annotating PDFs nested in Apple Notes through preview

Hello, I have some experience with annotating PDFs within a Note on iPad: simply tap on the PDF and highlight text.


With Mac though, when I tried to annotate a webpage saved as a PDF the message "The original document can't be saved, so a duplicate with your changes has been created." .


This is great if you want to make a new file, but what if I just wanted to edit that one PDF and save the original with my changes, without having to save the duplicate in a location, copying it onto the Note, deleting the original on the Note and the duplicate saved in a finder location every time? Is there some shortcut / preference I can configure?

Posted on Jun 22, 2023 12:09 PM

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Posted on Jun 24, 2023 8:40 AM

Hello CosmoNightSky,


In order to make changes to the PDF document you have attached in a Note file on your Mac, you'll want to use the Markup feature. Follow the guide here: Mark up attachments in your notes on Mac


1. In the Notes app  on your Mac, click a note in the notes list or double-click a note in gallery view, then do one of the following:
* For a scanned document, double-click it, then move the pointer over the scanned document.
* For an image or PDF document, move the pointer over the attachment.
4. Click the Action pop-up menu  in the upper-right corner, then choose Markup.
5. If you don’t see the pop-up menu, you may need to enable Markup. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Privacy & Security , then click Extensions (you may need to scroll down). Click Actions, then turn on Markup.
6. Use the tools to mark up the attachment (or use the Touch Bar).
7. You can adjust how much of the attachment is shown at any time: move the pointer near the edges, then drag the blue handles.


That should allow you to make the changes you'd like, but still within Notes and without being required to save a duplicate PDF file somewhere on your Mac.


Best regards.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 24, 2023 8:40 AM in response to CosmoNightSky

Hello CosmoNightSky,


In order to make changes to the PDF document you have attached in a Note file on your Mac, you'll want to use the Markup feature. Follow the guide here: Mark up attachments in your notes on Mac


1. In the Notes app  on your Mac, click a note in the notes list or double-click a note in gallery view, then do one of the following:
* For a scanned document, double-click it, then move the pointer over the scanned document.
* For an image or PDF document, move the pointer over the attachment.
4. Click the Action pop-up menu  in the upper-right corner, then choose Markup.
5. If you don’t see the pop-up menu, you may need to enable Markup. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Privacy & Security , then click Extensions (you may need to scroll down). Click Actions, then turn on Markup.
6. Use the tools to mark up the attachment (or use the Touch Bar).
7. You can adjust how much of the attachment is shown at any time: move the pointer near the edges, then drag the blue handles.


That should allow you to make the changes you'd like, but still within Notes and without being required to save a duplicate PDF file somewhere on your Mac.


Best regards.

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annotating PDFs nested in Apple Notes through preview

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