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iPhone User Guide

Draw or handwrite on a Freeform board on iPhone

You can sketch or jot a handwritten note with 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 👁 Image
    on your iPhone.

  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.

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

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

  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.

  5. Tap 👁 the Done button
    when you’re finished drawing.

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. To see other options, tap 👁 the Forward button
    .

    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 at the bottom, 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.

    • 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 iPhone. (Supported when using a markup tool such as Pen, Mono line, or Marker.)

To see other options, tap 👁 the Forward button
in the menu that appears above the selected text.

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

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