DrawZal modes

Ghost Mode: how do I click the app under my drawings?

Press F1 to switch to Ghost Mode. Your drawings stay on screen, the toolbar hides, and mouse clicks pass through DrawZal to the app underneath. Use it to click a button or chart you just marked up.

In Ghost Mode, you can draw while you hold fn. The other way around, holding fn in drawing mode lets clicks pass through to the app underneath.

Press F1 or ⌥⇥ to return to drawing mode. To clear DrawZal off the screen, press ⌥⇥ once more in drawing mode.

If you open Settings or the Snapshots panel while drawing, DrawZal switches to Ghost Mode for a moment and returns to drawing once you close them all.

Freeze and Fade: how do I make marks disappear on their own?

DrawZal starts in Freeze, so drawings stay on screen until you clear them. Press F, ⌘F, or the stopwatch on the toolbar to turn Fade on, and new marks fade away over 3 seconds. An orange stopwatch means Fade is on.

Turning Fade on makes everything already on screen start to fade too, text included. Press ⌘Z right away to bring it all back, and it then stays for good.

Text, countdown timers, and number badges you add after turning Fade on do not fade. Turning Fade off (Freeze) keeps drawings that were fading right where they are.

Pick the fade-out time by pressing and holding or right-clicking the stopwatch (one of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.5, 0.5, 0.25, 0.15, 0.075 seconds). You can also change it in Settings › General › Freeze/Fade.

How do I use the whiteboard?

Press ⌘W or Y to cover the screen with a blank board and draw on it. Press it again to see your screen. "Whiteboard" in the menu bar menu and the ⋯ menu also turns it on and off.

Stopping drawing turns the whiteboard off, while Ghost Mode keeps it. Change its color and size (30 to 100% of the screen) in Settings › Flashlight & Whiteboard › Whiteboard.

Turn on "Freeze Screen" in the menu bar menu or the ⋯ menu to capture the screen as a still image and draw on top of it. You can hold a scene still while a video or animation keeps playing, and the apps underneath keep running.

Freeze Screen needs Screen Recording permission. Choose the same item again or stop drawing to unfreeze. It has no default shortcut, and you can assign one in Settings › Shortcuts.

Freeze Screen is different from Freeze mode, which only keeps your drawings (Fade off).

How do I draw semi-transparent or switch to black and white?

Press ⌘O or O to make every drawing on screen semi-transparent. While it is on, a half-circle button appears on the toolbar, and clicking it turns it off. Set the opacity in Settings › Drawing › Effects (67% at first).

Each press of fnW or W switches the color to black, then white, then back to your previous color.

How do I light up just one spot with the flashlight?

Press fn`, click the flashlight button at the top of the toolbar, or tap ⇧ on its own to light only the area around the pointer and darken the rest of the screen. Press it again to go back to your previous tool.

Scroll while using the flashlight to change the size of the lit area (radius 50 at first). Change the shape (circle or rectangle), dimming, and smooth edge in Settings › Flashlight & Whiteboard › Flashlight.

Drag with the flashlight to keep a rectangular area lit. Click or press Esc to release it. While the area is set, ⌘C copies that part of the screen to the clipboard (needs Screen Recording permission).

fnZ or Z turns on the magnifier flashlight. It shows the lit area at 2× zoom, and ⌥-scroll or pinch changes the zoom. The magnifier needs Screen Recording permission.

You can turn off the ⇧ tap in Settings › Mouse & Keyboard › Keyboard with "Tap Shift for the flashlight".

How do I draw without the toolbar?

Start drawing with ⌃⇥ to cover the screen without the toolbar. Switch tools and colors with single keys such as B, A, R, and 1 … 0, and press ⌘T to show or hide the toolbar.

Even without the toolbar, the notes that appear when you turn Fade or semi-transparency on and off still show briefly near the bottom of the screen.