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The workspace: canvas, tools and side panel

The menu bar, tool rail, canvas, side panel, memo and status bar.

Updated 11 October 2026

Area Where What it holds
Top bar top The menu bar, the document title, the template library and leather library buttons, the side-panel button and the light/dark theme button.
Tool rail left One button per tool, in groups: selection, drawing, annotation, construction, stitching and leather, images. Hover a button to see its name and key.
Canvas middle The drawing, on a dotted grid, with rulers along the top and left.
Side panel right Sections that follow what you are doing (see below).
Memo under the canvas Notes about the project, saved with it. Click Memo to open or fold it.
Status bar bottom Cursor position, zoom, unit, grid snap, shape and selection counts, the selection's size and lengths, and messages and hints from the tools.

The document title

The file name is shown in the top bar. A dot after it means there are changes not yet saved to a file. When saving needs you, the title says so: Allow saving (click it to let the browser write the file again after a reload), Changed elsewhere, or a failed save. See Files and saving.

The side panel

The side panel shows what the current task needs:

Section When it shows Contents
Properties / the tool's name always, first With the Select tool: the selection's position and size, alignment, and the leather of leather-filled shapes. With another tool: that tool's options.
Pricking irons with the Stitching tool, or when holes are selected The irons and their blade counts; the Pricking irons dialog button.
Layers always The layers of the drawing.
Line types always The 40-entry line-type palette.

Each section folds with the arrow on its header. View ▸ Side panel shows or hides the panel; View ▸ Pin side panel keeps it open. With the side panel hidden, tool options appear in a bar above the canvas and the position-and-size palette floats over the canvas.

The status bar

From left to right:

  • X / Y: the cursor position in the drawing.

  • Zoom: the zoom level in percent.

  • Unit: mm or in.

  • Grid snap: on/off: click to switch grid snapping (see Snapping).

  • Shape count and selection count.

  • Selection summary: its width × height, the length of a single line, the radius and sweep of an arc, the angle between two joined lines, the total length of the selected lines, the number of holes, and a single shape's id.

  • While drawing, the summary's place shows the shape being drawn instead:

    • a line: its length and angle (from the right, turning clockwise as the Y axis points down; counter-clockwise with Invert the Y axis in Options), and its angle to the line it starts on (as the Line tool's Relative angle measures it);
    • an arc: its length, radius and sweep;
    • a circle: its radius (R), diameter (Ø) and circumference;
    • an oval or a rectangle: its width × height and its perimeter (the length all round);
    • a Bézier curve: while you place the first handle, its length and angle from the start; while you place the second handle, the length and angle of the line from the first handle; while you place the end, the curve's length and the end's handle (its length and angle from the end point).

    Shapes of a fixed size (the Diameter, Width and Height options) are measured while they follow the pointer, and a tangent circle, arc or line while it is previewed. The readout goes when the shape is drawn, when you press Esc, or when you change tools.

  • Text warnings (amber), while a text is edited: its font is missing, or the font lacks some of its characters (see Text).

  • Message: the current tool's instructions, or the result of the last command (for example "Fixed 3 issues in 2 passes."). Warnings such as "The active layer is hidden." appear here.

Theme

The sun/moon button in the top bar switches between light and dark. The canvas follows: white in the light theme, black in the dark one. Each line type has a colour for each background (see Line types), so lines stay easy to see.

Free to use

Try it as you read.

Open PatinaCAD in another tab and follow along with the demo card holder, or start a pattern of your own.