Vectornator on iPhone

The Vectornator App for your iPhone gives you all the tools and features you have available on the iPad and Mac versions. If you are familiar with the interface of Vectornator, you’ll be immediately able to use it on iPad, as we’ve kept the integral structure of our interface intact.

Design on the go on Vectornator for iPad; wherever you are, you can grab your phone and start designing when the lightning bolt of inspiration hits you or you want to make a final edit!

Below, we’ll give you some fantastic tricks and tips to navigate the iPhone deice optimally with a smaller screen size.

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The iPhone Homescreen

As soon as you start Vectornator, the Homescreen appears immediately. The Homescreen is divided into five sections. At the top are the two areas where you can save your files. In the Help Menu ~ic-help~~ic-help~, you can ask questions about specific app features, partake in conversations in our forum or deepen your knowledge in our extensive Learning Hub.

Below, you can check out the News Tab ~ic-news-tab~~ic-news-tab~, where we post new updates, the latest trends, interviews, and more. If you are interested in design, you should take a look.

The Learn Tab ~ic-learn-tab~~ic-learn-tab~ offers a wealth of tutorials for beginners, intermediate and advanced users that are helpful when designing and illustrating with vectors. If you want to teach yourself how to use specific tools, tap on any topic to learn more. If you're a visual learner, visit our Academy - we'll explain every app feature with a corresponding video.

At the top, in the Settings ~ic-settings~~ic-settings~, you can check which version of Vectornator you have installed - ensure you always have the latest version installed on your phone! Under Preferences ~ic-settings~~ic-settings~, you can see the general settings - here, you can switch between light and dark mode, for example.

How to Organize Documents on Your iPhone

On Vectornator for iPhone, you can access all your documents from the Homescreen. At the top of the window, you can find the On my iPhone space and the iCloud Drive space ~ic-icloud-drive~~ic-icloud-drive~. If you tap On my iPhone, you can see all the free available sample files, assess the free space on your device, and create and delete folders. If you tap the iCloud Drive space, all your documents will be synced across your devices.The “On my iPhone” Space

If you tap On my iPhone, you can see all the free sample files we made available for any user to edit and play around with. Here you can store the documents you want to save locally and shouldn’t be synced with other devices.

If you scroll down, you'll see the total number of stored files and how much space remains on your iPhone. You can select multiple files by tapping them once or clicking on the expandable menu. Then you can move the selected files to iCloud, create a folder to keep your selections or delete them all at once.

The “iCloud Drive” Space

Let’s take a closer look at what iCloud is all about.

In iCloud Drive ~ic-icloud-drive~~ic-icloud-drive~, all your documents are synced across devices. Therefore, the documents that appear there are also available on your iPad and Mac. This is very useful when you're switching devices, designing on the go, or wanting to free up space on your iPhone.

If you see the iCloud icon ~ic-icloud~~ic-icloud~ in the top-right corner, your files haven't been downloaded yet. Just tap it once, and the file will be editable.

Organize Documents in Folders

To keep things organized, you should create different folders for your projects. There are two options for creating folders. The first one is to create a new folder using the popup menu. The second option is to drag and drop one file on top of the other, and the folder will be created automatically.

To edit a single document, long-press the button to access the expandable menu that allows you to rename, duplicate, share your document, and much more. The options are pretty self-explanatory.

If you don't want the illustration in that folder, you can long-press on the document and use a second finger to go back to the iCloud main area and drop the file where you want it.

Creating a new document in Vectornator is simple; tap + to create a new document - you can import a file from a photo, a camera, or Figma - yes, we have Figma integration! Alternatively, you can immediately select one of our handy document templates to start your design project. Our document templates are divided into several categories, depending on the type of project you are working on. To see all the categories, tap on this button ~ic-doc-templates~~ic-doc-templates~ here.

Let's say you want to create a story for your Instagram account. When you tap on the Instagram template, a new document will open in the correct size.

