Tactics Board View is a professional coaching and analysis tool for all levels of Soccer on iPad and Mac. Use it to build formations, design set pieces, annotate tactical plays, manage team rosters, and present your ideas on screen or an external display.

Your board is saved automatically as you work — there is no save button and nothing to lose. Every change is preserved and can be undone.

What’s on the board

Auto-save

Every change you make is saved to your device within a fraction of a second. When you re-open the app your last board is restored exactly as you left it, including zoom level and selected tools.

Mac layout

Left Sidebar — Tool Reference

Every icon in the left sidebar, from top to bottom:

iPad layout

Pan and Zoom

Zoom ranges from 1× (full pitch view) up to 6× for detailed work. Press ⌘0 at any time to snap back to the default full-pitch view.

Pitch Orientations

Switch orientation from the toolbar picker or press ⌘⇧O to cycle through all four options.

Visibility Toggles

Each layer can be shown or hidden independently. This is useful for gradually revealing a tactic or isolating one team’s movement.

Flip Vertical

Swaps which team is at the top and which is at the bottom of the pitch in a single action. Useful for switching perspective mid-session or when presenting to the other team.

Pitch Styles

Nine visual styles are available. Access them in the tactics menu.

Field Zones Overlay

Toggle a 18-zone tactical grid over the pitch to discuss positional zones with your players.

• Show or hide the overlay independently of all other layers
• Toggle zone numbers on/off (useful when zones are self-explanatory in context)
• Opacity control — slide from fully transparent to fully opaque so it doesn’t overpower the tokens

Perspective Mode

Perspective Mode adds a 3D tactical-board look by tilting the pitch and dynamically adjusting token depth so far-side players appear smaller and near-side players appear larger.

• Enable Perspective — turns the effect on/off instantly.
• Perspective — controls pitch tilt intensity (board foreshortening).
• Token Angle — controls token counter-tilt so circles, cards, and kits stay readable as pitch tilt increases.
• Background — choose Solid or Gradient while in Perspective Mode.

Preset Formations

Tactics Board View includes 15 built-in formations for both teams.

Select a formation from the Team panel. The formation applies to the selected side (Top or Bottom). The other side is unaffected.

Applying a Formation Mid-Session

You can change formation at any time — it snaps all tokens back to the default positions for that formation.

Custom Formations

Build any shape you like and save it as a named custom formation for reuse.

1. Drag tokens to the positions you want for your formation.

2. Open the Tactics panel and tap Save Current.

3. Give it a name (e.g. “High Press 4-3-3”) and confirm.

4. Your custom formation now appears in the formation picker alongside the presets.

Loading a Roster into a Formation

If you have a roster set up, you can load players directly into a formation in one step. Their names, numbers, and photos are applied automatically. Position roles (LB, RW, ST, etc.) are used to intelligently assign players to the correct slots.

1. Open the Team panel on the side you want to populate.

2. Select your team from the roster list.

3. Tap Load to Board. Players are placed in the formation with role-aware positioning. You can change the formation any time in the Tactics panel.

Token Styles

Token style is set per-side. The Top team and Bottom team can each use a different style independently.

Circle Token — Centre Content

• Number — shows the player’s shirt number
• Position — shows the position code (GK, LB, CM, ST, etc.)
• Photo — shows a cropped player headshot (requires photo in roster)
• Team Logo — shows the team crest

You can set the scope of this preference: apply to Both sides, or independently to Top or Bottom only.

Photo fallback — if a player has no photo, the token falls back to Number, Position, or Team Logo (your choice in Settings).

Token Colours

Ten preset colours plus a full custom colour picker:

Colours apply to all tokens on a side at once. Individual tokens can have their colour locked so they keep their colour when the side colour changes — useful for marking goalkeepers or key players.

Token Size

• Token scale — slider from 0.6× to your configured maximum (1.2× to 3.0×, set in Settings)
• Card scale — separate slider for card-style tokens, 0.5× to 3.5×

Adding Tokens on the Pitch

You can add new tokens directly from the pitch context menu while using the Select tool:

• Mac Right-click an empty area of the pitch, then choose Add Token → Add Top Token or Add Bottom Token
• iPad Long-press an empty area of the pitch, then choose Add Token → Add Top Token or Add Bottom Token

New tokens are created with the current side style and colour settings, and can be moved immediately.

