Blogging on Chrome OS: Adding annotations to images

Introduction

A picture says more than 1000 words is an excellent saying, in my opinion. Even better are notes, markings, and short explanations in an image to explain something better to someone. How you can do this kind of image editing on Chrome OS is described in this post.

I want to show you two small tools that I use for editing screenshots because they are super easy to use without any frills. Furthermore, they are free of charge.

Important Notes

Disclaimer of liability: As always on this blog, I warn you that all changes to your system mentioned in this post are at your own risk! It is theoretically possible that there are system or application errors that could lead to data loss and further problems!

How to add annotations to images on Chrome OS online?

There are countless great online image editors on the Internet: Photopea | Online Photo Editor, Sumopaint 2.0, and many more. But if you only want to open an image for a short time, draw some rectangles and arrows and add some text, this is often much too complicated.

One provider that allows you to annotate images very quickly and efficiently is Screenshot.net:

Of course, you can also make screenshots with this tool. That is up to you. But you can also upload image files there:

Then you can edit it there with a simple editor:

When you completed editing your picture, you can save it to a location of your choice:

Attention: Sometimes, it can happen that, e.g., arrows disappear when saving. This may be because you have not set your Chrome OS display size to “native.” You can find these settings under Devices > Displays > Display Size. There you can change them with the slider.

However, you should be cautious when using this tool if the image shows other people or contains personal information. You must comply with the privacy policy. That is one of the reasons why I like to use a tool that you can use without an internet connection. This tool is as easy to use as Screenshot.net and is also free.

How can I add annotations to images under Chrome OS offline?

Ksnip is a tool that includes many functions for creating and editing screenshots. For the screenshot function, Google has to develop Chrome OS further, as it does not work yet. However, editing screenshots is top-notch!

Here you can download it from Sourceforge.net: link.

The packages with the extension “.AppImage” and Debian “.deb” are recommended. You don’t have to install the AppImage package. You can start it directly in the Linux of Chrome OS with a little adjustment. Alternatively, you could download the Debian package to a folder under “Linux files” and install it on your system by double-clicking on it. It’s also included in the Linux package sources of Chrome OS (Debian Buster) and can be installed quite easily. However, this is usually not the latest and, therefore, apparently not the most stable version.

As an experienced user of ksnip, I can confirm that the AppImage version as of June 2020 runs most stable in the Linux on Chrome OS. In this post on my blog, “chrome your life-defining experience,” I described how to make the downloaded AppImage package executable and start it. There, I also explained how to activate and set up the Linux of Chrome OS. Just have a look there.

Once you have started ksnip, editing screenshots or other images is quite easy.

You can open a picture via “File” ⇒ “Open:”

With the tools on the left side, you can insert boxes, arrows, text, etc. into the image:

You can then save the finished processed image on your system:

Attention: As with Screenshot.net above, it can sometimes happen that, e.g., arrows disappear when saving. This may be because you have not set your Chrome OS display size to “native.” You can find these settings under Devices > Displays > Display Size. There you can change them with the slider.

That’s it! Enjoy it! 🙂

Chrome OS onboard tools as an alternative

Of course, you can also use the built-in screenshot feature of Chrome OS on devices with pen support, such as the Google Pixelbook, to do so. In the info window that appears, click on “ANNOTATE WITH KEEP” to edit the screenshot.

The screenshot is opened by the system directly with Google Keep. That is quite good, but there are currently missing features, such as supported box drawing. These would have to be drawn by hand. If you like that, you don’t need another tool.

Here, I show you how to add annotations to images online and offline under Chrome OS to make content more understandable. And that free!

Do you want a more detailed description? Leave a comment! 😉

Back to the series “Everything you need to know about blogging on Chrome OS.”

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