Excalidraw Tutorial for Beginners: Your First Diagram
Never used Excalidraw? Draw your very first diagram, slowly and step by step: find the toolbar, draw a box, type a label, add two more boxes and glue arrows between them. Example: a made-up online shop order.
Step by step
Your first diagram
- Excalidraw for beginners. Never used Excalidraw before? In a few minutes you'll draw your very first diagram, one small step at a time. Here's the online shop order we'll build. Three boxes and two arrows.
- excalidraw.com. Go to excalidraw.com. It's free, there's nothing to install, and you don't need an account. You get a big empty canvas, and that's where we'll draw.
Find the toolbar
- The toolbar. First, look at the toolbar at the top of the screen. Every drawing tool lives there. This one, the square, is the rectangle tool. You can also just press R.
Draw a box
- Draw a box. Click the rectangle tool. Then press down on the canvas and drag to the other corner. Let go, and there's your first box.
Type a label
- Type a label. Now put words in it. With the box selected, press Enter and just type. Place order. Press Escape when you're done. The text sits right in the middle of the box.
Add more boxes
- More boxes. The second box works the same way. Rectangle tool, drag, press Enter, and type. Pack order. Leave a gap between the boxes, so the arrow has room. And the third box on the right. Ship order. That's the whole order, from start to finish.
Join with arrows
- The arrow tool. Now let's join the boxes. Back in the toolbar, find the arrow tool. It's the line with a point at the end. The shortcut is A.
- Glue the arrows. Pick the arrow and drag from the edge of the first box to the edge of the second. When you get close, the box lights up. That means the arrow is glued to it. Do the same from pack order to ship order. Because both ends are glued, the arrows stay stuck to the boxes, even if you move a box later.
- Your first diagram. Click an empty spot to see your finished diagram. Three boxes, two arrows, and it reads from left to right.
Recap
- The rules. So, pick a tool in the toolbar and drag to draw. Press Enter and type to label a box. Drag arrows from edge to edge so they stick. That's your first diagram.
