Laser Pointer & Drawing

Draw attention to specific parts of your slides using the built-in laser pointer and drawing tools.

Overview

When presenting, you often need to highlight or point at specific content on your slides. Deckyard provides two highlighting modes:

• Laser Pointer - A bright dot that follows your cursor with a fading trail
• Draw Mode - Freehand drawing that fades away after a few seconds

Both tools work directly in the browser—no additional software needed.

Activating the Tools

Toolbar Buttons

In presenter mode, the toolbar shows Laser and Draw buttons:

• Click Laser to toggle the laser pointer on/off
• Click Draw to toggle drawing mode on/off

The active button is highlighted to show which mode is enabled.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
L	Toggle laser pointer
D	Toggle draw mode
C	Clear all drawings
P	Toggle persistent/fading drawings
Esc	Turn off highlighter (first press)

Press the same key again to turn the mode off, or press Esc to disable.

Laser Pointer Mode

The laser pointer shows a bright red dot that follows your mouse cursor:

• Large, easy-to-see circle
• Fading trail effect for visual emphasis
• Automatically hidden when cursor leaves the slide area
• Cursor is hidden so only the laser dot is visible

Best for:

• Pointing at specific text or elements
• Guiding the audience’s attention
• Quick highlighting during explanations

Draw Mode

Draw mode lets you sketch directly on your slides:

• Click and drag to draw freehand lines
• By default, strokes fade out after ~3 seconds
• Crosshair cursor shows when drawing is active
• Draw multiple strokes in quick succession
• Press C to clear all drawings immediately

Best for:

• Circling important content
• Underlining text
• Drawing arrows or shapes
• Annotating diagrams

Persistent Drawing Mode

If you want drawings to stay visible until you manually clear them:

• Press P during presentation to toggle between persistent and fading modes
• Or enable “Keep drawings visible until cleared” in Settings → Preferences → Presenter Highlighter as your default

In persistent mode:

• Drawings stay on screen indefinitely
• Press C to clear all drawings
• Drawings are automatically cleared when you move to the next slide
• A brief notification shows when you toggle modes with P

Tips

Combining with Fullscreen

The highlighter tools work in both windowed and fullscreen presenter mode. For the best experience:

1. Enter fullscreen mode (F)
2. Enable laser pointer (L) or draw mode (D)
3. Present normally with your mouse

Turning Off

Multiple ways to disable the highlighter:

• Press the same key again (L or D)
• Click the active toolbar button
• Press Esc (disables highlighter, then exits fullscreen on second press)

Customization

You can customize the highlighter in Settings → Preferences → Presenter Highlighter:

• Color - Choose any color for the laser pointer and drawing tools
• Thickness - Adjust the size of the laser dot and drawing stroke (1-10)
• Persistent drawing - Keep drawings visible until manually cleared

These settings are saved per-user and apply whenever you enter presenter mode.

Keyboard Reference

Shortcut	Action
L	Toggle laser pointer
D	Toggle draw mode
C	Clear all drawings
P	Toggle persistent/fading mode
Esc	Disable highlighter / exit fullscreen
F	Toggle fullscreen
← / →	Previous / next slide

Related

• Presenter Mode
• Notes View