Draw and edit

Tools and selection

Choose a tool, then drag on the canvas. The pen follows your stroke and the eraser removes the objects its sweep touches. After a shape, line, text, frame or note, the tool returns to Select; the lock beside the tools (or Q) keeps it. The pen, eraser and hand stay active as before.

In Select, click an object and drag to move it. Shift-click adds or removes objects, and the Objects list offers the same explicit selection. Grouped objects select and move together. Drag the resize handles, or type Width and Height in Style. Line and arrow handles change endpoints. Style applies to selected objects in Select mode and sets the defaults for new objects in a drawing mode; a mixed selection may show no single chosen swatch.

Undo and redo restore committed operations, including a whole eraser sweep or a template insertion. Delete removes the selection, Ctrl+D duplicates it with fresh identities, Ctrl+G groups and Ctrl+Shift+G ungroups. The inspector's controls change paint order. Smooth or Sketch changes the seeded sketch appearance; repainting never changes it at random.

Quick flowchart

Select a rectangle, ellipse, diamond or workflow step and press Ctrl+Arrow: the next step appears one step away in that direction, joined by an elbow arrow (a port connector for workflow steps), and is selected, so pressing again continues the chain. With one shape selected, Ctrl+Shift+Arrow adds a branch and keeps the shape selected for another. Branches are placed beside earlier steps, and steps go round objects already in the way. Each step is one undo step. Four arrows round a selected shape do the same with a click.

Sticky notes

The sticky note tool (N) places a 200 by 200 note where you click, or the size you drag, and starts its text at once; the note grows to fit its text. Style offers five note colours while the tool is chosen. A note is an ordinary rectangle, so every tool and export works with it.

Arrange, grid and snapping

Select two or more objects to see Arrange in Style. Align left, centre or right, or top, middle or bottom, to the edges of the whole selection. Space evenly across or down needs three or more objects: the first and last stay put and the gaps between become equal. A group arranges as one object. Each arrangement is one undo step and connectors stay on their ports. Lay out arranges the selection in layers along its connectors (see Mermaid, layout and imports).

Grid in the bottom bar shows a grid and snaps drawing, moving and resizing to it; choose 10, 20, 40 or 80 units. Snap lines your object up with other objects' edges and centres as you drag, with a pink guide. Hold Alt to place freely, and Ctrl+' shows or hides the grid. Typed Width and Height values are never snapped. Both settings belong to your browser, not the drawing, and exports never include the grid.

Copy, cut and paste

Ctrl+C copies the selection, Ctrl+X cuts it and Ctrl+V pastes, into the same drawing, another drawing, another tab or another browser on this computer. Copy, Cut and Paste are also in the bottom bar. A paste lands under the pointer when you have used the canvas, otherwise just below and right of where the objects were copied. Pasted objects get new identities and keep their connectors to each other; connectors to objects left behind are not copied. Each paste and cut is one undo step.

Pasting ordinary text creates a text object. Pasting spreadsheet cells or a Markdown table makes a table. Pasting or dropping an image adds an image. Text fields, dialogs and selected page text keep the browser's normal clipboard. If the bottom-bar buttons report that the browser blocked the clipboard, use the keyboard shortcuts on the canvas.

Lock and find

Select objects and choose Lock in Style, or press Ctrl+Shift+L, to keep them from changing. Locked objects cannot be clicked, dragged, box-selected or erased on the canvas, Ctrl+A leaves them out and every edit refuses them with a message. The Objects list shows a lock beside them; choose one there and press Unlock to edit it again. Locks are saved in the file and can be undone.

Ctrl+F opens Find. Type part of a text, a workflow label, a connector label, a table cell, a frame name or an object name, in any case. Enter or ↓ goes to the next match, Shift+Enter or ↑ to the previous, and the drawing scrolls to show it selected. Find searches every page.

Rotate and flip

Drag the round handle above the selection to rotate it about its centre; hold Shift for 15° steps. Rotate and flip in Style offers an exact angle for rectangles, ellipses, diamonds and text, a 90° turn, and Flip horizontal and vertical (Shift+H and Shift+V). Lines, arrows and pen strokes turn and mirror their points; flipped text stays readable.

Objects panel and moving around

The Objects panel lists everything on the page; choosing an item selects it. Scroll pans (Shift+scroll pans horizontally), Ctrl/Cmd+scroll zooms around the pointer, the hand tool or the middle mouse button pans, and Fit drawing brings existing objects into view. The bottom bar has zoom buttons and the zoom percentage (click it to reset). Two touches cancel the current preview and then pan and zoom around their midpoint; lift both before drawing again. Active pen input ignores incidental touch.