Getting Started with SCIDraw

Click Sign in / Register in the top-right corner. Enter your email and a password (minimum 8 characters). Click Send code and check your inbox for a 6-digit verification code.

Common issue: the verification email may land in your spam folder. Add support@scidrawio.com to your contacts to ensure delivery.

If you registered with a academic email (ending in .edu, .ac.uk, .edu.au, .ac.jp, or similar), you'll automatically receive 24 hours of free VIP — no application needed.

Non-academic emails (Gmail, Outlook, institutional emails on .org / .cn domains) may also qualify — our system uses AI to verify research institutions. If your verification is pending, check the My Submissions page in your account.

From your Workspace, click New project. The editor opens with a blank canvas. You'll see four key panels:

• Left sidebar: Templates, Icons, AI Generate, Upload
• Top toolbar: Undo/Redo, Save, Export, Layers
• Main canvas: your drawing area (pan with spacebar + drag, zoom with scroll)
• Right sidebar: object properties (position, size, color, stroke)

Try these three ways to add content:

• Drag an icon: open the Icons panel, search "mitochondria" or "arrow", and drag any icon onto the canvas.
• Drop a template: open Templates, click any template — it loads as an editable starting point.
• Generate with AI: open AI Generate, type a description (see AI Generation guide), wait 30–60 seconds, and the result appears as editable SVG.

Press Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S on Mac) to save. Projects auto-save every 10 seconds while you work, but a manual save ensures the latest state is committed.

To export, click the Export button in the top toolbar. Choose SVG (editable in Illustrator/Inkscape), PNG (300 DPI by default), or PDF. See the Export guide for journal-specific DPI requirements.