Annotation
Configure PixPin annotation colors, palettes, secondary editing, tool memory, quick annotation, and individual tools, with defaults and platform differences.
Open the PixPin menu in the Windows tray or macOS menu bar, then choose Configuration → Mark. This page controls how annotation tools respond, what they remember, and their defaults. Adjust colors, widths, and styles for individual use in the annotation toolbar.
The page has 11 groups: Mark, Geometry, Serial, Pencil, Broken line, Arrow, Highlighter, Text, Eraser, Auto Mosaic, and Watermark. The groups and options are the same on Windows and macOS. The initial maximum pencil width differs as described below.
Annotation: common operations
Colors and palettes
Use the same color for all tools is on by default. Switching between geometric shapes, arrows, text, and similar tools retains a common color; turning it off lets each remember its own. The highlighter has an independent color unaffected by this switch. Changing the common color does not recolor every existing annotation.
Click Edit Color Palette on the right of the same row to open Palette Configuration:
| Item | Usage |
|---|---|
| Layout | Defaults to Auto: one row for up to 7 colors per palette, two for more. You can force Single Line or Double Line |
| Common palette | Quick colors for geometric shapes, arrows, text, and similar tools |
| Highlighter palette | Separate quick colors for the highlighter |
| Swatches and plus | Click a swatch to change its color; click plus to choose and add one. Drag one swatch onto another to swap positions |
| Delete icon | Drag a swatch onto it to remove that color. Clicking the icon directly removes the last color |
| Restore Default | Resets both palettes and their layout |
Palette changes save automatically; close the window when done. Palettes determine available quick colors rather than recoloring existing annotations.
Secondary editing
Mark secondary editing controls whether objects can be selected again after drawing, defaulting to Enable.
| Choice | Actual effect |
|---|---|
| Enable | Switch to the same tool type to select supported annotations again, move them, or change their style |
| Disable | Newly created annotations remain adjustable while selected. Once deselected, they cannot be selected again |
| Completely Disable | Shapes, arrows, serial numbers, and similar objects deselect immediately after drawing, helping continuous drawing without selecting old annotations |
| Only Text Annotation Available | Text can be selected and edited again; other annotations follow the disabled behavior |
These choices do not make pencil strokes or other unsupported content editable. Completely disabling also does not prevent finishing current text entry. See annotation basics for undo, redo, delete, and shared operations.
Quick annotation, cursor, and bounds
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Quick setting mark | Defaults to Enable. During capture, select a tool supporting area-based creation, such as geometric shapes. With no old annotation selected, right-click a target to create an annotation from its detected window or element bounds. Interface area detection must not be disabled in screenshot settings |
| Pencil cursor type | Defaults to Cross and circle. Cross emphasizes the drawing center; Circle indicates stroke width. Changes the cursor appearance, not line style |
| Pencil maximum width | The upper limit of the pencil width control, not current width. Base default 50, range 0–999. Normally retain a positive value; 0 does not mean unlimited |
| Limit annotation content to the selection | On by default, limiting screenshot annotation interaction to the selection. Off allows drawing outside while retaining the selection border for capture adjustments. The screenshot selection still determines export bounds |
| Disable mouse wheel to adjust annotation tools | Unchecked by default. Checking blocks wheel adjustments of width, transparency, and other annotation parameters over the canvas to avoid accidents. Numeric toolbar controls remain available |
| Quick mark padding | Default 0, range 0–999. Adds space around detected bounds for quick annotation; 8 moves the outline farther from content. Still limited by the capture selection. Does not set manually drawn shapes or internal text padding |
Windows adjusts the initial maximum pencil width for the main display's logical DPI, for example 75 at 150% scaling. macOS does not apply this adjustment and uses the base 50. Saved custom values follow the settings field.
Tool memory and button management
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Remember the last used annotation tool in pin | Off by default. On selects the remembered tool when opening a pin's annotation toolbar |
| Remember the last used annotation tool in screenshots | Off by default. On selects the remembered tool when the screenshot selection is confirmed and the toolbar appears, or when a hidden toolbar reappears |
| Remember toolbar tool selections | Off by default. On remembers the selected submenu tool as its group's primary button for next time |
| Adjustment of mark buttons | Click Edit Button on the right. Drag whole columns to reorder; the top item is primary and others secondary. Drag to the plus area to create a separate column or to the bottom to hide. Changes save automatically |
The first two determine whether opening the toolbar enters a tool directly; the third determines which tool each primary button displays, without starting annotation. Screenshots and pins share the last-tool record; watermarks do not update it.
See button order and hierarchy for the management illustration and full instructions.
Geometric shapes
Display of rounded corner control points defaults to Displayed when mouse is hovered. Select a supported shape and hover over it to see rounded-corner handles. Keeps showing keeps handles visible for a selected shape; Do not show hides them.
