Documentation

Markup Toolbar

Rectangle, ellipse, cloud, text, freehand, highlight, and cutout tools for marking up PDF construction drawings.

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Markup Toolbar

All core PDF annotation tools. Press the keyboard shortcut or click the icon to activate a tool.

Select [S]

Click a markup to select it. Drag to move. Use handles to resize. Delete or Backspace removes selected markups. Double-click a text markup to re-enter edit mode.

Rectangle [R]

Drag to draw a rectangle using the current stroke and fill colours from the Format toolbar.

Ellipse [E]

Drag to draw an ellipse. The bounding box is dragged, not the radii directly.

Line [L]

Drag from start point to end point. Useful for marking dimensions or leaders.

Freehand [F]

Hold the mouse button and draw freely. Release to complete the path. The entire stroke becomes one selectable object.

Tip: Freehand drawings work like a pen tool — press, draw, release. Best used for sketch annotations, circling items, or handwritten notes.

Text [T]

Click to place a text box. Typing begins immediately. Click elsewhere to finish. Double-click to re-edit. Font size is controlled in the Format toolbar.

Cloud [C]

Drag to draw a cloud annotation (revision cloud). The cloud boundary is defined by the drag rectangle. Arcs bulge outward from each edge.

Highlight [H]

Drag to draw a translucent highlight rectangle at 40% opacity. Fill colour set in Format toolbar.

Stamp [P]

Click the stamp button to open the stamp picker. Select a built-in stamp (APPROVED, REJECTED, REVIEWED, etc.) or a custom stamp, then click on the PDF to place it.

Tip: Create custom professional seals via Tools → Stamp Library. See Section 12 for full details on professional seals and signatures.

Typewriter [Y]

Click anywhere to place text without a bounding box. The text flows freely and can be moved as a single object.

Eraser [X]

Click or drag over existing markups to erase them. Works on all markup types including freehand, rectangles, text, and stamps.

Cutout [K]

Drag to create a white rectangle that masks underlying PDF content. Useful for redacting sensitive information or hiding sections of a drawing.

Tip: Cutouts are always white and opaque. They sit above the PDF background but below other markups, so you can still annotate over a cutout area.
Related topics
  • Drawing ToolsArrow, callout, polyline, polygon, arc, image, spline, and leader tools for detailed PDF markup.
  • FormatStroke colour, fill, line style, opacity, line width, and font controls applied to selected markups.
  • LayersOrganise markups into named layers — hide, lock, or reassign markups per discipline or markup pass.
  • Markup CommentsAdd threaded comments and discussion replies to any markup on a PDF drawing — saved locally and shared via LocusSync.