From PDF to USPTO-ready figures

• Scroll wheel. Hover the drawing and scroll to zoom in and out from the cursor.

• Middle-click drag. Hold the scroll wheel and drag to pan. Best at high zoom on large figures.

• Space and drag. Hold the spacebar and drag with the left button, when middle-click is not available.

• Zoom controls. The toolbar zoom stepper sets an exact percentage when you need one.

• Select a line shape from the toolbar: straight, curved or S-curved.

• Click where you want the reference number to sit.

• Click again on the component it refers to. The line is created with your chosen endpoint.

• Repeat. Each callout is suggested the next number up from the highest in the document, and you can set your own.

Tip. Working from a reference list? Import it as a CSV and drag numbers straight onto the drawing instead of typing them.

• Move an endpoint. Left-click an endpoint and hold, drag it where you want it, then let go to drop it. Escape cancels and restores the original position.

• Change a callout. Click any entry in the callout list to expand it, then adjust line shape, curvature, endpoint and text.

• Flip a curve. Reverse the direction of a curved leader line in one click, without redrawing it.

• Delete. Select a callout and press Delete, or use the trash icon in the callout list.

• To one page. Use the duplicate icon on a callout and choose the destination page. Annotra takes you there with the copy selected.

• To every page. Choose All other pages to place a copy on every page at once, skipping the page it is already on.

• Numbering. Copies keep their number. Callout 100 stays 100 on every figure, which is what makes reference numerals worth having.

• Undo. A duplication is a single undo, however many pages it touched.

• Import a CSV of reference numbers and descriptions into the left panel.

• Search the list to find a number quickly on long templates.

• Drag a number from the panel onto the drawing to place it.

• Every row says where its reference is in words: On this page, the page number it sits on, or Not placed. Hover a row for the full list when one reference appears on several pages.

• Add figure labels such as FIG. 1 or FIG. 2A from the reference panel.

• Choose sentence case or all caps to match the rest of your filing.

• Placed figure numbers default to a position above the bottom margin, and can be dragged anywhere on the page.

• Figure numbers carry their own font size, kept larger than annotation text by default.

• Shift and drag. Reposition the drawing itself. Callouts and figure numbers stay where they are.

• Ctrl or Cmd and drag. Drag up or down to scale the artwork, between 50% and 150%.

• Saved per page. Each page remembers its own position and scale, and the export reflects both.

• Add or delete. Insert a blank page after the current one, or remove a page you no longer need.

• Move. Reorder a page within the document without re-importing.

• Replace. Swap in a new PDF for the current page, keeping the annotations you have already placed.

• Guides. Toggle margin guides, page numbers and cross hairs. Guides are for you on screen and never appear in the export.

• Open it on any page. Use Diagram in the page bar. The current page sits behind the canvas as a reference while you work.

• Draw. Shapes, arrows, connectors, text and freehand, with the usual selection and alignment tools.

• Apply. What you draw is written into the page itself, so it exports with everything else and needs no separate step.

• Come back to it. The drawing is stored with the project per page, so it reopens for editing rather than having to be redrawn.

• 12pt minimum. 37 CFR 1.84(p)(3) requires reference characters to be at least 0.32 cm, roughly 12pt. Going below it raises a warning.

• Relative sizes. Figure and page numbers should sit at least 2pt above annotation text. Annotra flags it when they do not.

• Three separate controls. Annotation, figure number and page number sizes are set independently from the toolbar.

• Rotate the text on a page in 90 degree steps, for landscape figures or sideways drawings.

• Rotation applies to the page you are on, and the export matches what you see.

• Auto-save. On by default and saving in the background, every minute and whenever you leave the tab. There is nothing to switch on.

• Manual save. The Save button in the toolbar commits immediately.

• Dashboard. Every project lives on the dashboard, where you can rename, duplicate or delete it.

• Invite by email. Open a project from the dashboard, choose Share, and send an invitation to their email address.

• They do not need a subscription. Your collaborator accepts the invitation and works on the project with you. The collaboration add-on is on your account, not theirs.

• Needs the collaboration add-on. Sharing is enabled by the $5/mo add-on on your account. Without it the invite is refused.

• Three collaborators. The add-on covers three collaborators across your projects, on one project or spread over several. An invitation holds a seat until it is accepted, declined or revoked.

• Invitations expire. An invitation that is not accepted lapses after seven days. Resend it from the same dialog.

• Flattened. Annotations are baked into the PDF. Smaller, final, and the right choice for filing.

• Editable. Annotations stay as separate layers so they can be adjusted in other PDF software later.

• What you see. The export reflects artwork position, scale and rotation. Margin guides and cross hairs never appear in it.