What annotations are for
Annotations are markup. They are the arrow pointing at a fitting with a query beside it, the circle round the plant room that still needs a decision, the text box reading "existing, excluded" over a wing you are not pricing. They exist so a drawing can carry its own explanation when you send it out.
They are deliberately outside the takeoff. An annotation is never counted, never measured and never priced, so nothing you draw with these tools can disturb a figure.
Where the annotation tools are
There are two entry points, and they do slightly different things.
Starting a new annotation group — choose Actions then Annotations in the workspace header. The submenu offers:
| Type | Icon | What it draws |
|---|---|---|
| Ellipse | An oval or circle | |
| Rectangle | A box | |
| Arrow | A single line with an arrowhead at the far end | |
| Text | A text box you type into | |
| Custom Image | A picture you supply | |
| Polygon | A closed shape with as many corners as you like | |
| Multipoint line | An open line with as many points as you like |
Each of these creates a new annotation group and arms the tool.
Adding to a group you already have — click the button on an annotation group's row. Its dropdown carries the same seven types plus Line , a plain straight line with no arrowhead. Line is only available here, not from the Actions menu.
When you place an annotation the sidebar switches itself to Annotations view so you can see what you have just drawn. Switch back with the view button in the sidebar toolbar.
Drawing each type
The gesture depends on the shape, not on which menu you came from.
Ellipse, Rectangle, Text and Custom Image — drag a box on the drawing. Release and the shape is placed. A Text box is ready to type into; a Custom Image opens the Set Custom Image dialog by itself.
Arrow and Line — drag from where the line should start to where it should end. On an arrow, the end you release at carries the arrowhead.
Polygon and Multipoint line
- 1
Hold CTRL (CMD on a Mac) and click the first point. Plain clicks pan the drawing, so the modifier is what places a point.
- 2
Keep the modifier held and click each further point in turn.
- 3
Right-click to finish the shape.
Press ESC at any time to abandon a shape you have started.
Text annotations
Type straight into the box after you draw it. To change the size afterwards, hover the annotation's row in the sidebar and click Text size, which opens a small popover with a number and its unit. Right-clicking the row and choosing Text Size offers a list of presets — 12px through 36px — with the current value in bold, and shows your own value as a Custom row when it is not one of them.
The row itself is labelled with the text you typed, so a sidebar full of annotations reads as a list of the notes on the drawing.
Editing annotations
Annotations behave like any other marker on the canvas. Click to select, drag to move, drag a grip to resize, press DEL to delete. On the row in the sidebar, hovering reveals Duplicate marker and Delete marker, and right-clicking adds Focus .
Colour, border width and opacity are set for the whole group from the colour swatch on the group's row — Width from 1 to 20 and Opacity from 5 to 100. See Group appearance.
Annotation groups sit slightly outside the rest of the sidebar. They cannot be merged, they cannot be added to a mask, and they have no marker count in their row. They can still be renamed, duplicated, hidden, given notes and deleted like any other group.
What annotations do and do not reach
| Where | Annotations appear? |
|---|---|
| The drawing on screen | Yes |
| PNG and PDF export of the drawing you have open | Yes |
| PNG and PDF export of All Files | No, only the drawing that was open is drawn with annotations |
| Excel quantities export | No |
| Sidebar counts and totals | No |
| Zone counts | No |
That last group of rows is the point of annotations rather than a limitation. If you need something to be counted, use a Count marker instead; if you need it to be measured, use Linear or Area. If you need it explained, annotate it.
For a comment meant for your own team rather than for the drawing, use Group notes instead. Notes stay attached to the group they explain and never clutter an exported sheet.
Next steps
- Custom marker icons and images — the Set Custom Image dialog in full.
- The Live Legend — a special annotation that lists everything counted on the drawing.
- Group notes — comments that stay off the drawing.
- Exporting drawing images — sending an annotated drawing out as a PDF.