Whiteboards

A board is a freeform surface for sketching, diagramming, and thinking visually. It's its own part type, with an infinite pan-and-zoom canvas and a dedicated set of quick tools instead of the usual design toolbar.

Quick overview

1. Add a board from the page tabs; it reuses an existing board in the current group if there is one.
2. Pick a tool from the 11-tool board bar; each has a single-key shortcut.
3. Draw shapes, connectors, freehand strokes, text, and sticky notes on an infinite, pannable surface.
4. Press Z for Zen mode when you want the canvas without any surrounding chrome.
5. When an idea is ready, rebuild the finished version on a page, scene, or slide deck.

Detailed reference

Creating a board

Situation	What happens
The current group has no board yet	A new board is created inside that group
The current group already has a board	You switch to the existing one
Another group already has a board	You're asked whether to switch to it or create a new one for the current group

A board created inside a group belongs to that group and shares its lifecycle. See Page tabs and groups.

Tools

#	Tool	Key	What it does
1	Hand	1	Pan the board without selecting anything
2	Select	2	Click to select, drag to marquee-select; move, resize, and rotate objects
3	Rectangle	3	Drag out a rectangle at any proportion
4	Ellipse	4	Drag out an ellipse at any proportion
5	Diamond	5	Draw diamond shapes
6	Arrow	Q	Draw arrows that snap to nearby objects
7	Line	W	Draw connector lines that snap to nearby objects
8	Pencil	E	Freehand drawing; strokes become editable paths
9	Text	T	Click to place editable text
10	Sticky note	N	Place a color-coded sticky note
11	Eraser	X	Delete any object you drag across (except the grid)

Shapes, text, sticky notes, and connectors all return you to the Select tool automatically once you've placed one.

Connectors

Arrows and lines snap to the nearest corner, edge midpoint, or center of a nearby object as you draw, and stay attached if you move that object afterward. Select a connector to drag its start, middle, or end handle and reshape it.

Sticky notes

Click to place a note. Each note is a small square card with a folded corner that opens for typing straight away, and its text wraps automatically. Notes default to a warm yellow; the board's sticky-note swatches let you pick a different color that applies to the next note you place. Double-click a note later to edit its text again, and drag a corner handle to resize the whole note.

Freehand brush

Hover the Pencil button to open a quick settings popover: a size slider from 1 to 40 (the brush starts at 3) and a row of color swatches with a custom-color button (the brush starts white). Freehand strokes land as editable paths you can select, move, restyle from the properties panel, or erase.

Object properties

Select any shape, sticky note, or connector and the right panel switches to a board properties panel. From there you can set a stroke color, fill color, and stroke width, choose a solid, dashed, or dotted line, round a shape's corners, and set opacity. Layer buttons send the object to the front or back or nudge it one step forward or backward. You can also give the object a name, which floats as a small label above it, and link it to a page in the project. Double-click a linked object later to jump straight to that page, which turns a board into a clickable map or index of your work.

Eraser

The eraser removes whole objects, not partial strokes. Press and drag, and it deletes any object your pointer passes over: shapes, text, sticky notes, connectors, and freehand drawings alike. Only the background grid is left untouched. For a single, precise removal, use the Select tool and press Delete instead. Anything erased by mistake comes back with undo.

Pan and zoom

The board has no fixed size or edges. Scroll to zoom toward the pointer, from 10% up to 1000%; the zoom readout on the floating bar shows the current level. Hold Space and drag, or switch to the Hand tool, to pan; a middle-mouse drag pans no matter which tool is active. Hold Shift or Alt while scrolling to pan sideways instead of zooming.

The floating bar

The board's tools live on a floating bar rather than the usual left rail. Grab the grip on its left edge to drag it anywhere on screen, and use the chevron on its right to collapse it down to a compact strip when you need more room. The bar also carries the Zen button and the live zoom readout.

Zen mode

Press Z, or the Zen button on the board's own toolbar, to hide the top bar and the left tool rail, leaving just the canvas and the board's floating toolbar. Press Z again, or Esc, to bring the interface back. Drawing, selecting, panning, and undo/redo all keep working while Zen mode is on.

