How to Annotate an Image Online: Arrows, Text, Boxes and Numbered Steps

Short answer: open Imgovo’s Annotate Image tool, add your screenshot or photo, choose a tool (arrow, text, box, highlighter or numbered step), draw on the picture and download it as PNG, JPG or WebP. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, and the annotations are drawn onto the full-size original.

When annotating helps

An annotated picture often explains in a second what a paragraph cannot:

• Instructions and tutorials: numbered steps on a screenshot.
• Bug reports and support requests: an arrow and a short label pointing at the problem.
• Feedback on designs and photos: circles, boxes and notes on the exact detail.
• Presentations and documents: a highlighted area or a short caption.
• Photos for teaching: labels on parts of an object, a map or a diagram.

The tools

Tool	Shortcut	Use it for
Select	V	Move, resize or change an existing annotation
Arrow	A	Point at a detail
Line	L	Underline or connect things
Rectangle	R	Frame an area
Ellipse	O	Circle something
Text	T	Add labels and captions
Step number	N	Count 1, 2, 3 automatically
Pen	P	Draw freehand
Highlighter	H	Lay a wide, see-through stroke over text or a region

Hold Shift for straight lines and for perfect squares and circles. There is a colour picker and a size control, with a default size of 5.

Step by step

1. Open the Annotate Image tool and drop in your picture, click to choose a file, or paste one. JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF and other formats work.
2. Choose a tool, for example Arrow.
3. Pick a colour and size. Choose a colour that stands out against the picture.
4. Drag on the picture. For an arrow, drag from the start to the target.
5. Switch to Select to adjust. Drag an annotation to move it, or drag its handles to resize it. You can change its colour and size in the options.
6. Add the next annotation, then repeat.
7. Choose the output format and download.

Numbered steps

The Step number tool places a circle with the next number each time you click. This is the quickest way to make a how-to image. If you delete a step, the next new number continues after the highest number that is left, so you may have to renumber by hand.

Text

Choose the Text tool, click where the label should go and type. Press F2 to edit the text of a selected annotation later.

Keyboard shortcuts that save time

• Enter places the chosen tool in the middle of the picture. With Select active, it selects the next annotation.
• Arrow keys move the selected annotation.
• Delete removes it. The Delete selected button and Clear all do the same job with the mouse.
• Ctrl/Cmd + Z undoes a step and Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Z redoes it. This applies to every step.

Make annotations easy to read

• Contrast: red and yellow stand out on many screenshots, but use a darker colour on light backgrounds.
• Keep text short. A label of two to four words reads better than a sentence.
• Use arrows to link labels to details, not long lines across the picture.
• Use the highlighter for text. Overlapping parts of the same stroke do not get darker.
• Crop first. If only part of the screenshot matters, crop with Crop Image before annotating so the point is not lost.

Important: a box does not hide information

A coloured rectangle is only drawn on top of your picture. It does not remove or protect what is underneath, and a semi-transparent one hardly hides anything. If a screenshot contains names, numbers, addresses or faces, hide them first with Blur & Pixelate using the black box, which leaves nothing to reconstruct, and then add your annotations. More on this is in How to blur faces, license plates and private text.

Saving and sharing

• PNG gives the sharpest result, especially for screenshots with small text.
• JPG and WebP make smaller files.
• The result keeps the original resolution, because the annotations are drawn onto the full-size image.
• Copy image copies the result to the clipboard. Your browser may ask for permission, or may not support it. If it does not work, use Download.

Photos can carry hidden location data. If you are going to post the annotated image, read how to remove GPS location and EXIF data from photos.

Privacy

The picture is processed on your device. For how to check this claim on any site, see Are online image converters safe?.

Do it now

Open the Annotate Image tool, add your picture and draw your first arrow.