Draw markup on a drawing

Markup is what you’d draw on a paper set with a red pen: a cloud round a change, an arrow to a problem, a note in the margin. It sits on the drawing beside the points, and everyone on the project sees it.

Pick a tool

The tools are the buttons on the right of the drawing. From the top: Select, Move, Point, then the markup tools: Draw (a pencil), Shapes (a rectangle), Text, Stamp (a check mark) and Measure (a ruler).

1. Press Draw. It turns on the tool it shows, the Pen at first.

2. Press Draw again to open its panel: the tools in the group, the colors, and three weights (Thin line, Regular line, Thick line).

   

3. Pick a tool, for example Line. To draw in another color, open the panel again and pick one: the panel closes and the tool stays on.

The button now shows the tool you picked, and the next press turns that one on. A tool stays on after you draw, so you can draw several marks in a row. Pick Select when you’re done.

The weight you pick is the same for every tool.

Draw a line or a pen stroke

• Pen and Marker: drag on the drawing. The marker draws a see-through band, like a highlighter.
• Line, Arrow and Dashed line: drag from one end to the other, or click one end and then the other.

Hold Shift to keep a line level, or to straighten a pen stroke.

Draw a shape

The Shapes panel has Rectangle, Ellipse and Area, and for each shape a fill: Outline, Tint or Fill only.

Drag to draw a rectangle or an ellipse, or click one corner and then the opposite one. The new shape is selected, with a handle at each corner, and its options open beside the tools.

Hold Shift to draw a square, or Option to grow the shape from where you started. For an Area, click each corner, then double-click to close it.

Draw a cloud

A cloud is an Area with a scalloped edge, the way you’d mark a change on a paper set.

1. Open the Shapes panel and pick Area.

2. Press Shapes again and turn on Cloud edge.

   

3. Click each corner of the cloud, then double-click to close it.

Cloud edge stays on: the next time you pick Area it draws a cloud again, until you turn the switch off. Press C to pick Area with Cloud edge on.

Add text or a callout

1. Press Text, then click where the words go.

2. Type them right there on the plan. Enter starts a new line.

3. Press Esc, or click anywhere off the words, to keep them. Changed your mind? Undo takes them back.

   

On a phone or an iPad, Return starts a new line. Tap anywhere off the words to keep them.

For a callout, open the Text panel and pick Callout (or press T twice). Click the spot it points to, then where its words go, and type them. Click on the edge of a shape, a line or a point and the callout attaches to it, and follows it when it moves.

The Text panel also has a Box switch, to draw a box round the words, and a slider for their size.

Stamp

Stamp puts a mark with one click: ✓, ✗, !, ?, ★, ▲, OK or FIX. Press Stamp again to pick which, and its color.

Keys for the tools

Key	Tool
D	Pen
H	Marker
L	Line; press again for Arrow, Polyline, Dashed line
R	Rectangle; press again for Ellipse, then Area
A	Area
C	Area with Cloud edge on
T	Text; press again for Callout
S	Stamp
M	Measure; press again for Dimension
K	Calibrate scale

To change a mark once it’s drawn, see Change or delete markup. To show or hide all markup, or put it on another layer, see Projects and pages.