Sketch without leaving the app.
The drawing editor opens as part of the same workspace, so visual thinking stays tied to the board around it.
Drawing Notes
Drawing notes give the board a real sketch layer.
Use drawing notes when text is too linear and images are too static. They open a full-screen whiteboard-style editor for diagrams, flows, wireframes, quick sketches, and visual explanation, then collapse back into a thumbnail that stays on the canvas as part of the wider workspace.
Drawing notes let you sketch the relationship between things, not just list them. That matters when structure is visual.
Best for
Flows and sketches
Use drawing notes for whiteboard thinking, architecture ideas, wireframes, and quick diagrams.
Canvas behavior
Thumbnail plus editor
Each drawing note lives on the board as a preview, then opens into a larger drawing surface when needed.
Pairs well with
Images and notes
Keep visual references nearby and use regular notes to explain the meaning of the diagram after sketching it.
Why use this type
Some ideas want arrows, boxes, and white space.
Drawing notes make Note Canvas useful for the kind of thinking that usually ends up on a real whiteboard: relationships, routes, structure, motion, and rough visual planning.
Keep a thumbnail on the canvas after editing.
The finished sketch remains visible as a board object, which preserves spatial memory and quick recognition.
Use drawing where text would be too slow.
Flows, architecture diagrams, and wireframes often become obvious faster when you can draw them instead of describing them.
Best use cases
Use drawing notes when the structure is the point.
They are especially useful for explaining how things connect rather than just what they are.
Process flows
Map steps, handoffs, and dependencies visually instead of trying to explain the whole path in prose.
Wireframes
Sketch rough interface layouts, screens, and interactions without opening a separate design tool.
Architecture diagrams
Use shapes and arrows when a system makes more sense as a relationship map than a written description.
On the canvas
Drawings act like visual summaries for a cluster of notes.
A single drawing can make a dense area of the board understandable in seconds. Once saved as a thumbnail, it works like a visual headline for the surrounding notes, bookmarks, and references.
- Use one drawing note to summarize a whole workflow or concept area.
- Place it beside regular notes that explain edge cases or written detail.
- Keep related image or bookmark notes nearby when the sketch builds on source material.
Why not a separate whiteboard
Because the sketch should stay with the rest of the work.
External whiteboards are useful, but they also fragment context. Drawing notes work best when the sketch is one part of a larger board that already contains reminders, sources, lists, and written explanation.
- The board keeps the drawing near the project it belongs to.
- You can reopen the drawing to refine it without losing its place.
- The thumbnail makes visual recall possible even when the editor is closed.
Related note types
Compare drawing notes with the nearby visual tools.
These note types provide the references and explanation that usually surround a drawing.
Use images when the reference already exists.
Image notes are better when you need to pin a screenshot or photo rather than draw a new interpretation.
Compare with image notes
Keep the source link beside the sketch.
Bookmark notes are useful when a diagram grows out of documentation, articles, or saved pages.
Compare with bookmark notes
Explain the drawing in words.
Regular notes hold the detailed reasoning that a diagram points to but does not fully spell out.
Compare with regular notesDrawing notes on macOS
Sketch the structure, then keep it on the board.
Drawing notes make Note Canvas useful for visual reasoning, not just written collection.