Getting started

Make a drawing, paint on it, then change one of your strokes after you've painted it. It takes about five minutes.

Keys are written the way a Mac shows them. On Windows and Linux, cmd is ctrl.

Get kladCopy Anchor Link

Build klad from source: it is free and takes about ten minutes. Signed builds that install with a double click are planned; klad.studio has the list to hear when. On a Mac the pen gives pressure and tilt, on Windows pressure, and on Linux you draw with the mouse for now.

Make a drawingCopy Anchor Link

1. Start klad and press cmd N.
2. Type a name and click Create.

There's no save command: klad writes every change to the drawing as you make it.

Paint, then change a strokeCopy Anchor Link

1. Press B and paint a few strokes.
2. Press S and click one of them.
3. Pick another colour in the Colour pane.
4. In the bar next to the selection, click the palette button. The stroke takes the new colour and keeps its shape and pressure.
5. Press cmd Z to undo that, and cmd shift Z to redo it.

Every stroke stays editable like this, hours later too: see Changing strokes.

Find your way aroundCopy Anchor Link

• cmd K finds any command: type a few letters of what you want to do.
• ? lists every key.
• Hold space and drag to pan, pinch or hold cmd and scroll to zoom, and press F to see the whole canvas.

Help > First steps in the editor walks you through a shape, a fill and an agent.