Draw Tool For Mac

2 Inkscape Illustrator. Inkscape Illustrator is a high-end drawing tool which provides vector imagery options for you. Whether you are looking for a software program to help you with web designing or need a utility to help you with your illustrations and designs, Inkscape Illustrator can prove a worthy companion.

Microsoft Visio is a powerful piece of software, allowing IT professionals, business people, engineers, and others working in highly technical fields to map out and display complex information in the form of flowcharts, site plans, floor plans, diagrams and more.

Useful though all this is, the price point is well beyond what the average home user is willing to spend at $300 for the “Standard” version and $590 for the Pro version. (If you’re dead-set on using Visio, there is a potentially cheaper option where you can get Visio Pro for Office 365 for $13/month if you get an annual subscription or $15/month for a monthly commitment.)

But why pay at all when there are perfectly free and viable Visio alternatives available to you? Here are our top picks.

Related: The 12 Most Secure Email Services for Better Privacy

1. LucidChart

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

If you are looking for a web-based alternative to Microsoft Visio, LucidChart is the perfect choice. It provides a drag-and-drop web interface to draw any kind of diagram. LucidChart gives you an option to build your diagrams in collaboration with your team. Multiple people will be able to work with the same diagram, making it the perfect choice for small teams.

One of the great features of LucidChart is that it can export or import Microsoft Visio vdx files very easily. One thing that is missing in LucidChart is the built-in categorization of different shapes for different areas like networking, engineering, etc. You don’t need to sign up for an account with LucidChart; just open the site and start drawing.

2. ASCIIFlow Infinity

Platforms: Browser

Starting with the simple stuff, if you’re looking for a quick, easy and instantly accessible diagramming tool with no bells and whistles attached, ASCIIFlow is a good option.

You can forget about having a vast range of shapes at your disposal or using this to map out a complex engineering project, but for quickly conveying ideas in diagram form, this is about as efficient as you can get. The ASCII format is clear, and you can use familiar Windows shortcuts (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + Z and so on) to quickly chop and change your diagrams.

You can change the format of the boxes from ASCII to Lines to make things a little clearer, and sync it all with Google Drive, too (though currently the level of access it requests to your Google Drive may put more security-conscious users off – hopefully that’s something they can fix).

3. Gliffy

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Browser

Coming in both free and paid flavors, Gliffy is a robust diagramming app that fully embraces the cloud. It integrates with services like Google Drive, Confluence and JIRA to allow you to collaborate on your UMLs, flowcharts and other diagramming projects seamlessly. Gliffy is free for students, while others get access to the ‘Basic’ version of the software (after a 14-day trial with the paid version), which has less templates, images and so on than the paid version.

With its simple drag-and-drop interface, large variety of exportable formats and a perfectly usable browser version which is completely free, Gliffy is an excellent choice for those comfortable with diagramming and flowchart software. More advanced users, however, may find the free version a little wanting in features and opt for one of the other, more feature-packed options in this list.

4. yEd Graph Editor

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

Quite possibly the most user-friendly diagramming software out there, yED has you covered for everything from flowcharts, to family trees, to more technical diagrams like network infrastructures and process models.

You can set your chart to automatically lay itself out to suit whatever kind of data you’re entering. It has a decent repository of images for various types of charts and also gives you the option to import images from elsewhere. When you’re done, you can save your chart as a JPEG, XML or HTML, among other formats, making it easy to upload to websites or send to clients.

5. Graphviz

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

For something a little alternative, you can try Graphviz, the near thirty-year-old tool in which you create graphs, hierarchies and so on using a command line utility and the robust DOT language. It takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll see that it could save you time in the long run.

It has a good amount of formats you can export your graph to and a number of layouts such as hierarchical, radial, multiscale and more. It’s particularly useful if you aren’t too fussy about pretty colors but are more concerned about entering huge amounts of data that can get instantly organized and generated. (That colossal graph at the top of this article was made using Graphviz.)

