DrawZal snapshots and export
Snapshots save the drawings on your screen so you can bring them back later. Take one with ⌘S, then open the Snapshots panel with ⌃S to bring it back or export it as PNG, PDF, or PSD. To copy the screen and your drawings as one image, use FlashShot.
Based on DrawZal 0.4.0 · checked
How do I take a snapshot?
ProWhile drawing, press ⌘S, or choose "Take Snapshot" in the menu bar menu or the ⋯ menu. It saves only the drawings on your screen, not the screen itself. If the whiteboard is on, its color is saved too.
Snapshots are saved on this Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/DrawZal/snapshots.json and stay after a relaunch. Nothing is saved when there are no drawings.
How do I select and bring back snapshots in the Snapshots panel?
ProWhile drawing, press ⌃S or S, or choose "Snapshots…" in the menu bar menu, to open the Snapshots panel. You select thumbnails the same way as icons in the Finder.
| To | Do this |
|---|---|
| Select | Click, ⌘-click (add or remove one), ⇧-click (a range), drag on empty space (a rectangle), ⌘A, arrow keys |
| Deselect | Click empty space, Esc |
| Bring back | Double-click, ↩, or the "Apply" button. It replaces the drawings on your screen with the snapshot |
| Delete | ⌫, ⌘⌫, the "Delete" button, or the context menu |
| Undo a delete | The "Undo" button (⌘Z) that appears after deleting |
A single ⌘Z on the screen reverts an applied snapshot. Snapshots are deleted without a confirmation, only the most recent delete can be brought back in place, and quitting DrawZal drops that undo.
The bottom of the panel shows the total and selected counts. If you open the panel while drawing, DrawZal switches to Ghost Mode for a moment and returns to drawing when you close it.
How do I export to PNG, PDF, or PSD?
Pick a format in the Export menu of the Snapshots panel. DrawZal crops to the drawings with a little margin, saves at 2× resolution, and uses a transparent background. Snapshots taken on the whiteboard use the board color as the background.
| Format | What you get |
|---|---|
| PNG | One image per selected snapshot. With several selected, pick a folder and DrawZal saves one file each. Dragging thumbnails to the Finder also gives you PNGs. |
| "PDF (Selected, One Page Each)…" puts the selected snapshots, and "PDF (All, Multipage)…" every snapshot, into one PDF with one page each. Drawings stay vector. Pro | |
| PSD | One file per selected snapshot, a single layer on a transparent background. Pro |
Exporting PNG or PSD with nothing selected exports the newest snapshot. Files with the same name in the chosen folder are replaced without asking.
How do I move snapshots to another Mac?
Pro"Save to File…" in the panel puts the selected snapshots in one .drawzal file, and "Load from File…" reads .drawzal files and adds their snapshots to the panel. You can load several files at once, and loaded snapshots keep their original dates.
FlashShot: how do I copy the screen and my drawings as one image?
ProWhile drawing, press fnS or choose "Full-Screen FlashShot" in the ⋯ menu. DrawZal captures the screen under the pointer, puts your drawings on top, and copies the image to the clipboard. Nothing is saved to a file, so you can paste it straight into a message or document.
FlashShot needs Screen Recording permission. The toolbar and the pointer are not captured.
How do I copy only my drawings?
⌘C, "Copy Drawings" in the ⋯ menu, and "Copy All Drawings" in the menu bar menu copy just your drawings, without the screen, as an image with a transparent background. If the whiteboard is on, its color becomes the background. No permission is needed.
While a flashlight area is set, ⌘C and "Copy Drawings" in the ⋯ menu copy that part of the screen instead (needs Screen Recording permission).