Get started with on-Canvas annotations in Sketch
Learn how to add comments right on the Canvas using threaded conversations, emoji, @ mentions and more
We’re super excited to bring annotations to your designs in Sketch. Now, you can pin a comment directly to a point on the Canvas and strike up a conversation, right where it matters!
Read on to find out more about annotations, and how to start using them in your documents.
Say hello to annotations
With annotations, you can share feedback and discuss details in the context of your design. Better yet, you can create, comment and reply using annotations in both the Mac app and the web app.
Let’s dive in and find out how…
How to add annotations to your documents
You can add a new annotation to your document by pressing N or clicking the New comment button in the toolbar, then clicking the point on the Canvas where you want your annotation to appear. Once you’ve left your comments, you can reply to add more detail or discuss with others right inside that same annotation, using @ mentions to call on the people you need. And of course, comments support emoji and basic Markdown to help you get your meaning across.
You can add an annotation anywhere on the Canvas, then tag people to get their attention.
Annotations replace Artboard-level comments, and any existing Artboard-level comments you have in your documents will appear as an annotation in the top-left corner of the Artboard they relate to.
Navigating annotations
Annotations that you haven’t viewed yet — or ones that include unread replies — will appear as an orange pin on the Canvas. When you’ve viewed an annotation or its replies, the pin will turn grey.
Want to see all the annotations on a specific page? You can do it in the web app. You’ll find them in the Comments tab in the sidebar. Clicking on any comment in the list will jump you right to the annotation on the Canvas, so you can instantly see it in context.
You can see all the comments on your current page on the Canvas or in the sidebar on the right of the web app. Click one to jump right to it.
You can delete an annotation by opening it, clicking the … button and choosing Delete…. We’ll be adding the option to resolve comments very soon.
Share links to annotations
Want to link someone to a specific point in your document? Simply click the … button in the annotation and copy the link to it. Sharing feedback via other platforms like Slack or Notion just got a whole lot easier.
When someone visits the link, they’ll be taken right to that annotation in the web app. They’ll jump directly to focus on the annotation itself in context, whether it’s on an Artboard or just somewhere on the Canvas.
This — and everything else we talk about in this post — is all possible thanks to the Canvas view in the web app, which allows you to preview your entire Canvas exactly as you see it on the Mac app. As well as panning and zooming to see all your design elements, you can now also add and view annotations right on that Canvas.
Annotation notifications
When you create an annotation, or contribute to the conversation in a thread, you’ll automatically follow it and receive notifications for any new replies in the web app. If you want to keep your notifications more manageable, simply unfollow an individual annotation — or the entire document. If you haven’t commented on a document but want to get notifications about new comments, you can do that too.
To turn notifications for the entire document on or off, hit the bell icon at the top of the Comment tab of the web app’s sidebar. You can also follow or unfollow a specific conversation by opening the relevant annotation and clicking the … button then choose Follow to start getting notifications. Click it again to unfollow that conversation.
You can follow and unfollow individual threads, or the entire document if you like.
You can see all the comments for every document you follow in the Updates section of the web app. Click one to jump right to it in your document.
There’s more to come
We’re still working hard to make annotations even better. Soon, we’ll release more support for this feature, including resolving comments. Stay tuned for more!
