Annotate Drawing Fields on Android

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Annotations provides many more tools for marking up drawing and photo fields when completing a submission.

Annotations

Annotations are available for drawing fields, reference images in a drawing field, and single or multiple photo fields that allow drawing on both iOS and Android.

There are two buttons in the top left corner of the screen to access the different types of annotations, which include Text, Stamp, Drawing, Line, Arrow, Rectangle, and Ellipse. Press and hold the Text button to reveal a menu to toggle to Stamp and press the Drawing button to reveal a menu to toggle to Line, Arrow, Rectangle, or Ellipse. Arrow is a preset for a simple one ended arrow but can be manipulated just like a Line annotation.

Android Annotations 1.pngAndroid Annotations 2.png

When an annotation is selected the Settings button will appear near the top center right of the screen that will be colored in to indicate the current color and opacity settings for that annotation. For example, in the second screenshot above, the Drawing annotation is selected and will have the primary color of sky blue with 100% opacity. 

To the right of the Settings button is the Undo/Redo button. Press and hold the button to reveal either Undo or Redo. The last button in the upper right corner is the Exit button. This button will simply hide the Annotation buttons but to exit the field entirely, you must go back using your phone’s functions.

Common Settings

Each settings panel has a preview window, shown in each screenshot below, for how the annotation will look with all the selected settings at the top followed by unique settings for each annotation. However, there are a few settings that are the same or similar across all or most of the annotations.

Screenshot_20221019-145537.png.    Screenshot_20221019-151626.png  Screenshot_20221019-150137.png      Screenshot_20221019-152023.pngScreenshot_20221019-152248.png.      Screenshot_20221019-152353.png

Color

This setting is common across all annotations except Stamp. Select the primary color of the annotation by using a color Palette or Customize using Hex code, HSL, or RGB. Hex codes can be copied from elsewhere and pasted into the field using Paste from Clipboard. HSL and RGB can either be manipulated using the sliders or typing in the numbers for better accuracy. Any color selected from the Palette or the Custom section will be the active color once you hit the back arrow to the main preview screen.

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Screenshot_20221020-135027.pngScreenshot_20221020-135039.png

 

The top section of the Color screen is dedicated to showing you the color that is currently in use on the left side and the newly selected color with its three color codes to quickly reference. To keep the color previously selected, tap the color in the left and the whole section will revert to that previous color.

Recently Used will automatically keep custom colors in the list to make it easy to find previously used colors. There is a Default Color Palette that always displays common colors. Once a color is selected, a Color Variations palette will populate under the Default with colors that coordinate with the selected color. The Fill Color is the only setting with the option for No Fill in the default color palette.

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Fill Color has the same functionality as the Color setting. The Fill Color of an annotation could be the surrounding area of the Drawing or Text annotation, the fill color for the Line Start or Line End, or the fill color for inside the Ellipse or Rectangle.

Opacity

A slider to manipulate the percentage of transparency or opaqueness of the annotation. Available on all annotations except Stamp.

Thickness

Thickness can be decreased to 1 pt all the way up to 40 pt. Available on all annotations except Text* and Stamp.

Note

Thickness is an option on the Text settings screen, however the only way to manipulate the size of the text is to use the Size slider.

Less Common Settings

Line Style

This setting is common between the Line, Arrow, Ellipse, and Rectangle annotations. There are five options for the Line and Arrow annotations and six for the Ellipse and Rectangle annotations that are a variation of dotted and dashed lines.

Screenshot_20221020-145019.png

Android_Line:Arrow_Line Style.png

Line Start and Line End

Line Start and Line End are unique to the Line and Arrow annotations. They are variety of line end caps ranging from geometric shapes to arrows and perpendicular or slanted lines to provide many annotation options.

Android_Line:Arrow_Line Start End.png

Orange Dotted Bisector

The Ellipse and Rectangle annotations have an orange dotted line that bisects the annotation when a perfect object is drawn. This orange dotted line will appear when either a perfect circle or perfect square is drawn, with respect to the annotation that is in use.

Bisector on Android.gif

Font & Size

The Text annotation has the option of seven unique fonts to choose from and the Size slider goes from 10 pt to 60 pt font size.

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Stamp Annotation

The Stamp Annotation is a quick way to add pre-determined, bold markups to your drawing field. There are several stamps that are already created for quick application and also the option to design your own to fit your needs under Custom that can be date and time stamped as well. After designing your stamp, press the Check Mark in the lower right corner and your stamp will be added to the drawing field.

Stamp Annotation on Android gif.gifScreenshot_20221020-150828.png

If you would like to use the existing stamps, simply press the one you want and it will automatically appear in the drawing field. You can resize the stamp by pulling one of the four corner points or rotate the stamp by holding and dragging the dot above the stamp. Once a stamp is added to the drawing field, press the Pencil icon in the upper right corner to relaunch annotations.

Annotation Upgrade on Reference Images and Photo Fields

The Annotation upgrade applies to any field that has drawing capabilities. Annotations can be used on a drawing field that contains a reference image and annotations can be used on a single or multi photo field that has the option to “Allow drawing on photo(s)” toggled on. You can learn more about adding a reference image to a drawing field here. You can learn more about allowing drawing on your photos here.

Saving, Editing, and Clearing the Drawing Field

To exit the drawing field once your annotations are complete, hit the back button from your phone’s functions. Pressing the X will simply hide the annotation buttons but to exit the field entirely, you must go back using your phone’s functions. You will be prompted to Discard or Save the annotations that you added. Either option will exit the drawing field but if you press Save, the field will say “Drawing Captured” in green. You can continue filling out your form from here.

If at some point you need to edit your drawing or start over, simply click the field again. You will be shown the drawing that was saved with the Pencil icon and Three Vertical Dots in the upper right corner. The pencil icon reopens the Annotations editor and the three vertical dots will present the option to Delete Drawing. If you choose to delete the annotations, you will be asked again if you are sure with the option to Cancel or Delete. If you choose delete, it will take you back to the form where “Capture Drawing” will be in the field value. Click the field to reenter the Annotations editor and you may need to activate the function bar by pressing the Pencil icon in the upper right corner of the screen if the function bar is not immediately visible.

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