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How to draw in Google Slides

Put together more picturesque presentations!
By

Published onJune 9, 2023

If you like drawing, an easy-to-access platform like Google Slides is perfect for sharing your art. You can share your drawings or videos with Google Slides to spice up your presentations. There are a few ways to draw on Google Slides, so let’s review them.

QUICK ANSWER 

To draw on Google Slides, click Insert > Line > Scribble. Otherwise, if you want to draw more ornate pictures, use a third-party app or extension like Annotate.


JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS 

How to draw on Google Slides (Scribble tool)

As you may remember, to draw on Google Docs, you need to use the drawing tool. There is no need for the drawing tool with Google Slides, as you can scribble directly onto any slide in your presentation.

Open your Google Slides presentation on a computer. Click Insert, then hover your cursor over Line. From the extended menu, click Scribble.

inserting scribble on google slides
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Click and drag your mouse anywhere on your slide; this is how you draw your line. When you let go of your click, your line will end, and your drawing will be “complete.” If you need multiple lines for your illustration, you will have to repeat these first two steps and create more scribbles.

click and drag your line drawing
Curtis Joe / Android Authority

The line you draw will appear on your slide as an image that you can drag around and manipulate. You can make it larger or smaller using the blue dots bordering the image and rotate it using the circular blue dot above the middle of the picture.

click and drag your drawing into place
Curtis Joe / Android Authority

How to draw on Google Slides (Chrome extension)

Annotate is a free extension for the Google Chrome browser that you can use to draw on Google Slides.

The first step is to open Google Chrome and go to the Chrome Web Store. Find Annotate: Web Annotations with Screen Sharing, then click the blue Add to Chrome button. Register for a free Annotate account when prompted.

add annotate to chrome
Curtis Joe / Android Authority

After installing the extension, make sure to pin it. Go to the top of Chrome, click the puzzle piece-shaped button, then click Pin next to Annotate: Web Annotations with Screen Sharing. This will allow you to access Annotate features much, much more manageable.

pin your extension
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On your Google Slides tab, click the Annotate extension. Click the Show toolbar.

show your annotate toolbar
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In the Annotate toolbar, click the Pen button. Alternatively, you can click the Highlighter button to draw on your Slides with a highlighter.

click pen from Annotate
Curtis Joe / Android Authority

Draw whatever you need to draw on your slide. You can choose colors from the Annotate toolbar, which is incredibly useful.

draw on your slide with Annotate extension
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If you go to a new slide, the drawing will remain on the slide it was drawn on.

new slide without annotation
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To save your drawing on your Google Slides presentation, you must do so through Annotate. Go to the Annotate toolbar, then click Save annotations; this button looks like a floppy disk.

save your annotations
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Click SAVE.

click save to save your annotations
Curtis Joe / Android Authority

After saving, your annotations will become available under the Web Annotations tab in your Annotate account. If you exit your Slide and go back in, your drawings will be gone. However, on the right side, you can quickly click Load previous annotations to access your drawings from before. These will translate to the presentation, and you will see your drawings in full when you present your Slides.

loading previous annotations on google slides
Curtis Joe / Android Authority

FAQs

There is no drawing tool tab on Google Slides. However, you can click Insert > Line > Scribble to draw lines directly on your Google Slides.

Yes, you can freehand draw using the Scribble tool. Click on the Line tool icon to see Scribble at the bottom of the drop-down list. After selecting Scribble, you can draw on your slide directly.

To draw on the Google Slides app, open your presentation and select the slide you want to draw on. Tap the pencil icon at the bottom, then tap the Line or Scribble tool. From there, you can draw directly on your slide.

The Scribble tool is under the Line tool. To access it, go to the toolbar and click the Line icon, which looks like a diagonal line. A drop-down menu will appear, and the Scribble option is at the bottom of this menu.

Yes, you can use the Scribble tool, which lets you draw freehand. This can give the appearance of handwriting, especially if you’re using a touchscreen or a drawing tablet. However, Google Slides doesn’t have a specific tool for converting handwriting into text directly.

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