One question I’m asked on a regular basis is “What apps are you using to mark up and annotate your images?” A few years ago, I would have told you that it wasn’t an easy task on iOS and you were better off using a Mac app, such as Napkin. Luckily, that not only isn’t the case anymore, it’s actually easier to mark up and annotate images on iPhone nowadays. Here’s what I’m currently using:
PointOut
One of the things I do more often than anything is add callouts and loupes to images. For this I’ve been using PointOut and I couldn’t be happier. Not only can you add magnifiers, you can even number the steps, so if you have multiple steps in a single screenshot, users can easily figure out what you’re trying to show them. PointOut can import any image in your Camera Roll or pull in whatever image is saved to your clipboard. There are many layouts to choose from and you can do things such as lightening or darkening the image so your callouts and loupes stand out more. This is a tool I use very frequently for how to posts.
* Free with IAP – Download
Annotable
Annotable is very similar to Skitch, which unfortunately Evernote has decided to no longer support for iOS. So if you’re looking for a familiar face, Annotable is a definite contender. However, unlike Skitch, you can add callouts and do a few more tricks that Skitch never offered. While I don’t find the callouts to be as nice, or as robust as PointOut, I do find myself migrating to Annotable often for things I used to do in Skitch since I’m already familiar with that similar sidebar interface. For free you can place regular magnifiers but you’ll have to pay $2 as an in-app purchase if you want Loupes. If you want more tools and colors, the app will cost you $8, which is slightly more expensive than what you’d pay for PointOut (assuming you’re offering a donation of some kind to the developer of course), which can perform many of the same functions for free. I’ve found that using PointOut and the free version of Annotable in conjunction with each other works just fine for me. If you prefer the convenience of having everything in a single app, it’s possible one or the other will do everything you need.
* Free with IAP – Download
LongScreen
There’s one other app that completes the triangle of image annotation on iOS for me, and that’s LongScreen. This app is absolutely wonderful and let’s me instantly stitch iOS screenshots together. You also have options of how you want them aligned. If you choose, you can also instantly add device placeholders around the screenshots, which make for very attractive marketing assets. (Hint to developers who want better looking screenshots, here’s a very easy way to make them.) For examples, refer to all the images in this post and many other posts on this site. 😉 LongScreen supports not only iPhone screenshots, but iPad and Apple Watch. You can even set the search filters to only display certain types of screenshots, which makes it easier to weed through your photo library.
* $3.99 – Download
I like PointOut a lot… read about it here 🙂 Is there something similar for OS X?
Napkin is the closest I know of
Cool – thanks!
I like using the Annotate app which also happens to copy the layout of Skitch albeit without the ability to draw straight lines. Unfortunately it also doesn’t appear to be receiving updates these days
Yeah I liked that one too. I didnt recommend though due to the lack of updates, as you mentioned.
Will you ever wish to do some reviews about the To-do and Reminder apps like Todist, 2do, Wunderlist etc like whose premium service is worth subscribing for or whose free service is good, it would be really helpful!