Annotate a PDF
Leave a note in the margin, exactly where it belongs. The review panel then gathers every note and every mark in the document, page by page.
Free · 100% local — nothing is uploaded- 1Open your PDF.
- 2Click where you want to comment and write your note.
- 3Read them all in the Comments panel, then download.
How to annotate and comment on a PDF
Open the document, click the precise spot you want to comment on, and write your note. It stays pinned to that spot on the page, and the review panel then gathers every note and every mark in the document in page order: you read back a fifty-page file without hunting for where the remark was. Notes are standard annotations of the PDF format, so your recipient can read them in Acrobat, in Preview or in a browser, with no account and no extra software. The file never leaves your device: commenting on a contract or a dissertation does not force you to entrust it to an online service. A note can be read back, corrected and removed for as long as the document has not been frozen. The panel closes in one action when you want to read the bare page again.
Reviewing as a group
Each reviewer annotates their own copy, and you get as many files as there are reviewers; the comparison tool then puts two versions side by side to see what changed. It is safer than a review shared on a server: nobody needs an account, and the document exists only in the places you sent it yourself. When the review is closed, flattening freezes the remarks and makes the document final.
Frequently asked questions
Will my colleagues see the notes?
Yes. They are genuine PDF annotations: every reader displays them, and a reviewer can reply from their own software.
Where do I find all the annotations in a document?
In the editor’s Comments panel: notes, highlights and shapes are listed in page order, and one click takes you to the one you want to read.
Can I make the annotations permanent?
Yes, with flattening: they are then painted into the page and can no longer be moved or deleted.
Does the recipient have to install anything to read my notes?
No. They are annotations in the PDF format itself: every reader displays them, browser viewers and phone viewers included.
Can several of us annotate the same document?
Not at the same time: Vélin holds no shared session, since nothing goes through a server. Each person annotates the copy they receive, and the Comments panel shows every note in a file, page by page, whatever software left them.