Annotate Patent Figures
in Minutes, Not Hours.
Annotra makes it fast and easy to add accurate reference numbers to patent drawings. Save hours of manual work and deliver publication-ready, USPTO-compliant figures every time.
7-day free trial · No credit card required
Save Hours
Place a callout in two clicks. Import your reference list from CSV or Excel and number an entire figure set in one pass.
Accurate
Straight, curved, or S-curved leader lines with precision controls. Every callout lands exactly where you put it.
Multi-Page Support
Keep reference numbers consistent across every sheet. Duplicate, reorder, and manage full figure sets in one project.
Custom Endpoints
Arrow, dot, or none. Mix and match leader line endings throughout your drawings.
Export Ready
One click exports a high-resolution, USPTO-compliant PDF. No cleanup, no reformatting, ready to file.
Encrypted
Every drawing is encrypted end to end, stored privately, and never used to train anything. Your work stays yours.
How It Works
Powerful Tools.Simple Process.
From import to export in minutes. Annotra gives you everything you need to annotate accurate, USPTO-compliant drawings—fast.
- 01
Import
Upload your patent drawings in PDF format, import your .csv or .xls file of reference numbers or add them on the spot.
- 02
Annotate
Place numbered callouts in two clicks. Leader lines draw themselves, then dial in curves, endpoint styles, and text to match your standards.
- 03
Export
Download publication-ready, USPTO-compliant PDFs — flattened and ready to file, or editable so you can come back to them.
Watch this brief video introduction
See a drawing go from a plain PDF to a fully annotated, USPTO-compliant set of patent drawings.
Quick Highlights
See It Done in Seconds
Six short clips covering the moves you will use on every job — from first upload to a finished, annotated sheet.
Trusted by Patent Professionals
- Built by Patent Professionals
- Designed by a senior patent illustrator for real-world patent workflows.
- Fast and Intuitive
- Create figure callouts in minutes instead of hours.
- 100% Private
- Your patent drawings remain secure and confidential.
- USPTO Ready
- Export clean, professionally annotated drawings.
Why Annotra
Minutes, not days.Dollars, not thousands.
| Annotra | Adobe Illustrator | AutoCAD | Outsourced drafting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for patent annotation | Purpose-built | General illustration | General CAD | Varies by vendor |
| USPTO-compliant output | Built in | Manual setup | Manual setup | Usually included |
| Turnaround | Minutes | Hours | Hours | Days |
| Team Collaboration | Optional Add-on | Manually share file | Manually share file | Through the vendor |
| Drawing flowcharts | Built in | Separate tool | Separate tool | Extra request |
| Learning curve | Minutes | Steep | Steep | None for you |
| Cost | $16.67/mo | $23/mo | $235/mo | Per drawing, and again per revision |
One outsourced drawing revision costs more than a year of Annotra.
Competitor costs are approximate US list prices as published in August 2026 and are subject to change.
Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing.
Free Trial
Freefor 7 days
Full access. No credit card. Exported PDFs carry a watermark.
- Every Pro feature unlocked
- Unlimited projects and figures
- Unlimited reference callouts
- Exports carry a watermark until you subscribe
Pro Monthly
$19.99per month
Cancel anytime.
- No watermark on exported PDFs
- Unlimited projects and figures
- CSV and Excel reference import
- Custom endpoints and leader lines
- Editable and flattened PDF export
- Built-in diagram editor for flowcharts
- Add up to 3 collaborators, $5/mo add-on
- Email support
Pro Yearly
$16.67per month, billed yearly
Save 17% versus monthly.
- Everything in Pro Monthly
- Two months free
- Priority support
- Early access to new features
Try everything free for 7 days. No credit card. Cancel anytime.
Your unfiled drawings stay confidential.
Patent drawings are confidential until they publish. Annotra is built so that the only person who can open your files is you, and anyone you explicitly invite.
Encrypted from your browser to the disk
Your drawing is encrypted the moment it leaves your browser, and stays encrypted on the disk it is stored on.
Private storage, not a public link
Drawings sit in a private bucket. Retrieving one requires your credentials; there is no URL that serves it to a stranger.
Enforced per account, in the database
Row-level security scopes every project, callout and figure to its owner, so isolation does not depend on the app asking the right question.
Never used for training
Your drawings are yours. We do not train models on them.
Private by default, delete anytime
Projects are visible only to you unless you share them, and deleting one removes the stored file with it.