Moving Tokens

Multi-Select

Select multiple tokens to move a group together. Activate multi-select mode from the toolbar button or ⌘⇧M on Mac, then tap each token you want to include. Drag any selected token to move the entire group.

Token Context Menu

Right-click a token (Mac) or long-press (iPad) for quick actions:

• Edit player details (name, number, position)
• Clone Token (creates a ghost token at 70% opacity)
• Adjust Photo if loaded
• Change Token colour
• Delete token

Clone Tokens

By default, applying a formation resets all tokens to their formation positions. When a token is cloned it becomes a free-roaming token — it stays exactly where you placed it. Useful for showing a striker’s personal movement pattern within a formation.

Card Token Options

When using Card style, additional options are available in the token editor:

• Photo placement — zoom and pan the player’s photo within the card frame
• Card frame style — Classic Square background or background removed
• Name band style — Gradient or Solid background
• Numbers — Toggle on/off in Tactics Panel

The drawing tools live in the vertical strip on the left side of the canvas. Click or tap any tool to activate it. The panel on the right updates to show that tool’s options.

Working with Drawings

Lines and Arrows share the same option set. An Arrow is simply a Line with a filled arrow as the end cap — you can convert between them by changing the end cap style.

Drawing a Line

1. Select the Line (L) or Arrow (A) tool.

2. Click or tap on the pitch to set the start point.

3. Drag to the end point and release.

Curved Lines (Bézier)

After drawing a line, select it with the Select tool. Two control point handles appear on the line. Drag these handles to bend the line into a curve. This creates a cubic Bézier curve — perfect for curved run lines and through-ball paths.

Line Options

Start and End Caps

Both ends of a line can have an independent cap style:

Right-Click Options (Lines & Arrows)

Right-click a line or arrow on Mac, or long-press on iPad, to access additional options:

Shapes — Circle, Square, and Triangle — work identically. Draw them by dragging. After drawing, use the Select tool to reposition, resize, and rotate them.

Shape Options

Fill Patterns

10 fill patterns are available when fill is enabled:

Right-Click Options (Shapes)

Right-click a shape on Mac, or long-press on iPad, to access additional options:

Tap on the pitch with the Text tool active to place a text label. A cursor appears immediately — start typing. Tap outside the label to finish editing.

Text Options

Moving and Rotating Text

Switch to the Select tool after placing a text label. Drag to reposition it. A rotation handle appears above the label — drag it to rotate the text to any angle. Rotation snaps to 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° when within 10° of a cardinal angle.

Freehand Drawing

Select the Freehand tool (F) and draw freely on the pitch like a whiteboard marker. Choose your colour and width in the panel.

• Any colour from the picker
• Any stroke width
• Renders above all other layers

Eraser

Select the Eraser tool (E) to erase freehand strokes by drawing over them. The eraser size is adjustable — use a larger eraser to clear areas quickly, a smaller one for precision.

Double-tapping the canvas while in freehand mode instantly switches to the eraser and back — no need to reach for the toolbar during a live session.

Clear All Freehand

A Clear Freehand button in the Freehand panel removes all freehand strokes at once. This is undoable.

You can import PNG or JPEG images and place them as overlays on the pitch — useful for pressing diagrams, heatmaps, zone reference images, or club logos.

Importing an Image

There are three ways to import an image:

The image is placed at the centre of the pitch at 20% of pitch width by default.

Image Controls

Lock Position

Right-click (Mac) or long-press (iPad) any placed image and choose Lock Position to pin it to the pitch. A locked image cannot be dragged accidentally but can still be selected, resized, rotated, and styled. Choose Unlock Position from the same menu to make it moveable again.

This is especially useful when you’ve placed a heatmap or reference diagram precisely and want to draw over it without accidentally nudging it during a session.

Remove Background (Imported Images)

You can remove the background from any imported pitch image via the image context menu:

1. Select the image on the pitch.

2. Right-click (Mac) or long-press (iPad) the image.

3. Choose Edit Image → Remove Background.

4. Pick a mode: Person (best for people) or Subject (best for non-human objects/logos).

5. Pick a strength: Soft, Balanced, or Strong.

• Person mode uses human segmentation for photos with people.
• Subject mode uses foreground instance masking for non-human images.
• If a cutout result is too weak, the app keeps your original image instead of replacing it.

