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PresentPen is intentionally compact. These quick answers cover the behavior you are most likely to need before or during a presentation.
Quick start
- Open PresentPen and locate its icon in the macOS menu bar.
- Open Trial & Full Unlock from the menu-bar icon to start the free trial, buy Full Unlock, or restore a purchase.
- Show the floating toolbar and move it to the display you want to annotate.
- Select Pen, Highlighter, Shapes, Focus, or Eraser.
- Use the tool’s toolbar controls to choose its options, such as color, thickness, shape, or Focus mode. Then annotate directly over what you are presenting.
- Select Cursor when you need to interact with the application underneath. Manually collapsing the toolbar also returns to Cursor and temporarily hides your ink.
Common questions
Where are the tool settings?
Use the controls in the floating toolbar to change colors, thickness, eraser options, Shapes, and Focus modes. PresentPen does not have a separate Settings window. Open Quick Start & Shortcuts or Help & About PresentPen from its menu-bar icon for guidance.
What can I do with Shapes and Focus?
Shapes offers Line, Arrow, Rectangle, and Ellipse. Focus offers Laser for pointing, Spotlight to dim the surrounding screen, Flow to animate a path after you draw it, and Click Pulse to emphasize a spot without clicking the app underneath.
How does Pin differ from collapsing?
Pin keeps the toolbar open. Unpin enables Auto-hide, which retracts the controls while your ink stays visible. Manually collapsing with the PresentPen logo hides the ink as well; expand again to restore it.
Can I use an iPad?
PresentPen runs on your Mac. A compatible iPad can act as a Mac display through Apple’s Sidecar; this is not a separate iPad app. Apple Pencil can control and annotate the Mac display in Sidecar. Touch support depends on your macOS and iPadOS versions; see Apple’s current guidance below.
Sidecar requires a compatible Mac and iPad. It can connect wirelessly or by USB. See Apple’s Sidecar setup and compatibility guide.
I can’t find the floating toolbar.
Click the PresentPen icon in the macOS menu bar and choose the option to show the toolbar. The toolbar may also be collapsed to the small PresentPen logo.
Why can’t I click or advance my slides?
Drawing tools intentionally capture pointer input. Select Cursor or collapse PresentPen to interact normally with your slides, browser, or other application.
How do I annotate a projector or second display?
Use an extended desktop, then drag the PresentPen toolbar to the display you want to annotate. PresentPen’s canvas and existing annotations move with the toolbar. Other displays keep a normal cursor.
Why isn’t pen pressure changing the stroke?
Confirm that pressure response is enabled in PresentPen and that the tablet’s current macOS driver is installed. Pressure behavior depends on the tablet and driver. You can turn pressure response off whenever you prefer a consistent stroke.
What happens when I collapse the toolbar?
PresentPen returns to Cursor mode and temporarily hides the annotation canvas. Expanding it restores the canvas unless the annotations were cleared.
Are my annotations saved as a document?
No. PresentPen annotations are temporary and designed for live explanation. They are not uploaded or automatically saved as files.
Keyboard shortcuts
Hold Control + Command, then press the letter below. These shortcuts work while you present in other apps.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Cursor | ⌃⌘C Control Command C |
| Pen | ⌃⌘P Control Command P |
| Highlighter | ⌃⌘H Control Command H |
| Shapes | ⌃⌘S Control Command S |
| Focus | ⌃⌘L Control Command L |
| Eraser | ⌃⌘E Control Command E |
| Undo | ⌃⌘U Control Command U |
| Redo | ⌃⌘R Control Command R |
| Clear annotations | ⌃⌘X Control Command X |
| Toggle toolbar | ⌃⌘T Control Command T |
Shapes and Focus remember your last choice. Press and release the same shortcut again while that group is active to cycle through its four options.
Hover over toolbar controls for tips. You can also reopen Quick Start & Shortcuts from the menu-bar icon.
Trial, Full Unlock & Restore
Once PresentPen is available, open Trial & Full Unlock from its menu-bar icon. Choose Start 30-day Free Trial and confirm with Apple. The trial starts with that confirmation and does not automatically charge you.
Full Unlock is a separate one-time purchase for continued access to all current annotation tools. Your local price appears in the app before purchase. After the trial expires, existing ink remains visible, and Cursor, undo/redo, and clearing remain available.
To recover a purchase, choose Restore Purchases using the Apple Account that made it. Restoring a trial keeps its original end date.
If product information is unavailable, check your internet connection and choose Retry App Store. If a purchase still does not appear, contact support.