Manual
Everything the editor does, and how to reach it. 14 of the 26 tools need no account; the rest are part of a Membership, and are marked below.
Getting started
Open the editor and you get a blank canvas with a toolbar on the left and a Properties panel on the right. Pick a tool, click on the canvas to place something, then select it to change how it looks. Nothing is installed, and nothing is saved until you ask for it.
The editor is built for a mouse and keyboard, so it needs a desktop or a laptop. Phones and tablets are not supported yet.
Moving around the canvas
- Pan
- Drag with the middle mouse button, hold the Spacebar and drag, or pick the Pan tool.
- Zoom
- The scroll wheel, in 5% steps centered on the pointer, or the − and + buttons in the bottom bar. Between 25% and 200%.
- Grid
- Toggle the grid from the bottom bar, or F7. It is a guide only and never appears in an export.
- Grid snap
- The magnet button, or F9. New points land on the nearest grid intersection.
- Object snap
- The target button, or F3. Points land on features of existing elements.
- Ortho
- The ORT button, or F8. Lines and moves stay on an axis without holding Shift; holding Shift while it is on releases the constraint.
What object snap catches
Endpoint
Green square
The end of a line, or a corner of a shape.
Midpoint
Yellow triangle
Halfway along a line or an edge.
Center
Blue circle
The center of a circle, a support, or a pulley.
Every tool
Tools are grouped by how many clicks they need. Press Escape at any point to cancel what you are drawing. Looking for one in particular? Use the search box.
One click
Pick the tool, then click once where the symbol belongs. The tool returns to Select afterwards.
- PinFree
A pin support: holds against movement in both directions, allows rotation. Two reactions.
- RollerFree
A roller support: holds only perpendicular to its surface. One reaction.
- FixedFree
A built-in support: holds against movement and rotation. Three reactions.
- HingeFree
An internal hinge joining two members, passing force but no moment.
- MomentMembership
A curved arrow for an applied couple. Set clockwise or counter-clockwise in Properties.
- PulleyMembership
A pulley wheel to run a cable over.
- AxesMembership
An x–y axis pair. Rotate it to match a tilted coordinate system.
Two clicks
Click the start, then click the end. Hold Shift on the second click to lock the direction to the nearest 45°.
- LineFree
A straight member, cable, or ground line.
- RectangleFree
A block or a beam cross-section. The two clicks are opposite corners.
- CircleFree
A disc, roller, or a marker for a center of mass.
- TriangleFree
A wedge or an inclined surface.
- Point LoadFree
A single force arrow. Its direction is set by which way you drag.
- Distributed LoadMembership
A row of arrows over a span. Drag either end handle to change its height.
- TorsionMembership
A double-headed arrow for a torque along a shaft.
- DimensionMembership
A measured length with a label. Choose tick, arrow or plain ends in Properties.
- AngleMembership
An arc marking an angle between two directions.
- ArrowMembership
A plain arrow for a reaction, a velocity, or anything a load arrow does not suit.
- SpringMembership
A coil between two points.
- GroundMembership
Hatching along a line, for a floor or a wall.
Three clicks
These need a third point, so the shape has something to bend around.
- CurveFree
Click the start, then the point the curve should pass through, then the end.
- CalloutMembership
A leader line with a note. Click the point it refers to, then the bend, then where the text sits.
Click, then type
A text box opens where you clicked.
- TextMembership
A label. Superscript, subscript and a math font are in the Properties panel.
Selecting and editing
Click an element with the Select tool to select it. Its settings appear in the Properties panel on the right.
Double-click an element to show its blue handles, then drag a handle to reshape it. Double-clicking a text label or a callout opens it for typing instead.
Drag a selected element to move it. Hold Shift while dragging to keep it on one axis.
Hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) and drag to copy instead of move: the original stays where it is, faded, while the copy follows the cursor. Add Shift to keep the copy on one axis. It works on a single element or a whole selection, and a copied group becomes a group of its own.
To select several at once, use Box Select, or hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) and click each one. Ctrl+A selects everything.
Nudge a selection with the arrow keys, one pixel at a time, or hold Shift for a full grid square.
If elements overlap, click the same spot again to step down through them.
Right-click a selection for Group, Ungroup, Save as Template, Bring to Front and Send to Back. Grouped elements move together, and have to be ungrouped before you can resize them individually.
The Rotate tool turns a selection around a pivot. Hold Shift to snap the rotation to 15° steps.
Changing how things look
Everything in the Properties panel applies to the selected element. To change what a tool draws next time, select the tool with nothing else selected and set its defaults there.
- Line style
- Solid, dashed, dotted, double, or center (long dash, short dash).
- Stroke width
- The thickness of the outline.
- Stroke color
- The line color, with an opacity slider. Membership only.
- Fill color
- The inside of a closed shape or a support body. Membership only.
- Scale
- The size of symbols such as supports, springs and pulleys.
- Font
- Size and family for labels, including a math font, with superscript and subscript.
Exporting a diagram
Exporting is part of a Membership.
- 1
Open Export. The Export button is in the top bar.
- 2
Choose a format. PNG for a plain image, or SVG to keep the diagram sharp at any size.
- 3
Set the options. Turn on a transparent background, and pick a resolution for PNG.
- 4
Select the area. Click Start Snipping, then click two corners around the part of the canvas you want.
- 5
Download. Check the preview, then download. Select again if the crop is not right.
Projects and templates
Saving projects and templates both need a Membership.
A project is a whole diagram saved to the cloud. Save it from the top bar, and reopen it from any computer by signing in. You can keep up to 20.
A template is a piece you want to reuse. Select the elements, right-click and choose Save as Template. Templates follow your account, so they are there on any computer you sign in on. You can keep up to 100; delete one to make room for another.
If a Membership lapses, saved projects stay in place and can still be opened, and templates you already saved can still be placed on the canvas. Saving new ones, renaming and deleting are paused until it is renewed.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Ctrl / Cmd + Z | Undo |
| Ctrl / Cmd + Y | Redo |
| Ctrl / Cmd + C | Copy the selection |
| Ctrl / Cmd + V | Paste |
| Delete or Backspace | Delete the selection |
| Escape | Cancel the current drawing, or clear the selection |
| Spacebar + drag | Pan the canvas |
| Shift while drawing | Lock the direction to the nearest 45° |
| Shift while dragging | Lock movement to one axis |
| Ctrl / Cmd while dragging | Drag out a copy, leaving the original in place |
| Ctrl / Cmd + Shift while dragging | Drag out a copy, locked to one axis |
| Shift while rotating | Snap the rotation to 15° steps |
| Double-click | Show an element’s handles, or edit its text |
| Ctrl / Cmd + A | Select everything on the canvas |
| Ctrl / Cmd + X | Cut the selection |
| Ctrl / Cmd + G | Group the selection |
| Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + G | Ungroup the selection |
| Ctrl / Cmd + ] · [ | Bring to Front · Send to Back |
| Arrow keys | Nudge the selection by one pixel |
| Shift + arrow keys | Nudge the selection by one grid square |
| Middle mouse drag | Pan the canvas |
| F3 · F7 · F8 · F9 | Toggle object snap · grid · ortho · grid snap |
| V · M · H · Q | Select · Box Select · Pan · Rotate |
| L · R · C · W · U | Line · Rectangle · Circle · Triangle · Curve |
| P · D · T | Point Load · Dimension · Text |
Still stuck?
The guides cover the engineering side — what belongs in a free body diagram and why. For anything else, send us an email.