# Tools > Learn about Lunacy’s design tools All of Lunacy’s tools are on the **toolbar** located on the left of the canvas:

Below is a brief description of all available tools, which we will then go over in detail. To speed things up, activate the tools with the corresponding keyboard shortcuts: | Tool | Description | Keyboard shortcut | | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | -------------------------- | |

| **Select tool.** Use it to select, move, and resize layers on the canvas. | `V` or press `Esc` when an element or another tool is selected. | |

| **Frame tool.** Used for creating frames. |

| **Shape tools.** A set of common shapes you can add to the canvas. Each tool has a shortcut, either a single, double, or repeated press of a button. | `R` — rectangle
`R`, `R` — rounded rectangle
`L` — line
`L`, `L` — arrow
`O` — oval
`O`, `O` — triangle
`O`, `O`, `O` — polygon
`O`, `O`, `O`, `O` — star | |

| **Text tool.** Add text layers to the document. Comes with an on-canvas text generation option.| `T` | |

| **Pen tool.** Used for creating custom vectors or shapes.| `P` | |

| **Image tool.** Use it for importing images. | `M` | |

| **GUI tool.** A set of basic interface element components from UI kits (buttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, and so on) that you can quickly add to your designs. | `B` — button
`D` — text input field
`F` — checkbox
`Y` — radio button
`J` — toggle
`W` — dropdown | |

| **Icon tool.** Keeps recently used icons at hand. | `X` | |

| **Comment tool.** Activate it to leave comments anywhere on the canvas (only available in cloud documents).| `C` | |

| **Scale tool.** Proportionally change the size of the elements on the canvas. | `K` | |

| **Eyedropper tool.** Use it to sample colors.| `I` | |

| **Hand tool.** Used for easily navigating the canvas. | Hold down `Space` or the **middle mouse button** | |

| **Hotspot tool.** Add hotspots (interactive zones) to your designs when working with prototypes. | `H` | |

| **Slice tool.** Specify a region, or slice, of the canvas and export it. The slice can include parts of frames, several parts of different frames, and so on. | `E` | |

| **Pencil tool.** Used for drawing freehand shapes. | `P`, `P` | |

| **Avatar tool.** Add randomly generated avatars to your designs. | `Q` | |

| **Component tool.** Useful when you’re creating interface mockups: add placeholder components and then replace them with UI elements later. | `S` | |

| **Rotate copies tool.** Creates multiple rotated copies of any shape around a central point. Perfect for designing patterns, circular layouts, and symmetrical artwork. | `Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + B` | Lunacy also has the **Zoom tool**, though it doesn’t appear on the toolbar. To activate it, hold down `Z` and zoom in and out of a specific area on the canvas. **See also:**
Zooming options

Note: If you need more space or prefer working with keyboard shortcuts, toggle off the display of the toolbar by selecting View → Toolbar in the menu bar.

## Select tool The **Select tool** is active by default when no other tool is in use. With it, you can select any layer on the canvas (provided it’s not locked), then move and modify the element as you wish: - **Select** a layer by clicking it. A selection frame with handles will enclose the element and its name will be highlighted in the Layer list. Hold down `Shift` and click multiple elements to select all of them. If you need to select every element on the page, press `Shift + A`. - **Move** layers by dragging them on the canvas. - **Resize** and **rotate** layers using the handles at the coners of the selection frame.

You can also select layers through the **Layer List**. It may be more convenient in some cases, like when you’re dealing with fully overlapping or locked layers.

#### Using the Select tool with grouped layers When you click over a group, you select the entire group. To **select a specific layer inside a group**: - Click the layer while holding down `Ctrl` / `⌘`. - Click to select the group, then double-click to select the required layer.

Then, switch the selection to the other layers in the group by clicking them. ## Frame tool **Frames** work like containers for your layers. They’re more flexible than layers in a lot of ways and are especially convenient when you’re designing for a specific device or screen size. Press `A` to activate the **Frame tool** and drag over the canvas to create a frame:

Instead of dragging, you can set the frame size using the **preset list** that appears in the **right panel** or **snap the frame to a preset** by dragging its corner to one of the blue `+` icons that appear when you’re adding a frame:

Tip: You can drag layers into existing frames or draw a frame over several layers to frame them.

