Creation Tools

The first step in using EazyDraw is creating graphics. By "Graphics" we mean entities like lines, squares, Bezier Curves, polygons... These are drawn or "created" by making a selection from creation tools palette. Then just click and drag.

Drawing Graphics

The Other Palette "Tools"

For convenience there are some extra tools at the top and bottom of the tool palette. The "Arrow" tool is the default click and select mouse function. After completion of a task the tool palette selection usually returns to this default selection and behavior. The arrow tool can do a lot more than just move graphics on the page. For this reason the "Hand" tool is available for moving graphics when the other actions are not needed.

There are two other tools for cutting graphics and inserting vertices. Follow the link below for information on these tools and the full specifications of the logic of the arrow and hand tools.

The icons shown above are from the User Interface Theme for color icons. There are 3 choices for the icon theme, color, monochrome and tint. Use EazyDraw Preferences -> User Interface Theme to select the best appearance for you. The icons of each theme have two designs, one each for the system light and dark appearance theme.

The Tint choice for icon appearance references the system setting for accent color. In this case icons are monochromatic in design but tinted with your setting for accent color. Selected mode for a tool will show the icon with the accent color tint, System settings -> General tab. Normal mode for the tool uses a tint color that is complimentary to the accent color.

The icons below are the same tools, shown with the monochrome - light theme.

Historically (2001 - 2015) EazyDraw used the colorful theme for icons. This became somewhat of a trademark for EazyDraw. Since earlier user interfaces were out of necessity for clarity, monochromatic many drawing apps (they weren't yet called Apps of course) still used monochrome icons. Competitors labeled the EazyDraw design cartoonish, but EazyDraw users became very comfortable and productive with the appearance of the tool palettes. The next developemnt, around 2015, was light and dark mode for macOS. This advent raised the need to use monochrome icons, EazyDraw 9 evolved and changed to monochrome icons. This was not well received by our many EazyDraw users. If one prefers and primarily uses the light mode, then icon colors can be helpful, providing clarity for quickly locating tools.

These help pages use different themes when showing the tool palettes and tool icons. The theme used may vary on different help pages, to illustrate the appearance of the various themes. Your tool icons may be different if a different theme is chosen. Of course, they are icons, so their purpose should be clear in all 6 possible appearance themes.