10.5: Annotate non-PDF (raster) images in Preview

Jul 08, '08 07:30:03AM

Contributed by: AKazak

As is known, one can annotate PDF documents by means of Mac OS X standard Preview application. It turns out that the same functionality is available for raster images also, but for some reason, it's hidden by developers.

Open your picture in Preview, then select View » Customize Toolbar. Drag the Annotate tool to your toolbar. Then just choose the type of annotation you want to make from the newly-created toolbar element, and use the mouse to add it to your picture. You can also use following modifiers:

This functionality could be useful when commenting screenshots.

[robg adds: The Tools » Annotate menu item is grayed out when you have raster images open, so I'd always assumed it just didn't work. But it does -- as long as you use the Annotate toolbar item instead of the menu. The line thickness modifier keys also work without being shifted -- so you can just press '-' and '=' to change the thickness. Somewhat oddly, when annotating a PDF, you can use the color tools, but not the thickness tools nor the fonts panel.]

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