Drawing Tool — Getting Started
The ClearHandoff drawing tool lets you create and edit engineering drawings directly in your browser. This guide covers canvas navigation, the available tools, keyboard shortcuts, and how your work is saved.
Canvas Navigation
Scroll with your mouse wheel or trackpad to pan vertically. Hold Shift and scroll to pan horizontally. You can also hold Space and drag to pan freely in any direction.
Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and scroll to zoom in and out. On a trackpad, use pinch-to-zoom. The zoom range is 0.5x to 20x.
New points snap to existing geometry. Dashed guide lines appear when a line you are drawing becomes exactly horizontal or vertical, or when a point lines up with an existing point; hold Shift to place points freely.
Tools Overview
| Tool | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Select | V | Select, move, and resize elements on the canvas. |
| Line | L | Draw straight lines between two points. |
| Rectangle | R | Draw rectangles and squares. |
| Circle | C | Draw circles by center and radius. |
| Arc | A | Draw arcs by specifying three points. |
| Text | T | Add text labels and annotations. |
| Fillet | F | Add rounded corners between two connected lines. |
| Trim | X | Remove part of an element at an intersection. |
| Dimension | D | Add linear, radial, or angular dimensions. |
| Centerline | — | Draw centerlines for symmetrical features. |
| Surface Finish | — | Add surface finish symbols to faces. |
Selection & Editing
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Select element | Click on an element. |
| Toggle selection | Shift + click to add or remove an element from the selection. |
| Marquee select | Drag on empty space to select all elements within a rectangle. Hold Shift to add to the current selection instead of replacing it. |
| Move elements | Drag selected elements to reposition them. |
| Delete elements | Press Delete or Backspace to remove selected elements. |
| Lock / Unlock | Lock elements to prevent them from being moved or resized. Locked elements can still be deleted. Toggle lock from the context menu or properties panel. |
| Context menu | Right-click an element for additional options. |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl / Cmd + Z | Undo the last action. |
| Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + Z or Ctrl / Cmd + Y | Redo the last undone action. |
| Ctrl / Cmd + C | Start in-canvas copy mode for the selected elements. |
| Delete | Delete selected elements. |
| Esc | Cancel the current operation or deselect all. |
| Space (hold) | Activate pan mode while held. |
| Shift (hold) | Turn off automatic alignment (horizontal/vertical and to existing points) while placing points with the drawing tools (line, circle, rectangle, centerline, arc). |
Saving
When you are signed in, your drawing is saved automatically as you work. The status indicator in the toolbar shows the current save state.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Saved | All changes have been saved to the server. |
| Saving… | Changes are being saved right now. |
| Unsaved changes | There are changes that have not been saved yet. |
| Error | The last save attempt failed. Your changes are still in the browser — try again or check your connection. |
| Local draft | You are not signed in. The drawing is stored in your browser only and will be lost if you clear site data. |
