Google Docs is a fully-functioning word processor and alternative to mainstream classics like Microsoft 365. Along with its text editing capabilities, you can also learn how to use Google Docs for specific tasks like drawing. It's not a fully-fledged graphics application, of course, but if you want to insert shapes, do some doodles, or annotate a document, it's got a range of drawing tools that you might not know about.
PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone
If you plan to use the drawing only for the current Google Doc, you can create it right through the application. The sketch will not be saved to Google Drive for external use but will still be editable.
Step 1: Sign in to Google Docs, with your Google account and open your document or create a new one.
Step 2: Place your cursor in the document where you want the drawing. Navigate to Insert > Drawing in the menu and pick New.
Step 3: When the drawing tool opens in the pop-up window, use the options in the toolbar to create your drawing.
With the Actions menu, you can use tools like word art for fancy text and guides for lining up items. With the toolbar, you can pick lines, shapes, text, and images.
To draw freehand, use the Line drop-down arrow in the toolbar to choose Scribble.
Step 4: When you finish, select Save and close.
Step 5: You’ll see the drawing appear in your document.
If you want to make changes to it later, select the drawing and pick Edit in the floating toolbar beneath it or double-click to reopen the drawing window.
If you want to spend more time on the drawing or easily save it in Google Drive for use outside of your document, you can use Google Drawings. While it works similarly to Google’s drawing tool above, you can go to Google Drawings directly.
Step 1: Visit Google Drawings and log in with your Google account to begin drawing.
Step 2: Start by giving your drawing a title on the top left. By default, the name is "Untitled Drawing."
Step 3: Use the menu options and toolbar to create your sketch or illustration. You can include shapes, images, text, and lines like the tool above.
To draw freehand, select Insert > Line and choose Scribble or use the Line drop-down arrow in the toolbar to choose Scribble.
Step 4: As you work on your drawing, the file is saved automatically. It then appears in your Google Drive like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
When you finish, return to Google Docs.
Step 5: Place your cursor in the document where you want the drawing. Select Insert > Drawing, and this time, pick From Drive.
Step 6: Locate your drawing and choose Select.
Step 7: You’ll see a prompt to link to the source or insert the image unlinked.
Step 8: After you pick a linking option, select Insert and your image will appear in Google Docs in the spot you picked.
If you’ve been wondering how to draw on Google Docs, you now have two solid options for your sketch or drawing. Want to learn more about Google Docs? Here's how to insert text boxes.
For more, take a look at how to e-sign a document or how similar applications like LibreOffice and OpenOffice work.
Affinity’s new all-in-one creative app is finally coming to the iPad, nearly a year after Canva launched the redesigned desktop version for Mac and Windows. Creatives have been asking for the iPad release ever since, especially because files created in the new Affinity app cannot be opened in the older V2 iPad apps.
Affinity already has Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps on iPad, but the new release combines those tools into the same unified app that Canva launched on desktop last year.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage