How to Draw and Annotate in PowerPoint Like a Pro

Drawing is a useful feature in Microsoft PowerPoint. You can use it to highlight important information or get creative to show your ideas in your presentation. It may seem tricky at first but PowerPoint has useful features to help you along the way.

You may find drawing in PowerPoint easier if you’re using a tablet or mobile device, but you can still use this feature in the PowerPoint web and desktop applications with your mouse or trackpad.

PowerPoint is so much more than just slides and bullet points. With the drawing and annotating tools built into recent versions of PowerPoint, you can easily create beautiful and engaging presentations by adding hand-drawn elements, callouts, illustrations, and more.

As a presentation designer myself, I often get asked “but how do I actually draw in PowerPoint?” While it may seem intimidating at first, mastering the drawing tools is much simpler than you think!

In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to start drawing and annotating in PowerPoint like a pro.

An Overview of Drawing Tools in PowerPoint

PowerPoint’s drawing and inking tools allow you to annotate your slides by adding freeform drawings, shapes, highlighters, and text boxes.

Here’s a quick overview of what’s available

Pens – Draw freehand lines and shapes. You can choose thickness, color, and other properties.
Highlighters – Draw transparent highlights over text and images.
Shapes – Insert pre-made shapes like rectangles, circles, arrows, etc.
Text boxes – Type text directly on the slide. Format it with colors, fonts, effects, and more.
Eraser – Erase parts of drawings and annotations.

These tools are conveniently located under the “Draw” tab in PowerPoint 2019+ or the “Review” tab in earlier versions.

Now let’s look at how to use these tools while creating and presenting slides.

Drawing While Creating Slides

The easiest way to add drawings and annotations is while you’re creating or editing your PowerPoint presentation. Here’s how it works:

Enable the Draw Tab (PowerPoint for Windows)

If you don’t see the “Draw” tab in the PowerPoint ribbon, you’ll need to enable it first:

Click the “File” menu and select “Options.”
Click “Customize Ribbon.”
Check the box next to “Draw.”
Click “OK.”

The Draw tab should now be visible when editing slides.

Select a Drawing Tool

Click the Draw tab and choose one of the pens, highlighters, shapes, or text boxes. I recommend starting with the basic pen or pencil.

Customize the Tool

After selecting a tool, click it again to open a formatting panel. Here you can change the color, thickness, transparency, and other properties.

Draw on the Slide

Click and drag your mouse or pen/stylus to draw anywhere on the slide. For more natural drawing, enable “ink flow” which doesn’t require holding down the mouse.

Erase Mistakes

Click the eraser tool to remove parts of your drawing. Adjust the size for precision erasing.

It’s that easy! Just select a tool, customize it, and start drawing. The annotations will be saved right in the presentation file.

Drawing While Presenting

You can also draw and annotate slides in real-time as you present. Here’s how to get set up:

Open Presenter View

In PowerPoint, enable “Presenter View” which shows your notes and upcoming slides. The audience will only see the current slide.

Start the Slide Show

Begin presenting as normal by clicking “From Beginning” or “From Current Slide.”

Open the Tools Pane

In the lower left corner, click the pen icon to open the drawing tools pane.

Select and Customize a Tool

Choose a highlighter, pen, or other tool. Change its color, thickness, and properties.

Annotate the Live Slide

Draw, write, and annotate on the slide as you present. The audience will see your markings in real-time.

Save or Discard Annotations

When ending the show, choose whether to “Keep ink” or discard the annotations. Saved ink will appear next time you present these slides.

Pro Tips for Drawing in PowerPoint

Now that you know the basics, let’s go over some pro tips and best practices:

Use a stylus for precision – For the best control, use a digital pen or stylus instead of a mouse.
Learn the shortcuts – Press “E” to erase quickly. Use Ctrl/Cmd+Z to undo strokes.
Keep it simple – Avoid excessive drawings and colors. Use ink to emphasize or clarify key points.
Practice first – Add some test ink to get comfortable before presenting to an audience.
Use Presenter View – Take advantage of the notes and tools in Presenter View mode.
Ink with purpose – Annotate strategically to guide the audience and keep them engaged.
Review and edit later – Delete or modify ink as needed after the presentation.

Get Creative with Drawing in PowerPoint!

As you can see, the drawing and inking tools make it easy to annotate and enhance your PowerPoint presentations. With a little practice, you’ll be able to add custom illustrations, handwritten text, colorful highlights, and more!

So grab your digital pen and get creative! Let your presentations come to life by incorporating freeform ink and drawings. Just remember to keep it simple, strategic, and focused on enhancing the content.

how to draw in powerpoint

How to draw when creating a PowerPoint presentation (Mac)

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint.

2. Open a previously saved presentation or a new one by clicking File > Open or File > New.

3. Click on the Draw tab and then Draw – you are now in Draw Mode and ready to get creating!

4. Click on your drawing tool of choice. This could be a pen, pencil or highlighter. You can also right-click, on each drawing tool and then select Modify to see more options.

This will open the options to modify the drawing tool, such as the brush size and colours, and an option to delete your drawing. You can also select More Colour… to choose from a colour wheel for even more colours.

5. When you’ve selected your drawing tool, using a laptop or computer, click and move the mouse at the same time to draw on your slide. On a tablet or mobile device, you can use the touch screen to draw with your hand. This is what each tool looks like on a slide:

6. If you’re using a trackpad, Microsoft PowerPoint has a feature called ‘Draw with Trackpad’ which allows you to draw without clicking at the same time. To activate this, toggle it ‘on’ in the Draw banner on the right-hand side.

7. To erase your drawing, click the Erase tool in the Draw tab. Click the small down arrow to see Eraser options. Of course, you can always use the helpful Ctrl + Z (PC) or Cmd + Z (macOS) keyboard shortcut to save time. To learn more Microsoft PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts click here to download our free printable.

8. A feature we think is brilliant in PowerPoint Draw Mode is Ink to Text. Using the Draw tool, write a sentence or word that you want to convert to text. We’ve written ‘hello’. Next, click the Lasso Select tool and click and drag the lasso on your slide to highlight the handwritten text.

With your text selected, click the Ink to Text button. As you can see below, the drawing has turned into text which can now be edited using your keyboard.

The Ink to Shape and Ink to Maths features work in the same way, try it and let us know how you get on. You need to draw your shape or maths equation, select it using the Lasso Select tool, and then click the relevant Ink to Shape or Ink to Maths button.

How to DRAW in Powerpoint #powerpoint

How do I draw in PowerPoint?

If you’re looking to draw in PowerPoint, here’s how to do it. 1. Open PowerPoint and load a new presentation or a previously saved project. 2. Navigate to the “Draw” tab and click “Draw” on the far left. 3.

How do I use drawing tools in PowerPoint?

You can access drawing tools in PowerPoint under the “Draw” menu in the “Insert” tab, or use the basic line functions available in the app’s “Shapes” menu. Visit Business Insider’s Tech Reference library for more stories. Learning how to draw in PowerPoint is easy with the program’s library of art tools at your disposal.

How do I draw a shape in Office 365?

You can draw shapes in Office by using the freeform Shape and Scribble tools. You can customize the look of a standard shape by using edit points. Note: For information about connecting shapes with lines, see Draw or delete a line or connector. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes.

How do you draw a shape in AutoCAD?

On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes. To draw a shape that has both curved and straight segments, click Freeform . To draw a shape that looks like it was drawn with a pen by hand, or to create smooth curves, click Scribble . Click anywhere in the document, and then drag to draw.