6. LibreOffice Draw

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

LibreOffice Draw is the closest and biggest open-source competitor of Microsoft Visio. Draw is an all-purpose drawing, diagramming and charting tool. The feature that I love in Draw is the grouping feature.

You can easily group different objects together and then do different actions on the group like moving the group, connecting with other groups, etc. In addition to other formats (XML format is the default), you can also export your diagrams as SWF Flash files. As an extra treat, here’s a package of shapes for Draw that are similar to those you find in Visio.

7. Dia

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

Dia is an open-source program very similar to Microsoft Visio, with largely the same feature set. You can create UML diagrams, flowcharts, network processes and architectures, entity relationship diagrams, etc., easily with Dia. The default file format for any file created with Dia is .dia, but there are plenty of file formats you can export your diagram to, including Microsoft Visio’s .vdx format.

8. Draw.io

Platforms: Browser

Draw.io has a very responsive and accessible interface, with the tools in the column on the left and the drawing in the column on the right. You don’t need to sign up for an account to use Draw.io, and from the moment you’re on the site you’re given the option to save your work to cloud services like Google Drive and OneDrive or your hard drive.

If you connect Draw.io to your Google account, it has very functional real-time collaboration, letting you work on projects simultaneously with others. It’s not a complex tool, so while it’s accessible, it doesn’t offer the depth of features of some other diagramming software.

9. Pencil Project

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

Pencil Project is an open-source alternative to Microsoft Visio which is actively maintained by the development community. Their goal for Pencil Project is to make diagramming as easy as possible and usable for everyone from a newbie to an expert. It’s regularly updated with new stencils, templates and other features, lets you export your work to multiple formats, and has integration with OpenClipart.org, letting you instantly search the Web for images to make your projects pop.

Hopefully you will find these free alternatives to Microsoft Visio useful. Or after testing these do you still believe that the paid tools offer something these don’t? Let us know in the comments!

This article was first published in January 2012 and was updated in May 2018.

On a touch-enabled device, draw with your finger, a digital pen, or a mouse.

Available inking features depend on the type of device you're using and which version of Office you're using.

Please start by choosing your version of Office:

• Which version of Office for Windows are you using?

Write, draw, or highlight text

The new pen set is customizable and portable. You define the pens you want to have, and they are then available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

1. On the Draw tab of the Ribbon, tap a pen to select it.

   In Word, you must be in Print layout to draw with ink. If the Draw tab is grayed out so that you can't select a pen, go the View tab and select Print Layout.

   In Outlook, first tap the body of the message and insert a drawing canvas ; then you can select a pen to draw with.

2. Tap again to open the menu of Thickness and Color options for the pen. Select your preferred size and color.

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness or use the plus or minus sign to make your pen thicker or thinner.

   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Colors.

   • Eight effects are also available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

3. A Pencil texture is also available:

   When you draw with the Pencil texture while using a supported digital stylus, you can tilt the stylus to get a 'shading' effect, just like you would get with a real pencil.

4. On the touch screen, begin writing or drawing.

   Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Office. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

5. To stop inking and select your annotations, either to modify or move them, select Draw on the Draw tab.

Convert ink to text or shapes

Word or Excel: See Convert ink to shapes in Office

PowerPoint: See Convert ink to text or shapes in PowerPoint for Office 365.

More features

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

1. Under Draw > Tools, tap the Eraser.

   (In PowerPoint for Office 365, you can choose from different sizes of erasers. Word has three eraser options. Tap the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

2. With your pen or finger, drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

   With the Segment Eraser in PowerPoint, you can simply tap a segment of ink or drag across it to remove it (rather than having to thoroughly wipe away the entire segment). Dragging across segments is an easy way to erase several at once.

Some active pens, such as the Surface pen, have an eraser that you can also use to erase digital ink.

Select parts of an ink drawing or written words

All apps include a Draw tool on the Draw tab of the Ribbon for switching between inking mode and selection mode.

