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:
- Press the '+' or '-' keys to increase or decrease line thickness.
- Choose Tools » Show Colors and use the color wheel to change the color of the selected object (including notes).
- Choose Tools » Show Fonts and use the fonts panel to change the text note font.
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.]
Comments (14)
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20080704055113115