Tip: Start with Soft for faces and detailed logos, then increase to Balanced or Strong only if needed.

Two independent features help you manage lines, shapes, and images once they are placed on the pitch: Lock Position prevents anything from being moved accidentally, and Group Drawings ties multiple lines and shapes together so they always move and select as one unit.

Lock Position

Lock Position pins any line, shape, or imported image to its current location on the pitch. A locked element:

• Cannot be dragged or moved by gesture
• Can still be selected and tapped
• Can still have its style edited (colour, fill, width, opacity)
• Can still be deleted
• Is instantly unlocked from the same context menu at any time

How to Lock or Unlock a Line, Shape, or Image

1. Switch to the Select tool.

2. Tap the line, shape, or image to select it.

3. Right-click it on Mac, or long-press it on iPad.

4. Tap Lock Position to lock it, or Unlock Position to release it.

Group Drawings

Grouping links two or more lines and shapes so they behave as a single unit. Once grouped:

• Tapping any member of the group selects the entire group
• Dragging any member moves the entire group together
• Each member still has its own style — colour, width, and fill stay independent
• The group can be ungrouped at any time to restore individual control

How to Group Drawings

1. Switch to the Select tool.

2. Tap the Multi-Select button in the toolbar to turn it on — it shows Multi-Select On when active.

3. Tap each line or shape you want in the group. Each tap adds it to the selection — a second tap on the same item removes it.

4. Once all items are selected, long-press (iPad) or right-click (Mac) any one of them.

5. Tap Group Drawings in the context menu.

6. Turn Multi-Select off. The items are now grouped — tapping any one selects all of them.

How to Ungroup Drawings

1. Tap any member of the group to select the whole group.

2. Right-click (Mac) or long-press (iPad) any selected item.

3. Tap Ungroup Drawings.

4. Each item is now independent again and can be moved separately.

Combining Lock and Group

Lock and Group work well together. For example:

• Group a set of shapes that define a defensive block
• Lock the group’s position so it stays in place during a live session
• Draw run lines freely on top — nothing in the block will shift
• Unlock the position when you want to reposition the whole block as one unit

To lock a grouped set, tap any member (which selects all), then right-click or long-press and choose Lock Position. This locks every member of the group individually, so even if items are later ungrouped they each stay locked.

Any line, arrow, or shape can be saved as a preset. Presets remember the stroke’s style, colour, width, caps, and fill — everything except its position on the pitch.

Saving a Preset

1. Draw a stroke or shape and style it exactly how you want it.

2. Right-click the stroke (Mac) or long-press it (iPad).

3. Choose Save as Preset.

4. The preset now appears in the Drawing Presets section of the Line panel.

Using a Preset

Tap a preset in the panel to immediately place a copy of that stroke style on the canvas, ready to position. You can store up to 36 presets.

A Set Piece is a complete snapshot of your board — every token, drawing, formation, and annotation — saved under a name so you can return to it instantly. Build your entire tactical library here.

Saving the Current Board as a Set Piece

1. Set up the board exactly as you want it — tokens, drawings, everything.

2. Open the Set Pieces panel (last icon in the tools strip).

3. Tap Save Current Board.

4. Enter a name and select or create a category.

5. Tap Save. A thumbnail is generated automatically.

Loading a Set Piece

Tap any saved set piece in the list to load it onto the board. The current board is replaced (but you can undo this). You can also overwrite an existing set piece with the current board state.

Categories

Organise your set pieces into categories. Preset categories include:

Create your own custom categories (e.g. “Free Kicks”, “vs. High Press Teams”) and move set pieces between them. Categories can be renamed and deleted.

Set Piece Operations

• Duplicate — create a copy to modify without changing the original
• Overwrite — update an existing set piece with the current board
• Reorder — drag to reorder within a category
• Delete — remove a set piece permanently
• Export — share as a .tacticsPiece or .tacticsPieces file
• Import — load a set piece file shared by a colleague or from another device

Exporting Set Pieces

Export set pieces individually or in batch (by selection or by category). Exported files preserve full board fidelity — all tokens, drawings, and settings — and can be imported on any device running Tactics Board View. This is a great way to share tactical work with your staff for further editing.

