Drawing Mode Is Google Keep’s Best-Kept Secret

Google Keep has gone beyond just the notes app you used for shopping lists. Yes, it’s still easy to use for impromptu purposes, but there’s a nifty feature that will allow you to create richer notes. Are you using Google Keep’s drawing canvas? If not, let’s walk through it.

Drawing in a Google Keep note

The Drawing Canvas in Google Keep helps you take visual notes. You can create and edit your drawings, take handwritten notes, combine text and sketch, or annotate images in one Keep note. For those who take visual notes, this is a huge help: you can capture ideas visually and also explain a concept with a rough sketch rather than writing it down.

This feature is available on both the web and mobile versions of Google Keep.

Create a note for a drawing in Google Keep

Like everything else in Google Keep, taking visual notes with a sketch is easy. The screenshots below are from Google Keep on desktop.

Open Google Keep .

Click on the New Note with Drawing icon (small canvas with a pencil).

A special drawing canvas will appear with several drawing options at the top. By default, you can start drawing with the Pen tool by clicking and dragging on the canvas.

Use drawing tools and a color palette to fine-tune your sketch.

• Select (to select everything you draw)

• Eraser pen (for fine lines)

• Marker (for thicker lines)

• Highlighter

• Grid (for square, dotted or line grids)

To exit, select the back arrow and view it.

As with any other note, you can use the Save options at the bottom of the note to add a reminder or collaborator, add any other information, copy it to Google Docs, and more.

Click Close .

Creating a note for a picture in Google Keep for Android and iOS is almost the same. You can see the New Drawing Note icon at the bottom of the screen. Select it and then use your fingers to start drawing.

Note. You can exit at any time without using the back arrow. Just like any other note, your drawing is automatically saved and synced across your other devices using Keep. Empty drawings are discarded.

Add pictures to existing notes

You can also add pictures to existing text notes.

Open a note and click the three-vertical dotted icon (More) to open the menu. Select Add Picture to open the canvas as before.

Any sketch you create now on the canvas will appear on top of the text note. You can add multiple thumbnails to the same note, and they will appear as panels next to each other.

Tip: This can be a quick way to create a rough storyboard for a presentation or creative project.

Add an annotation to an existing image note using a drawing

You can also use drawing pens as a temporary tool for annotating images you upload to Keep.

Open a note with an image. Then click on the image in the note. On desktop and mobile apps, the image will reappear in a dark lightbox with the Pen tool in the top right corner.

Draw an image. To remove drawing from an image, click the Eraser and select Clear Page .

Combine Google Keep and your drawing skills

Drawing tools offer several possibilities for fun and creative everyday use. Here are a few ways I’ve used this tool:

• Create a quick mind map or flowchart to explain the solution.

• Explaining routes to strangers (not everyone has Google Maps!)

• Draw a rough shape to remember the new word I just came across.

• Use Grid options (such as square grid) to create bar graphs or line graphs to quickly visualize data.

• Arrange elements evenly using grids to visualize any type of layout.

• Share them for joint projects or brainstorming sessions.

• We play a quick game of “Sea Battle” using grids.

• Visual organization of my thoughts about a project or trip.

Google Keep’s drawing tools aren’t a full-fledged drawing app, but they give you a convenient way to add sketches and ink to your notes.

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