Settings

Starting with Vectornator 4.0, you have access to a better organization of the different options as Document, Canvas, Appearance, Input, General which you can access from the Homescreen Settings and the In-document settings.

The Settings

In the Settings Menu ~ic-settings~~ic-settings~ located on the top right on the Action Bar, you can customize your Vectornator experience by setting your personal app preferences. In this menu, you can organize the different options such as Document ~ic-document-tab~~ic-document-tab~, Canvas ~ic-canvas-tab~~ic-canvas-tab~, Appearance ~ic-appearance-tab~~ic-appearance-tab~, Input ~ic-input-tab~~ic-input-tab~, Notifications, and iCloud ~ic-icloud~~ic-icloud~.

Document Settings

In the Document Window, you can control all the options that are document-specific and only affect the current open document as the Document Name (1), its Units (2) and the Undo & Redo Options (3).

Document Units

Here you can choose from: Points, Picas, Inches, Millimeters, Centimeters, or Pixels.

Undo & Redo History

You can choose between two options for the document history:

• Default is the right option if you want to have access to your document history even after you have closed your document.
• Optimized allows you to reduce the file size because the history is limited per-session.

Note: When switching from Default to Optimized, an alert will appear, explaining what this means.

Canvas Settings

In the Canvas Settings, you find options that are global and so affect all your Vectornator documents. Here you can control:

• View ‍
• Snapping‍
• other options as Isolate Active Layer, Outline Mode, CMYK Preview, White Background, Canvas Rotation, Magic Canvas and Show Quick Actions.

In this tab, you can also customize your Quick Settings as described above.

View

By opening this sub-window, you can easily turn on and off some functionalities some Rulers ~ic-rulers~~ic-rulers~ , Guides ~ic-guides~~ic-guides~ , Smart Guides, Dimensions ~ic-dimensions~~ic-dimensions~ and Touches ~ic-touches~~ic-touches~ .

Isolate Active Layer

The Isolate Active Layer feature will focus on the Layer that you’re working on and hide all other layers from the view. When the Isolate Active Layer switch is enabled, only the paths placed in the active layer can be edited, and all other elements will be grayed out.

Outline Mode

The Outline Mode ~ic-outline-mode~~ic-outline-mode~ feature will show your document elements as wireframe outlines without color or texture.

Outline Mode is like an X-ray mode for your document. Although just black and white, it allows you to see what's going on behind the scenes.

CMYK Preview

You can use this switch to toggle the CMYK Preview Mode.

If it's set to on, you'll see a preview of your document displayed in CMYK colors instead of P3 colors. If it's set to off, you'll see the default P3 colors.

Note: Vectornator does not (yet) support CMYK color space; right now you're only able to preview your work in this space. You can upvote this feature request here.

Canvas Rotation

This switch ~ic-canvas-rotation~~ic-canvas-rotation~ will unlock or lock the ability to rotate your canvas. When on, it allows you to rotate your canvas. If it's off, the canvas will be locked in place.

You can add the "Canvas Rotation" toggle to your Quick Settings for a faster workflow.

Magic Canvas

Toggling the Magic Canvas ~ic-magic-canvas~~ic-magic-canvas~ switch will cause the Vectornator Interface to move out of the way when you are drawing or moving objects; revealing the canvas and freeing up working space on your device.

Show Quick Actions

This toggle allows you to display the Quick Actions bar below your selected element or not.

Read more about Quick actions here ➞

Appearance Settings

This window allows you to edit the Vectornator UI appearance as:

• Theme Canvas Color: Dark, Light or System-based.
• Display Zoom: Default or Small.

In this tab, you can also Restore your Default Options by tapping "Restore Default".

Zoomed Interface button

The Zoomed Interface switch will toggle the zoomed setting for your Vectornator interface, as shown below.

Input Settings

Available only on iPad and iPhone, the Input Window gives you access to a variety of third-party tool pairing options as:

• Apple Pencil controls
• Wacom Stylus
• Wacom Bamboo Slate

Note: Make sure that your Bluetooth is turned on your device in order to enable these options.

iCloud Settings

You can find the iCloud Sync ~ic-icloud~~ic-icloud~ Presets Settings inside the Preferences window. To access the window, open the Quick Settings, and tap on “Preferences”.

This feature allows you to access your saved presets such as your Color Palettes, Custom Brushes, and your custom Document Templates from any device on which you have Vectornator installed. With iCloud Sync ~ic-icloud~~ic-icloud~ , you can now sync all of your saved presets between your Vectornator Apps that are installed on different Apple devices.

When the iCloud Sync feature is toggled on, a tooltip informs you every time the iCloud was synced between the connected Apple devices where you have Vectornator installed.

The Grid Panel

Vectornator supports two types of grids: the classic perpendicular square grid, and a triangle-based isometric grid. When a grid is enabled, it will display on top of your canvas, over your elements. Also, you can decide to snap your paths to align to the grid using the toggle switch in the Snapping Tab.

What are the Artboard & Grid Settings?

When tapping the Artboard & Grid ~ic-artboard-grid~~ic-artboard-grid~ button, a small window will open for you to change/see the Artboard Size and a toggle to activate the grid. Once you tap on Show Grid, the panel will expand and you can set a Perpendicular ~ic-show-grid~~ic-show-grid~ or Isometric ~ic-isometric-grid~~ic-isometric-grid~ grid into your board.

