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How to annotate an image on a Mac

macOS has Markup built in: open the image in Preview, show the Markup toolbar, and add text, shapes and sketches. Shotbolt marks up a copy of your image, adds blur and pixelate, and keeps each mark editable after you save.

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What macOS does

Preview has the Markup toolbar:

  1. Open the image in Preview.
  2. Click the Show Markup Toolbar button if the toolbar isn't showing.
  3. Use its tools, such as Sketch, Shapes, Text, Sign and Crop. Highlight is under Shapes.

Markup is also a button in Quick Look and a choice in Quick Actions. In Photos, double-click a photo, click Edit, click the Extensions button and choose Markup.

Apple's guides also say where this stops:

  • After you save an image file, you can't edit, move or delete its annotations. Apple suggests converting the image to a PDF first if you expect to change them.
  • In Quick Look or Quick Actions, your changes can't be undone after you close the window.
  • The Markup tools Apple lists for Preview and for files include no blur or pixelate.

Steps in Shotbolt

Annotate Image File is in Free. It opens PNG, JPEG, HEIC, TIFF and other image files in the editor.

  1. Open the image. Click the Shotbolt icon in the menu bar and choose Tools → Annotate Image File…, or use Open With in Finder. Choose several files to get one tab each. For a picture you copied, choose Tools → Annotate Clipboard Image.
  2. Mark it up. Pick a tool, then draw on the picture: Arrow (A), Text (T), Highlighter (M), Rectangle (R), Pen (D), Counter (C) or Pixelate / Blur (P).
  3. Adjust it. Each mark is a layer. With Select (V), click one to move, resize or restyle it. Layers lists them all, and ⌘Z undoes your last step.
  4. Finish. Save (⌘S) adds the result to History and your save folder as a new screenshot. Copy (⇧⌘C) puts the finished picture on the clipboard and closes the editor. Done (⌘↩) saves, copies and closes.
The editor on a checkout: counter 1 by a $238.00 subtotal, the discount highlighted, and a note, "Should be $216", with an arrow to the total.

The menu on the Save button has Save As…, which lets you pick a folder and a format (PNG, JPEG, HEIC or AVIF), and Share…, which opens the macOS share sheet.

Keep the marks editable

After Save, the image is in History with its layers. Choose Open History…, double-click it, and move, change or delete any mark. Save As only writes a flat copy, so use Save or Done to keep the layers.

The file in your save folder is a flat picture. For how long layers last and what comes back, read how to edit a screenshot after saving.

Limits

  • Your file stays as it was. Shotbolt only reads it, so the marks are never written into the file you opened.
  • Animated images open as one picture. You get the first frame.
  • JPEG has no transparency. Save As puts transparent areas on white in that format.
  • Open With is an extra choice. Double-clicking a picture still opens it in the app you chose for it.
  • Some tools need Pro. Every tool in the steps above is Free. Automatic Redact Pro (Shotbolt Pro), Adjust Pro (Shotbolt Pro) and adding a second picture Pro (Shotbolt Pro) are not.

Questions

How do I blur part of an image on a Mac?

Open the image in Shotbolt, press P for Pixelate / Blur, and drag over the area. The tool also has a Solid style. For passwords or card numbers, read how to hide sensitive text first.

Do I need an account?

No. Annotating is in Free, and Shotbolt asks for no account.

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