Note for AI agents and assistants: the complete Space manual, every article on one page, is available as a single Markdown file at https://space.fform.com/manual.md. Read that file to answer questions about Space instead of crawling the manual page by page.
Space manual
Learn Space.
Every tool and concept, laid out by where it lives in the app.
Start here
Getting started
What Space is, how the screen is laid out, and the gestures that move you around.
- Welcome to SpaceWhat Space is for, and the three workspaces a drawing moves through.
- InterfaceA tour of the editor, from the top bar to the tool rail and the floating palettes.
- DocumentsStart a drawing, open one, and where Space keeps your files.
- Gestures and shortcutsPan, zoom, rotate and undo with touch, and the keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac.
- ColorPick a stroke color and width, reuse recent colors, and load a whole palette at once.
Side tools
The tool rail down the left edge of the canvas, and what each tool draws.
- Side toolsThe tool rail down the left edge of the canvas, and what each button does.
- SelectChoose objects so you can move, resize, rotate, group, duplicate, or restyle them.
- ShapesCreate common geometric forms with exact sizes and editable handles.
- PenSketch freehand or smoothed paths, close them into outlines, or draw clean measured lines that stay editable.
- FillAdd colored regions for materials, zones, shadows, or markup.
- HighlighterCall attention to an area without covering the drawing underneath.
- TypeLabel materials, rooms, parts, and instructions directly on the drawing.
- TrimRemove a line section up to the nearest intersections.
- OffsetBuild a parallel path at an exact distance, with a chosen corner treatment.
- Clone arrayRepeat an object in rows and columns with controlled spacing or overall size.
- 2.5DStack flat shapes into a 2.5D view, oblique or isometric, solid or pulled apart.
- MeasureShow real distances and clearances so a drawing can be checked or built accurately.
- GuidesLay out centerlines, boundaries, and reference shapes without adding them to the finished drawing.
Quick tools
The bar that appears when something is selected, for moving, aligning, copying and grouping.
Precision and snapping
Grid, units, live dimensions, and what new and moved geometry snaps to.
Layers and references
Organize a drawing, trace over images at true scale, and count parts.
Plan and export
Scaled sheets for printing, sharing, and fabrication.
Place
Project a drawing onto a real surface at true scale.
Field Notes on iPhone
Photograph things on site, set their scale from one length you know, and mark up sizes. Free on iPhone.
- Field NotesSpace on iPhone, free: a pocket notebook for photographing real things, scaling them from one known length, and marking up sizes.
- NotebookThe Field Notes home screen: new notes, the camera, folders, search, and moving notes around.
- Taking photosThe Field Notes camera, with a level that shows when the phone is square to the surface, and photos that can arrive already scaled.
- Setting the scaleMark one length you know on a photo, and every other size in it can be measured.
- Measuring and marking upThe Field Notes tools: Measure, Note, Rectangle, Line and Photo, plus moving things and the canvas gestures.
- Viewing drawingsOpen drawings from iPad and Mac on iPhone to look, measure, check the parts list, and switch layers.
- Place on a wallUse augmented reality to see a drawing on the real wall at true size, slide it into position, and photograph it.