Draw on a photograph during a discussion
Use Draw to explain composition, attention, framing, or story structure without painting into the original photograph. Open a local image in the carousel. Basic drawing is core; the additional Grader scene Save/Load controls require that plugin.
Mark the image
- Open the photograph and choose Work Mode (Draw). The full-image preview is locked behind the drawing canvas.
- Use pen, shapes, arrows, or text. Select a mark to move or edit it instead of drawing a duplicate.
- Use the photography teaching tools for subject/highlight circles, flow arrows, thirds guides, sticky notes, tags, callouts, photo corners, or the illustrative split-focus guide.
- Use the teaching crop guide to show a possible frame. Adjust its shield opacity and crop handles. This is a demonstration overlay, not a destructive crop of the original file.
- Use Undo/Redo while refining marks. Clear removes the current drawing; Show/Hide lets you compare with the clean image.
- Choose Close (X) to return to review, or navigate to the next photograph. Return to the image to confirm the retained local drawing.
Combine drawing and local tone
Choose Quick Mask in Draw to work on the image's existing local Shadows/Exposure mask. Move the vertical palette by its title, then close the mask palette to resume drawing. Mask geometry and image adjustments are distinct from pen/arrows/text; see Quick Mask.
Save and share the right thing
Local drawing retention is per image in the take workflow. Grader's optional Save/Load stores scenes through its own available controls and can ask before replacing an existing scene. Core Critique Binders provide a portable revision file for shared-folder feedback. A revision can include explicitly added small photo previews; the primary photograph remains separate. A saved drawing is not a saved image with baked-in marks, and it does not change grades or IPTC metadata automatically.
Verify and troubleshoot
Revisit a marked photograph and check text, position, and crop overlay. If a Save fails, retain the scene and read the error before closing or replacing it. Missing Grader Save/Load can be a plugin gate rather than a missing core drawing feature. Check text readability and line weight on your actual projector. For a presentation file, use Slideshow Studio; for separate instructor feedback and student notes, use Critique Binders.
Current teaching and recording controls
Work Mode offers thick marker strokes, Flow arrow, Circle a point, Rule of thirds, Golden ratio and Crop guide. Guide buttons toggle their overlays. A Crop guide is a discussion overlay; use the carousel Crop tool for an actual crop.
Sticky notes uses fixed 12 pt black text and six bright background colors. Add a blank note or starter preset, edit its text, then move or resize it. Hide sticky notes and Hide all markup preserve content for later display and binder export. Import reusable text presets under Settings → App Defaults → Sticky notes; recipients do not need those presets to read saved notes.
Add image from grid places up to five extra photographs on the drawing canvas. Move and resize their previews alongside the primary photograph. Exported binders retain small JPEG previews of added photos, rather than their full-resolution originals. Review these previews before sharing. Clear drawing removes marks and added photos while retaining the locked primary photo.
The Image Recorder remains available while drawing. Start, pause/resume and stop with its controls; inspect macOS microphone and screen-capture permission prompts. Closing Work Mode returns to the carousel without stopping an active recording. Stopped recordings appear in the open image folder and session captures. Verify playback and sound before sending a recording.
Export at the far right opens the Critique Binder dialog. Saving, screenshotting and recording are separate operations. Grid-wide drawing is disabled in this beta; use one carousel photograph and add grid previews when needed.
AI-generated practice photograph. This illustration has no recorded camera or autofocus metadata and does not represent a photographed assignment.