pencilkit

name pencilkit description Add Apple Pencil drawing with PKCanvasView, PKToolPicker, PKDrawing serialization/export, stroke inspection, and PencilKit/PaperKit handoffs. Use when building drawing apps, annotation features, handwriting capture, signature fields, content-version-safe ink workflows, or Apple Pencil-powered experiences on iOS/iPadOS/visionOS. PencilKit Capture Apple Pencil and finger input using PKCanvasView , manage drawing tools with PKToolPicker , serialize drawings with PKDrawing , and wrap PencilKit in SwiftUI. Contents Setup Capture-to-Export Workflow PKCanvasView Basics PKToolPicker PKDrawing Serialization Content Version Compatibility Exporting to Image Stroke Inspection SwiftUI Integration PaperKit Relationship Common Mistakes Review Checklist References Setup PencilKit requires no entitlements or Info.plist entries. Import PencilKit and create a PKCanvasView . import PencilKit Platform availability: iOS 13+, iPadOS 13+, Mac Catalyst 13.1+, visionOS 1.0+. Capture-to-Export Workflow Capture: Read canvasView.drawing from canvasViewDrawingDidChange(_:) ; keep the previous persisted revision until the new revision completes the remaining checkpoints. Serialize: Create dataRepresentation() , write atomically, and run the decode validate/fix/retry loop . Do not mark bytes valid when PKDrawing(data:) still throws. Version-gate: Apply Content Version Compatibility before editable sync. If the recipient cannot load the drawing, preserve the full-fidelity source and use an existing compatible fallback or read-only preview. Sync: Send only validated, compatible data and mark the revision synced after acknowledgement. On transport or conflict failure, retain the pending revision, resolve the cause, and retry without discarding the last good copy. Export: Validate a nonempty drawing region and intended scale before calling image(from:scale:) ; skip export on invalid bounds without altering the serialized drawing. PKCanvasView Basics PKCanvasView is a UIScrollView subclass that captures Apple Pencil and finger input and renders strokes. import PencilKit import UIKit class DrawingViewController : UIViewController , PKCanvasViewDelegate { let canvasView = PKCanvasView () override func viewDidLoad () { super .viewDidLoad() canvasView.delegate = self canvasView.drawingPolicy = .anyInput canvasView.tool = PKInkingTool (.pen, color: .black, width: 5 ) canvasView.frame = view.bounds canvasView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight] view.addSubview(canvasView) } func canvasViewDrawingDidChange ( _ canvasView : PKCanvasView ) { // Drawing changed -- save or process } } Drawing Policies Policy Behavior .default Respects UIPencilInteraction.prefersPencilOnlyDrawing when the tool picker is visible; otherwise Pencil-only .anyInput Both pencil and finger draw .pencilOnly Only Apple Pencil touches draw on the canvas canvasView.drawingPolicy = .pencilOnly Use .default for system-standard Pencil-primary canvases when the tool picker's drawing-policy control should follow the user's Pencil preference. Use .anyInput for signature pads, whiteboards, or explicit finger-drawing modes. Use .pencilOnly when finger input should never create strokes. Configuring the Canvas // Set a large drawing area (scrollable) canvasView.contentSize = CGSize (width: 2000 , height: 3000 ) // Enable/disable the ruler canvasView.isRulerActive = true // Set the current tool programmatically canvasView.tool = PKInkingTool (.pencil, color: .blue, width: 3 ) canvasView.tool = PKEraserTool (.vector) PKToolPicker PKToolPicker displays a floating palette of drawing tools. The canvas automatically adopts the selected tool. class DrawingViewController : UIViewController { let canvasView = PKCanvasView () let toolPicker = PKToolPicker () override func viewDidAppear ( _ animated : Bool ) { super .viewDidAppear(animated) toolPicker.addObserver(canvasView) toolPicker.setVisible( true , forFirstResponder: canvasView) canvasView.becomeFirstResponder() } } Custom Tool Picker Items Create a tool picker with specific tools. PKToolPicker(toolItems:) and custom tool picker item classes require iOS/iPadOS 18+, Mac Catalyst 18+, and visionOS 2+; those item classes are available on macOS starting in macOS 26. let toolPicker = PKToolPicker (toolItems: [ PKToolPickerInkingItem (type: .pen, color: .black, width: 