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Draw or handwrite on a Freeform board on iPad

You can sketch or jot a handwritten note with Apple Pencil (see compatibility) or your finger. You can edit and work with handwritten text just as you do with typed text.

A drawing on a Freeform board with drawing tools visible.

Draw or handwrite

  1. Go to the Freeform app on your iPad.

  2. Open a board, or tap the New Board button to start a new one.

  3. Tap the Drawing and Handwriting Tools button, then draw with your finger or Apple Pencil.

    If you’re using Apple Pencil and want to be able to switch to draw with your finger, tap the More button in the drawing tools, then turn on Draw with Finger.

    Tip: Hold your finger or Apple Pencil still for a moment when you finish the drawing to smooth or straighten its shape.

  4. Do any of the following:

    • Switch tools: Tap a tool. Swipe to see other tools, such as Fill, Crayon, Fountain Pen, Reed Pen, or Watercolor Brush.

    • Change a tool’s qualities (such as angle, thickness, opacity): Tap any tool a second time.

    • Fill a shape with color: Tap the Fill tool (the paint tube), then tap within a closed shape.

    • Draw a straight line: Tap the Ruler tool. Rotate the ruler by placing two fingers on it and turning your hand.

    • Transform your handwriting to typed text as you write with Apple Pencil: Use Scribble (next to the pen). See Enter text with Scribble.

      To clean up your handwriting without transforming it into type, see Work with handwritten text, below.

    Some Freeform drawing tools and their strokes: Marker, Pen, Highlighter, Pencil, Crayon, Fountain Pen, and Watercolor Brush.

Note: By default, Apple Pencil works as a drawing and writing tool in Freeform. You can change this setting if you also want to use Apple Pencil to select and scroll.

If Apple Intelligence* is turned on, you can use Image Playground to create one-of-a-kind images in Freeform. See Create original images with Image Playground.

Select and edit parts of a drawing

When you draw in the Freeform app, your strokes are grouped. If you want to break a drawing apart, you can separate your strokes and merge them. You can also delete, resize, or straighten parts of a drawing.

  1. After you draw or write on your Freeform board with the drawing tools, tap the Lasso tool (between the Eraser and Ruler) in the drawing tools.

  2. Tap or circle the part of the drawing you want to select, then choose an option.

    Tip: Choose Snap to Shape to smooth or straighten hand-drawn lines.

You can also tap to select an entire drawing or other item when you’re not using the drawing tools. Tap an item to select it, tap the More button in the formatting tools, then tap Cut, Copy, or Duplicate.

Work with handwritten text

When you write by hand in the Freeform app, your handwriting is recognized as words. You can search text you handwrite in the same way you search typed text. You can also select it, copy and paste it as text, straighten it, or translate it.

  1. After you draw or write on your Freeform board with the drawing tools, tap the Lasso tool (between the Eraser and Ruler) in the drawing tools.

  2. To select text, tap, double-tap, or circle the words, tap the Forward button, then do any of the following:

    • Make text more legible, smooth, and straight: Tap Refine.

      Tip: To automatically smooth and straighten text as you write, tap the More button in the tools, then turn on Auto-refine Handwriting.

    • Make your writing more level: Tap Straighten.

    • Correct spelling: Tap an underlined word, then choose how you want to correct it. The fix appears in your own writing style.

    • Move handwritten text: Touch and hold the selected text, then drag it to a new position.

    • Drag and drop: Touch and hold the text.

    • Erase text: Strike through the writing, then hold down your finger on iPad. (Supported when using a markup tool such as Pen, Mono line, or Marker.)

When you tap a handwritten link, address, phone number, or date, it may open a menu or another related app.

*Apple Intelligence is available in beta with support for the following languages: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions. For more information on language and feature availability and system requirements, see the Apple Support article How to get Apple Intelligence.
See alsoAdd shapes, lines, and arrows to a Freeform board on iPadPosition items on a Freeform board on iPadAdd accessibility descriptionsWrite and draw in documents with Markup on iPad
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