The Document Interface on iPhone

Let’s take a look at what the UI of the workspace looks like on Vectornator for iPhone. It’s very similar to what you see on the iPad - it’s a very minimal interface designed to give you as much creative freedom and space as possible.

The workspace is divided into three main sections.

At the very top, you can access the Settings ~ic-settings~~ic-settings~, Import ~ic-import~~ic-import~, Undo ~ic-undo~~ic-undo~, Redo ~ic-redo~~ic-redo~, and zoom levels ~ic-zoom-indicator~~ic-zoom-indicator~. This section is your Widget Area (1).

On the left side of the screen is the Toolbar (2), where you can access all the tools available in Vectornator. On the right side of the screen is the Action Bar (3). The Inspector (4) is hidden under the arrow icon, revealing all its five sub-tabs when opened.

Pro Tip – Since the Inspector takes up the entire screen in vertical mode, we recommend that you tilt your phone horizontally when designing. This way, you can use the screen more efficiently.

When you use your iPhone in Landscape Mode, you can see that the interface has changed a bit - the Inspector is on the right side, so you have plenty of space to work on your design. At the top of the screen is now the Action Bar. On the left side, however, nothing has changed.

Customize your Workspace

In Vectornator for iPhone, you have many options on how to customize your workspace inside the Quick Settings Menu.

Here you can set what should be displayed on the screen. For example, you can remove the ruler, guides, and sizing because it makes the workspace look much cleaner.

If you want to change your preferences, go to the Quick Settings Menu and choose what suits your project or your work process.

In the Preferences menu, you can customize which elements are displayed on your canvas. Here, you can toggle the display of rulers and guides on or off.

In the Quick settings, you can activate the Magic Canvas Mode ~ic-magic-canvas~~ic-magic-canvas~. As soon as the mode is activated, you can immediately notice the frosted glass effect on the Inspector's side. When you move or edit your illustration, the interface becomes dim. All these changes are meant to pull all your focus into your creative process. No distractions ... at least not from our interface! However, if you prefer the UI always to be visible, go back to Quick Settings and disable the Magic Canvas ~ic-magic-canvas~~ic-magic-canvas~ feature. The following tutorial will show how the Magic Canvas feature affects the workflow.

Get Familiar With the Tools

The Tools are organized in the Toolbar on the left side of your iPhone screen. You can access the essential Tools to select, edit and draw your vector elements and shapes.

How to Create Shapes

With the Shape Tool~ic-rectangle~~ic-rectangle~ , you can create simple vector shapes. You can create circles, oval shapes ~ic-oval~~ic-oval~ , rectangles ~ic-rectangle~~ic-rectangle~ , squares, and even star shapes~ic-star~~ic-star~.

You can change the corner radius of the Rectangle Shape, the number of sides of the Polygon, and the number of points of the Star Shape in the Tool Settings.

Select the oval shape ~ic-oval~~ic-oval~ , f.ex. and tap and drag on the canvas to create the shape. If you want to draw a circle, hold down a second finger on the screen to lock the proportions while drawing the shape on your canvas.

Editing Shapes

The Selection Tool ~ic-selection~~ic-selection~ offers many options to move, rotate, scale, and duplicate your object.

The Selection Tool is located at the top of the Toolbar because it’s one of the most frequently used Tools within the workflow of Vectornator.

You can pull on the orange handle to rotate your shape if you have a shape selected. You can resize the shape by dragging on the bounding box points. Hold down one finger on the screen if you want to preserve the aspect ratio while resizing your shape.

Dual Operations

In Vectornator, you have the option to combine the operations duplicate and rotate simultaneously with the Duplicate ~ic-duplicate~~ic-duplicate~ and Rotate ~ic-rotate~~ic-rotate~ Mode. Another available Dual Mode is the Duplicate ~ic-duplicate~~ic-duplicate~ and Scale ~ic-scale~~ic-scale~ Mode, where you can duplicate and scale an object simultaneously.