Read all about the Grid here ➞

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Where to find the Grid Panel on iPad?

With the iPadOS 16 update to show on the Grid Panel, go over to the upper right corner on the Action Bar and then tap on Artboards & Grid ~ic-artboard-grid~~ic-artboard-grid~. Then, switch on the toggle at the right of "Show Grid".

You can easily choose between Perpendicular  ~ic-show-grid~~ic-show-grid~ or Isometric ~ic-isometric-grid~~ic-isometric-grid~ type of grid and change the Spacing and Angle values exactly the way you want.

Pro Tip – The Grid will be displayed only on the active Artboard.

Where are the Quick Settings on my Mac?

On macOS, Quick Settings is replaced with the Top Toolbar items that can be added with the native macOS behaviour "Customize Toolbar". Read more about the macOS Settings ➞

Watch the video on our YouTube channel with the amazing Nastya Kuliabina to learn how to create a nice 3d illustration using the Isometric Grid.

Design Tip: What is the Isometric Grid?

Where to find the Grid Panel on iPhone?

If you're on iPhone, we recommend you to turn your phone in landscape mode when setting your grid.

Rulers

The Rulers ~ic-rulers~~ic-rulers~ can be turned on/off from the Quick Settings on iPad and iPhone, or by going to View > Show Rulers on your Mac. This switch will show or hide the fixed Rulers attached to each artboard. They will remain locked in place on your artboard, allowing you to use them as a reference point. Also, they scale up and down as you zoom in or out.

When activated, you can also easily add Smart Guides (those blue lines) to your document.

Dimensions Indicator

The Show Dimensions ~ic-dimensions~~ic-dimensions~ switch allows you to show or hide the Dimension Indicator located at the bottom of each selected object.

Show Touches

The Show Touches ~ic-touches~~ic-touches~ switch will enable or disable the tap indicator on your iOS Device (iPhone or iPad) for touch events, so you can easily see where you have tapped.

TIP: This function is most useful when you want to record your screen for a video tutorial.

Snapping

You can access the Snapping Options Tab ~ic-snapping~~ic-snapping~ from the Canvas Settings and the Quick Settings. In Vectornator you can enable or disable different snapping options for your shapes as Guides, Points, Edges, Grid and Smart Guides.

Smart Guides

When the Smart Guides ~ic-smart-guides~~ic-smart-guides~ are enabled, you’ll see some guides appearing whenever you create or move an existing path. They appear in a light blue color if they're vertical and a violet color if they're horizontal. These guides will help you align paths to each other.

Learn – How to create Smart Guides in Vectornator ➞

Snap to Guides

With the Snap to Guides ~ic-snap-guides~~ic-snap-guides~ option enabled, your objects will snap to your existing guides on the canvas.

Snap to Edges

With the Snap to Edges ~ic-snap-edges~~ic-snap-edges~ option enabled, your objects will snap their paths to the edges of your other shapes.

Snap to Points

With the Snap to Points ~ic-snap-points~~ic-snap-points~ option enabled, your objects will snap their paths to your objects' end points on the canvas.

Snap to Grid

With the Snap to Grid ~ic-snap-grid~~ic-snap-grid~ option enabled, your objects will snap their paths to align with the grid enabled on your canvas.

Quick Snapping

You can always switch them on/off from the Quick Settings (bottom part of the window) without opening the Canvas Settings all the time.

Apple Pencil double-tap Options

This option will only appear when you have a second generation Apple Pencil paired with your iPad.

By default, the double tap gesture will switch between your current tool and the eraser, but you can customize this option by going to the Settings App on your iPad. By going to the Input Settings > Apple Pencil double-tap, you can select the best option for your Pencil.

Scribble Integration

If you using iPadOS 14, Vectornator supports the ability to use Scribble with Apple Pencil.

Now you can use your Apple Pencil to write in any text or numerical field where you can enter information. This includes naming Layers, Artboards and documents or entering type when using the Text Tool. Any gesture available in Scribble applies in Vectornator. This includes circling to select, scribbling out to delete, etc.

To use Scribble you will need iPadOS 14 or higher and use Apple Pencil.

How to change Language

Vectornator supports a total of 14 different languages. You can change to your preferred one anytime, by going to the General Settings.

On iOS, navigate to the Settings App. Select Vectornator > Preferred Language.

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General Settings (iOS)

You can have access to the General Settings on your iPad and iPhone by tapping the Settings button (1) in the Homescreen Sidebar. Here you can:

A - Get to know which version of Vectornator you're currently using.
B - Access your Font Library: This will bring you directly to the Fontinator App to access all your custom fonts.
C - Subscribe to our Newsletter, get in contact with our Support Team, activate Notifications to keep up-to-date with our latest news, and access the Privacy Policy.
D - Direct access to our main Social Media channels.
E - Access to your Preferences.

iOS Settings

From the System Settings, you can adjust the advanced Vectornator settings as:

Bluetooth permission

Vectornator requires Bluetooth permission for many things, such as Apple Pencil pairing and Wacom Bamboo Slate paring. Set this switch to on to enable these features.

Notifications

We send Push Notifications for update announcements, video tutorials and articles, features highlights, and achievements. You can enable or disable them with this switch.