Introduction

General notes

Most actions in the app are designed to work using a series of mouse clicks. While it might seem counterintuitive for those who are accustomed to interfaces based on mouse dragging, there are several reasons for why this mode of interaction was chosen. One of the main advantages is that it works quite well on laptops using a touchpad.

On touch devices, instead of mouse clicks the app registers positions by dragging a mouse cursor with your fingers. Using a stylus on a touch screen is yet again different, and behaves more like a mouse.

Using the grid

By default, as you move the cursor it will snap to points on the document grid. This can be toggle on or off using the snap options on the View menu on the left hand side of the screen. You can also disable snapping temporarily by holding down the Shift button on your keyboard. Some tools disable snapping by default when it makes sense. For example, when using the Select tool to choose an existing shape, there's no real reason to use grid snapping.

Tool menu

Whenever a tool is active or allows for multiple interaction options, a tool menu will appear on the right side of the canvas. Some tool actions also present their own submenus with further actions or options. If an action is also accessible using a keyboard shortcut, the shortcut will be displayed in a small label on the action button.

Setup

When starting a new document, it's a good idea to spend a moment adjusting the desired document settings in the Setup dialog. Here you can control the canvas size, the desired grid units and subdivision. This is especially important to configure correctly if you intend to print your sketch with exact dimensions. You can also adjust the default grid colors.

Color and stroke

Changing the active color and stroke settings on the right hand panel will deterimine the colors used for drawing new shapes, or change existing shapes when they are first selected using the Select tool.

The color pickers for stroke and fill color are accessed by pressing the relevant color box. You are then presented with a palette composed of preset colors, and a standard color wheel. When you choose a custom color using the wheel, it will be added to the palette for the current session (up to a certain limit).