Opening Images in Annotate

The start screen offers several ways to bring an image into the editor. Pick whichever source fits the moment.

From Photos

Tap Photos on the start screen to open the system photo picker filtered to images. Pick one, and it opens straight into the editor.

If the image is very large (above the iOS Metal texture limit), Annotate automatically downscales it to a workable size while preserving the original aspect ratio.

From Screenshots

Tap Screenshots to open a picker that's pre-filtered to your screenshot album - the most common source for markup. Same flow as Photos, just narrower.

From Files

Tap Files to open the system document picker. This is the path to use when:

• The image is on iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or any other Files-app provider
• You're working with a downloaded or AirDropped file outside the Photos library

From the Clipboard

Copy any image (in Safari, Mail, Slack, etc.) and tap Clipboard on the start screen to paste it directly into a new canvas.

Empty Canvas

If you want to start from a blank canvas instead of an existing image, tap New Canvas. See the next page for the full new-canvas flow.

Home Screen Quick Actions

Long-press the Annotate icon on the home screen to access shortcuts for Photos, Screenshots, Files, and Clipboard - skipping the start screen entirely.

Recents

Recently annotated images appear under Recent annotations on the start screen (if the Save to Recents toggle is on in Settings). Tap any entry to re-open the exact session - including all annotation layers - and continue editing.

You can switch between grid and list views via the toolbar in the Recents sheet, and enter selection mode to delete multiple entries at once. Long-press any item to enter selection mode with that item pre-selected.

Share Sheet Import

Annotate also registers a share-sheet extension. From any app, tap Share → Annotate on an image, and it opens in the editor.