5 ), PKToolPickerInkingItem (type: .pencil, color: .gray, width: 5 ), PKToolPickerInkingItem (type: .marker, color: .yellow, width: 12 ), PKToolPickerEraserItem (type: .vector), PKToolPickerLassoItem (), PKToolPickerRulerItem () ]) Ink Types Type Description .pen Smooth, pressure-sensitive pen .pencil Textured pencil with tilt shading .marker Semi-transparent highlighter .monoline Uniform-width pen .fountainPen Variable-width calligraphy pen .watercolor Blendable watercolor brush .crayon Textured crayon .reed Reed pen (iOS/iPadOS/macOS/visionOS 26+) Content Versions Use Content Version Compatibility as the single version map and compatibility gate for both the canvas and tool picker. PKDrawing Serialization PKDrawing is a value type (struct) that holds all stroke data. Serialize it to Data for persistence. // Save func saveDrawing ( _ drawing : PKDrawing ) throws { let data = drawing.dataRepresentation() try data.write(to: fileURL, options: .atomic) } // Load func loadDrawing () throws -> PKDrawing { let data = try Data (contentsOf: fileURL) return try PKDrawing (data: data) } Decode Validate/Fix/Retry Loop For synced or user-provided data: validate with PKDrawing(data:) ; on failure preserve the original bytes and fix the cause by refetching an intact revision or selecting a previously generated compatible copy; then retry the decode. Assign the drawing only after a successful retry. If recovery still fails, keep the source unchanged and show an error or available read-only preview instead of suppressing the failure with try? . do { canvasView.drawing = try PKDrawing (data: correctedData) // retry } catch { showReadOnlyPreview(for: document, loadError: error) } Combining Drawings var drawing1 = PKDrawing () let drawing2 = PKDrawing () drawing1.append(drawing2) // Non-mutating let combined = drawing1.appending(drawing2) Transforming Drawings let scaled = drawing.transformed(using: CGAffineTransform (scaleX: 2 , y: 2 )) let translated = drawing.transformed(using: CGAffineTransform (translationX: 100 , y: 0 )) Content Version Compatibility For sync, migration, downgrade, or cross-device editing tasks, use requiredContentVersion as the compatibility gate and choose an explicit maximumSupportedContentVersion when old clients must keep editing. let targetVersion: PKContentVersion = .version1 canvasView.maximumSupportedContentVersion = targetVersion toolPicker.maximumSupportedContentVersion = targetVersion switch drawing.requiredContentVersion { case .version1: // Older marker, pen, and pencil ink set syncEditable(drawing) case .version2: // iPadOS 17-era inks: monoline, fountain pen, watercolor, crayon syncIfRecipientsSupportVersion2(drawing) case .version3, .version4: // Later features such as barrel-roll data and Reed Pen syncEditableOnlyToCurrentClients(drawing) @unknown default : showReadOnlyPreview(for: drawing) } If a drawing requires a newer version than a recipient can load, preserve the full-fidelity PKDrawing for capable clients and provide a read-only preview or separate fallback instead of silently overwriting it. See references/pencilkit-patterns.md for the deeper compatibility table. Exporting to Image Generate a UIImage from a drawing. func exportImage ( from drawing : PKDrawing , scale : CGFloat = 2.0 ) -> UIImage { drawing.image(from: drawing.bounds, scale: scale) } // Export a specific region let region = CGRect (x: 0 , y: 0 , width: 500 , height: 500 ) let scale = UITraitCollection .current.displayScale let croppedImage = drawing.image(from: region, scale: scale) Stroke Inspection Access individual strokes, their ink, and control points. for stroke in drawing.strokes { let ink = stroke.ink print ( "Ink type: \(ink.inkType) , color: \(ink.color) " ) print ( "Bounds: \(stroke.renderBounds) " ) // Access path points let path = stroke.path print ( "Points: \(path.count) , created: \(path.creationDate) " ) // Interpolate along the path for point in path.interpolatedPoints(by: .distance( 10 )) { print ( "Location: \(point.location) , force: \(point.force) " ) } } Constructing Strokes Programmatically Load Constructing Strokes Programmatically only for generated ink paths; ordinary drawing and inspection do not need the advanced constructors. SwiftUI Integration Wrap PKCanvasView in a UIViewRepresentable for SwiftUI. import SwiftUI import PencilKit struct