# Shapes, pen, pencil and markup > Draw rectangles, ellipses, lines, arrows, polygons and stars, build your own vectors with the pen, and mark up a design by hand. Source: https://uxdeck.app/guide/shapes-and-pen (checked against uxdeck on 16 October 2026) Shapes are the building blocks you reach for most: a rectangle for a card's background, an ellipse for an avatar, a line for a divider. When no shape fits, the **Pen** draws any outline you like, point by point. The **Pencil**, **Highlighter**, **Eraser** and **Laser pointer** are for marking up and talking through a design rather than building it. Find them all in the **Insert** menu in the top bar: shapes under **Shapes**, the drawing tools under **Draw**. ## Draw a shape 1. Pick a tool: R Rectangle, O Ellipse, L Line, ⇧L Arrow, or **Polygon** and **Star** from **Insert > Shapes**. 2. Drag on the canvas. Or click once for a shape at its default size, centred where you clicked (a line starts where you click). Drawn inside a frame, the shape goes into that frame. After one shape the tool goes back to Move (V). - Hold ⇧ while drawing a line or arrow to keep it at 45° steps. - To round a rectangle's corners, use **Corner radius** in the Design tab; the button beside it sets each corner on its own. - Colour, stroke and shadow are in the Design tab. See [Fill, stroke, shadow and blur](/guide/fill-stroke-effects). ## Resize and rotate - Drag a handle to resize. Hold ⇧ on a corner to keep the proportions, ⌥ to resize from the centre. - Point just outside a corner and drag to rotate. Hold ⇧ to turn in 15° steps. - **Rotate 90°**, **Flip horizontal** (⇧H) and **Flip vertical** (⇧V) are in the **Layout** section. ## Draw with the pen Press P for the Pen. 1. Click to place a point. Drag while placing to pull out a curve. 2. Keep clicking to add points. 3. Click the first point to close the shape, or press ↩ or Esc to finish an open path. ## Edit points Select a shape or vector and press ↩, or double-click it, to edit its points. | Action | How | |---|---| | Move a point | drag it | | Add a point | click the path | | Smooth or sharp point | double-click a point | | Move one handle on its own | ⌥-drag a handle | | Delete points | ⌫ | | Finish editing | ↩ or Esc | A rectangle, ellipse, polygon or star stays that shape until you actually move a point. The moment you do, it becomes a vector (named **Vector** unless you renamed it), and its shape settings no longer apply. Opening the points and leaving without a change keeps it as it was. To turn several shapes into one vector, select them and press ⌘E (**Flatten**). See [Masks and boolean shapes](/guide/masks-booleans). ## Pencil and highlighter - **Pencil** (⇧P) draws a freehand line, 3 px and dark. It stays on after each stroke, so you can keep sketching. - **Highlighter** (in **Insert > Draw**) draws a thick yellow stroke that multiplies over what is underneath, like a marker on paper. Both make ordinary vector layers: select one afterwards to change its colour or weight in **Stroke**. ## Eraser and laser pointer - **Eraser** (E): click a layer, or drag across several, to delete them. It leaves frames alone and skips locked layers. A toast says how many went; ⌘Z brings them back. - **Laser pointer** (K): drag to draw a glowing trail that fades by itself. Use it to point at things while you present or talk through a screen. Nothing is added to the file. ## Sticky notes **Insert > Sticky note** adds a note you can type on straight away. Use it for comments to yourself or your team that should sit right on the canvas. ## Shortcuts | Tool | Keys | |---|---| | Rectangle | R | | Ellipse | O | | Line | L | | Arrow | ⇧L | | Pen | P | | Pencil | ⇧P | | Eraser | E | | Laser pointer | K | | Edit points | ↩ or double-click | | Flatten | ⌘E | ## Catches - **Editing points turns a shape into a vector.** If you want to keep the rectangle's corner radius, change it before you move its points. - **Holding ⇧ while dragging out a new shape does not make it square.** Draw it, then hold ⇧ on a corner handle to fix the proportions, or type equal **W** and **H**. - **Polygon and Star have no point count to set.** Edit their points if you need a different outline. - **The eraser deletes whole layers.** It does not rub out part of a stroke.