This also controls ellipse and sector angle and inner-radius handles, without hiding resize squares or changing corner rounding automatically. Always visible still requires selection. See geometric shapes.
Serial numbers
The first three options control how numbering starts, closes gaps, and continues; the last three set number and arrow appearance.
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Modify other item when deleting serial item | On by default. Deleting 2 from 1, 2, 3 changes 3 to 2. Only the immediately following consecutive sequence of the same number style in the same image is affected; gaps do not trigger complete renumbering |
| Serial number starts from 0 by default | Off by default. On starts Arabic numerals at 0; letters, Roman numerals, and other styles still start with their first item |
| Global serial numbering | Off by default. On continues numbering in later screenshots and image pins, useful across images explaining one process. Turning it off clears the global count |
| Serial foreground color | Defaults to Default Color, automatically selecting a legible foreground. Select the other radio option and click Change Color to customize, mainly affecting number text and outer rings in outlined filled styles. Hollow and number-only styles still use the main color |
| Serial text size | Defaults to Medium, with Large and Small available. Changes number size relative to its marker, not the accompanying description's font |
| Serial arrow size | Defaults to Medium, with Large and Small available. Changes arrow thickness proportions, not length; drag endpoints to set length |
With global counting on, click the number preview in the serial style bar, then Reset in the popup to restart from the initial value. Existing markers are not renumbered. See serial numbers.
Pencil
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Pencil drawing mode while holding down shift | Defaults to free angle straight line. You can snap to 45°, 30°, 15°, 10°, or 5°. For example, 45° supports horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines |
| Smooth handwriting | On by default, smoothing new freehand strokes. Off joins mouse sample points directly. Does not reprocess completed strokes |
Hold Shift⇧ Shift to use the chosen straight-line rule; release to continue freehand. Both platforms work alike. See straight lines and stroke smoothing.
Broken line
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Broken line join style | Defaults to Rounded corner. Sharp corner (Miter) makes joins sharp |
| Broken line cap style | Defaults to Rounded cap. Square cap makes line ends flat |
- Rounded joins + round capsDefault: rounded corners and ends.
- Sharp joins + square capsSharp corners and flat ends.
Joins and caps are independent. Sharp joins do not turn arbitrary lines into 90° bends; solid fills, arrows, and dot decorations also affect appearance beyond cap style.
Arrow
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Double-click arrow to disable comment | Off by default: double-click an arrow segment to enter accompanying text. Check to disable that action. “Comment” means text on the image, not a message |
| Hide curve control points | Off by default. Checking hides curve handles on supported arrows and prevents dragging them. Does not straighten existing curves |
Highlighter
Default mode offers Any-angle mode and Eight-direction mode, defaulting to any angle. The first follows mouse direction for straight lines; the second snaps horizontally, vertically, and at 45°.
While drawing a straight highlight, hold Shift⇧ Shift to temporarily use the other rule; release to restore the default. This does not switch to rectangle highlighter mode.
Text
Automatic line wrap mode determines how new text wraps at available width:
| Choice | Suitable use |
|---|---|
| No Wrapping | Keep one line and insert paragraph breaks yourself |
| Anywhere Wrapping | Tight spaces where wrapping between characters is acceptable |
| Word Boundary or Anywhere Wrapping | The default: retain whole words when possible, splitting long words between characters when necessary |
This also applies to serial descriptions. It does not fix characters per line; width depends on text position and available annotation area. Manual line breaks still work. See text annotation.
Eraser
Eraser enables secondary editing is off by default. When on, areas made with the rectangle eraser can be selected, moved, and resized again. The general secondary-editing option must also be enabled.
Freehand eraser strokes do not become editable. The eraser removes annotations; see eraser.
Automatic mosaic
Automatically process privacy mosaic is on by default. After you enter automatic mosaic and detection finishes, it masks supported targets such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses, IP addresses, URLs, nicknames, avatars, and QR codes. Select ordinary text and general numbers manually as needed.
Turning it off still detects targets but does not mask them automatically. It does not automatically redact every screenshot. Check the content that needs hiding afterward; see automatic mosaic.
Watermark
Automatically add watermark when taking screenshot is off by default. Set text, position, and style in the watermark tool first, then enable this option. Future captures add a watermark using those settings when the selection is confirmed and the toolbar first appears. Empty watermark text adds nothing.
It does not apply watermarks in bulk to existing image pins or depend on remembering the last tool. See watermark for text and layout.
Restore defaults
Click Restore Default at the bottom and confirm to reset this page's registered options. Restore All Default also affects other pages. Palettes and button layouts have separate restore commands in their own management windows.
Related articles
Save
Choose manual save, quick save, auto save, or quick recording, and configure PixPin image quality, paths, filename variables, conflicts, and cleanup.
Shortcuts/actions
Configure global shortcuts, tray menu actions, presets, ignored programs, and reset options in PixPin, with Windows and macOS differences explained.