Shapes highlight regions such as a control panel, a safety zone, or a grouped set of components. Together they give your annotated asset a clear visual hierarchy without cluttering it with text.
This article continues with the toaster example. An arrow will point to the browning dial and a shape will frame the control panel area on the right side of the toaster.
Drawing an arrow
Step 1: Select the Line tool
Click the Line tab in the left panel, or press L.
The Line panel showing stroke colour, stroke weight, line style, and opacity controls.
Step 2: Draw the arrow
Click and drag on the canvas to draw an arrow. Release the mouse button to commit it.
- Position your cursor at the point where the arrow should start, for example in the empty space beside the toaster.
- Click and drag toward the component you want to point to, such as the browning dial.
- Release to place the arrow. An arrowhead appears at the end point by default.
An arrow added to the toaster asset pointing to the browning dial (3), with callouts from the previous step still in place
Tip
Hold Shift while dragging to constrain the arrow to a perfectly horizontal or vertical line.
Note
An arrow must be at least 12 pixels long to commit. If you release too close to the start point, the arrow is discarded and nothing is placed.
Styling an arrow
Select an arrow to display its properties in the left panel. The Line panel offers the following controls:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Stroke colour | The line and arrowhead colour. Choose from eight presets or enter a custom hex value. |
| Stroke weight | Line thickness: 1, 2, 4, or 7 pixels. |
| Line style | Solid, dotted (tight), dotted (loose), dashed, dashed (loose), dash-dot, or dash-dot-dot. |
| Opacity | Line transparency from 0–100%. |
| Start marker | The marker style at the start point of the arrow. |
| End marker | The marker style at the end point of the arrow. |
| Head scale (start / end) | Independently scales each arrowhead from 50% to 300%. |
Arrowhead styles
Select from the available arrowhead styles in the Start marker and End marker pickers in the left panel. Both ends can be set independently.
Changing line style
To change the line style of an existing arrow:
- Press V or Esc to switch to the Select tool.
- Click the arrow to select it.
- In the Line style row of the left panel, click the style you want to apply.
Repositioning arrow endpoints
After placing an arrow, you can adjust either endpoint independently without redrawing the arrow.
- Press V or Esc to switch to the Select tool.
- Click the arrow to select it. Two endpoint handles appear on the arrow.
- Drag the endpoint to its new position.
Hold Shift while dragging an endpoint to constrain it to horizontal or vertical.
Note
Endpoint dragging is only available when exactly one arrow is selected. If multiple annotations are selected, dragging moves the entire group rather than adjusting individual endpoints.
Drawing a shape
Step 1: Select the Shape tool
Click the Shape tab in the left panel, or press S.
The Shape panel showing Shape Type, Fill color, and Border color controls.
Step 2: Choose a shape type
Under Shape Type, click the style you want to draw:
| Shape type | Description |
|---|---|
| Circle | An ellipse, or a perfect circle when Shift is held while drawing |
| Square | A rectangle, or a perfect square when Shift is held while drawing |
| Rounded | A rectangle with rounded corners |
For the toaster example, select Square to draw a rectangle around the control panel on the right side of the toaster.
Step 3: Draw the shape
Click and drag on the canvas to draw the shape. Release to commit it.
- Position your cursor at the top-left corner of the area you want to highlight, for example above and to the left of the toaster's browning dial.
- Drag to the bottom-right corner of the control panel area.
- Release to place the shape.
A square shape with transparent fill framing the control panel area, with callouts and arrow from previous steps in place.
Tip
Hold Shift while dragging to constrain the shape to a perfect square or circle.
Note
A shape must be at least 20 pixels in each dimension to commit. If you release too soon, the shape is discarded.
Styling a shape
Select a shape to display its properties in the left panel. You can adjust the following:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Shape type | Circle, Square, or Rounded. Changing this updates the selected shape immediately. |
| Fill color | The shape interior color. Select the diagonal slash swatch to remove the fill and produce an outline-only shape. |
| Border color | The stroke color around the shape perimeter. |
| Stroke weight | Border thickness in pixels. |
| Opacity | Shape transparency from 0–100%. Reducing opacity lets the asset show through the fill, useful for highlight overlays. |
Info
The default fill color for shapes is #3357bf. To use a shape as a highlight overlay, set the opacity to 20–30% and keep the fill color. To use it as a visible border with no fill, select the transparent swatch under Fill color.
Deleting arrows and shapes
- Press V or Esc to switch to the Select tool.
- Click the arrow or shape to select it. Hold Ctrl/Cmd and click to add more to the selection.
- Press Delete or Backspace.
To remove all annotations from the canvas at once, click the trash icon in the left panel bottom bar.
Warning
The trash icon removes all annotations from the canvas, not just the selected ones. Confirm the action in the dialog. This action can be undone by clicking Ctrl/Cmd + Z.
Save your work
Click Save in the left panel when you have finished drawing and styling arrows and shapes. Your annotations are saved to the asset and reflected in your document.
Warning
Do not close the editor or navigate away before clicking Save. Unsaved annotations cannot be recovered.
Comments
0 comments