The Roster stores your teams and players separately from the tactical board. Once your squad is built, you can load players into any formation with one tap, and their names, numbers, positions, and photos appear on the tokens.

Creating a Team

1. Open the Roster panel.

2. Tap Add Team and enter the team name, league, and country.

3. Optionally set a primary colour — this is used for kit token colouring.

4. Add players to the team (see below).

5. Mark the team as My Team or Opponent to organise your list.

Adding Players

For each player you can set:

Player Photos

Photos are stored at full resolution and automatically resized to an appropriate size for rendering. Two photo variants can be stored per player:

• Standard photo — the original imported image
• Cutout photo — a background-removed PNG with transparency for clean display in card tokens

Enable Auto Cutout in Settings to automatically remove backgrounds from photos when they are imported.

For each photo you can adjust the zoom and pan within both the card frame and the circle token frame independently.

Importing Photos on Mac

On Mac there are two ways to drag photos directly into the roster — no file picker needed:

Importing Players from CSV

Load your entire squad from a spreadsheet exported from your club’s management software.

1. Prepare a CSV file with columns for first_name, last_name, number, and position. A pre-made CSV template can also be exported once a team has been created.

2. In the Roster panel, tap Import CSV.

3. Select your CSV from the file picker.

4. Confirm the import. Players are added to the selected team.

The CSV importer accepts a wide range of column name variations and starting XI indicators (1, yes, true, x, ✓ all work). When importing into a team with fewer than 11 players, added players are also auto-marked as Starting XI until the team reaches 11 starters.

Exporting Your Roster

Export a team as a .tacticsTeam file to share it with an assistant or colleague, or to move it to another device. Export multiple teams as a .tacticsTeams bundle. Photos & Team Logo are included in the export.

Photo Auto-Assignment Sensitivity

When using the auto-assign banner (Mac) or loading photos to the board, Tactics Board View matches image filenames to players by last name. Control how strictly the match must score before a photo is assigned:

• Strict — only high-confidence matches are applied
• Balanced — the default, good accuracy with few mismatches
• Loose — applies more matches, useful when filenames contain extra words or abbreviations

This setting only affects the auto-assign banner and board-load matching. Dragging a photo directly onto a player’s picture slot always assigns to that player regardless of sensitivity.

Image Export (PNG / JPEG)

Export the board as a high-resolution flat image.

1. Tap the Export button in the toolbar (or File → Export on Mac).

2. Choose PNG (lossless, best quality) or JPEG (smaller file).

3. Choose which layers to include — toggle tokens, drawings, ball, names, numbers independently.

4. Set the export scale multiplier (0.75× to 2.0×). 2× gives the sharpest result for presentations.

5. Tap Export and choose where to save or share the file.

Perspective Exports

Exports always match your current board mode:

• Perspective ON — exported PNG/JPEG/PDF keeps the 3D pitch tilt and token depth look.
• Perspective OFF — exported files use the standard flat tactical board view.

Presentation tools let you show your board live on a screen, projector, or TV while continuing to control the session from your device. On Mac, Present opens the clean pitch on the selected display. On iPad, you can choose between Present and Mirror depending on the setup you want.

Starting a Presentation

1. Connect an external display via HDMI, DisplayPort, or AirPlay (Mac), or use AirPlay / a cable adapter (iPad).

2. Choose your presentation mode from the toolbar.

3. Present opens the clean audience view on the external display.

4. Mirror sends the same pitch-canvas presentation path to the external display and keeps the iPad in a simplified presentation layout.

5. Continue working on your device — token moves, drawings, and freehand updates appear live on the connected display.

Recommended Present Mode Setup

• Use a wired external display when possible for the most stable motion and lowest latency.
• If using AirPlay, prefer a strong dedicated Wi-Fi network and keep the presenter device close to the receiver.
• Prepare your board before going live: load teams, set piece, and pitch orientation first.
• During live presentation, focus on token movement and minimal tool switching for the smoothest interaction.
• When presentation ends, controls and normal editing behavior return automatically on your device.

