Apple Pencil Mark-ups on pdf not saving

I have this problem with multiple users iPads after the 15.3 update. No markup is saved after you close the markup tab for the first time. I have been instructing users to open the markup tab, make all changes necessary using two fingers to scroll instead of closing markup and scrolling. If they do not press the markup button again within the attachment until they are finished making all changes, it appears all changes save. Then hit "Done" and "Reply All" it seems all markups are saved when sent. This is an issue Apple needs to address as the tool is not working properly, this just seems to be a successful work around

I opened a ticket with Apple Support (Case# 101654408118), but have not received official confirmation this has been resolved... however... I *BELIEVE* this issue was fixed in iOS 15.5

The issue was:

• View PDF from email attachment
• Open Markup Tool and begin annotating
• Close Markup Tool... scroll to next page... reopen Markup Tool... continue annotating

* Any annotations made after closing / reopening Markup Tool would not save. *

** User could use two-finger swipe to scroll through the pdf and continue annotating without opening/closing the Markup Tool. OR, user could save the pdf locally first, then open and begin annotating. Either step would ensure all annotations were saved.

After installing iOS 15.5, I retested and no longer see this issue.

Can someone confirm this has been resolved??

Thanks!

R-Gang,

Honestly the only way to do markups right now is to save the pdf file to a folder in the files app. Then open it there. Do your markups. Then hit done. Then drag the file into the reply email. I really wish Apple would fix this though…

To all,

I don’t know if something has changed or what but, at this moment in time on IOS 15.3.1 I just received an email with a pdf to markup. The way I do things is I open mail, I see the email with the pdf file to markup. I then tap the pdf file to open it. I then start writing with the pencil and scrolling through the pages with one finger. When I am done with my markups I tap done then reply all. I have just done this twice and copied myself in the reply to see if the markups were in fact saved and it seems that they all were saved and sent.

Has apple done something to make it work properly again?

I don’t know. For two weeks I have been saving the PDF file to files, marking it up, and then dragging the file from the file app into the email reply as a workaround. I don’t like doing this because it is just a bunch of extra files that I don’t need to save, but it did work this way. Anybody else notice if this just started working again?

I met with an AppleCare specialist. They had me do a full backup (preferably to iCloud - which I could not do because of space, so I did to my Mac). Then a factory reset to wipe the iPad. Next we signed back onto the iPad skipping the Apple Account stage (there is a bit more detail in that which I will share). And finally a restore from the backup. I haven’t tested it but I am cautiously hoping (not yet hopeful nor optimistic).

Hello TrixieInk,

Thanks for that info and for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If we understand correctly, you are unable to save markups on PDFs on your iPad. We'd like to help.

First, make sure you are following the steps in this Apple resource:

Save PDFs to the Books app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Next, try sharing a PDF to the Books app and markup in the Books app and test your issue again:

Read PDF documents in Books on iPad

Cheers!

There is a bug introduced in iPadOS 15.3 whereby screenshot markup seemingly disappears when saved. There is a workaround…

After saving the marked-up image, take a screenshot of anything - and save the image. Edits associated with the previous image should now appear in the previously saved image.

Update to my post above yours R-Gang:

It is not fixed I don't know why it worked for a couple of PDF's and then now is not working again. I am having to save PDF's to files from the email. Then I go to files and open the pdf to mark it up. Then after markup I exit it by hitting done. Then I drag and drop the PDF file into the reply email. I really don't understand why the markup feature is not working directly from the email app, but it needs to be fixed.

The suggestion you are giving for markups is honestly not a very good one. TrixieInk is using markups, exactly the way I do. We get a pdf from someone via email. We open the PDF from the email and using the apple pencil we markup changes on the screen in the open pdf. We then hit done and reply all to send the now marked up PDF file back to the sender, that is how it should work. I don't want to download the pdf file to Books open it mark it up then create a new email then send it back to someone. I don't want all those PDF's saved in books.

I have been using my ipad to markup pdf files and return them to our payroll department daily for over two years. Until recently I have never had the issue where my markups disappear. I am on ios 15.3 on a 2018 12.9 ipad pro. This feature is pretty much why I use my ipad at work because it allows me to write in fixes to a pdf quickly instead of creating a spreadsheet or something else. Changes can happen very quickly and seamlessly when it works properly. It seems that this has been an off and on ongoing problem with markups for quite a while according to some of these forums.

Do you have any other suggestions for us other than saving them to Books and then sending them from there?

This is happening to me again as well. It happened a couple of years ago with a previous iPhone. I called Apple and they told me they knew of the problem; it was fixed with the next software update. Makes it very difficult to get work done on the go, which is imperative for me. Hopefully they will send a fix soon.

I’ve have this problem as well. It’s extremely frustrating especially because I correct and grade student papers on my iPad. Last week I lost 40 minutes of work correcting a term paper. Now I can’t trust my iPad until Apple corrects the problem. Because of this new glitch, I’ve had to insist on hard copy from my students. This requires an immediate software fix and not a prefab answer on how to create PDF’s. Some of the other issues I have with Markup in conjunction with Apple Pen on the iPad are as follows:

1. Pen often switches tools without a double tap.
2. Pen often fails to respond if double tap is too hard or too soft.
3. Often, the pen fails to respond at all.
4. Sometimes pen strokes are delayed a few seconds before they appear on-screen. 
5. Pen will not write over text boxes.
6. Thumbnails cannot be turned off when opening PDF’s in Mail. This often results in inadvertent page turns while correcting papers.
7. Shape recognition cannot be turned off and compels annoying redraws when grading papers.
8. For no apparent reason, the toolbar often collapses while using the pen.
9. When using the markup tool on PDF’s opened in Mail, annotations fail to save.

I have been living with issues 1-8 for the past two years despite the fact that I have previously written to Apple about them. These are substantive issues which need to be addressed,

I've actually had to stop grading papers on my iPad because of this problem. After two updates ago, PDF's opened in Mail and annotated with the Markup tool began to only partially save my annotations. I would correct a student paper, send it back to the student, but the student would only receive a partially corrected paper. Two thirds to three quarters of my corrections would be lost.

I'm not certain about this, but it seems that the problem may manifest when switching pages on multiple page documents or switching from Mail to another app and back again while in the midst of annotating with the markup tool.

Thanks for this - I agree it’s clumsy. It worked very well when simply replying to, or forwarding, the mail with the marked up attachment. Strange that it’s changed!

It would be great to have it that way again. It really made life simple for signing documents etc.