Skitch gives you all the tools you need to visually communicate ideas, share feedback and collaborate with friends and co-workers. Use an existing image or capture a new one, then add shapes, write on it, draw on it, annotate it any way you like, and save it to your Evernote account so that it is available everywhere Evernote is.

Getting started is easy!

With Skitch you can capture a new image, use an image you already have, or start from a blank slate, and annotate it exactly the way you want. Screenshots, photos, drawings, maps—you can annotate it all with Skitch.

The Capture Menu

To get started, click the Capture Menu on the Home Screen and select the type of image you want to start with. For more detailed instructions on creating an image, see the sections below.

Fullscreen

The Fullscreen option lets you capture an image of your entire screen.

1. Click the Capture Menu
2. Click the Fullscreen option
3. An image of your entire screen will be captured and opened in the Skitch editor

Screen Snap…

Need to capture only a portion of your screen? The Screen Snap option allows you to select only what you want.

1. Click the Capture Menu
2. Click the Screen Snap… option. The screen will darken slightly and a cross-hair will be displayed. To exit without capturing a screen snap, hit esc.
3. Click and drag the cross-hair over the portion of the screen you want to capture. The selected area will appear lightened. Once an area has been selected, the Resize Menu will be displayed.
4. Specify the dimensions you want for the captured image. By default, width and height are resized proportionally. To turn off proportional resizing, click the Link icon.
5. An image of the selected area will be captured and opened in the Skitch editor

Timed Screen Snap…

With the Timed Screen Snap option you can select an area of the screen to capture, then reposition windows and objects before the snapshot is taken. This gives you the ability to ensure that everything in the screen snap looks exactly the way you want.

1. Click the Capture Menu
2. Click the Timed Screen Snap… option. The screen will darken slightly and a cross-hair will be displayed. To exit without capturing a screen snap, hit esc.
4. Click and drag the cross-hair over the portion of the screen you want to capture. The selected area will appear lightened. Once an area has been selected, a 5 second countdown will begin. The length of the countdown can be changed in the app settings.

5. Reposition any windows or objects in the selected area, as needed. The screen snap will be taken once the 5 second countdown has elapsed.
6. An image of the selected area will be captured and opened in the Skitch editor

Camera

The Camera option is an easy way to capture the moment with your Mac’s front-facing camera.

1. Click the Capture Menu
2. Click the Camera option
3. Click the Take Photo button to capture a photo. The captured photo will be displayed
4. To accept the photo, click the Use button
5. The photo will be opened in the Skitch editor

Open a File…

With the Open a File option, you can select any image (jpg, png, bmp, etc.) or PDF on your Mac to annotate with Skitch. Skitch will create a copy of the file, so that the original stays perfectly intact.

1. Click the Capture Menu
2. Click the Open a File… option. The Mac file menu will be displayed
3. Navigate to and click the image or PDF you want to annotate with Skitch
4. The selected image will be opened in the Skitch editor

The Toolbar

Annotating your image is easy. Just click any of the annotation tools on the toolbar, select a color and start annotating.

Arrow Tool

Use the Arrow tool to point out an exact spot or item.

1. Click the Arrow icon
2. Click and drag to the spot on the image you want the arrow to point. The arrow will point and stretch in the direction you drag.

Line and Shape Tools

These tools allow you to call attention to specific areas with colored lines or shapes.

1. Click the Square icon to show all of the available shapes
2. Click the Shape icon that you want to use
3. Click and drag over the area of the image where you want the shape to appear

Text Tool

The Text tool lets you add easily readable text annotations.

1. Click the a icon
2. Click the spot where you want the text to appear. A cursor will be displayed
3. Type the text you want to appear

Removing Skitch Formatting

You may optionally remove the default Skitch formatting from text by doing the following:

1. Click the text you want to remove formatting from. An options slider will be displayed.
2. Click and slide the slider to the right. The text will be displayed as plain, black text.

Draw and Highlight Tool

Just like a real pen and highlighter, the Draw tool allows you to freehand draw with digital ink, while the Highlight tool allows you to add a transparent color overlay.

1. Click the Draw and Highlighter icon to show the available tools
2. Click the Draw icon to freehand draw on the image, or the Highlighter icon to highlight anything with a transparent ink.
3. With either tool, click and drag the cursor over the image to draw with digital ink.

Color Picker

You can choose from a variety of colors for any of the annotation tools in Skitch with the Color Picker. This is great for keeping multiple annotations distinct.

1. Click the Color Picker icon. The expanded Color Picker menu will be displayed

2. Move the Line Thickness Slider to select how thick you want the colored outline of the shape to be
3. Click the color you want to use. You can always change the color of any annotation later by selecting the annotation, then clicking the Color Picker

Pixelate Tool

The Pixelate tool is perfect for blurring portions of images that need to be kept anonymous, such as faces or other personally identifiable information.

