Annotate

A lightweight, keyboard-driven screen annotation tool for macOS that allows you to quickly draw, highlight, and annotate anything on your screen.

Sometimes you need to emphasize a part of your screen or share ideas visually, and Annotate fills that gap with a simple, efficient interface. It enables real-time screen annotations using tools like pen, arrow, highlighter, rectangle, circle, counter, and text—perfect for highlighting and explaining concepts during presentations, live demos, or teaching sessions where visual annotations enhance understanding and clarity.

• 🎨 Drawing Tools:
  • ✒️ Pen tool for freehand drawing.
  • ➡️ Arrow tool for directional indicators.
  • 📏 Line tool for straight lines.
  • 🟨 Highlighter for emphasizing content.
  • 🔲 Rectangle shapes for boxing content.
  • ⭕ Circle shapes for highlighting areas.
  • 🔢 Counter tool for adding sequential numbered circles.
  • 📝 Text annotations with drag & edit support.
  • 👆 Select tool for moving and managing objects.
• ✨ Fade/Persist Mode: Control whether annotations fade out after a duration or persist on the screen.
• 📌 Always-On Mode: Display annotations persistently without user interaction.
• 🌈 Color Picker: Easily select and persist your preferred color.
• ↕️ Line Width Control: Adjust line thickness with an interactive picker or Command+Scroll wheel.
• ⬛ Board: Toggle whiteboard or blackboard based on system appearance.
• 🎛️ Menu Bar Integration: Quick access via a status icon.
• 🧹 Auto-Clear Option: Automatically clear all drawings when toggling the overlay.
• ⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts: Switch between modes and toggle the overlay with customizable keyboard shortcuts.
• ⚡ Global Hotkey: Toggle Annotate with a global shortcut.
• 🔄 Auto-Updates: Automatic update checking with secure, cryptographically signed updates.

1. Download the Application:

   • Go to latest release page.
   • Download the Annotate-x.x.x.dmg file for easy installation, or Annotate-x.x.x.zip for manual installation.

2. Install the Application:

   Using DMG (Recommended):

   • Open the downloaded Annotate-x.x.x.dmg file.
   • Drag the Annotate.app into your Applications folder.

   Using ZIP:

   • Unzip the downloaded Annotate-x.x.x.zip file.
   • Drag the Annotate.app file into your Applications folder.

3. Run the Application:

   • Open your Applications folder and double-click Annotate.app to launch it.

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/epilande/Annotate

2. Open the Project in Xcode:

   cd Annotate
   open Annotate.xcodeproj

3. Build and Run:

   • Ensure you have the latest version of Xcode installed.
   • Select your target macOS version, then build and run the project in Xcode.

1. Launch Annotate.
2. Press the global hotkey (configurable in Settings) to toggle the overlay.
3. Start annotating with the default pen tool.
4. Press Esc to exit the overlay.

• Click and drag to draw freehand lines
• Pen creates solid lines while highlighter creates semi-transparent, thicker strokes
• Hold Shift while drawing to constrain to a perfectly straight line at 45° angle increments (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, 315°)
• Adjust line thickness using the Line Width Picker or Command + Scroll for quick adjustments

Annotate provides flexible line width control:

• Interactive Picker: Press W or select "Line Width" from the menu bar to open a picker with:
  • Visual line preview showing the current thickness
  • Slider for precise width adjustment (0.5px to 20px)
  • Real-time feedback as you adjust
• Quick Adjustment: Hold Command and scroll your mouse wheel to quickly adjust line width
  • Scroll up to increase thickness
  • Scroll down to decrease thickness
  • Visual feedback appears at the bottom center showing current width and a preview line
• Smart Scaling: Arrowhead sizes automatically scale proportionally with line width for better visual balance

• Click and drag to create shapes
• Hold Option while drawing rectangles or circles to expand from the center point

• Click and drag to create directional arrows or straight lines
• Hold Shift while drawing to snap to 45° angle increments for perfectly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines
• Arrows automatically create arrowheads pointing in the direction of the drag
• Lines create simple straight connections between two points

• Click to place a text annotation
• Type your text and press Enter or Esc to finalize
• Double-click any text annotation to edit its content
• Click and drag to reposition text

• Click anywhere to add sequential numbered circles (1, 2, 3...)
• Numbers increment automatically with each click

The Select tool allows you to manipulate existing annotations with precision:

• Select Objects: Press V to enter select mode

  • Click on objects to select them (lines, arrows, shapes, text, etc.)
  • Circles and rectangles must be clicked on their edges
  • A blue dashed bounding box appears around selected objects

• Multiple Selection:

  • Rectangle Selection: Click and drag on empty space to draw a selection rectangle
    • All objects inside or touching the rectangle are selected
  • Shift+Click: Hold Shift and click objects to add/remove them from selection
  • Shift+Rectangle: Hold Shift while drawing a rectangle to add to existing selection

• Move Objects:

  • Click anywhere inside the blue bounding box and drag to move selected objects
  • Multiple selected objects move together, maintaining their relative positions

• Copy/Paste/Cut/Duplicate:

  • Select All (Command+A): Select all objects on the canvas
  • Copy (Command+C): Copy selected objects to clipboard
  • Cut (Command+X): Cut selected objects (copy and delete)
  • Paste (Command+V): Paste objects at mouse cursor position
    • Automatically switches to select mode with pasted objects selected
  • Duplicate (Command+D): Duplicate selected objects with a small offset
    • Keeps you in select mode with duplicated objects selected

• Delete Selected:

  • Press Delete to remove all selected objects
  • Use Command + Z to undo deletions

• Clear Selection: Click on empty space (without Shift) to deselect all objects

Toggle between modes with the Space key.

In fade mode, annotations gradually disappear after a few seconds, keeping your screen clean while allowing for temporary emphasis.

In persist mode, annotations remain on screen until manually cleared, allowing you to build up complex annotations over time.

Always-On Mode displays your annotations persistently without any user interaction capability. This mode is ideal for presentations where you need important information visible without accidental modifications, reference displays with static guides or markers, and multi-screen setups where annotations remain on secondary monitors.

1. Create your annotations in normal interactive mode
2. Toggle always-on mode via the global hotkey (configurable in Settings) or menu bar
3. Annotations become persistent and non-interactive
4. Use the same hotkey or menu option to exit always-on mode and resume editing

• Delete: Removes the most recently added annotation.
• Option + Delete: Clear all annotations from the screen.

Access the Settings panel from the menu bar icon or by pressing Command + ,.

• Annotate Hotkey: Set a global keyboard shortcut to toggle Annotate.
• Always-On Mode: Set a global keyboard shortcut to toggle always-on mode.
• Clear Drawings on Toggle: Automatically clear all drawings when activating Annotate.
• Hide Dock Icon: Run Annotate in a more minimal mode without a dock icon.

Customize keyboard shortcuts for all drawing tools by assigning individual shortcut keys for each tool (pen, arrow, highlighter, etc.).

Annotate includes automatic update checking powered by Sparkle:

• Automatic Checks: The app checks for updates once per day.
• Manual Check: Select Check for Updates... from the menu bar or use the About window.
• Secure Updates: All updates are cryptographically signed and verified before installation.

Updates are downloaded and installed seamlessly in the background. You'll be notified when a new version is available, with release notes and the option to install immediately or later.