PowerPoint and Excel also have an ink selection tool, Lasso Select, specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

Applies only to PowerPoint and Excel:

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink, use the Lasso Select tool. (This tool can't select non-ink objects—that is, shapes, pictures, etc.)

1. Under Draw > Tools on the Ribbon, tap Lasso Select .

2. With your pen or finger, drag to draw a circle around the part of the drawing or word that you want to select. A faded, dashed selection region appears around it, and when you're done, the portion you lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, change its color, and so on.

In both Excel and PowerPoint, with a digital pen, you can select an area without even tapping the selection tool on the ribbon. Use the supported digital pen button to Lasso Select ink without visiting the ribbon. Then you can use the pen to move, resize, or rotate the ink object.

Turn off automatic inking in a desktop app

1. On the File menu, select Options, and then select Advanced.

2. In the Pen section, select the box next to Use pen to select and interact with content by default.

This setting only applies to the app in which you make it, so, for example, you can have automatic inking turned on in Visio and turned off in Word.

Other digital ink features

Write, draw, or highlight text

The new pen set is customizable and portable. You define the pens you want to have, and they are then available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

1. On the Draw tab of the Ribbon, tap a pen to select it.

   In Word, you must be in Print layout to draw with ink. If the Draw tab is grayed out so that you can't select a pen, go the View tab and select Print Layout.

2. Tap again to open the menu of Thickness and Color options for the pen. Select your preferred size and color.

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness or use the plus or minus sign to make your pen thicker or thinner.

   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Colors.

3. A Pencil texture is also available:

   When you draw with the Pencil texture while using a supported digital stylus, you can tilt the stylus to get a 'shading' effect, just like you would get with a real pencil.

4. On the touch screen, begin writing or drawing.

   Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Office. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

5. To stop inking and select your annotations, either to modify or move them, pick Select on the Draw tab.

Convert ink to text or shapes

See Convert ink to text or shapes in PowerPoint for Office 365.

More features

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

1. Under Draw > Tools, tap the Eraser.

   (In PowerPoint for Office 365, you can choose from four erasers. Tap the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

2. With your pen or finger, drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

   With the Segment Eraser in PowerPoint, you can simply tap a segment of ink or drag across it to remove it (rather than having to thoroughly wipe away the entire segment). Dragging across segments is an easy way to erase several at once.

Some active pens, such as the Surface pen, have an eraser that you can also use to erase digital ink.

Select parts of an ink drawing or written words

When you've been drawing with ink, you can use Stop Inking on the Draw tab to change the mouse pointer back to a standard selection tool . The selection tool can select both digital ink drawings and any other kinds objects.

PowerPoint and Excel also have an ink selection tool, Lasso Select, specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

Applies only to PowerPoint and Excel:

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink, use the Lasso Select tool. (This tool can't select non-ink objects—that is, shapes, pictures, etc.)

1. Under Draw > Tools on the Ribbon, tap Lasso Select .

2. With your pen or finger, drag to draw a circle around the part of the drawing or word that you want to select. A faded, dashed selection region appears around it, and when you're done, the portion you lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, change its color, and so on.

In both Excel and PowerPoint, with a digital pen, you can select an area without even tapping the selection tool on the ribbon. Use the supported digital pen button to Lasso Select ink without visiting the ribbon. Then you can use the pen to move, resize, or rotate the ink object.

Turn off automatic inking in a desktop app

1. Select File > Options > Advanced.

2. In the Pen section, select the box next to Use pen to select and interact with content by default.

This setting only applies to the app in which you make it. So, for example, you can have automatic inking turned on in Visio and turned off in Word.

Other digital ink features

Find the drawing tools

Go to the Review tab and select Start Inking to display the Ink Tools and Pens tab.

