Freehand Tool

Introduction

The Freehand Tool lets you draw freely directly on any PDF or on the endless canvas beside it — perfect for quick sketches, hand-drawn redlines, field markups, and informal notes. Whether you're using a mouse on desktop or an Apple Pencil on iPad, the freehand tool gives you natural, pen-style control for fast, intuitive annotation.

Step 1: Open the Freehand Tool

Locate the Freehand Tool, represented by a pen icon, in the toolbar on the left side of the screen. Click the icon to activate the tool.

Shortcut: F

Step 2: Draw Freehand Strokes

With the Freehand Tool active:

1. Click and hold the mouse (or select the free hand icon and the use Apple Pen) to begin drawing.
2. Move the cursor freely to create your sketch or markup.
3. Release to finish the stroke.

Each freehand stroke is created as an individual object and can be selected, moved, or edited independently.

Step 3: Move or Select Freehand Strokes

• Single selection: Click a freehand stroke to select it.
• Group selection: Click and drag to draw a selection area covering multiple strokes, or hold the Shift key to select multiple strokes.
• Move: Drag the selected stroke or group to reposition it anywhere on the canvas.

Step 4: Delete Freehand Strokes

• Desktop: Select the freehand stroke and press the Delete key.
• iPad: Select the stroke and tap the trash icon at the top of the screen.

Step 5: Customize Freehand Properties

With a freehand stroke selected, click the Properties icon on the right side of the screen.

• Stroke: color, weight, opacity

If one stroke forms an enclosed shape, additional options become available:

• Fill: color, opacity

These controls follow the same behavior as the Line tools for consistency.

The Freehand Tool provides a flexible way to sketch, mark up, and visually explain ideas directly on or beside a PDF. With customizable stroke and fill options, it supports both quick annotations and more expressive hand-drawn notes.