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Use Buzz's Draw tool to create a drawing or mark up an existing image. You can draw freehand or straight lines, add shapes, icons and text, and rotate or crop the image. When you save, Buzz inserts the result as an image.
You can use the Draw tool with a mouse, a touch screen or the keyboard.
Open the Draw tool
You can open the Draw tool from several places in Buzz:
- Create a new drawing: In the rich text editor, place your cursor where you want the drawing, then click the Draw button (pencil icon) in the toolbar. The Draw tool opens with a blank canvas.
- Edit an image in the rich text editor: Click an image you've inserted, then click Draw (pencil icon) in the image toolbar. The Draw tool opens with that image.
- Edit a question image: When you create a Multiple answer graphic hot spot or Matching graphic question, select an image, then click Edit image.
- Student submissions: Students use the Draw tool for Assignment Drawing submissions, to draw on images they attach, and to mark up Image Annotation Templates. To edit an attached image, they click Draw (pencil icon) on the attachment.
The Draw tool layout
The Draw tool has four areas:
- Tools (left side): Choose Select, Draw, Shape, Icon, Text, Rotate or Crop. Draw is selected when it opens.
- Top bar: Undo, Redo and Delete are always here, followed by the options for the tool you've chosen.
- Canvas (center): Your drawing or image.
- Arrange bar (bottom): Buttons to select, move, resize and rotate objects without dragging, plus the Keyboard shortcuts button.
The Draw tool opens in a window that doesn't cover the whole page. To see the content behind it, such as the question you're answering, drag the window by its title bar.
Undo and Redo keep your last 30 steps, including rotating and cropping. To remove an object, select it, then click Delete.
Editing tools
Choose a tool on the left. The top bar then shows that tool's options.
| Tool | What it does | Options in the top bar |
|---|---|---|
| Select | Click an object to select it. Drag it to move it, or drag its handles to resize or rotate it. | None |
| Draw | Draw freehand, or draw straight lines. For a straight line, drag from start to end, or click the start point and then click the end point. | Freehand or Straight line, Color, Brush width (1–50) |
| Shape | Add a rectangle, circle or triangle. Drag on the canvas to draw it at the size you want, or click once to place a shape at a standard size. | Rectangle, Circle or Triangle, Fill, Border color, Border width (0–20) |
| Icon | Click an icon to add it to the image: arrow, heart, star, location pin or speech bubble. | The icons, Color |
| Text | Click where you want the text. A text box appears; click it again to type your own text. | Color, Text size (8–96), Bold, Italic, Underline |
| Rotate | Rotate the whole image 90° at a time, flip it, or rotate it to any angle. Moving the angle slider previews the result; click Apply to keep it. | Rotate left, Rotate right, Flip X, Flip Y, angle slider (−180° to 180°), Apply |
| Crop | Drag to select the area to keep, or click once to place a crop area. Then click Apply. | Aspect ratio: Free, 3:2, 4:3, 5:4, 7:5 or 16:9, Apply |
To change a shape, icon or text box you've already added, select it, then change the options in the top bar. Draw options (Color and Brush width) apply to the next line you draw.
Move, resize, and rotate objects
You can drag an object to change it, or use the Arrange bar at the bottom of the Draw tool if you'd rather not drag:
- Select an object by clicking it, or use Previous object and Next object to step through the objects on the canvas.
- Choose Move, Resize or Rotate.
- Click the buttons that appear to move the object (Move left, Move up, Move down, Move right), resize it (Smaller, Larger) or rotate it (Rotate object left, Rotate object right). Hold Shift while clicking to take bigger steps.
Keyboard shortcuts
To see these in Buzz, click Keyboard shortcuts (keyboard icon) in the Arrange bar. Use Tab to reach the canvas, then:
- Enter: Add a shape, line, text box or crop area at the center of the image, using the tool you've chosen.
- [ and ] (square brackets): Select the previous or next object.
- Arrow keys: Move, resize or rotate the selected object, depending on what's chosen in the Arrange bar. Hold Shift for bigger steps.
- Delete: Delete the selected object.
- Esc: Cancel a line you're drawing. Press it again to deselect the object, and again to close the Draw tool without saving.
Note: Freehand drawing needs a mouse or touch screen. To draw with the keyboard, choose Straight line.
Save or cancel
- Click Save to keep your changes. In the rich text editor, Buzz inserts the image where your cursor was. If you edited an existing image, the edited version replaces it.
- Click Cancel, the close button (X) or press Esc to close the Draw tool without saving. Clicking outside the Draw tool doesn't close it, so you won't lose your work by accident.