Skip to main content

You’ll soon be able to scribble all over PDFs on your Chromebook

Tablet And stylus stock photo
PhotoMIX-Company / Pixabay

If you use a Chromebook, you can look forward to a new feature that lets you annotate PDF documents.

According to 9to5Google, Google may soon be adding a new annotation feature to the PDF viewer within its Chrome OS. This developing change to Chrome OS’ PDF viewer was spotted on this Chromium Gerrit source code management page. The new feature is expected to give access to an annotation mode by selecting a pencil-shaped icon. Drawings and notes created in this mode can be saved as a new file if desired and then sent off to wherever it needs to go.

Recommended Videos

Annotation should be able to support the use of a mouse, stylus, touchpad or touchscreen to create drawings and annotations as well. The basis of the drawings and notes will be Google’s software library, Ink. This software library should support “freehand drawing and handwriting.”

It is unclear at this time if the new PDF annotation feature will roll out to Chrome browsers, but we do know that the feature will likely initially only be released to Chrome OS.

The ability to annotate PDFs is a necessary convenience for those who use the document format often. Being able to draw and quickly jot down notes within a PDF can make things like obtaining signatures much easier to deal with. Which is probably why the Mac and Windows operating systems already offer their own PDF annotation options.

Within MacOS, a PDF can be annotated by  using the Preview app’s Markup toolbar. For Windows 10 users, the Microsoft Edge browser comes with its own PDF viewer, and the annotations feature can be accessed by selecting the Add Notes button on the browser address bar.

Google’s endeavor to add the feature shouldn’t be surprising considering many of its new Chromebooks and Chrome OS devices feature touchscreens of their own now. Over the past year, Google has added feature after feature, attempting to make Chrome OS more touch-friendly for these new devices. PDF annotation seems especially important given the addition of the Pixelbook Pen, Google’s own stylus that’s meant to work with the Pixel Slate tablet and the Pixelbook 2-in-1 laptop.

Also, if you want to edit the PDF further, we suggest taking a look at some of the best PDF editors.

Anita George
Anita George has been writing for Digital Trends' Computing section since 2018. So for almost six years, Anita has written…
I found the best Prime Day deal on a tablet hidden beyond Amazon
Microsoft Surface Pro 12-inch, stylus, and keyboard.

A good tablet can take your productivity to the next level, but a boring one will find a niche use and eat dust on a table or couch for most of its time. I love iPads and have been pushing them – as far as I can — to act as my primary computing machine for nearly half a decade now. It has never managed to replace a proper laptop, like a MacBook Air or a Windows machine. 

Why not buy a Windows laptop, you might ask? Well, Windows-powered tablets, especially those Surface devices sold by Microsoft, are pretty expensive. I love the new 12-inch Surface Pro, but at $799, it felt like a steep purchase despite its impressive specifications. 

Read more
Prime Day is over, but this powerful Dell laptop is still at its lowest price
The Dell Vostro 3530 laptop on a white background.

Prime Day is already over, but that doesn't mean that there are no more laptop deals for you to shop on Amazon. Here's one that caught our eye -- the Dell Vostro 3530 with 32GB of RAM for its lowest-ever price of $649, following a 28% discount on its original price of $899. This limited-time offer of $250 off may not last much longer though, so if you want to take advantage of this bargain, we highly recommend that you finalize your purchase for this device as soon as you can.

Buy Now

Read more
This Lenovo all-in-one computer is 30% off even though Prime Day has ended
The Lenovo V100 All-in-One Desktop Computer on a white background.

Even though Prime Day is already finished, there are still some excellent desktop computer deals on Amazon. If you don't have much space, or you just want to avoid clutter, you should take a look at the Lenovo V100 All-in-One PC. From its original price of $800, it's all the way down to just $560 following a 30% discount. The offer for this machine will only be available for a limited time though, so you need to act fast and proceed with the transaction immediately to secure the savings of $240.

Buy Now

Read more