Utilize PDF Agile's sticky notes, typewriter, markup, drawing, stamp, and measure tools to enhance collaboration and streamline your document workflows.
Highlight key passages in five distinct colors, underline for emphasis, or strikethrough what needs to go. Drop a sticky note anywhere to capture a thought — each one is automatically stamped with your name and timestamp, so reviews stay organized.
Draw attention with arrows, rectangles, ovals, and cloud shapes — or sketch freehand with the pencil tool. Every shape is customizable: adjust line width, color, opacity, and fill to match your style.
Stamp a document as "Approved", "Draft", or "Confidential" in one click. Need something more expressive? Use stickers — priority flags, star ratings, progress indicators, and emoji reactions to keep feedback visual and fun.
See every annotation at a glance in the sidebar — filter by page, type, or author. Need to share feedback? Export selected comments to TXT or CSV, or generate a summary PDF. And if you're working with a scanned document, built-in OCR makes the text highlightable.
Working with architectural or CAD drawings? Measure distances, areas, and perimeters right on the PDF — set your own scale ratio and get accurate results without reaching for a ruler.
From legal reviews to classroom feedback — PDF annotation keeps teams on the same page.
Redline contracts, flag clauses, and add review comments to streamline negotiations.
Highlight risk factors in reports and stamp audit trails for compliance.
Grade papers with highlights and notes, share annotated readings with students.
Review records with confidential stamps and private annotations.
Measure CAD drawings, annotate blueprints, stamp approval status.
Redline manuscripts, track editorial comments across draft cycles.
Review assets with stickers, priority flags, and emoji for fast iteration.
No learning curve — just open, pick a tool, and start marking.
Launch PDF Agile and open any PDF. Scanned documents are processed by built-in OCR automatically.
Head to the Comment tab and choose — highlight, sticky note, stamp, shape, pencil, typewriter, or measure.
Apply your annotations. Auto-save keeps your work safe. Export comments to TXT or CSV whenever you need.
Each platform has different tools and workflows. Pick yours:
Which free PDF readers actually support multi-color highlighting? We tested 6 tools and ranked them.
Read the comparison →5 free Windows PDF annotation tools compared: highlighting, sticky notes, stamps, and export.
Read the Windows guide →Side-by-side: which tool gives you the most annotation features for free?
| Feature | PDF Agile (Free) | Adobe Acrobat Pro | Foxit Reader | Online Tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-color highlighting | ✓ 5 colors | ✓ Yes | ✓ Limited | ✓ Limited |
| Sticky notes with author | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Stamps & stickers | ✓ Yes | ✓ Stamps only | ✓ Limited | ✗ No |
| Shapes & drawing | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Basic |
| Measure tools (CAD) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Export comments to TXT/CSV | ✓ Yes | ✗ Paid only | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| OCR for scanned PDFs | ✓ Built-in | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✓ Some |
| Offline / no upload | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Free tier available | ✓ Yes | ✗ $23/mo | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Join millions who trust PDF Agile — try now to edit, convert, and manage PDFs with efficiency and ease.
Open your PDF in PDF Agile, go to the Comment tab, and select the Pencil tool. Draw directly on the page with your mouse or stylus. Adjust line width, color, and opacity from the toolbar.
The most common reason: your PDF has security restrictions that disable annotation. Check File → Properties → Security to see if commenting is allowed. If the PDF is a scanned image with no selectable text, you need OCR first — PDF Agile handles this automatically. Also, make sure you're on the Comment tab (not Edit).
In PDF Agile, go to the Comment tab and select Typewriter. Click anywhere on the page and start typing. You can adjust font, size, and color from the toolbar. For form fields, use the Form tab instead.
In PDF Agile, click File → Export Comments. Select which annotations to export and choose TXT or CSV format. The export includes annotation type, page number, author, date, and content — useful for study summaries or audit trails.
Comments may be hidden. In PDF Agile, go to Comment tab and ensure annotations are set to visible. Check the left sidebar's Annotation panel to see if comments exist but are filtered. If you received the PDF from someone else, they may have flattened the annotations (merged them into the page content).
Yes. PDF Agile's free tier includes full annotation features: multi-color highlights, sticky notes, stamps & stickers, shapes, drawing, and comment export to TXT/CSV. No subscription required for basic annotation workflows.
A complete PDF solution for all PDF needs — annotate, edit, convert, sign, and protect.