Learn how to use Inkpad.
You may find this document useful.
Inkpad works by changing stroke modes. The modes that can be selected are the following:
- Draw: Freehand draw
- Line: Draw a straight line
- Rect: Draw a rectangle
- Circle: Draw a circle
- Text: Draw arbitrary text on the canvas
- Erase: Erase drawings on the canvas
To switch to a specific mode, use the following keys:
- Draw:
A - Line:
L - Rect:
R - Circle:
C - Text:
SPACE - Erase:
X
In the Stroke information section, you'll find the mode you are currently in
LMB: Left mouse buttonCTRL: Left control
Draw mode
Draw mode works like a normal pen.
Press LMB and drag the mouse with LMB down
and you will be able to draw freely.
Draw mode offers a stabilization feature by lagging your mouse movement a little to suppress noise and shakiness of the stroke.
Press and hold S and spin the mouse wheel to adjust the lag radius.
Line mode
Press and hold LMB to define the start of a
straight line. Release LMB to draw the desired line.
Rect mode
Press and hold LMB to define the position of the
rectangle. Release LMB to draw the rectangle at that position.
Text mode
Press LMB at the position you want to draw the text
and start typing the desired text, to erase the last character typed, press backspace.
When done, press enter to confirm and draw the text.
Circle mode
Press and hold LMB and drag it to define the radius of the circle.
Release the LMB to draw it.
Erase mode
Press LMB and drag the mouse with LMB down
and you will be able to erase the drawing on the canvas.
Stroke has 2 more properties:
- Thickness: Stroke thickness
- Color: Stroke color
Different stroke thickness that Inkpad supports
To set the thickness of the stroke, press the number keys from 0 to 5 to set the thickness.
Color options
To select a color for the stroke, click the desired color option in the Panel.
Select different pages in the page selector
Inkpad uses a system of pages. Basically, you can switch between pages and draw different things on them. They can be selected using the page selector in the Panel.
To change to a specific page, click on the selector containing the number of the page. Inkpad has 5 pages for you to use freely.
To quickly change between pages, use the . and , keys to go forward and backward, respectively.
Panel is the area below the drawing canvas, it contains all information about the current stroke, the color options and the page selector.
You may hide the panel by pressing F11
Status messages are shown inside a rectangular white outline after the save button in the Panel. Its purpose it to log the main actions you take using Inkpad.
Use the save button to export your current page as a png image. You just need to click the button in the Panel.
After saving successfully, it is possible to notice a log in the Status message section.
NOTE: It saves the image in the user home directory.
RMB: Right mouse button.
To quickly change to erase mode press and hold RMB and use LMB to erase.
To go back to the previous mode, release the RMB.
To quickly draw a line, press and hold LSHIFT to quickly change to line mode and use LMB to start
drawing lines in your canvas.
To quickly swap the color of your stroke without having to click
the desired color, press and hold TAB while scrolling the mouse
wheel to select a color from the color pallete.
You can change the thickness of your stroke by holding left ALT and spinning the mouse wheel to make it smaller or bigger.
To clear the entire canvas, press CTRL + X.
Simple table containing all keybindings for the software
| Keybinding | Description |
|---|---|
CTRL+Q |
Exit Inkpad |
ESC |
Cancel action |
. |
Move to page right |
, |
Move to page left |
0-5 |
Set stroke thickness |
A |
Set stroke mode to Draw |
L |
Set stroke mode to Line |
R |
Set stroke mode to Rect |
C |
Set stroke mode to Circle |
SPACE |
Set stroke mode to Text |
X |
Set stroke mode to Erase |
CTRL+X |
Clear entire canvas of current page |
F11 |
Hide the Panel |
Copyright (c) 2025 Marcio Dantas