---
title: Shapes - lines and arrows
slug: shapes-lines-and-arrows
icon: 🆕
docTags:
createdAt: 2025-04-22T18:07:34.501Z
---
### Drawing lines and shapes
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**You can add arrows, lines, rectangles, clouds and ellipses to a PDF. Each has its own settings for color, thickness, transparency, and stroke style.**
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To draw a straight line in PDF Pro:
1. Open PDF Pro, and find the **Shapes** section which can be found in two locations: in the **Markup** tab and the **Home** tab.
If Show Captions is turned **on**, the tools appear under the **Shapes** caption
2. Click the small triangle â–¼ next to **Shape** to open the dropdown menu, and select the type of shape you want: **Line**, **Arrow**, **Rectangle**, **Ellipse**, or **Cloud**. The **Shape** button changes to show the name of the shape you selected.
3. The settings panel for that shape opens on the right side of the window (for example, **Line Settings**). You can change the settings before you draw.
Left-click and hold where you want the line to start. Drag to where you want it to end, then release the mouse button.
:::hint{type="info"}
**NOTE: This is the same for any of the shapes (arrows, lines, rectangles, clouds and ellipses).**
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### Shape settings
Each shape's settings panel is organized in sections:
**General: **Color (the fill color) and Opacity. Lower the opacity to let the text underneath show through.
**Stroke: **Color, Thickness, and Style of the border.
**Start point** and** End point** (Line and Arrow only): choose the symbol at each end of the line. Click the box and a menu appears.
**Lock Annotation: **click the lock icon to prevent the shape from being moved or changed.
End points
Stroke Style
The **Rectangle**, **Ellipse**, and **Cloud** panels have the same sections, without Start point and End point.
**Example.** In the example below, the opacity was lowered so the viewer can see the text under the rectangle, and a red, wiggly, 2 px border was created in **Stroke**.
### Duplication of a shape.
A shape can be duplicated either in the same document or in another document.
In the original document, wIth the shape selected, use the keyboard shortcut to copy it: **Ctrl + C**
To paste the shape into a different document, first select the **Shape** menu choice - and any tool will work, then Paste with **Ctrl + V**
The same method can also be used to place the shape within the original document, either on the same page or on a different page.
