Draw shapes, freehand lines, and text

You build a drawing in Vector by placing objects on the canvas. Pick a tool, then click or drag to add a shape, a freehand line, a text box, or an image. This page covers each tool and what happens after you place something.

You need editor access to add objects. If you can only view the drawing, the tools are not shown.

Place a shape

1. Open the drawing.
2. Pick a tool from the toolbar: Rectangle, Diamond, or Ellipse. You can also open the Insert menu and choose the same tools by name.
3. Click and drag on the canvas to draw the shape at the size you want.
4. The shape appears and is selected, ready to move or restyle.

A shape needs a drag, not a single click. Drag out the box, and let go when it is the size you want.

After you place a shape, the tool goes back to Select so your next click selects objects instead of drawing another one. To keep drawing, see Keep a tool active below.

Draw a freehand line

1. Pick the Draw tool from the toolbar, or choose Draw from the Insert menu.
2. Press and drag on the canvas to draw. The line follows your pointer.
3. Let go to finish the line.

The Draw tool stays active after each line, so you can keep drawing without picking it again.

Keep a tool active

By default a tool switches back to Select once you place an object, so you don't draw a second one by accident. When you want to place several objects in a row, turn on Keep selected tool. It lives in the Edit menu, or you can press Q to toggle it. With it on, the tool you picked stays active until you change it.

The Draw and Eraser tools stay active on their own, whether or not Keep selected tool is on.

Add text

1. Pick the Text tool from the toolbar, or choose Text from the Insert menu.
2. Click on the canvas to place a text box. It opens straight away for typing.
3. Type your text. A floating toolbar appears with formatting options such as bold, italic, and lists.
4. Press Escape or click outside the box to finish.

To edit a text object later, double-click it. You can also double-click an empty spot on the canvas to start a new text box there, without picking the Text tool first.

Once a text object is selected but not being edited, the properties panel on the right shows the full set of text options: font, size, colour, alignment, and spacing.

Add an image

1. Click Add image in the toolbar, or choose Image from the Insert menu.
2. The Add image dialog opens. Do one of two things:
   • Click Upload from device to pick a file from your computer.
   • Browse your Drive, click an image to select it, then click Select.
3. The image appears on the canvas.

You can also drag one or more image files from your desktop and drop them onto the canvas. A Drop images to add overlay appears while you drag, and Vector places each image where you drop it.

Erase objects

Pick the Eraser tool, then drag across the objects you want to remove. Anything the eraser passes over is deleted. Pick another tool, or press Select, when you are done.

Tool shortcuts

Each tool has a single-key shortcut. Press the key to pick the tool without going to the toolbar.

Tool	Shortcut
Select	V
Rectangle	R
Diamond	D
Ellipse	O
Draw	P
Text	T
Eraser	E
Keep selected tool	Q

The number keys pick the same tools in toolbar order, so 1 is Select, 2 is Rectangle, and so on. The Arrow (A) and Line (L) tools have their own article: Connect objects with arrows.

Once your objects are placed, Style objects covers colours, borders, and fills, and Arrange and align objects covers moving, ordering, and lining things up.