This page will teach you how to use Preview to annotate a PDF.
Please note: Preview is a pre-installed app on all macOS devices. For more information, see Apple’s Preview User Guide.
How do I open a document with preview?
Step 1: Download your document locally.
![The Downloads tab in finder on macOS with the downloaded document highlighted.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Preview-Frame-1.png)
Step 2: Open your document with Preview.
![The option to open a downloaded document with Preview highlighted in macOS finder.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Preview-Frame-2.png)
How do I use the highlighter tool?
Step 1: Click the markup icon to open the tool bar.
![Preview opened with a document and the markup icon highlighted.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-3.png)
Step 2: Click the highlighter tool and select the text you would like to highlight.
![Preview opened with a document and the highlighter tool highlighted with a text example.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-4.png)
Step 3: Right click to change the colour of the highlight, add a note, or remove the annotation.
Right click to edit the text highlight.
![Preview opened with a document and the edit text highlight option highlighted.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-5.png)
Select the colour you would like the highlighted text to be.
![Preview opened with a document and the highlight colour changing option highlighted.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-5.1.png)
Attach a note to a highlighted region.
![Preview opened with a document and a note added to a highlighted region being highlighted.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-5.2.png)
How can I annotate the document’s text or add my own?
Step 1: Use the underline tool to underline text.
![Preview opened with a document and the underline tool highlighted with a text example.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-6.png)
Step 2: Use the text box tool to add your own text.
![Preview opened with a document and the text box tool highlighted with an example.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-7.png)
Step 3: Click the typography icon to change font, font size, colour or alignment.
![Preview opened with a document and the typography icon highlighted.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-8.png)
Step 4: Use the note tool to add notes.
![Preview opened with a document and the note tool highlighted with an example.](https://med-fom-edmedia.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/02/Frame-9.png)