Draw freehand on a PDF in 4 steps
- 1
Open Draw on PDF
Go to Draw on PDF and select the file. The Draw tool is active and the cursor becomes a crosshair over the page.
- 2
Choose a color and width
The default is a blue 2.5 pt line. Change Color, Pen width (0.5 to 24 pt) and Opacity in the side panel before you start.
- 3
Draw
Press and drag. Every time you lift the mouse, finger or stylus, that stroke becomes its own object. Switch pages with the page arrows and keep drawing.
- 4
Save PDF
Click Save PDF. The file downloads ending in -drawing.pdf.
Fix a stroke you did not mean to draw
Press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) or the Undo button to remove the last stroke. To remove an older one, switch to Select, click the stroke and press Delete. You can also drag it somewhere else or pull a corner handle to stretch it.
Draw on PDF does not include an eraser button. If you prefer to scrub strokes away by dragging across them, the Eraser page has both the drawing pens and an eraser in one toolbar.
Draw vs. Pen: which freehand tool?
Draw keeps every point you trace and joins them with straight segments. It follows your hand closely, which suits quick ticks, crosses, small handwriting and rough sketches where you want the line exactly where you put it.
The Pen tool thins out the points and smooths them into curves. Long strokes, loops and signatures come out cleaner, especially with a mouse. If your Draw lines look jagged, try the Pen Tool and read how to use a pen tool on a PDF.
Drawing on a phone or tablet
The editor works in mobile browsers. While Draw is active, touching the page draws instead of scrolling, so use the Select tool when you want to scroll or pinch-zoom. Set the zoom menu to a higher level before drawing small marks; the strokes keep their position whatever zoom you use. Stylus pressure is not recorded: every stroke has the same width.
On iPhone or iPad, the Files app also lets you open a PDF and tap the Markup button to draw on it with your finger or Apple Pencil.
How the drawing is stored
Strokes are written into the page as vector paths. They print, they stay crisp when zoomed, and they look the same in every reader. They are not ink annotations, so other apps will not let you select or erase them after you close the editor. For a straight line, use Add Line rather than trying to hold your hand steady.
Frequently asked questions
Can I draw in different colors?
Yes. Change the Color before each stroke. To recolor a stroke you already drew, select it with Select and pick a new color.
Can I draw on a scanned PDF?
Yes. A scanned page is treated like any other page, and your strokes are drawn on top of the image.
Can I sign a document this way?
You can, but Draw Signature gives you a dedicated pad and lets you place the signature neatly.