Choosing Between Present and Mirror on iPad

• Present is the clean audience view. The external display shows only the pitch while the iPad keeps the full editor.
• Mirror is the stability-first option. The external display uses the same pitch-canvas render path as the iPad, which can feel steadier during live movement and zooming.
• Only one mode can be active at a time. Tapping the active button turns it off.
• Both modes require an external display connection on iPad.

Presentation Controls

A small overlay appears on your device — not on the external display — giving you quick access to drawing tools without switching windows. In Present mode, players on the big screen see only the clean pitch. In Mirror mode, the iPad switches to a simplified presentation layout while keeping the same board live on the external display.

• Select — move tokens and interact with the board
• Freehand — draw live annotations on top of the board
• Clear Freehand — wipe all freehand strokes instantly

What Shows on the External Display

The presentation view renders the full board including:

• All player tokens and the ball
• All drawn lines, shapes, and text labels
• Freehand annotations drawn during the session
• Placed pitch images (heatmaps, diagrams, logos)
• Perspective Mode — if enabled, the 3D tilt and depth effect show correctly on the external display, including all text labels and drawings

Tokens, drawings, and images all scale to match the external display resolution automatically.

Display Fit

Presentation Mode automatically fits the pitch to the connected display while preserving pitch proportions. No extra aspect-ratio setting is required.

How Remote Control Works

The Mac remains the source of truth. The controller does not take over the presentation display and does not render the audience screen itself. Instead, the controller sends input commands to the Mac, the Mac updates the real board, and the Mac presentation window stays smooth, clean, and full fidelity.

• Presentation priority: the external display is always driven by the Mac for the best quality and frame rate.
• Controller preview: the iPad or second Mac receives a live compressed preview so the presenter can see what they are controlling.
• Fresh state recovery: the controller has an Update Screen button that asks the Mac to resend the current board state and a fresh video keyframe.

Setting Up the Host (Mac)

The host is the Mac connected to the projector, TV, or presentation display. It advertises the remote session and applies every command the controller sends.

1. Make sure your Mac and the controller device are on the same Wi-Fi network.

2. Start a presentation by clicking the Present button in the toolbar. The audience display opens on your connected screen.

3. In the main toolbar — next to the Present button — click Remote Control (the Wi-Fi icon). A popover opens with a QR code and a 6-digit pairing code.

4. The board is now advertised to nearby devices. The button label changes to Ready and pulses to indicate it is broadcasting.

5. When the controller requests to connect, an Allow / Deny prompt appears. Click Allow to approve the session.

6. Once approved, the toolbar shows the session as connected and the popover shows the controller’s device name. Controller actions update the presentation in real time.

Joining as Controller (iPad or second Mac)

The controller is the iPad or second Mac used to drive the presentation remotely. It shows a live preview of the board and sends every gesture directly to the host.

1. Make sure you are on the same Wi-Fi network as the host Mac.

2. In the Tactics Board toolbar, tap or click Join Remote (the iPad icon). The browser sheet opens and immediately scans for nearby sessions.

3. Option A — QR code on iPad: tap Scan QR Code and point the camera at the code shown in the host’s Remote Control popover. The app connects automatically once the host approves.

4. Option B — Select the host name: when it appears in the Nearby Boards list, tap or click it, type the 6-digit code shown on the host, then tap or click Connect. After a successful pairing, that host may appear as Reconnect so you can join faster next time.

5. Wait for the host to click Allow. The controller view opens with a live board preview and the full control toolbar.

Using the Controller Board View

Once connected, the controller shows a live Mac-rendered preview of the board. Every action you take is sent to the host and reflected on the presentation display immediately.