CanvasView : UIViewRepresentable { @Binding var drawing: PKDrawing @Binding var toolPickerVisible: Bool func makeUIView ( context : Context ) -> PKCanvasView { let canvas = PKCanvasView () canvas.delegate = context.coordinator canvas.drawingPolicy = .anyInput canvas.drawing = drawing context.coordinator.toolPicker.addObserver(canvas) return canvas } func updateUIView ( _ canvas : PKCanvasView , context : Context ) { if canvas.drawing != drawing { canvas.drawing = drawing } let toolPicker = context.coordinator.toolPicker toolPicker.setVisible(toolPickerVisible, forFirstResponder: canvas) if toolPickerVisible { canvas.becomeFirstResponder() } } func makeCoordinator () -> Coordinator { Coordinator ( self ) } class Coordinator : NSObject , PKCanvasViewDelegate { let parent: CanvasView let toolPicker = PKToolPicker () init ( _ parent : CanvasView ) { self .parent = parent super . init () } func canvasViewDrawingDidChange ( _ canvasView : PKCanvasView ) { parent.drawing = canvasView.drawing } } } For SwiftUI wrappers, set the input policy using the canonical Drawing Policies table. Usage in SwiftUI struct DrawingScreen : View { @State private var drawing = PKDrawing () @State private var showToolPicker = true var body: some View { CanvasView (drawing: $drawing , toolPickerVisible: $showToolPicker ) .ignoresSafeArea() } } PaperKit Relationship PaperKit (iOS 26+) extends PencilKit with a complete markup experience including shapes, text boxes, images, stickers, and loupes. Use the sibling paperkit skill when you need structured markup rather than only freeform drawing. Capability PencilKit PaperKit Freeform drawing Yes Yes Shapes & lines No Yes Text boxes No Yes Images & stickers No Yes Loupes No Yes Markup toolbar No Yes Markup insertion UI No MarkupEditViewController , MarkupToolbarViewController Data model PKDrawing PaperMarkup PaperKit uses PencilKit under the hood: PaperMarkupViewController accepts PKTool for its drawingTool property, and PaperMarkup can append a PKDrawing . Common Mistakes DON'T: Forget to call becomeFirstResponder for the tool picker The tool picker only appears when its associated responder is first responder. // WRONG: Tool picker never shows toolPicker.setVisible( true , forFirstResponder: canvasView) // CORRECT: Also become first responder toolPicker.setVisible( true , forFirstResponder: canvasView) canvasView.becomeFirstResponder() DON'T: Create multiple tool pickers for the same canvas One PKToolPicker per canvas. Creating extras causes visual conflicts. // WRONG func viewDidAppear ( _ animated : Bool ) { let picker = PKToolPicker () // New picker every appearance picker.setVisible( true , forFirstResponder: canvasView) } // CORRECT: Store picker as a property let toolPicker = PKToolPicker () DON'T: Ignore content versions for backward compatibility Apply the Content Version Compatibility gate to both the canvas and tool picker before syncing editable drawings. DON'T: Compare drawings by data representation dataRepresentation() is for persistence and interchange, not comparison. Use PKDrawing equality for exact value checks, and inspect strokes or rendered images for visual/approximate comparisons. // WRONG if drawing1.dataRepresentation() == drawing2.dataRepresentation() { } // CORRECT if drawing1 == drawing2 { } Review Checklist PKCanvasView.drawingPolicy follows the canonical policy table PKToolPicker stored as a property, not recreated each appearance canvasView.becomeFirstResponder() called to show the tool picker Canvas added as a PKToolPicker observer before showing the picker Drawing serialized via dataRepresentation() and loaded via PKDrawing(data:) canvasViewDrawingDidChange delegate method used to track changes maximumSupportedContentVersion set on both canvas and tool picker if backward compatibility is needed Custom tool picker item code guarded for iOS/iPadOS 18+ and visionOS 2+ Exported images use appropriate scale factor for the device SwiftUI wrapper avoids infinite update loops by checking drawing != binding Drawing bounds checked before image export (empty drawings have .zero bounds) References Extended PencilKit patterns (advanced strokes, content versions, delegates): references/pencilkit-patterns.md PencilKit framework PKCanvasView PKDrawing PKToolPicker PKInkingTool PKStroke Drawing with PencilKit Configuring the PencilKit tool picker