Your figure is almost done — but it's missing one thing. A reviewer wants an arrow showing the direction of signaling, the diagram needs a label on the structure you forgot, or your pathway is missing a step between two boxes. You don't have to redraw the whole figure to add it. With an AI-native figure tool you simply tell the AI what to add and where, and it inserts the new element into the existing image while keeping everything else exactly as it was. This guide shows you how to add an element to a figure, add a label to a diagram, and add an arrow to a figure with AI — no design software, no selection handles, no starting over.
By the end of this guide you'll be able to:
- Add a label to a diagram with a leader line pointing to exactly the right spot.
- Add an arrow to a figure — directional, activation, or inhibition — to show flow and relationships.
- Add a new element like an organelle, cell, molecule, panel, or step to an existing figure.
- Add annotations such as scale bars, panel letters, captions, and callouts.
- Add to a figure without redrawing it, so you never lose the parts you already like.
Every addition below is made by typing one sentence into the SciDraw AI editor — the AI figure editor where your image is the canvas and language is the tool.
Why adding is safer than regenerating
When a figure is missing one piece, the instinct is to rewrite the whole prompt and generate again. The problem: a full regeneration shifts the layout, recolors elements, and sometimes re-rolls labels you'd already fixed. Adding is a targeted edit — the AI keeps the existing image intact and inserts only the new element. That means the organelle you carefully placed, the colors you chose, and the arrows you already corrected all stay put. The skill is the same as any good figure edit: be specific about what to add, where it goes, and .
