Shapes and Arrows
Shape tools let you bound regions, connect items, and point at details. Every shape is drawn by clicking and dragging from one corner (or endpoint) to the opposite.
Shapes
| Tool | Shape | Fill Toggle | Dash Toggle | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rectangle | Axis-aligned box | Yes | Yes | Bounding an error message, framing a UI element |
| Ellipse | Oval from bounding box | Yes | Yes | Circling a cursor or icon |
| Cloud | Cloud-burst bubble | Yes | Yes | Emphasising a region in a review / markup pass |
| Line | Straight line between two points | No | Yes | Dividers, connecting callouts to targets |
| Arrow | Single-headed arrow | No | Yes | Pointing at a feature ("click here") |
| DoubleArrow | Two-headed arrow | No | Yes | Measuring, indicating a range or relationship |
Fill and Dash Toggles
The annotation toolbar exposes two per-shape toggles:
- Filled — when on, Rectangle / Ellipse / Cloud render as solid filled shapes instead of outline-only. The active colour and opacity apply to the fill.
- Dashed — replaces the solid outline with a dashed stroke. Useful to distinguish "intended" vs "actual" regions in a review.
Line, Arrow, and DoubleArrow only respect Dashed — they have no interior to fill.
Rounded Rectangles
Rectangles draw with a subtle corner radius by default when the Rounded variant is active. For sharp-corner rectangles leave it off. The underlying annotation type is still Rectangle; the corner radius is a rendering option.
Use-Case Examples
- Bounding an error — choose Rectangle, Dashed off, Filled off, red. Drag a tight box around the error text.
- Pointing — choose Arrow, thickness 4 px. Click the arrow's tail, drag to the target, release.
- Measuring — choose DoubleArrow. Drag from one edge of the region to the other; follow up with a Text label showing the dimension (see 3.4).
- Flagging a questionable area — choose Cloud, Filled off, Dashed on. Drag around the area for a soft, reviewer-style highlight.
Tip
Tip — Hold Shift while dragging a Line or Arrow to constrain it to horizontal, vertical, or 45-degree angles. Shift on a Rectangle constrains to a square; on an Ellipse it constrains to a circle.