# Drawing a diagram

> The toolbar, every keyboard shortcut, the styling panel, the shape library, and the three tools that are not for drawing.

Source: https://www.revquix.com/docs/canvas/drawing-a-diagram
Last verified: 2026-09-04

---

The toolbar sits along one edge of the board. Every tool has a single-key shortcut, and those are
worth learning - drawing with one hand on the keyboard is much faster than returning to the toolbar
between shapes.

## The tools

| Tool      | Key |                                                            |
| --------- | --- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Select    | `V` |                                                            |
| Pan       | `H` | Holding `Space` and dragging pans from any tool.           |
| Rectangle | `R` |                                                            |
| Diamond   | `D` |                                                            |
| Ellipse   | `O` |                                                            |
| Arrow     | `A` | Connects two shapes and stays attached when you move them. |
| Line      | `L` |                                                            |
| Draw      | `P` | Freehand.                                                  |
| Text      | `T` |                                                            |
| Image     |     | Pasted or dropped images are embedded in the board.        |
| Eraser    | `E` |                                                            |

> **Note** - Press Q to keep a tool active
>
> Normally a tool returns to Select after one shape. `Q` locks it, which is what you
> want when placing eight boxes in a row.

### Three tools that are not for drawing

Grouped behind one button, because they are occasional rather than everyday:

- **Frame** (`F`) - marks a region of the board. Useful for deciding what an export
  covers.
- **Laser pointer** (`K`) - a trail that fades. It draws nothing and saves nothing;
  it is for pointing at things while somebody is watching your screen.
- **Web embed** - drops a live web page onto the board.

## Styling what you selected

Selecting anything opens the properties panel: stroke and fill, stroke width and style, edges,
opacity, layer order, and font and alignment for text.

Two shortcuts that save real time:

- **Copy style** - `⌥ ⌘ C` (`Alt Ctrl C` on Windows and Linux)
- **Paste style** - `⌥ ⌘ V` (`Alt Ctrl V`)

### Layer order

|                |         |
| -------------- | ------- |
| Send backward  | `⌘ [`   |
| Bring forward  | `⌘ ]`   |
| Send to back   | `⌥ ⌘ [` |
| Bring to front | `⌥ ⌘ ]` |

On Windows and Linux the first two are `Ctrl [` and `Ctrl ]`, and
the last two are `Shift Ctrl [` and `Shift Ctrl ]`.

## Editing

|            |          |
| ---------- | -------- |
| Undo       | `⌘ Z`    |
| Redo       | `⇧ ⌘ Z`  |
| Duplicate  | `⌘ D`    |
| Select all | `⌘ A`    |
| Delete     | `Delete` |

Undo covers everything, including flow settings - changing an animation is not a side channel you
cannot take back.

## Moving around

|                 |               |
| --------------- | ------------- |
| Zoom in / out   | `⌘ +` / `⌘ −` |
| Reset zoom      | `⌘ 0`         |
| Zoom to fit     | `⇧ 1`         |
| Show grid       | `⌘ '`         |
| Snap to objects | `⌥ S`         |
| Find on canvas  | `⌘ F`         |

**Find on canvas** searches the text on the board and jumps to it, which is the fastest way around a
diagram that has outgrown one screen.

## The shape library

The library button in the top corner opens a sidebar of reusable shapes. Anything you build can be
saved into it and dropped onto a later board, and published libraries can be loaded in.

The button hides itself while the sidebar is open - the sidebar has its own close control, and a
floating toggle sitting on top of the thing it opened would be two controls for one job.

## The board's ground

The Details tab offers a **surface texture** - plain, paper or grain - and the grid is a separate
toggle.

> **Note** - Texture is screen-only and never reaches an export
>
> Every export paints the flat background colour instead. That is deliberate: a noise texture is the
> worst possible input to a 256-colour animated format, and the grid is screen-only for the same
> reason.

## Related

- [Animating a flow](https://www.revquix.com/docs/canvas/animating-a-flow) - Making the connectors move.

- [Exporting a board](https://www.revquix.com/docs/canvas/boards-and-export) - Getting the diagram out.