Coolest Ways to Use Markup on iPhone to Edit Photos & PDFs

What to Know

• You can add words to a picture on your iPhone and iPad with a variety of tools, including a digital pencil, highlighter, and other Markup tools.
• Use iPhone and iPad Markup tools to make perfect shapes, or draw freehand shapes in lots of different colors.
• Learn how to use Markup as a free PDF signature software on your iPhone and iPad; no paid subscription needed!

Markup is a nifty iPhone feature that allows users to doodle, magnify, and add text to images and PDFs in the Photos, Mail, Notes, Files, and Messages apps. Whether you need to add a signature, insert text, or draw shapes onto existing documents or photos, Markup has you covered. With Markup, you can save time when signing digital documents and add your personal flair to your images. Here's how to use iPhone and iPad markup tools.

How to Use Markup in Photos on Your iPhone

Using iPhone and iPad Markup tools in the Photos app is simple, and allows you to add text to a picture, insert shapes, and more. We'll walk you through how to use these Markup tools so you can easily edit images to achieve your desired effect.

Here's how to use Markup on iPhone to draw perfect shapes, make notes, highlight, add text, and more.

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap the photo you want to use Markup on, then tap the Edit icon.
3. Tap the More icon.
4. Tap Markup.
5. Tap the markup tool on screen to open the toolbar.
6. From here, you can tap a markup tool, and swipe your finger from right to left to see more options.

Read more about how to use Markup on your iPhone and iPad to learn about all the amazing Markup features you can explore and use.

How to Use Markup in Messages on the iPhone

Follow the steps below to learn how to add text to photos on your iPhone, insert shapes, and add drawings right in the Messages app. The beauty of using this option is that when you edit the photo right in the Messages app, it will not be saved in your Photos app. This is great when you want to quickly send a friend a funny photo with captions or shapes added, but don't want to save those changes over the original photo.

1. Open the Messages app.
2. Tap on the New Message button, or a message thread.
3. Enter the name of at least one recipient.
4. Tap the Plus icon.
5. Tap Camera.
6. Your Camera app will open. You can take a new photo.
7. Or, tap Photos.
8. Select the photo you wish to edit, then tap the check mark in the blue circle. The photo will pop into the new message.
9. Tap on the photo within the message.
10. Tap Markup on the bottom left. Note: Markup will turn off Live Photo.
11. Tap your Markup tool and color of choice, and draw on your photo. Tap Save when you're finished.
12. Tap the check mark in the blue circle to confirm.
13. You can send your marked-up photo by tapping the Send arrow as usual.

How to Use Markup in Email on iPhone

You can use Markup to insert drawings into emails on your iPhone as well, which allows you to add clarity to something that can't be explained well with words, or simply share fun doodles!

To use Markup in emails on your iPhone or iPad, open the Mail app, tap the New Message icon, and prepare your email as usual with the recipient’s address, subject, body text, and any attachments you want to add. Then, touch the screen where you want to insert your drawing, tap the markup icon, and your device will open a drawing canvas. Tap the Markup tool shown to open the toolbox, and you can create your drawing. When finished, tap the Keyboard icon, the check mark, Insert Drawing, and tap the Send icon to send your email.

How to Use Markup in Notes

You can use Markup to create inline drawings directly in a note as well as to mark up photos added to a note. This can be useful when you want to highlight part of your note or add a diagram to further explain a section.

To use Markup in Notes, open the Notes app, and start a new note or open an existing one. Tap the Markup icon over the keyboard, then tap the Markup tool at the bottom of the screen to open the toolbar. Now, you can choose a tool and compose your markup drawing. When you're finished, tap the check mark at the top of the screen, then finish up any more typing you need to do in your note before tapping the check mark again to save your work.

How to Use iPhone Markup Tools in the Files App

Once you open Markup in Photos, Messenger, Notes, Files, or Mail, there are various ways you can use it to edit your photo or document. You can draw in various styles and colors, create shapes, add typed text, and insert electronic signatures.

How to Draw with Markup

Markup allows users to choose between several tools, including pen, highlighter, pencil, and more. You can also adjust line thickness and opacity, and change the colors.

How to Erase, Select & Edit with Markup

1. Swipe left across the toolbar to reveal more tools, including the ruler, crayon, pen with nib, and more.
2. You can draw in strokes that can easily be undone or redone with the tap of the undo and redo buttons at the top of the screen.
3. You can also erase any edits with the eraser tool by selecting it and then rubbing a stylus or your finger over the area you need erased.
4. If you like what you’ve drawn but need it moved, the lasso tool can be used to move your drawing. Simply tap on the lasso tool, trace around the drawing you want to move, and drag it anywhere.
5. When the lasso tool is selected, you can also select individual drawings by pressing and holding them. A selected drawing can be changed in color, duplicated, deleted, cut, or snapped into shape.

How to Add Text with Markup

Another fun way to use Markup is to add text to photos. You can choose from several fonts and colors, and position the text wherever it's needed.

How to Add a Signature with Markup

Adding a signature to a PDF with Markup makes signing forms a breeze. You can add and use your signature in just a few easy steps.

How to Add a Shape with Markup

1. Tap the + button.
2. Tap Add Shape.
3. Select one of the available shapes.
4. Your shape will appear in the image. You can drag and adjust the shape as necessary. You can also tap to set it to just an outline or make it an opaque shape.
5. Finally, you can change the color of your shape.
6. Tap the check mark in the blue circle when you are finished editing the image.

How to Draw Perfect Shapes with Markup

You can draw a variety of shapes perfectly using Markup. Simply draw the shape without lifting your finger and hold until it snaps into a perfect shape. The shapes that you can draw by hand that will transform into perfect shapes include:

• Arcs
• Arcs with arrow tips
• Circles
• Clouds
• Continuous lines
• 90-degree angles
• Hearts
• Lines with arrow tips
• Outlined arrows
• Pentagons
• Rectangles
• Speech Bubbles
• Stars
• Triangles

If the shape doesn’t auto-transform, simply erase or undo your drawing and try again. If you prefer your drawn shape to the automatically transformed one, you can also tap the Undo icon to revert it to a drawing. The auto-transformed drawings can be dragged and re-sized, and you can change their color and opacity.

That's it! Now you'll be able to use markup tools in a variety of apps to add text to photos, give feedback, make notations, or simply create a funny image. To learn more about what you can do in the Photos app, check out our Tip of the Day newsletter.