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Annotate - Shapes & Additional Tool Options

Annotate - Shapes & Additional Tool Options

Learn how to annotate a document using shapes and other tools (such as callouts, stamps, and comments).
J
Written by Jocelyn Gombos
Updated over a week ago

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Shapes Tool Options

II. Additional Tool Options

I. Shapes Tool Options

The following Shape options also appear on the Annotate menu:

  • Free Hand

  • Free Hand Highlight

  • Rectangle

Please refer to Annotation Tools & Color Options in the Related Articles section.

The Shapes menu displays the following additional tools:

  • Arc: arced line

  • Arrow: line with arrowhead

  • Circle: circle or oval

  • Cloud: shape with scalloped sides

  • Line: straight line

  • Polygon: shape with three or more sides

  • Polyline: line with two or more points

Arc

To add an arc to a document:

  1. Click Arc in Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for arc

    1. To choose between red, black, blue, and green lines, click the Arc button showing the desired color

      1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

  3. Click on document to begin Arc

  4. Move mouse and click again to end Arc

Arrow

To add an arrow to a document:

  1. Click Arrow in Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for arrow

    1. To choose between red, black, blue, and green line, click the Arrow button showing the desired color

      1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

    2. To change direction or arrowhead style:

      1. Click the same Arrow button a second time

        1. Click the Arrow button showing the desired color a second time

        2. Click Style boxes at the bottom to display options

          1. Select direction of arrow by selecting the appropriate style option

            1. For double-side arrows, click desired arrowheads from both Style drop-downs

  3. Click and drag across document while holding down the mouse button until desired arrow length is reached

  4. Release mouse button to end arrow

Circle

To add a circle to a document:

  1. Click Circle in Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for circle

    1. To choose between red, black, blue, and green perimeter, click the Circle button showing the desired color

      1. For additional color and fill details, please refer to Related Articles

  3. Click and drag cursor across document while holding down the mouse button

  4. Release mouse button when circle reaches desired size

Cloud

To add a cloud to a document:

  1. Click Cloud in the Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for cloud

    1. To choose red, blue, black, or green, click the Cloud button showing the desired color

      1. For additional color and fill details, please refer to Related Articles

  3. Click on document to begin cloud

  4. Move mouse to first point and click

    1. Repeat until desired number of cloud lines is reached

    2. Move mouse to first point and click to close cloud

Line

To add a line to a document:

  1. Click Line in the Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for line

    1. To choose between red, black, blue, and green line, click the Line button showing the desired color

      1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

    2. To make an arrow using Line:

      1. Click the Line button showing the desired color twice

      2. Click the drop-down option below Style to choose which direction the arrow should point

        1. For double-sided arrow, make selection from both Style drop-downs

  3. Click and drag across document while holding down the mouse button until desired length is reached

  4. Release mouse button to end line

Polygon

To add a Polygon to a document:

  1. Click Polygon in Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for polygon

    1. To choose red, black, blue, or green lines click Polygon button showing desired color

      1. For additional color and fill details, please refer to Related Articles

  3. Click on document to begin polygon

  4. Move mouse to first point and click

    1. Repeat until desired number of polygon sides is reached

    2. Move mouse to first point and click to close polygon

Polyline

To add a Polyline to a document:

  1. Click Polyline in Shapes menu

  2. Choose color for Polyline

    1. To choose between red, black, blue, and green, click the Polyline button showing the desired color

      1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

    2. To make an arrow using Polyine:

      1. Click the Polyline button showing the desired color twice

      2. Click the drop-down option below Style to choose which direction the arrow should point

        1. For double-sided arrow, make selection from both Style drop-downs

  3. Click on document to begin Polyline

  4. Move mouse to first point and click

    1. Repeat until desired number of points is reached

    2. Double click to end Polyline

IV. Additional Options

The following tools can be accessed outside of the Annotate or Shapes menu:

  • Callout: text with border and bent arrow

  • Comment: speech bubble in document which expands side panel with added text (good for noting action items)

    • Comments include the ability to add a status to the comment

  • Link: link document text to URL or page in document

  • Stamp: stylized, pre-set text with color background

  • Create Custom Stamp: create stylized, custom text with color background

  • View Annotator: show annotation author

Callout

To add a callout to a document:

  1. Click on the document, then press the C button on keyboard

    1. The mouse will turn into a plus sign

      1. If here by mistake, press ESC (escape) on keyboard to cancel out of tool

    2. Choose callout color

      1. To choose between red, black, blue, and green box and arrow with default text options, click callout button showing the desired color