**See also:**
Frames ## Shape tools Use these tools to **add standard shapes** onto the canvas: - Rectangle (`R`) - Rounded rectangle (`R`, `R`) - Line (`L`) - Arrow (`L`, `L`) - Oval (`O`) - Triangle (`O`, `O`) - Polygon (`O`, `O`, `O`) - Star (`O`, `O`, `O`, `O`) Select the required shape on the toolbar or use the corresponding keyboard shortcut, then: - Click on the canvas to **place it as a 100 x 100 shape** (works for all shapes except for lines and arrows). - Click and drag to **adjust the shape’s size**.

Some more shape tips: - To **draw or resize a shape from the center**, hold down `Alt` / `⌥`. - To **draw symmetrical shapes**, hold down `Shift` / `Shift`. - Hold down both shortcuts to **draw symmetrical shapes from the center**. - To **draw a horizontal, vertical, or 45-degree diagonal** line, arrow, or path, hold down `Shift`.

**See also:**
Editing shapes ## Text tool To **add a text layer**, press `T` and click over the area of the canvas where you want to place it. Type your text or use the handy **text generation** options that automatically appear when you create a new text layer:

**See also:**
Text
Text generation ## Pen tool The **pen** is a tool for creating vector paths and shapes. Activate it by pressing the **Pen tool** on the toolbar or press `P`. If you’ve worked in other graphic editors before, use it like the Pen tool in those apps. If you’re new to design, it might take you some time and practice to master it. In this section, we’ll go over the main capabilities of the tool. The pen builds shapes by drawing segments between the points, or **vertices**, that you add onto the canvas. The segments between interconnected vertices are called **paths**.

#### Types of paths Paths can be **open** or **closed**: - An **open path** has a start point and an end point that are not connected. - When the start and end point of a path are connected, i.e. the path starts and ends on the same vertex, it’s called a **closed path**, or a **shape**.

Path segments can be either **straight** or **curved**. To **build a shape out of straight lines** (e.g. a triangle): 1. Press `P` to activate the pen. This activates **Edit mode**, and the **Edit shape** section will appear in the **right panel**. 2. Click over the canvas to place the first point. 3. Keep clicking to outline the shape that you want. To **delete a point**, hold down `Alt` / `⌥` and click it. 4. Close the path by clicking over the starting point or click the **Close path** in the right panel. 5. Press `Esc` to exit **Edit mode**.

To **curve a path**, you’ll need to be in **Edit mode** (or don’t exit it while drawing with the Pen tool). To **enable Edit mode**, select a vector shape, then: - Double-click it - Press `Enter` - Click the Edit layer icon (

) on the **context toolbar** To **add a curve**: - Double click on a point - Click and drag anywhere on a path Two adjacent handles will appear around the point. Drag these handles and change their length to adjust the shape of the curve. You can also move the point around, if necessary:

Don’t worry if the resulting shape isn’t exactly what you wanted. Refine it by modifying curves and straight paths, as well as moving, adding, or deleting points. To **adjust a shape**: 1. Select it. 2. Enable **Edit mode**. 3. Make the required changes. 4. Press `Esc` or click anywhere on the canvas outside the shape to exit **Edit mode**. You can also change the **stroke** of the shape, add **fills** (to closed shapes) and **effects** in the **right panel**. In the demo below, we added some curves to a heart-shaped layer built with straight lines. Note how a double-click turns a straight point into a curved point that is also mirrored (find out about [different types of points](#types-of-points)).

Tip: To draw a horizontal, vertical, or 45-degree diagonal path, hold down Shift when placing the second point of a segment.

#### [Types of points](#types-of-points) Points can be either **straight** or **curved**. **Curved points** appear with handles when you build Bézier curves, and have three subtypes: - **Mirrored** points come with identical handles that mirror each other as you drag one of the handles. - **Disconnected** points have totally independent handles. - **Asymmetric** points come with handles that share the same angle but can have different lengths.

You can `double-click` to **switch between straight and mirrored** points. To **switch to disconnected or asymmetric** points, use the controls that appear at the top of the right panel when you’re using the pen or have **Edit mode** enabled:

You can also **hide one of the handles of a disconnected point** by dragging the tip of the handle towards the point:

**See also:**
Vector editing ## Pencil tool The **pencil** is a tool for drawing freehand paths. It’s great when you need to quickly sketch something and don't need perfectly refined shapes. That said, using a stylus with a graphic tablet will give you more precision. The pencil stroke is black and 1px wide by default. You can adjust these properties for pencil-drawn layers in the **right panel**. To draw with the **Pencil tool**: 1. Press `P` twice or select it on the toolbar. 2. Hold down the **left mouse button** and draw the required path. 3. Release the button when you are done. Unlike the other tools, the **Pencil tool** doesn't revert back to the **Select tool**. It remains active, so you can create as many layers as you want, with each pencil stroke adding a new layer to the **Layer list**. You can always group them later. Once you’re done working with the pencil, press `Esc` or switch to another tool. Here are two examples of a word written in one stroke and letter-by-letter (then grouped for convenience) using the pencil. Notice how they appear in the **Layer list**:

#### Editing paths drawn with the Pencil tool Lunacy automatically smooths the paths that you create. You can also **edit pencil-drawn paths** like any other vector path: 1. Enable **Edit mode**. 2. Adjust the paths. 3. Press `Esc` or click anywhere on the canvas outside the shape once you’re done.