Write or draw

1. Under Ink Tools >Pens choose Pen.

2. To change the ink color and stroke width, point to the color and width (0.35mm - 0.5mm) you want.

3. On the touch screen, begin writing or drawing.

Highlight text

1. Under Ink Tools, on the Pens tab, click Highlighter, and then pick a highlight color.

2. Point and drag your pen or finger over the text that you want to highlight.

   You can highlight text in Excel, Word, and Outlook, but PowerPoint doesn't support highlighting text.

Delete whole written words or ink drawings

1. Under Ink Tools, on the Pens tab, click the arrow below Eraser, and then pick an eraser size.

2. With your pen or finger, select the word or ink drawing that you want to erase.

Drawing in OneNote

If you're using OneNote and want to draw, see these other articles:

OneNote for Windows 10: Write notes and draw in OneNote

OneNote: Draw and sketch notes on a page

OneNote for the web: Draw and sketch notes on a page

Extra features in PowerPoint

Select parts of an ink drawing or written words (PowerPoint only)

To select part of a drawing or some written words, use the Lasso tool. (You cannot use the Lasso tool to select non-ink objects (shapes, pictures, etc.).

1. Under Ink Tools, on the Pens tab, click Lasso Select.

2. With your pen or finger, drag to draw a circle around the part of the drawing or word that you want to select. A faded, dashed selection region appears around it, and when you're done, the portion you lassoed will be selected.

Delete parts of an ink drawing or parts of written words (PowerPoint only)

1. Under Ink Tools, on the Pens tab, click the arrow below Eraser, and then pick an eraser size.

2. With your pen or finger, select parts of the ink drawing or text that you want to erase.

Convert ink drawings to shapes (PowerPoint only)

You can convert ink drawings on a touch screen into common shapes.

1. Under Ink Tools > Pens, select Convert to Shapes.

2. With a pen or your finger, draw a shape on the slide, and PowerPoint automatically converts your drawing to the shape that looks most like it.

   To stop converting shapes, click Convert to Shapes again.

Which shapes can PowerPoint convert?

When you create an ink drawing, PowerPoint can convert it to the shape that is most like it.

For more information about using Office with Windows touch devices, see the following:

Write, draw, or highlight text

1. On the Draw tab of the Ribbon, tap a pen to select it.

2. Tap again to open the menu of Thickness and Color options for the pen. Select your preferred size and color.

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness to make your pen thicker or thinner.

   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Colors.

   • Eight effects are also available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

3. A Pencil texture is also available:

   When you draw with the Pencil texture while using a supported digital stylus, you can tilt the stylus to get a 'shading' effect, just like you would get with a real pencil.

4. Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Office. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

5. To stop inking and select your annotations, either to modify or move them, undo the selection of the Draw button on the Draw tab.

Touch drawing with a trackpad

Rather than drawing ink with your mouse, you can draw on a trackpad with your finger. See Use your trackpad for 'touch' drawing for more information.

Erase ink

1. Under Draw > Tools, tap the Eraser.

   (In PowerPoint for Office 365 for Mac, you can choose from different sizes of erasers. Word has three eraser options (version 16.28 or newer). Tap the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

2. With your mouse, pen, or finger, drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

Additional procedures

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

PowerPoint and Excel also have an ink selection tool, Lasso Select, specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

Applies only to PowerPoint and Excel:

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink, use the Lasso Select tool. (This tool can't select non-ink objects—that is, shapes, pictures, etc.)

1. Under Draw > Tools on the Ribbon, tap Lasso Select .

2. With your mouse, pen, or finger, drag to draw a circle around the part of the drawing or word that you want to select. A faded, dashed selection region appears around it, and when you're done, the portion you lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, change its color, and so on.

Turn on automatic inking

1. On the PowerPoint, Word, or Excel menu, select Preferences > Authoring and Proofing Tools > General.

2. In the Pen section, clear the box next to Use pen to select and interact with content by default.

This setting only applies to the current app. So, for example, you can have automatic inking turned on in Excel and turned off in Word.