Learn more in our Learning Hub section about the Duplicate and Rotate Mode and the Duplicate and Scale Mode.

The Node Tool

With the Node Tool~ic-node~~ic-node~, you can move and modify the nodes of your shape. Tapping the curve will add more Node points; if you tap the curve and hold the Node, you can move it around.

Holding down one finger will let the Bézier Node snap automatically to the vertical or horizontal axis of your shape. Double-tap on the node to change the Node Type.

Learn more about the Node Types in Vectornator.

The Quick Actions Bar

In the content-aware Quick Actions Bar~ic-quick-actions~~ic-quick-actions~ at the bottom of your selected element, you’ll find several features that are accessible, such as Boolean Operations, the Stroke Width, and many more.

Learn more about the Quick Actions Bar in Vectornator

How to Fill Your Shapes With Colors

You can change the Fill ~ic-fill~~ic-fill~ or Stroke ~ic-stroke-width~~ic-stroke-width~ color on Vectornator for iPhone; you can use the Color Picker ~ic-color-picker~~ic-color-picker~ inside the Inspector. Here you can toggle the stroke and fill on ~ic-toggle-on~~ic-toggle-on~ and off ~ic-toggle-off~~ic-toggle-off~. You can select the colors of your shapes by using the Color Wheel, entering a Hex Code, or adjusting the RGB or HSB sliders ~ic-color-sliders~~ic-color-sliders~. You can even import and create Personal Color Palettes in Vectornator.

Read more about Colors in Vectornator

The Line Tool

To create a straight line, activate the Line Tool ~ic-line~~ic-line~ in the Toolbar to the left side of your screen. Tap and drag your finger to create a straight line. Hold a second finger to let the line snap in 45° increments.  You can adjust your line's stroke width and length in the Quick Actions Bar.

How to Organize Your Artwork

You can group elements using the Multi Select Mode ~ic-multiselect~~ic-multiselect~ or dragging a selection frame around all the shapes and then tapping Group ~ic-group~~ic-group~ in the Quick Actions Bar ~ic-quick-actions~~ic-quick-actions~ or the Arrange Tab ~ic-arrange-tab~~ic-arrange-tab~.

In the Arrange Tab, you can Align ~ic-alignment~~ic-alignment~, Flip ~ic-flip-horizontally~~ic-flip-horizontally~, Group ~ic-group~~ic-group~, Distribute ~ic-distribute-horizontally~~ic-distribute-horizontally~ or Mask ~ic-mask~~ic-mask~ your objects.

With the Duplicate and Transform operation, you create a duplicate of your shape that inherits the transformation operation from the original shape. This operation allows you to distribute shapes or groups at an even distance on your canvas—a fantastic technique for creating a pattern.

The Export Options

If you want to export your Vectornator file, go to the Widget Area and tap Export ~ic-export~~ic-export~. Tap on the format and then confirm by tapping Export. Drag with your finger on the Quality Slider to determine the quality of your exported image.

How to Use Gestures on your iPhone

For the Undo ~ic-undo~~ic-undo~ operation, tap once with two fingers; for the Redo operation ~ic-redo~~ic-redo~, tap once with three fingers.

Hold down one finger on the screen while scaling if you want to preserve the aspect ratio.

Hold down one finger while rotating to let your shape snap to 45° increments.

To zoom in ~ic-zoom-in~~ic-zoom-in~ and out ~ic-zoom-out~~ic-zoom-out~ of your canvas, place two fingers on the screen and drag them apart to zoom out, or drag them together to zoom in.

If you want to learn all the gestures and shortcuts for Vectornator on iPad, visit the Gestures & Shortcuts Section of our Learning Hub. You can use these gestures and shortcuts in the same way on your iPhone and iPad.

In the video below, learn how to create a simple, seamless vector pattern in Vectornator.