AnnotationsOkular allows you to review and annotate your documents.
Okular has two different kind of annotations:
Text annotations like Yellow Highlighter and Black Underlining can be used with files containing text (e.g. PDF).
Graphic annotations like Pop-up Note, Inline Note, Freehand Line, Highlighter, Straight Line, Polygon, Stamp, Underline, Ellipse, and Typewriter.
Graphic annotations are not limited to PDF files; they can be used for any format that Okular supports.
Using the Annotations menu, you can add a Pop up Note or any other kind of annotation to add or edit comments.
Okular has the "document archiving" feature. This is an Okular-specific format for carrying the document plus various metadata related to it (currently only annotations). You can save a "document archive" from the open document by choosing → and selecting Okular document archive in the Filter selector. Documents saved this way will get .okular as their filename extension. To open an Okular document archive, just open it with Okular as it would be e.g. a PDF document.
You can also save annotations directly into PDF files. You can use → to save it over the current file or → to save it to a new file.
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Note that adding, editing, or removing annotations may not be possible with DRM-enabled files.
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It is possible to undo or redo any annotation action by using the corresponding item from the menu. It is also possible to undo the action by pressing Ctrl+Z and to redo a previously undone action by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Z.
You can configure the default properties and appearance of each annotation tool. Please refer to the corresponding section in this documentation.
To add annotations to the document, you can use Quick Annotations button on the main Okular toolbar, or activate the annotation toolbar. This is done by either selecting → or pressing F6. Once the annotation toolbar is shown, just press one of its buttons or use keyboard shortcuts (keys from 1 to 9) to use that annotation.
The annotation toolbar helps you to make annotations with drawings, shapes, and text messages. You can use the annotation toolbar to mark up a document (e.g. add lines, ellipses, polygons, stamps, highlights, underlines etc.). The table below describes exactly what the default set of annotation toolbar buttons does.
| Button | Tool Name | Description |
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Highlighter |
Highlights text in the document with a given background color. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button and drag to highlight a text snippet. It is possible to define the Type (, , or ), Color, and Opacity for the highlighter. Just right-click on the highlighted text and select the menu item. |
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Underline |
Underlines text with a straight line. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button and drag to underline a text snippet. It is possible to define the Type (, , or ), Color, and Opacity for the underline. Just right-click on the underlined text and select the menu item. |
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Squiggle |
Underlines text with a squiggly line. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button and drag to squiggly underline a text snippet. It is possible to define the Type (, , or ), Color, and Opacity for the underline. Just right-click on the underlined text and select the menu item. |
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Strike Out |
Strikes out some text. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button and drag to squiggly strike out a text snippet. It is possible to define the Type (, , or ), Color, and Opacity for the underline. Just right-click on the underlined text and select the menu item. |
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Typewriter |
Adds text on a transparent background. This is useful for filling out forms lacking integrated editable text fields. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button where you wish to add the top-left corner of the text, then drag to place the bottom-right one. Type some text, then click on the to save it, to clear the text and start over, or to cancel. It is possible to define the Font and Text color for the text. Just right-click on the typewriter text created and select the menu item. |
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Inline Note |
Draws an inline note. The note will be shown inline as is. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button where you wish to add the top-left corner of the note, then drag to place the bottom-right one. Enter the text of the note then click on the to save the note, to clear the note's text, or to cancel note creation. It is possible to define the Color, Opacity, Font, Align, and Border width for the note. Just right-click on the note icon created and select the menu item. |
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Pop-up Note |
Draws a multiline note. The note can be viewed by double clicking on the icon created in the document. Click on the tool button, then click on the place in the document where the pop-up note should be added. Enter the text of pop-up note then click on the Close this note button in the top right corner of the pop-up window. It is possible to define the Color, Opacity, and Icon for the note. Just right-click on the note icon created and select the menu item. |
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Freehand Line |
Draws free-form lines. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button and drag to draw the line. It is possible to define the Color, Opacity, and Width for the line. Just right-click on the line created and select the menu item. |
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Arrow (drop-down list) |
Draws an arrow between two points. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button to place the starting point of the arrow, then drag to place the ending point of the line and click once more. It is possible to define the Color, Opacity, Width, Line start, Line end, Leader line length, and Leader line extension length for the line. Just right-click on the line created and select the menu item. |
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Straight line (drop-down list) |
Draws a line between two points. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button to place the starting point of the line, then drag to place the ending point of the line and click once more. It is possible to define the Color, Opacity, Width, Line start, Line end, Leader line length, and Leader line extension length for the line. Just right-click on the line created and select the menu item. |
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Rectangle (drop-down list) |
