Inline document annotation lets graders mark up student submissions directly in the document viewer (with highlights, underlines, strikethroughs, freehand drawings, and comments) without modifying the source file. Annotations are stored as a separate database layer and render on top of the original document for both the grader and, after the submission is returned, the student.

Annotation Types by File Type

Every file type Assignment supports gets a tailored annotation toolkit:

• In-platform text editor submissions: highlight, underline, strikethrough, comments
• TXT and RTF files: highlight, underline, strikethrough, comments
• DOCX files: highlight, underline, strikethrough, comments
• PDF files: highlight, underline, strikethrough, freehand drawing, comments
• Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF): freehand drawing, highlight rectangles, comments

Annotating a Submission

1. Enable submissions for an assignment by checking the Allow annotations on this assignment checkbox on the edit assignment page.
2. Open a submission from the grading queue.
3. The annotation toolbar appears above the document viewer with the relevant tools for the file type.
4. Click a tool, then click or drag on the document to apply it.
5. Click a saved annotation to edit it, change its color, attach or edit a comment, or delete it.
6. Annotations save automatically as you create them.

All annotations are scoped to the current grader. The annotations you create are tagged with your user ID, so on multi-grader sites you can see which annotations came from which reviewer.

What the Student Sees

When you return a graded submission, the student opens it in the same overlay viewer you used. They see your annotations on top of the original document, exactly as you created them. The student can read your highlights, drawings, and sticky-note comments, but they cannot edit them.

If the student downloads the original file from their submission page, the download is the unmodified original. Annotations cannot be downloaded.

Per-Assignment Annotation Toggle

Annotations are enabled by default on every assignment. If you don’t want annotation tools to be available to people grading assignments, you can disable them from the edit assignment page.

1. Open the assignment editor.
2. Find the Annotations section.
3. Toggle Allow annotations on this assignment off.
4. Save the assignment.

With annotations disabled, the toolbar doesn’t appear in the grading interface and existing annotations on previous submissions stay readable but can’t be edited,