Arrows & graphic elements

Use arrows, lines, and a text-and-pointer callout to draw attention to a part of your video. Each element is an editable clip: change its endpoints, stroke, color, drawing animation, placement, and timing without changing the footage underneath.

Add an arrow or line

1. Pause playback and click the timeline ruler at the project time where the element should begin.
2. Click Elements in the left tool rail.
3. Click Drawn arrow for a pointer, Accent line for a line, or Look here for a text-and-pointer callout.
4. The style is added at the playhead on its own new video track or tracks above the existing picture. Its first layer is selected and its properties open on the right.
5. Move the playhead a little into the new clip to see its drawing animation. Expand the relevant properties section, make your changes, and play from the clip's start to check the result.
6. Click Save to keep the editable project. Export when you want a finished video containing the element.

Each click on a card inserts another copy. It does not replace the currently selected clip. Use Undo immediately after an accidental insertion to remove all layers added by that click.

Browse every element style

Use Search elements… to search names, descriptions, and categories. The category selector offers All styles, Arrows, Lines, Callouts, and My assets. Search and category filters work together; clear the search or choose All styles if a card is missing.

These are the three built-in element styles. A line is the same editable pointer with its arrowhead turned off. Their positions and stroke sizes adapt to the project's frame dimensions. The layer badge on Look here identifies its two clips. Card artwork shows the style at a visible point in its animation; click the card to insert it, then use the preview's Play button to watch it.

My assets contains arrow and line styles you have saved on this device. If there are no matching styles, the library shows an empty message rather than adding anything to the project.

Set endpoints, thickness, and arrowhead

Select the arrow or line clip, then open Element in the right properties panel. The coordinates describe project pixels, independent of how far you have zoomed the preview. The frame's top-left corner is X 0, Y 0; X increases to the right and Y increases downward.

The four endpoint fields accept −100000 to 100000. Coordinates outside the project's width or height can put an endpoint off the picture. The preview clips anything outside the frame; use values inside the frame for an ordinary visible pointer. A horizontal line has the same From Y and To Y; a vertical line has the same From X and To X.

Example: point horizontally across a 1920 × 1080 picture

1. Add Drawn arrow and select its clip.
2. In Element, set From X to 400 and From Y to 540.
3. Set To X to 1200 and To Y to 540. The pointer runs rightward through the middle of the frame.
4. Set Stroke to 12 and leave Arrowhead On.
5. Set Draw time to 0 for an immediate pointer, or 1 for a one-second reveal.
6. To reverse it, swap the From and To coordinate pairs. To make a plain line, choose Arrowhead Off.

Use coordinates suited to your own frame size. For example, the center of a 1080 × 1920 portrait frame is X 540, Y 960.

Choose color and transparency

1. Click Element color to open its palette.
2. Choose a swatch, or replace Hex color with a six-digit color such as #FFCF63.
3. For a partly transparent color, add two transparency digits, such as #FFCF6380. The final pair 00 is fully transparent; FF is fully opaque.
4. Click Done or press Escape to close the palette. A valid color is applied as you edit; closing the palette does not undo it.

The palette includes white, pale gray, dark gray, black, gold, orange, pink, purple, periwinkle, blue, teal, and green. A swatch keeps any existing transparency pair, so check the entire value if changing the color does not make a faint line fully visible. Invalid or unfinished hex values do not replace the last valid color.

Move and reshape an element in the preview

1. Pause and move the playhead inside the element's clip. Select the clip in the timeline. If an unselected element is visible, you can also click it in the preview.
2. Drag inside its outlined selection to move the entire element. Both endpoints move by the same amount, keeping its direction and length.
3. Drag the small square handle at the finishing endpoint to move the To endpoint. This changes the pointer's direction and length while keeping its starting endpoint.
4. Use From X and From Y to place the starting endpoint precisely. Use all four coordinate fields when the handle is hard to reach or an endpoint is off the frame.
5. Check the final appearance while paused after the drawing has finished, then play from the beginning to check the reveal.

Snapping can align the element with guides, the frame, or a snapping grid. Hold Alt during a drag to bypass snapping. For a closer view, use the wheel to zoom; use a middle-button drag or Space plus left drag to pan. These gestures move your view rather than the element. Fit restores the preview view. See Canvas and preview navigation for grid, snapping, and guide controls.

If the element is rotated or scaled in Transform, its visible endpoints include those adjustments. Use Reset transform before entering plain canvas coordinates when you want a simple starting point.

Control drawing, fades, and lifetime

The drawing, the fades, and the length of the timeline clip are separate controls. Open Animation and Timing to coordinate them.

Start and Source in allow 0–86400 seconds; Length allows 0.2–86400. Fades allow 0–86400 seconds, and Animation length allows 0.001–86400. Keep Draw time and fades comfortably within the animation's lifetime. If Draw time is longer than the visible interval, the line can disappear before it finishes drawing.

Example: draw for one second, hold, and fade away

1. Select the pointer. In Timing, set Speed to 1, Source in to 0, Length to 6, and Start to the desired project time.
2. In Element, set Draw time to 1.
3. In Animation, set Animation length to 6, Fade in to 0, and Fade out to 0.5.
4. Play from the clip's beginning. The line draws over its first second, remains complete, and fades during its final half-second.
5. If you extend the clip later, extend both Length and Animation length. Changing Length alone can leave a long, invisible tail on the timeline.

