Comments and markup

This article shows you how to mark up a PDF with the tools on the Comment tab: highlights, underlines, strikethroughs, callouts, notes, drawings and stamps. The markup tools are available in every edition. Summarize and Find in PDFs require the Pro edition.

The Comment tab

Open a PDF and click the Comment tab. The text markup tools are on the left. They are followed by Note, Drawing, the measuring tools, the marking tools, Stamp, Summarize, Find in PDFs and Apply Changes.

New markings stay pending until you apply them. The count appears on the Apply button in the tab bar and under Changes in the right panel.

Mark up text

1. Click Highlight, Underline or Strike.
2. Drag across the text you want to mark. Start and end the drag on letters, not on empty space.
3. Repeat for other text. Press Esc to stop.

You can also select text first with Select Text, then click Highlight, Underline or Strike.

To mark an area that is not text, such as part of an image or a signature, click Highlight Area and drag a box on the page.

You can drag a new marking to move it. Drag the handles on its corners or sides to resize it.

Add free text

Click Typewriter, click on the page and type. The right panel offers font, size, color and line spacing options. See Edit text and objects for details.

Callouts

A callout is a text box with an arrow that points to a specific spot on the page.

1. Click the arrow next to Callout and choose a color. The Cloudy styles give the box a wavy border.
2. Click the spot the arrow should point to.
3. Click where the text box should go. A text editor opens directly on the page.
4. Type your comment. The text also appears in the Callout text box in the right panel.
5. Press Ctrl+Enter or click outside the box to finish. Press Esc to restore the text you had before editing.

To edit the callout text again, choose Hand and double-click the callout. With Hand, you can also move and resize the callout. Enlarge the box if long text does not fit.

Notes

1. Click Note.
2. Click on the page where the note should go. A note icon appears and the Note panel opens.
3. Type the note in Comment. Change Author if needed.
4. Click Close to close the panel.

The panel shows the Created and Updated times. Click the note icon to open it again. Click Delete note to remove it. Save the PDF to keep the note.

Drawings and shapes

Drawing contains Arrow, Rectangle and Pencil. Choose a shape and a color, then drag on the page. Choose Hand to move or resize it.

Stamps

1. Click the arrow next to Stamp. A gallery of stamp previews opens.
2. Click the stamp you want.
3. Click on the page to place it.

The Stamp panel also shows every stamp. There you can create your own stamps:

• Custom text…: type your own stamp text, up to 24 characters, instead of the template label.
• Dynamic: adds today's date and a name under the stamp. Select Date to show the date, then type a name or department in the box next to it.

Set the Dynamic options before you click the page. After placing it, you can move and resize the stamp with Hand until you apply your changes.

Measure

Distance, Perimeter and Area measure lengths, perimeters and areas on the page. Each has a gallery of seven colors.

1. Choose a measuring tool and its color.
2. Set the drawing scale when asked.
3. For Distance, click the two endpoints. For Perimeter and Area, click each corner, then press Enter or double-click to finish.
4. Press Esc to cancel.

These simple measurements do not become BOQ items. For takeoffs and reports, see Engineering review.

Manage markings

• Undo Marking removes the last marking on the current page.
• Clear Markings removes every marking you have not applied yet.
• Right-click a marking with Hand for more actions, such as Move to Page… or Delete.

Summarize and search comments

Requires Pro edition or higher

• Summarize opens the Annotation Summary panel. Drop a reviewed PDF on the panel, or click the area to choose a file. Farino PDF collects every highlight, note and mark into one readable summary page.
• Find in PDFs opens the Find in Many Files panel to search for a word across many PDFs at once. The active PDF is added to the list automatically. Click Add files to add more, type the word in Search for, then click Search. Select Whole words only to match complete words.

Apply changes

1. Check all markings on the page.
2. Click Apply Changes, or Apply in the right panel.
3. Save the PDF with Save (Ctrl+S).

After you apply them, highlights, callouts, drawings and stamps become part of the PDF content. Use Undo (Ctrl+Z) if the result is not right. Save also includes markings you have not applied yet.