Draws a rectangle around the chosen area. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button to place the top-left corner of the rectangle, then drag to place the bottom-right one. It is possible to define the Type ( or ), Color, Opacity, Shape fill (and its color), and Width for the border. Just right-click on the border created and select the menu item. |
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Ellipse (drop-down list) |
Draws an ellipse or rectangle around a chosen area. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button and hold to place the top-left corner of the circumscribed rectangle for the ellipse, then drag to place the bottom-right one. It is possible to define the Type ( or ), Color, Opacity, Shape fill (and its color), and Width for the border. Just right-click on the border created and select the menu item. |
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Polygon (drop-down list) |
Draws a closed shape from three or more line segments. The corresponding note can be viewed by double clicking inside the polygon. Click on the tool button, then click with the mouse button to place the first vertex of the polygon, then drag to place of the second vertex. Proceed until you have drawn the whole polygon and connected back up with the first vertex. Click twice to add a note to the polygon. Enter the text of the note then click on the to save the note, to clear the note, or to cancel note entry. It is possible to define the Color, Opacity, Shape fill (and its color), and Width for the polygon. Just right-click on the polygon created and select the menu item. |
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Stamp |
Inserts a pre-defined shape into the document. Click on the tool button to choose the stamp from the drop-down list then click with the mouse button to place the stamp. A single click just places a square stamp (useful for icons). To add a rectangular stamp you can click with the mouse button and hold to place the top-left point, then drag to place the bottom-right one. It is possible to define the Opacity and Stamp symbol for the stamp. Just right-click on the stamp icon created and select the menu item. WarningThis feature is experimental. Custom stamps inserted in PDF documents are not visible in PDF readers other than Okular. |
These are the default annotations provided by Okular. Using the Annotations page of the configuration dialog you can add your own annotations like custom stamps, text markup or a geometrical shape with inner color to highlight regions etc.
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It is possible to add LATEX code into the text of annotations. To do so, add $$ into the text of annotation, where code$$code is any valid LATEX equation. Follow the instructions that will appear on the screen to render it using a LATEX distribution installed in your system.
It is possible to configure the selected tool using the annotation toolbar itself:
| Button | Option Name | Description |
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Line width |
Click on this button to choose the width from the drop-down list. |
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Annotation color |
Click on this button to choose the color of the text or border of your annotation. You can chose one of the predefined colors or click on the item to open the color selection dialog. |
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Annotation fill color |
Click on this button to choose the fill color of your annotation. You can chose one of the predefined colors or click on the item to open the color selection dialog. |
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Annotation opacity |
Click on this button to choose the opacity of your annotation from the drop-down list ( creates opaque annotations). |
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Annotation font |
Click on this button to open the font selection dialog. |
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Advanced settings for the current annotation tool |
Click on this button to open the general configuration dialog for your annotation. |
There are three additional utility buttons on the annotation toolbar:
| Button | Description |
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Add the current annotation to the Quick Annotations menu on the main toolbar. NoteYou can use the default shortcuts from Alt+9 to Alt+0 to select the quick annotation actions any time you like, even with the annotation toolbar hidden. |
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When checked, keep the current annotation tool active after use. |
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Hide the annotation toolbar. |
By pressing Shift you can constrain the angle of line and polygon annotations to 15° steps, and the ratio of shape annotations (e.g. Rectangle, Ellipse) to 1:1. You can also get a toolbar button from Configure Toolbars....
The contents of the Quick Annotations menu can be configured using the Annotations page of Okular configuration dialog. This page can be opened by clicking Quick Annotations button, then choosing from the pop-up menu.
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Activating the annotation toolbar will automatically switch to Browse Mode.
You can stop annotating any time by pressing the button of the annotation you are using again, or by pressing the Esc key.
The newly created annotation will have the author you set in the Annotations page in Okulars configuration dialog as its author. The Annotations page can also be used to configure the content of the annotations toolbar.
To remove an annotation, first select the Browse tool ( → ) then just click on it with the mouse button, and select or select an annotation using the mouse button and press the Del key.
When removing the annotation, its window will be closed if it is open.
To edit an annotation, first select the Browse tool ( → ) then click on an annotation with the mouse button and select . A dialog will appear with the general annotation settings (like color and opacity, author, etc.) and the settings specific to that annotation type.
To move an annotation, hold down the Ctrl key, move the mouse pointer on it and then start dragging with the mouse button.
If you click with the mouse button on an annotation, it gets selected. Resize handles appear on the selection rectangle. When the cursor is moved over one of the 8 resize handles on the corners or edges, the cursor shape changes to indicate the resize mode. Click anywhere else on the annotation to move it. Pressing Esc or clicking an area outside the annotation cancels a selection.
Resizing is only available for the Inline Note, Typewriter, Stamp and Ellipse annotation types.
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Some options may be disabled depending on the document's permissions (this typically only affects some PDF documents).