Basic inking tools

Word for iOS, Excel for iOS, and PowerPoint for iOS all come with basic inking options on the Draw tab: a selection tool, a draw-with-touch tool, a stroke eraser, pens, multiple ink colors, and ink thickness options:

If you're working in OneNote on your iPad, see Handwrite, draw, and sketch.

Draw or write

By default, Draw with Mouse or Touch (or 'Inking mode') is turned on when you are using a mobile device. Just tap the Draw tab, select a pen , and you can begin drawing ink on a slide.

To change the settings on a pen:

1. Tap again to open the menu of thickness and color options for the pen. Select your preferred size and color:

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness or use the plus or minus sign to make your pen thicker or thinner.

   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Ink Colors.

   • (For Office 365 subscribers only) Eight effects are also available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

   A Pencil texture is now available:

   The Apple Pencil is sensitive to pressure, which allows you to vary line thickness. It's also sensitive to tilt, which allows you to create shading, as you can with a tilted lead pencil.

2. On the touch screen, begin writing or drawing.

   Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Office. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

3. To stop inking and select your annotations, either to modify or move them, turn off Draw with Touch on the Draw tab. Turning off this feature also keeps you from making accidental ink marks when your hand touches the screen.

Watch a video overview of the inking features in iPhone and iPad:

2:47

Select

On an iOS device, Inking mode is turned on when you have selected a pen or highlighter on the Draw tab. Otherwise, you are in Select mode, and you can tap to select an object.

(If you're using an Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro device, you can make Select mode the default by going to app settings.)

PowerPoint and Excel have an ink selection tool, Lasso Select, specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects on a slide and you only want to select an ink object.

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink in PowerPoint or Excel, use the Lasso Select tool:

1. On the Draw tab on the Ribbon, tap Lasso Select .

2. With your pen or finger, drag to encircle the ink that you want to select.

   A faded, dashed selection region appears as you drag, and when you're done, the portion you've lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, copy it, delete it, and so on.

Erase

1. On the Draw tab, tap the Eraser.

   Word has three erasers to choose from—a stroke eraser, a small eraser, or a medium eraser. Tap the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.

   PowerPoint has those three erasers plus one more: With the Segment Eraser, you can simply tap a segment of ink or drag across it to remove it (rather than having to thoroughly wipe away the entire segment). Dragging across segments is an easy way to erase several at once.

2. Drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

Switch tools with the new Apple Pencil

Sketch Tool For Mac

Office for iOS supports the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil and its double-tap gesture. By default, the double-tap gesture switches from the current tool to the eraser, but the System settings on your device allow you to choose a different behavior for this gesture. This feature is available to Office 365 subscribers in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iPad version 2.22.19020201 and later.

Turn off automatic inking

1. Open the Settings app from the home screen of your iOS device.

2. Scroll through the list of apps at the bottom of the Settings page to find your Office app, and tap to open its Settings.

3. In the app settings on the right side, at the bottom under Draw and Annotate, toggle Apple Pencil Always Draws Ink.

For more information, see Turn off automatic inking on iOS.

Convert ink drawings to standard shapes in PowerPoint

In PowerPoint, you can convert ink drawings on a touch screen into common shapes:

1. Ensure that Draw with Mouse or Touch is turned on.

2. Tap Ink to Shapes

3. With a pen or your finger, draw a shape on the slide. When you finish drawing, PowerPoint automatically converts your drawing to the shape that looks most like it.

   To stop converting shapes, tap Ink to Shapes again.

Basic inking tools

Draw Tool For Mac

Word for Android, Excel for Android, and PowerPoint for Android all come with basic inking options on the Draw tab: a selection tool, a draw-with-touch tool, a stroke eraser, pens, ink colors and a color wheel, and ink thickness options:

Draw or write

By default, Draw with Mouse or Touch (or 'Inking mode') is turned on when you are using a mobile device. Just tap the Draw tab, select a pen , and you can begin drawing ink on a slide.

Select

On an Android device, Inking mode is turned on when you have selected a pen or highlighter on the Draw tab. Otherwise, you are in Select mode, and you can tap to select an object.

