Forum Discussion
How to draw on a PDF on Windows and save the changes?
I need to mark up a PDF with freehand notes, circles, arrows, and a few simple shapes without changing the original text. When I open the file in a browser on my Windows laptop, the pencil or drawing...
Microsoft Journal is worth considering if you use a pen-enabled Windows device. It’s a free handwriting app that lets you import PDFs, write over the pages, and export the result.
- Install Microsoft Journal from the Microsoft Store and create or open a journal.
- Use Import PDF to bring the document into that journal.
- Choose a pen or highlighter and adjust its color and thickness. Add handwritten notes, circles, and arrows over the imported pages.
- Remove unwanted ink with the eraser, Undo, or Journal’s scratch-out gesture when enabled.
- Open the journal menu and use its Export to PDF option. Choose the pages you need and save a new PDF.
- Open the exported file in another viewer to check that the annotations and all required pages are included. Keep the journal for later editing.
The main limitation is input: Journal is designed primarily for a digital pen and touch, so it isn’t the best choice for a mouse-only laptop. It also isn’t a full shape-drawing or PDF-editing application; expect to draw arrows and circles by hand. Export creates a new PDF, and you shouldn’t rely on it to preserve the original document’s links, forms, bookmarks, or individually editable PDF annotations.