Annotate a document

In addition to creating and modifying objects and controls on the artboard, you can leave comments and notes on the artboard by using collapsible annotations. You can add annotations anywhere in a document and to any type of project.

To add an annotation to the artboard

1. Do one of the following:

   • To add the annotation to objects on the artboard, select the objects.

   • To add the annotation to the document, click Select None (CTRL+SHIFT+A) on the Edit menu to clear the selection of all objects.

2. On the Tools menu, click Create Annotation (CTRL+SHIFT+T). The annotation appears next to the selected objects.

3. Type your comment in the annotation box.

4. To exit and collapse the annotation, press ESC, or click outside the annotation box.

   Tip

   Click a collapsed annotation with the Selection tool to open the annotation for reading or editing.

   Tip

   Drag an annotation with the Selection tool to move it out of the way.

To unlink an annotation from an object

1. If annotations are not visible, click Show annotations  at the bottom of the artboard.

2. On the artboard, right-click the collapsed annotation, and then click Unlink.

   The annotation is now linked to the document instead of to the object.

To find an annotation in the active document

1. If annotations are not visible, click Show annotations  at the bottom of the artboard.

2. Press CTRL+F.

3. In the Find what text box, type the text that you want to find, and then click Find Next.

To find an annotation in your project

1. On the Edit menu, click Find in Files (CTRL+SHIFT+F).

2. In the Find What text box, type the text that you want to find.

3. In the Look In drop-down box, select the range for your search, such as Current Project.

4. In the File Types, you can speed up your search by selecting XAML (*.xaml) from the drop-down box, because annotations are stored in XAML files.

5. Click Find.

   If the text that you entered can be found, a list of files appears below the Find Options. In the Match column, look for results that begin with "<Anno:Annotation".

6. If you want to open the document that contains one of the search results, double-click the line in the search results.

To copy annotation text to the Clipboard

1. If annotations are not visible, click Show annotations  at the bottom of the artboard.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To copy the text of all the annotations in the active document, on the Tools menu, click Copy Annotations As Text.

   • To copy the text from an individual annotation, right-click the collapsed annotation, and then click Copy as Text.

   You can now paste the annotation text into another document.

To delete annotations

1. If annotations are not visible, click Show annotations  at the bottom of the artboard.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To delete all the annotations in the active document, on the Tools menu, click Delete Annotations.

   • To delete an individual annotation, right-click the collapsed annotation, and then click Delete.

To show or hide all annotations in a project

Do one of the following:

• Click Show/Hide annotations  at the bottom of the artboard to show or hide annotations on the artboard.

• On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Annotations category, and then clear the Show annotations on the artboard check box.

To change the author name and initials

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Annotations category.

2. Change the text in the Author name and Author initials fields.

   New annotations will now use the updated author name and initials.

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