PowerPoint and Excel have an ink selection tool, Lasso Select, specifically for selecting ink drawings. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink in PowerPoint or Excel, use the Lasso Select tool.

1. On the Draw tab on the Ribbon, tap Lasso Select .

2. With your pen or finger, drag to encircle the ink that you want to select.

   A faded, dashed selection region appears as you drag, and when you're done, the portion you've lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, copy it, delete it, and so on.

Erase

1. On the Draw tab, tap the Eraser.

   (In PowerPoint, you can choose from three erasers—a stroke eraser, or a small or medium eraser. Tap the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

2. Drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

Some active pens, such as the Surface pen, have an eraser that you can also use to erase digital ink without having to select an eraser from the Ribbon.

Convert ink drawings to standard shapes in PowerPoint

In PowerPoint, you can convert ink drawings on a touch screen into common shapes:

1. Ensure that Draw with Mouse or Touch is turned on.

2. Tap Ink to Shapes

3. With a pen or your finger, draw a shape on the slide. When you finish drawing, PowerPoint automatically converts your drawing to the shape that looks most like it.

   To stop converting shapes, tap Ink to Shapes again.

Annotate with ink while showing a presentation

In PowerPoint, you can add ink markings to a slide while you are presenting:

Basic inking tools

Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile all come with basic inking options on the Draw tab: a selection tool, a draw-with-touch tool, a stroke eraser, pens, multiple ink colors, and ink thickness options:

If you're working in OneNote for Windows 10, see Write notes and draw in OneNote for Windows 10.

Draw or write

By default, Draw with Touch (or 'Inking mode') is turned on when you are using a mobile device. Just tap the Draw tab, select a pen , and you can begin drawing ink on a slide.

The Draw tab in Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile for Windows 10 is similar to the desktop versions of each app. Before you can use the drawing features, be sure to update to the latest version of Windows 10. To do this, select the Windows button in the lower-left corner of your screen, and select Settings > Update & security > Windows Update. Click Check for updates to get the latest updates.

To change the settings on a pen:

1. Tap again to open the menu of thickness and color options for the pen. Select your preferred size and color:

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness or use the plus or minus sign to make your pen thicker or thinner.

   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Ink Colors.

   • Eight effects are also available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

2. On the touch screen, begin writing or drawing.

   Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Office. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

3. To stop inking and select your annotations, either to modify or move them, turn off Draw with Touch on the Draw tab. Turning off this feature also keeps you from making accidental ink marks when your hand touches the screen.

Select

Inking mode is turned on when you have selected a pen or highlighter on the Draw tab. Otherwise, you are in Select mode, and you can tap to select an object.

PowerPoint Mobile and Excel Mobile also have an ink selection tool, Lasso Select, , specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink in PowerPoint or Excel:

1. On the Draw tab on the Ribbon, tap Lasso Select .

2. With your pen or finger, drag to encircle the ink that you want to select.

   A faded, dashed selection region appears as you drag, and when you're done, the portion you've lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, copy it, delete it, and so on.

Erase

1. On the Draw tab, tap the Eraser.

   (In PowerPoint, you can choose from three erasers—a stroke eraser, or a small or medium eraser. Tap the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

2. Drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

Convert ink drawings to standard shapes in PowerPoint

Drawing Tool For Macbook

In PowerPoint, you can convert ink drawings on a touch screen into common shapes:

1. Ensure that Draw with Mouse or Touch is turned on.

2. Tap Ink to Shapes

3. With a pen or your finger, draw a shape on the slide. When you finish drawing, PowerPoint automatically converts your drawing to the shape that looks most like it.

   To stop converting shapes, tap Ink to Shapes again.

Open the Draw tab on Windows 10 Mobile phones

Here's how to see the Draw tab in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on Windows 10 Mobile phones.

Drawing Software For Mac

1. Select the More button in the lower-right corner of the screen.

2. Pick the Draw tab.

See Also