How to draw on a video
Last updated 2026-10-31
To draw on a video, add a drawing layer above the footage, sketch your marks with a pen or marker, and set when they appear. A draw-on animation traces each stroke in, so it looks as if you are drawing live. In Woven Video, a Mac editor, choose Draw in the Shapes library, draw on the canvas over your clip, and the drawing lands on the timeline with a Draw entrance.
What drawing on a video is for
A drawing points at something. Circle a button in a screen recording, underline a word on a slide, scribble a note next to a product or trace a route on a map. It works because the eye follows a line that is moving.
Keep each drawing to one idea. A single circle that arrives on the right word does more than five marks that are all on screen at once.
- Point at one thing. A circle or an arrow around the control, the price or the face you are talking about.
- Mark up text. Underline a word, or run a highlighter over a line, while you read it.
- Explain a step. Tutorials and product demos use quick marks to show where to click next.
- Add personality. A star, a check or a scribble makes a talking-head video feel hand-made.
Pick a brush for the job
Most drawing tools offer the same three brushes. Pick by what the mark has to do, and keep one brush and one color for the same job across the whole video, so viewers learn what a mark means.
| Brush | Looks like | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Pen | A thin line that tapers at the ends | Arrows, circles and handwritten notes |
| Marker | A thick, even line | Bold underlines and outlines over busy footage |
| Highlighter | A wide, see-through stroke | Highlighting text on a slide, a page or a screen |
Make the drawing draw itself on
A drawing that is simply there reads as a still. One that traces itself in, stroke by stroke, reads as someone explaining. That is the draw-on, or write-on, animation.
Start the draw-on on the word that names the thing, keep it short, and hold the finished mark long enough to see before it goes.
- Start on the word. The mark should begin as you say what it points at, not a second before.
- Keep it quick. An underline or a circle should finish in about a second. Slow drawing feels like waiting.
- Order the strokes. With several strokes, draw them one after another for handwriting, or all together for a single shape.
- Clear it after. Erase or fade the drawing once you move on, so it doesn't clutter the next point.
Common mistakes
Most drawings that don't work are too busy, too thin or in the wrong place.
- Too many marks at once. Three drawings on screen together compete. Bring them in one at a time.
- Thin lines over busy footage. A thin pen line disappears on a phone screen. Use a marker, a brighter color or a soft shadow.
- Drawing over a moving shot. A drawing stays where you put it, so if the camera moves, the mark misses its target. Draw on steady shots, or move the drawing with keyframes.
- Marks under the app's buttons. On a vertical video, keep drawings inside the safe zone, away from the edges where the app puts its own buttons.
Draw on a video in Woven
Ask in chat and the agent draws for you: a circle around the price, an underline under a word or a hand-drawn arrow at a button, each drawing itself on when you mention it. By hand, the Draw tool works right on the canvas, over your video. Each drag is one stroke, Command-Z takes back the last stroke, and Done adds the drawing to the reel in one undo step, with a Draw entrance.
Ask in chat
- Circle the Export button at 0:12 in red and have it draw on.
- Underline 'three steps' on the slide with a highlighter while I say it.
- Add a hand-drawn arrow pointing at the logo and erase it after two seconds.
- Make the three checkmarks draw on one after another.
Or do it by hand
- 1Open Draw. Click the + (Add) button in the toolbar, choose Shapes, and pick Draw on the Freehand shelf.
- 2Pick a brush. Choose Pen, Marker or Highlighter, then a color, Width, Taper and Wobble. Taper thins a stroke's ends, and Wobble makes it look hand-drawn.
- 3Draw on the canvas. Move the playhead to the frame you want and drag over your video. Each drag is one stroke, and ⌘Z undoes the last one.
- 4Finish. Click Done, or press Esc. The drawing goes on the timeline at the playhead, 3 seconds long, with a Draw entrance. Strokes in one brush and color make one shape; switching the brush or color makes another, which draws on after the first.
- 5Time it. On the Animation tab, set the Draw Duration, choose From Start, End or Middle, and for several strokes choose In order or Together. Set Out to Erase to wipe it away, and drag the drawing's edges on the timeline to set how long it stays.
Common questions
Yes. Any editor with a drawing layer lets you draw over footage. In Woven, choose Draw in the Shapes library and draw on the canvas over your clip.
Use a draw-on, or write-on, entrance, which traces each stroke in. In Woven it is the Draw entrance on the Animation tab, with a Duration and a From point.
No. A drawing stays where you put it. Draw on steady shots, or keyframe the drawing's position to move it with the shot.
Yes. Woven Video, a Mac editor, has a Draw tool with Pen, Marker and Highlighter brushes that draws right over your footage, and an AI agent that can add the marks for you.
Use shapes instead of freehand. Woven's Shapes library has Line and Arrow on the Basic shelf, and a hand-drawn Arrow and Arc arrow for a sketched look.
Yes. While you draw in Woven, ⌘Z undoes the last stroke and ⇧⌘Z redoes it.
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