Templates panel
Short answer: Click the Templates button in the left tool rail. Pick a tab (Schemes, Structure sets or Reaction setups), then click a card. MolDraw adds the whole figure beside your drawing, and every part stays editable.
The Templates panel holds ready-made figures. You get mechanisms with curly arrows, named reactions, labelled structure sets and drawn lab setups. It is not the same as the structure library in the ring bar, which places one structure at a time.
- Click Templates in the left tool rail. Its icon is a page layout, after the drawing tools.
- Pick a tab at the top of the panel.
- Type in Search templates to filter the cards.
- Click a card. The card shows Adding while MolDraw draws it.
- The figure lands beside your drawing and the view zooms to fit. The panel stays open for the next pick.
Everything a template adds is normal canvas content. You can move, recolor or delete any atom, arrow or caption. One Ctrl+Z removes the whole template.
The tabs#
| Tab | What is in it | Categories |
|---|---|---|
| Schemes | Step by step mechanisms with curly arrows, such as Fischer esterification, SN2 substitution, Wittig reaction and Baeyer-Villiger oxidation | Mechanisms, Name reactions |
| Structure sets | Labelled sheets such as The 20 amino acids, Common lab solvents, Heterocycles, Well-known drugs, Reaction energy diagrams and Krebs cycle | Biochemistry, General chemistry, Lab reference, Materials, Medicinal, Natural products, Organic, Physical chemistry |
| Reaction setups | Drawn glassware with labels: Heating under reflux, Simple distillation, Dean-Stark water removal, Soxhlet extraction, Vacuum filtration, Liquid-liquid extraction, Reaction under nitrogen, Acid-base titration, Thin-layer chromatography, Recrystallisation: hot filtration, Melting point (oil bath) | Reaction setups |
| MolScript | A text box where you write your own scheme and curly arrows | None |
Hover a card to read a one line summary. The search matches the title, the category and the summary.
The panel shows a small PRO tag. Templates are free for now.
Browse all templates in a large window#
Click the expand button (two arrows) in the panel header. The All templates window opens.
- The side bar lists the tabs and their categories, each with a count.
- The cards are larger and show the summary.
- Press the arrow keys to move between cards and Enter to add one.
- From the search box, press Down to jump to the first card.
- Press Esc to clear the search, then again to close.
When you close the window, the panel keeps the tab and search you used.
Write your own scheme (MolScript tab)#
The MolScript tab is a small editor. Click Example to load a sample, edit it, then click Draw on canvas. Problems show as you type. Click Language guide for the syntax, or read the MolScript language page and the MolScript blog article.
On a phone or tablet#
The same Templates button opens the panel as a tall bottom sheet. When you tap a card, the sheet closes so you can see the new figure. The large browse window is a desktop feature.
Open a template from a link#
Add ?template= and a template id to the editor address. MolDraw draws that template once the editor has loaded.
https://www.moldraw.com/?template=wittig-reaction
Ids are lowercase words joined by hyphens, like fischer-esterification, aldol-condensation or setup-reflux. The reaction pages on the MolDraw site use these links on their Open full mechanism in MolDraw buttons. If the id is wrong, a message says the template was not found. See URL parameters for the other link options.
Tips#
- Only one left panel is open at a time. Opening Templates closes the Apparatus library and the Objects panel.
- Press Esc in the search box to clear it. Press it again to close the panel.
- The AI assistant can also search the templates and add one for you.
- To learn the arrow pushing behind a mechanism, read the curly arrow guide. To draw your own arrows, see curved arrow mechanisms.
Questions and answers
Are MolDraw templates free?
Yes. The panel shows a PRO tag, but every template is free to use for now.
Can I edit a reaction mechanism template?
Yes. Each template is drawn as ordinary atoms, bonds, arrows and text. Change any part, or press Ctrl+Z once to remove the whole figure.
How do I link to a mechanism in MolDraw?
Add ?template= and the template id to the editor address, for example moldraw.com/?template=wittig-reaction. MolDraw draws it when the page opens.
Where are the reaction setup drawings like reflux and distillation?
Open Templates in the left rail and pick the Reaction setups tab. It has eleven labelled setups, from reflux to melting point.
What is the difference between Templates and Library?
Library in the ring bar places single structures such as groups and ligands. Templates adds whole figures with titles, steps, arrows and labels.
Last updated: