How to draw on a PDF

Draw on a PDF with Quick PDF

1. Open the PDF in your browser Go to quickpdfapp.com, sign in and choose your PDF. It opens on your device without being uploaded.
2. Pick Draw for freehand marks Choose Draw in the toolbar, then set the pen size and colour. A thin dark pen is good for notes; a thicker bright one is easier to see on busy pages.
3. Or pick Shapes for clean lines Choose Shapes and select Box, Ellipse, Line or Arrow. Drag on the page from where the shape should start to where it should end.
4. Draw on the page Use your finger on a phone, a mouse or trackpad on a computer, or a stylus on a tablet. Zoom in for detailed work.
5. Undo anything that went wrong Tap Undo to remove the last stroke or shape and Redo to bring it back.
6. Download or Share Tap Download to save the PDF with your drawings, or Share to send it from your phone. The marks are saved into the file.

Open Annotate PDF

Freehand Draw vs Shapes: when to use each

Both tools put marks on the page, but they give different results:

• Draw follows your hand exactly. Use it for circling, underlining, ticks, quick sketches and handwritten initials.
• Shapes gives perfectly straight lines and even outlines. Use Box to frame a section, Ellipse to circle a figure, Line to underline or connect two points, and Arrow to point at something.

If you are sending marked-up drawings, plans or proofs to someone else, Shapes usually looks more professional. Freehand is quicker for personal notes. To add a written explanation next to your drawing, use Add text for words that should print, or a sticky-note comment for feedback.

Drawing on a PDF on a phone, tablet or computer

• iPhone and iPad: open quickpdfapp.com in Safari and pick the file from the Files app. On iPad, an Apple Pencil gives the finest control.
• Android phones and tablets: open it in Chrome and pick the file from Downloads. Samsung tablets with an S Pen work like a fine pen.
• Mac and Windows: a mouse is fine for Shapes; freehand is smoother with a trackpad, a touchscreen laptop or a drawing tablet.
• Chromebook: touchscreen models are good for freehand; otherwise use Shapes with the trackpad.

On small screens, zoom in on the area first, draw, then zoom out to check. Turning the phone sideways gives you more room.

Ideas: what people draw on PDFs

• Floor plans and site plans: sketch furniture, mark outlets, draw arrows to problem areas.
• Proofs and flyers: circle typos and draw arrows to what needs moving.
• Homework and worksheets: work through a math problem or label a diagram.
• Forms: tick a box that is not fillable, or draw a line through a section that does not apply.
• Maps and directions: trace a route or circle a meeting point.

For marking text rather than pictures, the Highlight tool is cleaner than a drawn line.

Tips for neat, readable markup

A marked-up PDF is only useful if the other person can follow it. Stick to two colours at most, for example red for changes and blue for questions. Keep drawings out of the text itself where you can: an arrow from the margin is easier to read than a circle scribbled over a sentence. Number your marks if there are several on one page, and add a short typed note that explains what the numbers mean. Before sending, zoom out to see the whole page the way the reader will see it first.

Other ways to draw on a PDF

• iPhone Markup (in Files, Mail or Photos) has pens, a highlighter and a shapes button.
• Mac Preview has a sketch tool and shapes in its Markup toolbar.
• Microsoft Edge on Windows has a Draw option for PDFs.

These work well on their own device. Quick PDF is handy when you want the same tools on any phone or computer, and when the same document also needs text, a signature, an image or page changes, all in one place.

Troubleshooting drawing on a PDF

• The page moves instead of drawing. Make sure Draw or Shapes is selected; otherwise your finger scrolls or zooms the page.
• Lines look shaky. Use Shapes for straight lines and arrows, or zoom in so small hand movements matter less.
• The marks are too faint or too thick. Change the pen size or colour before drawing again, and undo the old strokes.
• You need to hide something, not just mark it. Drawing over text does not remove it. Use Redact to black out text properly.
• The file is now too large to send. Run it through Compress and try Balanced first.

Questions people ask