Nothing to install
Runs in the browser, so there is no client-side footprint.
Loved by patent professionals for
Your reference list, not retyped
Import the numerals and descriptions you already have from CSV or Excel, then drag each one onto the drawing. Placed numbers are marked off as you go.
No leader lines drawn by hand
Click where the number goes, click what it points at, and the line is drawn. No pen tool, no aligning a text box afterwards.
One numeral, every figure
Duplicate a callout to another page, or to all of them at once, and it keeps its number. 100 stays 100 across the whole set.
Caught before the examiner does
Warns when text drops under the 12pt the USPTO expects, and when figure or page numbers fall too close to the annotation size.
Move the drawing, not the callouts
Shift-drag to reposition imported artwork and Ctrl-drag to scale it. Your callouts and figure numbers stay exactly where you put them.
Bring in whoever you need
Invite an illustrator, an attorney or a colleague onto a project. They work on the same figures without a subscription of their own.
Diagram Editor
Flowcharts and schematics, drawn in place.
Some figures are diagrams rather than drawings. The editor opens over the page you are already working on, so a flowchart or schematic gets drawn where it belongs - no second application, and no importing a flat picture of it back in.
Shapes, arrows and freehand
Rectangles, diamonds, ellipses, connectors, lines and a pencil, plus text with its own font, size, weight and solid or dashed styling.
Aligned to the page
Margin guides stay visible while you draw, and the align controls place the finished diagram on the sheet instead of leaving you to eyeball it.
Applied into the figure
Apply to Page writes the diagram into the page itself, so it exports with everything else rather than arriving as a separate attachment.
Still editable later
Reopen a diagram you have already applied and carry on. It does not flatten on the first save.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is the output USPTO-compliant?
Annotra exports figures with the margins, line weights, and lettering conventions expected for utility patent drawings. You stay in control of the final review before filing.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Annotra runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to download, no plugin, and no IT approval required to get started.
What happens to my files?
Your drawings are encrypted the moment they leave your browser and stay encrypted in storage, private to your account by default. They are never used to train models, and you can delete a project at any time.
Can I import my reference numeral list from CSV or Excel?
Yes. Import a two-column CSV or Excel file of numbers and descriptions, then place each callout with a click. Numbers already used on a page are tracked for you.
Can I draw a flowchart or schematic in Annotra?
Yes. The built-in diagram editor opens over the page you are on, with shapes, arrows, text and freehand drawing. What you draw is applied into the page itself, so it exports with the rest of the figure and can be reopened and edited later.
Can I work on a project with my illustrator or attorney?
Yes. The $5/mo collaboration add-on covers up to 3 collaborators across your projects. Invite them by email and they work on the same figures with you. They do not need their own Annotra subscription to accept, and you can free a seat again by removing a collaborator.
What file types are supported?
Upload PDF drawings and export finished figures as PDF. Reference lists can be imported from CSV, XLSX, or XLS.
What happens after the trial?
The 7-day trial includes every feature and does not require a card. Exported PDFs carry a watermark until you subscribe, which is the only thing a paid plan changes. When the trial ends you can pick a monthly or yearly plan, or stop with nothing further to pay.
Reviews
From the peoplepreparing the drawings.
What used to take an hour now takes minutes.
Annotra has completely changed how I handle reference numbers and leader lines. It's fast, intuitive, and built around the way patent figures actually need to be prepared.
Rachel BennettPatent Illustrator, 15+ Years Experience I wish I had this years ago.
I used to annotate every figure manually in Illustrator. Annotra makes the entire process dramatically faster, especially when working with multiple figures and repeated reference numbers.
Thomas CaldwellPatent Agent, Independent Practitioner The learning curve was practically nonexistent.
I uploaded my figures, imported my reference numbers, and was working within minutes. It eliminates a surprisingly tedious part of preparing a patent application.
Daniel MercerPatent Attorney Simple, focused, and incredibly useful.
Annotra doesn't try to replace my drawing software. It does one specific job extremely well: getting reference numbers and callouts onto patent figures quickly and consistently.
Emily HartwellPatent Agent A huge time saver for figure preparation.
Being able to annotate an entire set of drawings, keep everything organized, and export a clean PDF from one place has made my workflow much more efficient.
Jonathan ReevesPatent Illustrator
Ready to Save Time and Create Perfect Patent Drawings?
Try it on your next set of drawings.
7-day free trial · No credit card required