Pencil tool
Shortcut: P. The Pencil tool draws freehand paths that follow your cursor.
How to use it
Section titled “How to use it”- Press, drag and release to draw; the path follows your cursor with a live preview.
- A single click (no drag) does nothing — a path needs at least a short stroke.
- Switching tools mid-stroke discards the in-progress drawing.
Tool Options
Section titled “Tool Options”| Option | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Fill | color / none | Fill color for the new path (with a no-fill toggle) |
| Stroke | color | Stroke (outline) color |
| Stroke width | 0.5–100 | Outline thickness |
| Close path | on / off | Close the stroke into a loop (adds a Z to the path) |
| Reset | — | Restore the default options |
Pencil + brush expansion
Section titled “Pencil + brush expansion”This is where the Pencil changes behavior dramatically depending on your settings. If a brush is selected (from the Brush library), the Pencil does not draw a simple stroked centerline — it expands your stroke along the brush’s width profile into a filled outline with variable width (using the brush’s base width). With no brush selected, you get a normal centerline path that uses your Stroke width.
So the same gesture produces very different results:
- No brush → a uniform-width stroked path.
- Brush selected → a filled, variable-width outline (calligraphic / tapered look) shaped by the brush profile.
Tips & interactions
Section titled “Tips & interactions”- For calligraphic or tapered strokes, pick a brush before drawing.
- Turn on Close path to draw closed shapes freehand.
See the tools overview and keyboard shortcuts.