Top Bar

Bottom Toolbar

Moving Players & the Ball

1. Make sure Move is selected in the tool picker at the bottom (the default).

2. Drag any player token to reposition it. The player moves live on the presentation display as you drag.

3. Drag the white ball to move it anywhere on the pitch.

4. Pinch to zoom and drag to pan — the presentation display follows your viewport in real time.

Drawing Live Annotations

1. Tap Draw in the tool picker at the bottom of the controller view.

2. Pick a colour from the colour row that appears.

3. Draw freely on the pitch — strokes appear live on the presentation display as you draw.

4. Tap Clear to remove freehand strokes from the live board.

5. Switch back to Move mode to interact with tokens again.

Loading Set Pieces

1. Tap or click Set Pieces in the bottom toolbar. A list of set pieces from the host appears.

2. Tap or click a set piece to load it. The host applies the board state and sends confirmation back to the controller.

3. A brief notification (“Loaded: Corner”) confirms success. If the set piece is no longer on the host, an error notification appears instead.

Changing Pitch View

Tap or click the Pitch View menu to switch between Full, Wide, Top Half, and Bottom Half. The presentation display and the controller preview both update instantly. If you change views and set pieces very quickly and the controller preview falls behind, tap Update Screen.

Undo

Board-changing controller actions, including player moves, ball moves, drawings, pitch view changes, and set-piece loads, create standard undo steps on the host. The host operator can undo using ⌘Z to step back through those remote actions.

Ending the Session

Requirements & Limitations

Troubleshooting

General

Token Sizing

Circle Tokens

Roster & Photos

Export

Performance

Unlock & Purchase

Reset

Data Management

Drawing Tools

Visibility Toggles

Pitch & View

Editing

App

Build a Formation from Scratch

1. Open the Tactics panel and select a preset formation as your starting point (e.g. 4-3-3).

2. Drag individual tokens to adjust their positions for your specific shape.

3. Use multi-select (⌘⇧M) to move a defensive line up or back as a unit.

4. Once satisfied, tap Save Current and give it a name.

5. Your formation is now saved and available for both teams in future sessions.

Design an Attacking Set Piece

1. Switch to Top Half orientation for a larger detailed view of the attacking zone.

2. Position your tokens in the corner kick or free kick starting positions.

3. Use the Arrow tool to draw run lines for each player. Use dashed lines for decoy runs and solid lines for primary movements.

4. Add text labels to number the phases (e.g. “Phase 1”, “Phase 2”). Cloning a token is also useful for this scenario.

5. Use a shape (circle or rectangle with low-opacity fill) to highlight the target zone.

6. Open the Set Pieces panel and tap Save Current Board. Name it and assign to the “Set Pieces” category.

Load Your Squad into a Formation

1. Go to the Roster panel and ensure your team and players are set up with names, numbers, and positions.

2. Select your team from the roster list.

3. Tap Load to Board. Players are intelligently placed — LBs go to the left, RWs to the right, GK at the back, etc.

4. Switch to Card style in the Token Style picker to show player photos and names.

Run a Live Tactical Session

1. Connect your Mac or iPad to a screen or TV via HDMI or AirPlay.

2. Tap Present to send the clean pitch view to the external display.

3. Load your first set piece from the Set Pieces panel — it appears on the TV instantly.

4. Use the Freehand tool to annotate live during discussion.

5. Tap the next set piece to advance — no animations, no loading screens, instantaneous updates.

6. When done, tap the Present button again to end the presentation.

Export for Social Media or a Team App

1. Prepare the board with the formation and annotations you want to share.

2. Use visibility toggles to hide any layers you don’t want in the image (e.g. hide the opposition team).

3. Tap Export and select PNG or JPG.

4. On Mac, save to your clipboard or desktop. On iPad, the share sheet appears to send directly to Messages, WhatsApp, or your team app.

Import Your Squad from a Spreadsheet

1. Prepare a CSV file with columns for first_name, last_name, number, and position. A pre-made CSV template can also be exported once a team has been created — use this as your starting point.

2. Open the Roster panel and select or create the team you want to import into.

3. Tap Import CSV and select your file from the file picker.

4. Confirm. Players are added immediately. If the team has fewer than 11 players, newly imported players are auto-marked as Starting XI until 11 are set. You can then add photos per player from your camera roll.

Create a Movement Marker (Clone Token)

Show a player’s movement from one position to another using a ghost token at the origin point.

1. Position the player token where you want them to move to.

2. Right-click / long-press the token and choose Clone Token.

3. A faded (70% opacity) copy of the token appears. You can move the cloned token anywhere you wish.

4. Draw an arrow from the clone token to the live token to show the run path.