Draw On Clipboard
Native macOS · menu bar
Paste. Draw. Copy back.
Paste an image from your clipboard, draw or write on it, then copy the result back. Ready to paste into a message, email, or document—without opening or saving a file.
Seven complete languages. Full keyboard and screen-reader workflows. Named colors, high-contrast themes, and reduced motion — without a separate “accessible mode.”
Launch offer: US$0.99. Ends October 2, 2026, then US$2.99. One-time purchase. Local prices and availability vary—check the App Store before buying.
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon & Intel · no account, ever
The Mac build is native — Swift and AppKit, nothing to install alongside it — and shares its drawing model and file format with the Windows and Linux builds, so a session created on one opens on the others.
The loop
Three steps, then it's back on your clipboard
From clipboard to clipboard: make your point on the image, then return to what you were doing. File import and export are optional, not steps you have to complete.
Paste an image
Start with an image on your clipboard. Paste it into Draw On Clipboard to begin.
Draw or write
Add freehand marks, arrows, text, highlights, or solid redaction. Undo or revisit history whenever you need to.
Copy back
Click Copy to put the finished image back on the clipboard at full resolution. Paste it into the conversation, email, document, or app where you need it.
What's in it
Every tool has a one-key shortcut
The whole toolbar is reachable without moving your hand to a menu — and holding ⇧ constrains lines to 45°, rectangles to squares, ellipses to circles.
Drawing
Pen, highlighter, line, arrow, rectangle, ellipse. Shapes are outline-only; the highlighter multiplies with what's underneath, like a real marker.
Text that stays readable
Click, type, done. Text automatically gets a subtle contrast halo so it reads on any background — light UI, dark terminal, busy photo.
Numbered steps
Drop 1, 2, 3… onto a screenshot to walk someone through a flow. Delete one in the middle and the rest renumber themselves.
Redaction that holds
Solid blocks are genuinely opaque — nothing is recoverable. Pixelate is offered for faces and clutter, with a plain warning that it's the wrong choice for secrets.
A visible history
Every change is a frame on the timeline. Click any frame to rewind; hover to peek. What you're looking at is exactly what exports.
Fork instead of losing work
Draw after rewinding and it doesn't silently discard your later steps — it offers to fork into a new window so you keep both versions.
Clipboard first; files optional
Copy the finished image at full resolution, ready to paste elsewhere. Opening and saving files, the Mac share sheet, and drag export are optional alternatives.
Find and keep past work
When session backups are on, Manage Past Sessions… lets you browse closed or interrupted work. Preview any history step, then open, copy or save it. Keep protects important sessions from automatic cleanup.
Honest status
The toolbar chip always tells you the truth: "Not exported yet", "Copied ✓ 2:41 PM", or "Edited since export" if you've drawn something since.
Accessible without a pointer
Choose a tool and add it at the image center, then select, move, resize supported objects, edit text, duplicate, or delete with native controls. Color names are spoken, and selection never relies on color alone.
Privacy
Your screenshots and drawings stay local
Opening My Reports or More Apps uses local data. Network requests occur only when you send feedback, check report status or available apps, or manage a report's contact details. Feedback contains the text and compatibility facts shown before sending; an email address is optional.
- No accounts, sync, analytics, crash uploads, attachments, or background check-ins
- Exports carry no embedded thumbnail, no leftover metadata, no hidden trailing bytes
- Logs record that things happened — never your image contents or typed text
- Delete Session Now purges a sensitive capture instantly, mid-edit
The trailing-bytes one is worth naming. A well-known class of bug let "cropped" screenshots be un-cropped, because the cropped-out data was still sitting in the file. Draw On Clipboard excludes that by construction — exports are a flat render — and an automated test enforces it on every build.
And the honest caveat. While a session is open or saved, the original un-redacted image is kept in its autosave so undo can work. It stays on your Mac, but it will also be in any Time Machine backup that copies it. If a capture is sensitive enough that this matters, File ▸ Delete Session Now erases it immediately.
Getting started
- Capture an area
- ⌃⇧⌘4
- Open the clipboard
- ⌃⌥A
- Open a file
- ⌘O
- Help
- ⌘/
Tools
- Select · Pen
- V P
- Highlighter · Line
- H L
- Arrow · Rect · Ellipse
- A R O
- Text · Badge · Redact · Crop
- T N X C
Editing
- Undo · Redo
- ⌘Z ⇧⌘Z
- Duplicate · Delete
- ⌘D ⌫
- Constrain
- ⇧
- Commit · Cancel
- ↩ esc
Sending it out
- Copy
- ⌘C
- Save…
- ⌘S
- Zoom in · out · fit
- ⌘+ ⌘− ⌘0
- Close window
- ⌘W
Getting it
Get Draw On Clipboard for Mac
Available on the Mac App Store for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, with updates handled for you. Check the store for pricing and availability in your region.
Launch offer: US$0.99. Ends October 2, 2026, then US$2.99. One-time purchase. Local prices and availability vary—check the App Store before buying.
Your images stay on your Mac, and you don’t need an account. The app connects to HumansAreUseful.ai only when you choose to send feedback, check your reports, or explore our other apps.
- macOS14 Sonoma or later
- ArchitectureApple silicon & Intel
- Mac App Store
- AccountNone
- Network accessExplicit requests only
- Saved sessionsKeep protects from cleanup
Questions
Reasonable things to ask
Is pixelation safe for passwords?
No — and the app says so at the point you choose it. For known text in a known font, pixelation can sometimes be reversed. Use the solid style for passwords, tokens, account numbers, and anything else that actually matters; it's a flat opaque block with nothing recoverable underneath. Pixelate is fine for faces and general clutter.
If I redact something, is it really gone from the file I export?
Yes. Every export is a flattened render — the hidden pixels aren't layered underneath, they're not in the file at all. Exports also carry no embedded thumbnail, no leftover metadata, and no hidden trailing data, and that's covered by an automated test.
The original does stay in the session's autosave on your Mac so undo can work. File ▸ Delete Session Now erases that immediately if you'd rather it didn't.
I closed the window by accident. Is my work gone?
When backups are on, right-click the menu-bar icon and choose Manage Past Sessions…, directly below Settings. Select a session and a history step to preview it, then open, copy or save that step. The manager also opens from File and Settings.
Unkept, closed sessions normally expire 14 days after last work. Above 50 unkept closed sessions, fully exported work may be removed earlier. Sessions marked Keep and sessions in open editors are protected from automatic cleanup. Deleting a session removes its original and history after confirmation, never separately exported images.
Does it need Screen Recording permission?
No. Take a screenshot with macOS using ⌃⇧⌘4, then click the menu bar icon to open the clipboard image. You can also open an image file or drag it into the app. Draw On Clipboard does not capture your screen or request Screen Recording permission.
Nothing happens when I click the menu bar icon.
A normal click opens the clipboard image, or brings an existing empty editor forward if there is no image. Right-click or Option-click for Settings and Manage Past Sessions… in the compact menu. Help and language choices are in the app menu bar while Draw On Clipboard is active. Use ⌃⌥A if the icon is hidden.
What happens if I draw after rewinding the timeline?
You're asked, rather than silently losing steps. Fork to New Window keeps both versions — the original window stays intact and your new direction continues in a fresh window. Replace Later Steps is the classic behavior. Frames after your current position are dimmed, so you can see what's at stake.
How do I remove it completely?
Drag the app to the Trash, then delete ~/Library/Application Support/Draw On Clipboard and the app's preferences file. Settings ▸ Clear All Data does the data half from inside the app, and tells you exactly what will go before you confirm. Files you already exported are never touched.