Athanor by arbastro
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How to draw chemistry with a pen or stylus

Draw with a pen: a hexagon becomes a ring and a zigzag becomes a carbon chain, and a scribble erases. Turn on View › Pen only so a resting hand or finger moves the page instead of drawing.

a pen or stylusOn a Mac, Ctrl is Cmd.

Athanor reads what you draw with a pen or stylus and turns it into chemistry.

A hexagon and a zigzag drawn with a pen become cyclohexane and pentane, and a scribble erases the chain.

Steps

  1. Open a document and pick up the pen. You can draw with any tool selected.

  2. Draw a hexagon. When you lift the pen it becomes a cyclohexane ring.

  3. Draw a zigzag. It becomes a carbon chain with one carbon at each corner.

    A hand-drawn hexagon and zigzag turned into cyclohexane and pentane.A hand-drawn hexagon and zigzag turned into cyclohexane and pentane.

  4. Scribble back and forth over something to erase it.

  5. Point at an atom with the pen and press a letter on the keyboard, such as O, to change the element, just as with a mouse.

Pen only

Choose View › Pen only in the Main menu. With it on, only the pen draws: a finger or a resting palm moves the page instead of leaving marks. Turn it off to draw with a finger again.

Tip

Not happy with what a stroke became? Ctrl+Z takes it back.

Drawing basicsHow to erase atoms, bonds and objectsPress E for the Erase tool and click what to remove; the part under the pointer lights up first. Or select it and press Delete. With a pen, scribble over it.Drawing basicsHow to add ringsPress R, then J for benzene or 3 to 8 for that ring size, and click empty canvas. Click a bond of another ring to fuse onto it, or an atom to make a spiro ring. Insert › Ring size takes any size from 3 to 30.Drawing basicsHow to draw bonds and chainsPress D for the Bond tool. Click empty canvas for a bond, then click an atom to grow a new bond from it. Press G for chain and drag to pull out a zigzag chain; the carbon count follows the pointer, and Shift locks the direction.

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Last updated Nov 12, 2026