Moving a clip preserves the same drawing at its new Start. Trimming the beginning or splitting the clip keeps the animation's progress, so a later section does not automatically start drawing again. To start a new drawing from zero, add a fresh copy or set Source in to 0 and check the clip's timing.

Split an element into separately editable sections

1. Select its timeline clip and place the playhead inside it, away from the clip ends.
2. Click Split selected clip at the bottom of properties, or press C or Ctrl+B outside a text field.
3. Select either section to adjust it independently. The second section continues the original drawing and fade progress at the cut.
4. Use Undo to remove an unwanted split. In Look here, splitting the pointer does not split the label.

Edit the Look here callout

1. Add Look here from Elements → Callouts. It creates a label clip and a pointer clip with the same Start and Length.
2. The label is selected first. In Text, replace Content with your message.
3. Use Typeface, Font size, Weight, Alignment, and Text color to style the label. Expand Text layout for X position, Y position, Text width, and Line height. Center text on canvas restores a centered starting layout; Reset type style restores the default typography. The full Text guide explains these controls and every font choice.
4. Select the Look here · Pointer clip on its other video track. Its Element section provides the endpoint, Stroke, Draw time, Arrowhead, and Element color controls.
5. Position the pointer toward the part of the picture you want to highlight, then move the label to a readable location.
6. If the whole callout should appear longer, move, or disappear together, adjust Start, Length, and Animation length on both clips. Set their fades separately if you want different reveals.

The label and arrow are independent clips, not a linked group. Deleting or dragging one does not delete or move the other. One Undo immediately after insertion removes the whole added callout; later edits have their own undo steps. Saving the label creates a Text asset, while saving the pointer creates an Elements asset.

Use whole-clip transforms and color adjustments

Expand Transform below Timing for additional changes to the selected element. These settings act on the entire clip after its endpoint layout.

For straightforward pointer placement, leave Transform at its defaults and edit endpoints in Element. Use Element color to choose the actual color, then use Color adjustments only when you need an additional correction.

Save and reuse an element

1. Select the arrow or line clip whose appearance you want to keep.
2. Set its endpoints, Stroke, Arrowhead, Element color, Draw time, and fades.
3. Find Asset name in properties and enter a clear name, such as “Gold pointer”.
4. Click Save as reusable asset.
5. Open Elements → My assets, move the playhead to the new insertion time, and click the saved card to add another editable copy.
6. Set its new Start and Length and adjust its placement for the current picture.

The saved style keeps the selected pointer or line's endpoints, stroke, arrowhead, color, and drawing/fade animation. It does not save its clip Start, Length, Speed, Source in, Transform, or Color adjustments, or any accompanying text layer. Reused copies are independent of both the saved card and the original clip. In a different frame size, the original design's frame fits proportionally inside the new frame, with any extra space shared on opposite sides. The element keeps its position within that fitted design; check the endpoints when switching between landscape and portrait.

A duplicate name creates another card with a number, rather than overwriting the existing one. An empty name becomes “Arrow”, including for a headless line. Saved styles remain on the current device and browser profile and can be reused in its other projects. They do not move automatically to another device or survive clearing the relevant browser data. Keep an editable project saved separately.

Saving a reusable style is separate from project Undo. Undo can remove an inserted copy or reverse a project edit; it does not remove the saved library card.

To keep a complete Look here arrangement, save its pointer and its label separately. The pointer appears in Elements → My assets; the label appears in Text → My assets. Add both and match their timing when rebuilding the callout.

Keyboard editing and correcting mistakes

Use Tab to reach a field, then type a number or use its + and − buttons. The endpoint fields change by 1 pixel, Stroke by 0.5 px, and Draw time and fades by 0.1 seconds. Up and Down use the field's step; hold Shift for ten steps. Enter finishes a number edit. Escape discards an unfinished entry, but a valid change can already have been applied: use Undo to reverse an applied edit.

For Arrowhead, click On or Off, or use the left and right arrow keys while the choice group has focus. Escape closes the color palette; it does not reverse a color already chosen. While a text field has focus, ordinary typing shortcuts remain in that field.

• No element appears at the playhead: check that the playhead is inside the clip, the video track is visible, and the element is not at the very beginning of its drawing animation.
• The line remains faint or invisible: check Element color's transparency, Transform → Opacity, Fade in/Fade out, and Animation length. A black element can also disappear against a black background.
• The pointer is aimed the wrong way: the head is at To X/To Y. Swap the endpoint pairs to reverse direction, or drag the finishing handle.
• The line has no arrowhead: select Arrowhead On. Accent line begins with it Off.
• It never finishes drawing: shorten Draw time or extend both Length and Animation length. Check Speed and Source in if it starts partway through or draws too fast.
• The label changes but the arrow does not: select Look here · Pointer. The callout's two clips have different properties.
• A saved style is missing: clear search and choose the correct My assets category. Text and pointers are stored under their respective tools on the device/profile where they were saved.

Use the timeline toolbar's Undo and Redo to reverse or reapply project edits. With focus outside a text field, Ctrl+Z undoes a project edit. To remove an element, select its clip and click Delete selected clip or press Delete outside a field. Check whether ripple deletion is enabled, because deleting can shift later clips. Close clip properties closes the panel without deleting anything.

For splitting, moving, and trimming an element's clip, see Clip editing. For its tracks, see Timeline and tracks. For label formatting, see Text and credits; for saving the editable work, see Projects.