You can also add **borders**, **shadows**, and **blurs** to paths drawn with the pencil. As for **fills**, keep in mind that the pencil always draws open paths, even if they appear closed. You can try to apply fills, but in many cases the result is going to look a little weird. If you need to close a path, enable the layer **Edit mode** and click the **Close path** button in the right panel. ## Image tool Use the **Image tool** to quickly add images from your computer onto the canvas. Lunacy supports all popular image formats: `PNG`, `JPG`, `JPEG`, `WEBP`, `BMP`, `ICO`, `GIF`, `SVG`. The `TIFF` format is not supported. To **add an image** to your design: 1. Press `M` or select the **Image tool** on the toolbar. 2. In the **Open** dialog box, choose one or multiple image files. 3. Click over the area where you want to place the image to add the image in its original size. You can also click and drag to set the required image size.

Of course, you can always **drag and drop images** from your files into Lunacy as well. **See also:**
Images ## GUI tool The **GUI tool** features a set of basic UI elements that you can add to your designs as components: - Button (`B`) - Text input field (`D`) - Checkbox (`F`) - Radio button (`Y`) - Toggle (`J`) - Dropdown menu (`W`)

You can edit the appearance of these components or swap them out entirely. To create components of your own, use the **Component tool** or turn layers into components via `Ctrl + Alt + K` / `⌘ + ⌥ + K`. ## Component tool Use the **Component tool** to quickly create draft interface mockups. With it, you can add placeholder components and later replace them with elements from the **GUI tool** or your own components. To **draw a placeholder component**: 1. Press `S` or select the **Component tool** on the toolbar. 2. Drag over the area where you want the placeholder component to be.

Placeholder components appear as pink rectangles with a question mark. To place components into these placeholders, select them and swap them with components from the **Components tab** in the left panel or the **Component section** in the right panel. With the **Component tool** enabled, press `S` and `Shift + S` to switch back-and-forth between recently used components and quickly add them to the canvas. **See also:**
Components ## Icon tool The **Icon tool** simplifies your workflow by keeping recently used icons at hand. To activate it, press `X` or select it on the toolbar. The **Icons** content tab will open up on the left, displaying a variety of icons of different themes and styles:

Also, if you’ve already added icons to the document, the latest used one will be hovering near the cursor.

Like with the **Component tool**, when the **Icon tool** is active, use `X` and `Shift + X` to switch through recently used icons. ## Comment tool Use the **Comment tool** to leave comments and notes for yourself to view later or to comment on other people’s documents and collect feedback. Commenting is only available in cloud documents. Apart from text, you can also **comment with stickers or voice recordings**. To **add a comment** to a document: 1. Press `C` or select the **Comment tool**. 2. Click over the place on the canvas you want to comment. 3. Type something in the input field. 4. Click

or press `Enter`.

Tip: To write multiline comments, use Shift + Enter.

**See also:**
Comments ## Avatar tool Use the **Avatar tool** to generate user avatars, so you don’t have to look for stock photos online. Choose from **real-life models** or **AI-generated people**. Combine it with Lunacy’s text generation feature, and you’ll save a massive amount of time. To **add an avatar** to the canvas: 1. Activate the **Avatar tool** by pressing `Q` or selecting it on the toolbar. 2. **Click** or **click and drag** on the canvas to place the avatar. 3. Copy the avatars as many times as you need to get new photos. To change existing avatars: - With a single avatar selected, click the refresh button (

) at the top-left corner of a selected avatar. - With several avatars selected, press `Shift + R` or **Generate avatar** in the **right panel**.

Tips: The default collection of avatars built into Lunacy includes five images, which you can use even if you’re offline. When you’re online, you have access to the full collection of avatars featuring photos of real-life models.

Thanks to integration with the generated.photos project, you can also **create and customize avatars**: 1. With an avatar selected, switch the **Real-life photo** menu to **Generated photo** in the **right panel**. 2. Change the model’s gender, ethnicity, facial expression, age, and hair color appear in the corresponding input fields. 3. When you’re done, click **Generate avatar** and enjoy the magic!

