About annotation effects

The following table summarizes the appearance of annotations.

Table 1. Appearance of annotations
Tools with markup effects only Highlight, Underline, Cross-out; Line, Rectangle, Pencil, Oval, Polygon, Polygon Line, Cloud
Tools with annotation effects only Note, Text Box
Tools with markup and annotation effect Callout, Insert text at cursor, Replace selected text, Add note to selected text
Tools with special effect Attach file, Attach sound

Commenting tools are offered on the Comment Toolbar. Text windows (if any) have the same color scheme as the associated markup effects. Right-click and select Properties to change future coloring.

Table 2. Commenting tools

Note icon
Note (without highlight)

A Note icon is placed and a Note text window pops up for you to type your note text:

While you are writing, a linking shape is displayed that connects the window with the icon. If you close the window and hover over the icon, the note text is displayed in a box.


Callout icon
Callout (special text box)
Place a somewhere in a clear place, point with the arrow to a certain object in your PDF and make your comments.



When done, both the callout and the text remain visible. The Text Box tool works practically the same way, but without the arrow.

Active Markup icon
Active Markup

Click the down arrow next to the Active Markup tool at Comment > Annotate to see its drop-down menu. The multi-purpose Text Markup tool at the top of the menu lets you show suggested changes. Click it, then:

  • Place a cursor and enter text, which shows up in an Inserted text caret (Inserted text caret).

  • Make a text selection and enter replacement text, which shows up in a Replacement text caret. The original text is crossed out (Replacement text caret).

  • Make a text selection and press Delete, the deleted text show up in a Cross-out caret (Cross-out caret).

The menu also offers three separate tools to add, delete or replace text.

  • Insert Text at Cursor

  • Replace Text

  • Cross-out

The Active Markup tool also offers tools that operate on a text selection.

  • Add Note to Selected Text – The selected text appears highlighted with a Note icon indicating there is a comment to it (Note icon with text highlight). Everything else is the same as for making a note, except for the text window name: here, it reads Comment on Text.

  • Highlight Selected Text – The selection gets highlighted, nothing else happens.

  • Underline Selected Text – The selection gets underlined, nothing else happens.


File icon
File

Find this at Comment > Attachments > Attachments. Use it to select a file to appear as an attachment at a defined point in your document. A file attachment icon shows the place:


File attachment icon

Double-click this icon to open the file. A note is linked to the icon, so you can enter text explaining the contents or purpose of the file. This text later appears along with your name as a pop-up to the attachment icon.


Audio icon
Audio

Find this at Comment > Attachments > Audio. Browse for the desired wav file and click Open. Replay it before attaching if you want to, and then click OK.

Note Click the red Record button to create an “empty” wav file, and then click OK to attach it.

A sound file attachment icon shows the place:


Audio attachment icon

Double-click this icon to start playing the file. A note is linked to the icon, so you can enter text explaining the contents or purpose of the file. This text later appears along with your name as a pop-up to the attachment icon.

See also: Attach File Tools.


Draw Tools icon
Draw tools

Use the tools in the drop-down list: Line, Rectangle, Pencil, Oval, Polygon, Polygon Line, or Cloud items to mark a place or area.

Drawing objects

They work practically the same way, so a note can be attached to a drawing object, it can be replied to and the object is listed in the Comments Panel.

Stamps can be considered as special annotation and markup tools with fully or partly fixed contents.

Remember that annotations are used to suggest changes only: use the Edit Object Tool to actually make limited changes directly in the PDF document. Use Advanced Edit mode or convert the file to an editable format to make larger changes.

Tip Annotations can be chosen to become part of a PDF prior to distribution with the command Flatten Document. This means the selected elements are transformed from annotations to document objects and are removed from the Comments Panel list.