Note annotations

Annotate mode lets you draw freehand across the whole note, on top of your text. Circle a paragraph, scribble in the margin, sketch an arrow between two sections - the ink lives on a transparent layer above the note and scrolls with the content it was drawn over.

Annotating a noteA short demo of this feature will land here.

Annotate a note

Select the pen tool button in the editor toolbar to enter annotate mode. A small toolbar appears over the note with three tools:

• Draw - freehand ink, active by default
• Erase - remove strokes
• Select - move or delete existing strokes

Select Done (or press Escape) to exit. While annotating, the note itself is paused - pointer input goes to the drawing layer, and the mouse wheel still scrolls the note underneath so you can annotate anywhere in a long document.

How annotations behave

• Ink is anchored to the note's content, not the screen: scroll away and back, and every stroke is exactly where you left it.
• Outside annotate mode the ink is display-only. It never blocks typing, selecting text, or clicking links.
• Annotations save automatically with the note and sync like any other note change. They are restored on every device.
• Erasing every stroke clears the annotation layer entirely.

Annotations vs. drawing blocks

Skriuw also has a drawing block - a bounded canvas inserted into the document flow, with the full shape toolset (rectangles, arrows, text, images). Use whichever fits:

• Annotate mode for marking up existing content: highlights, margin notes, quick arrows across the page.
• Drawing block for a diagram or sketch that is part of the document itself and should sit between paragraphs.

Good to know

• Annotate mode is available in the block editor (not raw markdown mode).
• Ink is positioned against the note's layout. If you heavily edit the text afterwards and paragraphs reflow, strokes keep their original position on the page rather than following the words - annotations work best on notes whose content is settled.
• Annotations are not included in note version history; restoring an old version keeps your current ink.
• Shared notes: only the owner and editors can annotate; viewers see the ink read-only.