You can also **change the background in AI-generated avatars**: 1. Select an avatar. 2. In the **Generated photos** section of the **right panel**, enable the **Transparent** toggle. 3. Click **Generate avatar**. A new avatar with a transparent background will appear on the canvas. 4. In the **Fill** section of the **right panel**, click `+`. This will add a new fill layer above the image. 5. Move the fill below the image layer. 6. Modify the fill.

Although avatars appear as circles when you add them to the canvas, they’re actually rounded rectangles, so you can modify their corner radius if you need. Moreover, you can **create avatars from any shape**. To do this, select a shape, then enable the **Avatar tool** and click **Generate avatar** in the **right panel**. This also works with generated photos.

## Scale tool Using the **Scale tool**, you can proportionally resize any of your layers, **except for**: - Locked layers - Layers nested in component instances To activate the **Scale tool**, press `K` or select it on the toolbar. Then, select the element you want to resize and use the bounding box handles to resize it.

The **Scale tool** preserves the aspect ratio and also scales any borders and/or effects applied to the layer. With the **Scale tool** enabled, you can set precise values to change the layer size in the right panel, and the tool will scale the layer and its properties accordingly.

## Slice tool With the **Slice tool**, you can select a specific area on your design and export it.

To **export a slice**: 1. Enable the **Slice tool** by pressing `E` or selecting it on the toolbar. 2. Click and drag over the area you want to export. 3. Open the **Export tab** in the **right panel**. 4. Define the export settings. 5. Click **Export selected**. To **hide/show slices** on the canvas, enable/disable the **Slices** option in the **Additional options** menu on the top bar:

To **remove a slice** from the canvas, select it and press `Del`. **See also:**
Export ## Hotspot tool Use the **Hotspot tool** to create hotspot zones when designing prototypes. With hotspots, you can make any part of your design interactive, as well as expand the interactive area for small elements, making them easier to press. To **add a hotspot**: 1. Press `H` or select the **Hotspot tool** on the toolbar. 2. Click and drag over the area where you want to place a hotspot. 3. Link it to a frame to set up an interactive prototype.

To **hide/show hotspots and prototyping links** on the canvas, enable/disable the **Show prototyping** option in the **Additional options** menu on the top bar:

**See also:**
Prototyping ## Eyedropper tool The **Eyedropper tool** samples the colors of the elements in your document. To **use the eyedropper tool**: 1. Select a layer you want to recolor. If you don’t select any layer, the eyedropper will apply the new color to the workspace. 2. Select the **Eyedropper tool** on the toolbar or on the color picker panel, or press `I`. The cursor will turn into the eyedropper, and the **Colors** panel will appear on the left, featuring four pallets: - **Recent colors** - **Material colors** - **Document colors** - **Flat colors** 3. Hover the eyedropper over the color that you want to sample, either on the canvas or Lunacy’s interface, and click to apply it.

That is typically how all eyedroppers work in similar apps. Lunacy’s eyedropper also features a **zoom option** that comes in handy when you need pixel precision for small target areas. To enable it, hover the eyedropper over the target and hold down the left mouse button. Then point the eyedropper to the required pixel and release the mouse button. To exit the zoom mode, press `Esc` or quickly swipe the cursor anywhere away from the current area.

#### How the eyedropper applies colors to layers Depending on the styling properties of a layer, the eyedropper applies colors in the following order: 1. Fill 2. Border 3. Shadow 4. Inner shadow So, if a layer has a **fill** and a **border**, the eyedropper will update the **fill**. If a layer has no fill, but has a **border** and a **shadow**, the eyedropper changes the **border** color, and so on. If a layer has **several fills** (or borders/shadows/inner shadows), the eyedropper applies the color the **property at the top of the list** in the right panel. Similar rules apply to text layers, where **text color** has top priority. **See also:**
Styling<.mda> ## Hand tool The **Hand tool** is useful for navigating the canvas. To activate it, hold down `Space` or the **middle mouse button** and drag. **See also:**
Working with the canvas ## Rotate copies tool This tool enables you to create multiple rotated copies of any shape around a central point in no time. The tool is great for designing patterns, circular layouts, and symmetrical artwork. To enable the tool, select a layer and click

on the context toolbar. Or use the `Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + B` shortcut. Use `+` and `-` to control the number of copies. When done, click **Apply editing** in the right panel or click anywhere beyond the shape.