1. Click the Pixelate icon. A cross-hair will be displayed
2. Click and drag the cross-hair over the area you want to pixelate

Skitch is the best app around for annotating images and sharing ideas with others, but did you know it's also a powerful way to collaborate with others on PDF documents?

In Skitch, you can easily add annotations to any PDF document, then share it via email. Your annotated PDF document will be attached to the email, along with an easy to reference summary off all your annotations. This makes Skitch a great tool for swapping ideas and feedback on PDF documents until everything is perfect.

30-day Trial

A 30-day trial of PDF collaboration is available to all Free Evernote users. Evernote Premium users get unlimited use of the PDF collaboration features in Skitch, as well as a great variety of other features across the entire Evernote family of apps. Learn more about Evernote Premium and subscribe now.

PDF Annotation

All of the Skitch annotation tools can be used on PDF documents, with the exception of the Resize tool and the Crop tool. This means that you have access to all your favorite Skitch annotations for use on PDF documents to point out feedback, share ideas, offer advice, and more. This is a great way to collaborate with others to improve and polish PDFs.

For more information on opening PDFs in Skitch, see 'Create from PDF' in the Create an Image section of this user guide.

For more information on using the annotation tool, see the Annotate an Image section of this user guide.

PDF Sharing

To get the full benefit out of PDF collaboration with Skitch, you must share your PDF via email. Sharing via email allows the Evernote service to process your annotated PDF, which automatically generates an Annotation Summary in the email and adds a Snippet Summary to the beginning of the PDF.

To share a PDF document via email that has been annotated with Skitch, do the following:

1. Open the annotated PDF document in Skitch, or annotate a new PDF document
2. Click the Share icon at the top-right of the screen
3. Click Email. A preview of the Annotation Summary that will be included in the email will be displayed.
4. Address and send the email as you normally would

PDF Summary

PDF documents shared with Skitch via email include a PDF Summary that makes it easy for your friends and co-workers to review all of the annotations you have added to the PDF.

Email Annotation Summary

Any time you share a PDF document via email that has been annotated in Skitch, the annotated document will be included as an attachment to the email, and the body of the email will include an Annotation Summary that shows how many times each type of Skitch annotation has been added to the document.

PDF Snippet Summary

The first page of the attached PDF will include a Snippet PDF Summary, which allows the recipient to review just the portions of the PDF document that have been annotated in Skitch. This allows those you are collaborating with to quickly review and reference your ideas and feedback, without having to search through the entire document.

You can also save a copy of an annotated PDF with the PDF Snippet Summary by selecting 'PDF with Summary' from the "Drag Me" tab at the bottom of the screen, then clicking and dragging the tab into an email or anywhere on your computer.

Once you have added an annotation, you can move, resize, or delete it any anytime.

Select Multiple Annotations

To select multiple annotations, hold the Shift key on your keyboard, then click the annotations one at a time. Only color, line thickness and location can be changed when multiple annotations are selected.

Resizing an Annotation

To resize an annotation, select it, then click and drag any of the blue anchor points.

Drag toward the center of the annotation to make it smaller, or away from the center to make it larger. This can be done for any annotation, including text and highlighter marks.

Automatic Saving

Skitch automatically saves your image to your Evernote account as an attachment to a new note. Changes are synced to your Evernote account while you work, as well as anytime you exit Skitch, so there’s no need to worry about saving your progress. To add more annotations later, just click the image you want to edit on the Home Screen.

Sharing and collaboration are easy with Skitch. Whether you want to use Evernote, email, or Facebook, sharing your Skitched images is just a tap away.

Share Button

To share a Skitch note, create a new one or select an existing one from the Home Screen, then click the Share button and select any of these options:

• Email: Creates a new email with the image attached in your default email application
• Twitter: Creates a public URL that can be viewed by anyone, and redirects you to twitter.com to post it. If you are not already, you will be prompted to log in to your Twitter account
• Facebook: Creates a public URL that can be viewed by anyone, and redirects you to facebook.com to post it. If you are not already, you will be prompted to log in to your Facebook account
• Add to iPhoto: Adds the image to your iPhoto library. iPhoto will be opened automatically
• Share and Copy Shared URL: Creates a public URL that can be viewed by anyone. The URL will be copied to your clipboard
• Share and Open Shared URL in Browser: Creates a public URL that can be viewed by anyone. The URL will be opened in your default Web browser

Share & Collaborate on PDFs

In Skitch, you can easily annotate any PDF document, then share it via email. Your annotated PDF document will be attached to the email, along with an easy to reference summary off all your annotations. This makes Skitch a great tool for swapping ideas and feedback on PDF documents until everything is perfect.

For more information on PDF collaboration with Skitch, see the Annotate a PDF section of this user guide.