TrarrenShot Live Canvas
Draw Directly on Your Mac Screen
Live Canvas turns your Mac screen into a real-time annotation surface. Draw, highlight, and guide attention during meetings, demos, tutorials, and everyday visual communication—then click through to your apps and keep working.
Download from the App StoreStop explaining where to look
Remote conversations slow down when you have to say “the button in the upper-right corner” or “the field below the title.” With Live Canvas, draw directly on the screen and show exactly what you mean.
For a practical, answer-first walkthrough, learn how to draw on your screen on Mac.
Made for visual explanations
Use Live Canvas whenever pointing is faster than describing.
- Remote meetings: Guide attention to the exact part of the screen you are discussing.
- Design and code reviews: Mark interface details, bugs, layouts, and implementation questions while you talk.
- Support and training: Walk through a process without repeatedly describing where to click.
- Demos and tutorials: Highlight actions, cursor movement, and important details while presenting or recording.
From live explanation to screenshot
Live Canvas is part of TrarrenShot, so the explanation does not have to end when the conversation does. Annotate the live screen, save or copy the result, continue with TrarrenShot's screenshot tools, and share a clear visual from the same workflow.
Live screen → Live Canvas → save, copy, or share → Preview → continue the workflow
Draw. Click through. Keep working.
Press Command + backtick to switch between drawing and click-through. Scroll, click, or change what is on screen, then switch back and continue annotating without ending the Live Canvas session.
- Draw mode: Add and edit annotations.
- Click-through mode: Interact with the apps underneath.
Keep attention on what matters
Hide the toolbar with Clean Mode, add a Cursor Trail or Click Effect, and let annotations disappear automatically after 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds.
- Clean Mode
- Cursor Trail
- Click Effect
- Annotation Auto-Dismiss
- Spotlight
- On-Screen Hints
Everything you need to point things out
Choose from rectangle, circle, line, arrow, text, pen, highlighter, pixelate, magnify, step, stamp, and spotlight. Undo, redo, erase individual annotations, or clear the canvas when you are finished.
What is TrarrenShot Live Canvas?
TrarrenShot Live Canvas is a real-time screen annotation feature for Mac. It lets you draw directly over apps and other content on your live desktop, switch between drawing and interacting with the apps underneath, and save, copy, or share the annotated result.
How Live Canvas works
- Open Live Canvas from the menu bar or press Command + Shift + backtick.
- Pick a tool and draw over the live desktop.
- Press Command + backtick to click through to the apps underneath; press it again to draw.
- Use Clean Mode when you want an unobstructed view.
- Save, copy, or share the annotated screen from the toolbar.
Built for the Mac workflow
TrarrenShot is a native macOS app. Screenshot and annotation processing stays on your Mac unless you choose an action that sends the result elsewhere, such as sharing it through another app. Read the Privacy Policy.
Live Canvas questions
Can I draw directly on my Mac screen?
Yes. Live Canvas places an annotation layer over the live desktop so you can draw over apps, documents, websites, videos, and other visible content.
Can I annotate while sharing my screen?
Live Canvas is designed for display-based screen sharing and recording. Share or record the display that contains the annotations; a window-only capture may exclude overlays.
Can I still click and scroll while Live Canvas is active?
Yes. Press Command + backtick to switch to click-through, use the apps underneath, then press it again to return to drawing.
Can annotations disappear automatically?
Yes. Set Annotation Auto-Dismiss to 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds, or turn it off to keep annotations on screen.
Can I save what I annotated?
Yes. Save, copy, or share the annotated screen from the Live Canvas toolbar.
Is Live Canvas a whiteboard?
No. Live Canvas is an annotation layer over the live Mac desktop, not a separate collaborative workspace.
Is Live Canvas only for screenshots?
No. Live Canvas works on the live desktop before a screenshot is taken, and you can keep the result in TrarrenShot's screenshot and sharing workflow.
Does Live Canvas work across multiple displays?
Yes. One Live Canvas session spans the connected displays, and the toolbar follows the display you are using.
Show exactly what you mean
Draw directly on your Mac screen with TrarrenShot Live Canvas.