Getting started with DrawZal
DrawZal is a macOS menu bar app for marking up whatever is on your screen with a pen, arrows, a highlighter, and number badges. Press ⌥⇥ in any app to start drawing, and press it again to get your screen back.
Based on DrawZal 0.4.0 · checked
Which Macs can run DrawZal?
DrawZal runs on macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. It is a universal app for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, and the app comes in English and Korean.
DrawZal is getting ready for launch. The public download opens at launch, and if you sign up for a launch notification we will email you.
Where is DrawZal?
DrawZal is a menu bar app, so it has no Dock icon. Once it is running, the DrawZal icon sits on the right side of the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click it to open the menu.
- Start Drawing (⌥⇥), Ghost Mode (F1)
- Whiteboard, Freeze Screen, Lower Third, Edit Lower Third…
- Cursor Highlight, Click Effect, Fade: Drawings Disappear Automatically
- Undo, Redo, Clear All, Copy All Drawings
- Take Snapshot, Snapshots…, Settings…, Check for Updates…, Keyboard Shortcuts (Quick Tour)
- Quit DrawZal
The parentheses next to a menu item show its current shortcut. If you change a shortcut, the menu shows the new one.
How do I start and stop drawing?
| To | Do this |
|---|---|
| Start drawing | ⌥⇥, or Start Drawing in the menu bar menu |
| Start drawing without the toolbar | ⌃⇥ |
| Stop drawing | Press ⌥⇥ again, or Esc. If drawings are selected or a spotlight is on, Esc clears that first. |
| Keep drawings and click the app underneath | Turn on Ghost Mode with F1. |
With the default settings, stopping clears your drawings. If you stopped too soon, start drawing again and press ⌘Z to bring them back.
To keep drawings when you stop, turn off "Clear drawings when you stop drawing (⌘Z brings them back)" in Settings › General › Stop Drawing.
How do I make my first marks?
- Press ⌥⇥ to start drawing. A vertical toolbar appears at the edge of the screen.
- Pick a tool with a single key such as B (brush), A (arrow), or R (rectangle), and pick a color with the number keys 1 … 0.
- Drag on the screen to draw. Hold ⇧ while dragging to snap lines and arrows to 45° steps and to turn rectangles and ellipses into squares and circles.
- Press ⌘Z to take back the last drawing and ⌫ to clear everything on the screen. If drawings are selected, ⌫ deletes only those.
- Press F to turn on Fade, and new marks disappear on their own over 3 seconds. Press it again to turn Fade off.
Single keys that switch tools and colors work only while you are drawing. Each tool is explained in Toolbar and drawing tools, and every shortcut is in Keyboard shortcuts.
How do I change the app language?
DrawZal follows your Mac’s language. If your Mac is set to Korean, DrawZal appears in Korean; for any other language it appears in English.
To use a different language for DrawZal only, add DrawZal in System Settings › General › Language & Region › Applications and choose a language.
How does DrawZal update?
Release builds check for a new version every 4 hours. When one is available, DrawZal downloads it and installs it when you quit, and it never opens a window while you present.
When an update is ready, a dot appears at the top right of the menu bar icon and "Restart to Install 〈version〉" appears at the top of the menu. Click it to restart and install right away.
To check right away, use "Check for Updates…" in the menu or "Check Now" in Settings › General › Updates. In the same place you can turn off "Check for updates automatically" and "Download new versions automatically and install them when DrawZal quits".
Learn more
- DrawZal toolbar and drawing toolsToolbar buttons and the ⋯ menu, each tool, thickness and color, text, number badges, selecting and moving drawings
- DrawZal modesGhost Mode, Freeze and Fade, whiteboard, Freeze Screen, semi-transparent and black/white, flashlight and magnifier, drawing without the toolbar
- DrawZal presentation helpersLower Third, countdown timer, click effect, cursor highlight, fixed badges and the badge counter
- DrawZal snapshots and exportTaking snapshots, selecting and applying them in the Snapshots panel, PNG, PDF, and PSD export, .drawzal files, FlashShot, copying drawings
- DrawZal keyboard shortcutsGlobal shortcuts, drawing mode shortcuts, 30 single-key actions, modifier and mouse actions, changing shortcuts
- DrawZal settings and presetsSettings sections, searching settings, main defaults, exporting and importing settings and shortcut presets, resetting
- DrawZal permissions and dataFeatures that need Screen Recording, allowing it, why Accessibility is not needed, internet use, where data is stored