        1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

        2. Text options defaults to the following:

          • Color: Red

          • Size: 12 pt

          • Opacity: 100%

      2. To change text options:

        1. Click the callout button showing the desired box and arrow color twice

        2. Click Text

        3. Click desired text color

          1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

  2. Click on document where arrow should point to (while mouse looks like a plus sign)

    1. Move mouse to determine length and direction of arrow

      1. Once satisfied, click mouse again to commit location

    2. Move mouse again to determine the length of the line to text box and where text box should display

      1. Once satisfied, click mouse again to commit location

  3. Begin typing

    1. Options for text formatting will appear below typing area

    2. To edit after clicking out of text box, double click text area in text box

Comment

To add comment:

  1. Click on document, then press N button on keyboard

    1. The mouse will turn into a plus sign

      1. If here by mistake, press ESC (escape) on keyboard to cancel out of tool

    2. Choose comment icon color

      1. To choose between red, yellow, and green, click the Comment button showing the desired color

        1. For additional color details, please refer to Related Articles

  2. Click on document while mouse is like a plus sign

    1. Comment icon will display on document where moused was clicked

      1. Side panel and comment text box appear to the right

      2. Type desired text in the text box

      3. After typing has started, an Unposted Comment warning will display until the comment is saved:

  3. Click Save

  4. The comment will then display and show the number of comments made in this comment box

  5. A Status can also be associated with a comment

    1. Click the Status icon next to the user's name

      1. Select the appropriate drop-down option

      2. The icon changes based on status selected and the status is displayed as well as who set the status and when

      3. Note: statuses and replies remain in date / time order of when they occurred

Note: to edit comment statuses once set, please refer to Related Articles.

Link

Link selected text to URL of choice, or to another page in the document.

There are two ways to create a link on an annotated document:

  1. Link on document text

  2. Link on annotation

To link on document text:

  1. Click the Select button

  2. Click and drag cursor across text, while holding down the mouse button, to select desired area for link

    1. Release mouse button

  3. Click the Link button

    1. To link to URL:

      1. Click URL

      2. Type or paste URL in textbox

      3. Click Link

    2. To link to page:

      1. Click Page

      2. Type page number in textbox

      3. Click Link

To link on annotation:

  1. Navigate to document and open it

  2. Click Annotate or Shapes

  3. Click an annotation to select it

  4. Click the Link button

    1. To link to URL:

      1. Select URL

      2. Type or paste URL in text box

      3. Click Link

    2. To link to a page in the document:

      1. Select Page

      2. Type page number in text box

      3. Click Link

Stamp

To add a standard stamp to a document:

  1. Click on document, then press the Q button on keyboard

    1. The mouse will turn into a plus sign with the default stamp linked to it

      1. If here by mistake, press ESC (escape) on keyboard to cancel out of tool

  2. To select a different stamp then the default, click the drop-down option box that appears in the second tool bar at the top of the page

  3. Available options display (scroll to see all options)

    1. Click Standard or Custom

      1. If no custom stamps display, none have been created

      2. Please refer to Create Custom Stamp for more details

  4. Click on desired stamp

  5. Click on the area of the document for stamp location

  6. Once clicked, a side panel and comment text box appear to the right (follow the line from the stamp)

    1. Type in the text box if desired

      1. After typing has started, an Unposted Comment warning will display until the comment is saved

      2. Click Save

      3. The comment displayed on the side panel will have a picture of a stamp icon on it to denote that it is associated with a stamp

Create Custom Stamp

To create a custom stamp:

  1. Click on document, then press Q button on keyboard

    1. The mouse will turn into a plus sign with the default stamp linked to it

      1. If here by mistake, press ESC (escape) on keyboard to cancel out of tool

  2. Click the drop-down option box that appears in the second tool bar at the top of the page

  3. Click Custom

    1. Click Create new stamp

  4. Perform the following:

    1. Stamp text: type text to display on stamp

    2. Stamp text style:

      1. Style selections apply to all text in custom stamp

      2. Select Font

        1. Click drop-down below Font to display options

        2. Click desired font

      3. Select formatting options next to Font drop-down

        1. Click the desired options: Bold, Italics, Underlie, Strikeout

    3. Text color

      1. Default options are white and black

        1. For more color options:

          1. Click +

          2. Click desired color from grid or type in Hex Code

          3. Click OK and new color selection is added to default options

    4. Background color

      1. Click a default options of green, blue, and red or create custom

        1. For custom color options:

          1. Click +

          2. Click desired color from grid or type in Hex code

          3. Click OK and new color selection is added to default options

    5. Timestamp text

      1. Username — tick to include username of stamp annotator

      2. Date — tick to include date of stamp in each application

      3. Time — tick to include time of stamp in each application

      4. Date format — option only displays when Date, Time, or both are ticked

        1. Select desired date format from drop-down

  5. Click Create

  6. The mouse as a plus sign now has the custom stamp linked to it

    1. Click on the desired document location to place the custom stamp

    2. The new custom stamp is now available from the Custom stamp option for future use

View Annotator

To see who added an annotation, hover the cursor above it. The following information displays:

  • Creator

  • Date created on

  • Time created

  • Timezone of time displayed

Related Articles

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