Step by step

Brainstorm with sticky notes and freehand drawing

1. Add a board from the page tabs. The right panel tucks away and the floating tool bar appears.
2. Press N for the sticky note tool and click to drop a note; it opens for typing right away, and the text wraps as you go. The tool returns to Select after each note, so click again for the next one.
3. Press E for the Pencil and sketch freehand around your notes. Hover the Pencil button first if you want to change the brush size or color.
4. Press 2 (Select) to rearrange: drag notes and drawings around, or marquee several and move them together.

Connect two shapes with a connector

1. Draw two shapes (for example 3 for a rectangle and 4 for an ellipse), then press 2 to return to Select.
2. Press Q for an arrow (or W for a plain line). Start your drag on or near the first shape: within about 18 px, the end snaps to the shape's nearest corner, edge midpoint, or center.
3. Release on or near the second shape so the other end snaps too. Now the connector is bound to both, so moving either shape re-routes the connector to stay attached.
4. To adjust it, select the connector and drag its start, middle, or end handle. Dragging an end onto another shape re-binds it; dragging the middle bows the line into a curve.

Switch between drawing mode and selection mode

1. The Hand (1) and Select (2) tools sit at the left of the bar; the drawing tools (shapes, connectors, Pencil, text, sticky, eraser) sit to their right.
2. After you place a shape, connector, sticky, or text, the board drops you back into Select automatically so you can move what you just made. The Pencil and eraser stay active until you switch away.
3. Press Esc at any time to jump straight back to Select. Hold Space to pan temporarily without leaving your current tool.

Organize a busy board

1. Name the important objects: select one, and in the properties panel type a name. It appears as a small label above the object.
2. Link key objects to pages: pick a page in the properties panel's link dropdown (use its search box for long lists). Double-clicking that object later jumps to the linked page.
3. Push finished or reference objects behind others with the layer buttons, and drag the floating bar out of the way or collapse it.
4. Press Z for Zen mode to hide everything but the canvas when you want to think without distraction.

Common tasks

• Recolor or restyle a shape: select it and use the properties panel for stroke color, fill, stroke width, a dashed or dotted line, corner radius, and opacity.
• Change the color of your next sticky note: pick a color from the board's sticky-note swatches before you place the note; the note you place next uses it, while existing notes keep their color.
• Turn a board into an index of your work: name objects and link each to a page, then double-click to navigate. Handy as a visual site map or project hub.
• Reclaim screen space: collapse the floating bar with its chevron, or enter Zen mode with Z.
• Move a whole cluster: switch to Select (2), marquee around the group, and drag; connectors bound to the moved shapes travel with them.

Troubleshooting

The eraser deleted something you wanted to keep

The eraser removes any whole object it drags over, not just pencil strokes. If you catch a shape or note by accident, undo brings it back. For pinpoint removal, use Select (2) and press Delete on just the object you mean to remove.

A connector will not attach to a shape. Start and end the connector on or near the shape: the endpoint only binds when it is within about 18 px of one of the shape's anchor points (its corners, edge midpoints, or center). A connector shorter than a few pixels is discarded as an accidental click. If an end did not bind, select the connector and drag its end handle onto the shape.

Moving a shape left its connector behind. Connectors only follow shapes they are actually bound to. Re-draw the connector so each end lands on an anchor, or drag the loose end handle onto the shape, and it will track the shape from then on.

A thin connector or line is hard to click. There is a small click tolerance, so aim near the line rather than exactly on it, then select and edit.

Space will not pan while you are typing. Space is left alone while you edit text in a note or field so you can type spaces normally. Click empty canvas to deselect first, then hold Space to pan.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
1	Hand
2	Select
3	Rectangle
4	Ellipse
5	Diamond
Q	Arrow
W	Line
E	Pencil
T	Text
N	Sticky note
X	Eraser
Z	Toggle Zen mode
Delete / Backspace	Remove the selected object(s)
Esc	Exit Zen mode, or return to the Select tool

Tips

Board first, polish later

Use a board to rough out ideas, flows, and moodboards, then move the parts you like onto a page, scene, or slide deck for the finished version.

One board per group

Keep a group's board as its single scratch space instead of scattering sketches across several boards in the same group.

Related

• Pages and scenes and frames for finished designs
• Page tabs and groups for how boards fit into a group's lifecycle
• Slide decks for turning ideas into a presentation