Draw shapes, lines, and arrows on a slide

The middle of the toolbar holds the drawing tools. Use them to place shapes, draw freehand, add arrows and lines, and connect an arrow to a shape so it follows when you move things around. You need editor access to draw. If you can only view the presentation, the tools are not shown.

The tools

The cluster in the centre of the toolbar has, from left to right:

• Select: the idle tool. Click to select, drag to move, or drag an empty area to select several objects at once.
• Rectangle, Diamond, and Ellipse: the three shapes.
• Arrow and Line: connectors and straight lines.
• Draw: freehand drawing.
• Text: a text box. See Insert text and images for editing and formatting text.
• Eraser: removes objects you drag over.

Each tool has a single-key shortcut, shown in its tooltip. Press the key to pick the tool without leaving the canvas.

Tool	Key
Select	V or 1
Rectangle	R or 2
Diamond	D or 3
Ellipse	O or 4
Arrow	A or 5
Line	L or 6
Draw	P or 7
Text	T or 8
Eraser	E or 0

Place a shape

1. Click a shape tool in the toolbar, or press its key.
2. Click once on the slide to drop a default-sized shape, or drag to draw it at the size you want.
3. The tool switches back to Select so you can move or resize what you placed.

To place several shapes in a row without reaching for the tool each time, turn on Keep selected tool in the Edit menu (shortcut Q). The tool then stays active until you switch to another one. Draw and the Eraser always stay active this way.

To style a shape after placing it, open the properties panel on the right. See Style objects on a slide for fill, stroke, corners, and the sketch look.

Draw an arrow or a line

An arrow or line can be a single straight segment or a path with several points.

1. Click Arrow or Line in the toolbar, or press A or L.
2. For a simple two-point arrow, drag from the start to the end and release.
3. For a path, click once to start, then click each point you want. The line follows your cursor as you go.
4. Press Enter or double-click to finish. Press Esc to cancel the whole path.

While you draw a path, a hint appears at the bottom of the canvas: Enter or double-click to finish · Esc to cancel.

Hold Shift while you drag or click to snap a segment to the nearest 15° angle.

Connect an arrow to a shape

Arrows can dock to shapes and follow them when the shapes move.

• Dock an end: draw or drag an arrow so its end lands on or near a shape. The shape's outline highlights to show it will connect.
• Move together: once an end is docked, moving the shape drags the arrow end along with it. Moving the arrow on its own leaves the shape where it is.
• Stop it docking: hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) while you place the end. The arrow stays put instead of snapping to the shape.

Detach an arrow from a shape

Select the arrow, then drag the docked end away from the shape. Once the end is clear of the shape, it no longer follows it. Dragging the whole arrow away from a shape also detaches the end you pulled off.