Frames and walkthroughs in Freehand

Structure and share your content with ease using frames and walkthroughs. Use frames to organize your canvas and easily share your content. All frames are automatically added to a walkthrough where you can easily navigate between, share, or export your frames. V6 and V7 users can create frames and walkthroughs using the steps below.

Creating frames

Frames are containers/artboards that allow you to organize your Freehand content.

To create a frame:

1. Select the Frame tool ​ in the toolbar or type F on your keyboard.
2. Click and drag the cursor to draw the frame. You can create an empty frame and drag content into it, or draw the frame around existing objects.
3. Add a title by clicking Untitled frame above the frame. Enter the new name, then press Enter or click outside the frame.

Adding, arranging, and removing items

Quickly edit a frame by adding, arranging, or removing an item. If an item is added to a frame and the frame is moved, the item will move with the frame.

To add an item to a frame:

1. In the toolbar on the left, select the tool you want to use to add an item to the frame.
2. With the tool selected, use the tool to draw within the frame.
3. Optionally, change the size or arrangement of the item within the frame:
   • For a single item: Select the item and drag the item handles to make the item bigger or smaller. You can also move the item to another part of the frame.
   • For multiple items: Select multiple items in a frame by holding down Shift on the keyboard and clicking the frames, or drag your mouse around all the items you want to arrange. Then, from the contextual menu, choose one or more options:
     • Select the Align icon  to change the alignment of the items.
     • Select the Group icon  to group the items together.
     • Click and drag the Arrange to grid icon  to arrange the items in a grid formation.

To remove an item from a frame, select the item and delete it or drag it out of the frame. If the frame is moved, the item will not move with it.

Resizing a frame

You can choose to resize a frame without changing the size of the items inside, or you can choose to have the items inside resize with the frame.

To resize a frame without resizing the items inside, select the frame, then click and drag the handles to resize.

To resize a frame and the items within it, click and drag your mouse over all items, including the frame. Click and drag the handles to resize the frame and the items inside.

Duplicating frames

You can duplicate a frame within the same freehand to give yourself double the real estate without the extra work.

To duplicate a frame:

1. Select the frame you want to duplicate.
2. Click the More icon ​ above the frame, and select Duplicate or use the Cmd + D keyboard shortcut. The duplicate frame will appear nearby and will have the same title as the original frame.

Arranging frames in a grid

You can arrange multiple frames in a grid. This is especially useful if you want to keep related frames aligned and easy to follow.

To arrange frames in a grid:

1. Select your frames by holding down Shift on your keyboard and clicking the frames, or drag your mouse around all the frames you want to arrange.
2. Click the Arrange to grid icon  and drag your mouse to change the orientation or spacing of the frames.

Walkthroughs

Use Walkthroughs to easily navigate through your content and seamlessly share frames with your audience.

To get started, you need to create one or more frames by clicking the Frame tool ​in the toolbar on the left (or by typing F on your keyboard). You will then be able to preview and navigate the frames using Walkthroughs.

To use Walkthroughs:

1. On the right sidebar, click the Walkthroughs icon .
2. Click a frame in the sidebar to be taken to the frame on the canvas, or use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the frames.

The order of the frames in the walkthrough is determined by their positioning (i.e. left to right, top to bottom) on the canvas. To reorder the frames in the walkthrough, change their positioning on the canvas and the walkthrough will automatically sync. To change a frame title in the walkthrough, double-click the title and enter a new title.

Navigating through your content

To navigate through your frames:

1. Double-click a frame to jump to it.
2. Use your arrow keys to navigate to the previous/next frame.

Presenting your content

You can present your frames using Present mode in Freehand. To learn how to use Present mode, see here: Presenting in freehand.

Frame options

When you select a frame or hover over a frame in the Walkthroughs menu , you can click the More menu ​ to see the following options:

• Rename: Customize the name of your frame.
• Copy link: Create a direct link to that specific frame. This link will have the same sharing settings as the entire document.
• Export to image: Export the frame as a PNG.
• Copy
• Duplicate
• Delete: Deleting a frame will also delete all its contents. If you’ve deleted a frame by accident, you can undo it by typing Cmd + Z. You can also revert to a previous version of the document using version history.

Renaming frames

To rename a frame:

1. Select the frame you want to rename.
2. In the contextual menu, click the More menu ​.
3. Click Rename.
4. Enter the new name, then press Enter or click outside the frame.

Deep linking to frames

To link directly to a frame:

1. Select the frame you want to link to.
2. In the contextual menu, click the More menu ​.
3. Click Copy link.

Downloading frames

To export a frame:

1. Select the frame you want to rename.
2. In the contextual menu, click the More menu ​.
3. Click Export to image.

The frame will be downloaded as a PNG.