Learn how to use Markup tools in Mac’s Preview and Photos apps to annotate, highlight, add shapes, or draw on images without needing third-party apps.
ChatGPT said:
Whether for business or fun, you might want to mark up a photo on your Mac. Perhaps you need to call out part of an image, point to something in a photo, insert additional text, or use another type of annotation. The Markup tool, familiar from other apps on your Mac, is also available in the Photos app. Here’s how to mark up and annotate images in Photos on Mac.
Tip: If you prefer to keep a copy of your original before you mark it up, duplicate the image first by selecting it in Finder or Photos and pressing Command + D.
Access the Markup tool
Before you can use the tool, you need to know where to find it. You can primarily access the Markup tools inside Mac’s Preview and Photos.
In Preview: Simply double-click an image in Finder, and it should open in Apple’s built-in Preview app.
In Photos: Double-click an image to open it and click the Edit button on the top right. After that, select the Extensions option (three dots) in the toolbar and pick Markup.
The tools in Photos and Preview are quite similar, but in this guide, we’ll focus on those available in the Photos app.
Mark up your photo
Once the Markup tool is open, you can easily annotate your photo using the tools in the bar at the top.
Here they are, from left to right:
- Sketch and Draw: When you use the Sketch tool, you’ll see a pop-up right below the button if your sketch resembles a shape. This lets you pick one to enhance your markup.
- Shape: Along with shapes like squares, circles, and stars, this area includes the Mask and Loupe tools. If you do select a shape, you can use the style tool further to the right on the toolbar.
- Text and Highlight: If you use the Text option, a text box will appear on your image. Just type what you want and use the Aa button further to the right to format it.
- Shape Style: Once you insert a shape, you can use the options here to change the line style, the arrow type, or add shadow.
- Border Color and Fill Color: These tools add your color of choice for shape borders and fill colors.
- Text Style: Here, you can pick the font style, color, size, alignment, and format for the text boxes you insert.
- Rotate and Crop: The Rotate button will turn your image with each click. Hold the Option key to change the rotate key to turn right. If you use the Crop tool, drag the edges to contain the portion you want to keep and click Crop.
- Annotate on iOS Device: If you have other devices like an iPhone or iPad, you can select one here. That will pop the image onto the device you choose in the Markup tool.
Save or revert
Once you’ve finished making changes with the Markup tool, click Save Changes at the top. Then click Done in the photo editing window. The annotated image will replace your original. If you don’t like the way the annotated image turned out, you can select the image you marked up and click Edit. In the editing window, click Revert to Original.
If you’re editing in Preview, clicking the red traffic light icon saves all changes and closes the window.
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