Creating and sharing annotations

Do you want to comment on an article, highlight passages, or circle important data? With DeepDyve's annotation tools you can mark up articles directly in your browser as easily as writing on a piece of paper. The annotation tools are located on the top right of the enhanced reader:

Screenshot of the enhanced reader with an orange arrow pointing to the highlighted annotation tools on the top right of the toolbar: a drawing pen icon, a highlighter icon, and a notes icon, each with a dropdown arrow, next to the search icon and below the 'Share My Annotations' button.

Creating annotations

The first tool allows you to draw arrows, lines, shapes, or freeform marks. Clicking the tool you want brings up commands unique to each tool that let you change the color of the ink and background fill, opacity, or thickness, and also gives you blending effects.

Screenshot of the drawing tool expanded in the enhanced reader. Orange arrows point to the tool options bar (ink color, background fill, opacity 100%, thickness 5 pt, and blend mode 'Normal') and to the open dropdown listing drawing modes: Drawing (selected), Eraser, Line, Arrow, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and Polyline.

The next tool is a highlighter. You can freeform or select specific text:

Screenshot of the highlighter tool expanded in the enhanced reader. Orange arrows point to the options bar (yellow ink color, fill, 100% opacity, 30 pt thickness, blend mode 'Multiply') and to the open dropdown offering 'Freeform Highlight' (selected) and 'Text Highlighter'.

The last tool lets you create free text on the page, leave collapsible sticky notes (which are unsigned and show up on the text where you've placed it), or add comments (which show up to the side and are stamped with the name and time of the commenter and allow for responding comments):

Screenshot of the notes tool expanded in the enhanced reader. An orange arrow points to the open dropdown offering Note (selected), Text, Comment, and Export Annotations. On the page, a yellow collapsible sticky note reading 'Hey!' is open, and a side comment stamped with the commenter's email and timestamp reads 'Investigate further.'

You can also highlight any text within the article to see a range of quick annotation actions. You can highlight the text, strike it, underline it, or leave a comment:

Screenshot of an article in the enhanced reader with a passage highlighted in green. An orange arrow points to the highlighted quick-annotation popup above the text, offering buttons to highlight the text, strike it, underline it, or leave a comment.

Saving annotations

All your annotations are saved automatically; there is no need to hit a save button.

Modifying or deleting annotations

To modify or delete an annotation, click on the note, text, or mark you'd like to change. Tools to let you change the look and feel will appear on the top left. If you want to delete the annotation, either click the trash can icon or hit the delete key on your keyboard.

Screenshot of the enhanced reader with an annotation selected: a blue freehand circle drawn around a figure has selection handles around it. Orange arrows point to the editing options bar on the top left (color, fill, opacity, thickness, blend mode) and to the trash can icon on the top right used to delete the annotation.

Sharing annotations

If you have an enterprise account, you can share annotations with colleagues. To use this feature, click the “Share My Annotations” button at the top of the enhanced reader:

Screenshot of the enhanced reader with an orange arrow pointing to the highlighted 'Share My Annotations' button at the top right, above the annotation tools.

You'll be prompted to enter a title for the annotations, because you can share different versions with different teams. Enter emails for the people you want to share the annotations with, and then check whether you'd like to share the current set of annotations or start with a clean document:

Viewing your annotated articles

In order to switch between your personal annotations and those you've shared with others, use the pulldown at the top of the document:

Screenshot of the enhanced reader with an orange arrow pointing to the highlighted annotation-set dropdown at the top center of the document, expanded to show 'Personal' (checked) and 'Legal' — used to switch between your personal annotations and sets shared with others.

You can also visit the "Annotated Articles" section of My Library to see and search all your annotated articles in one place:

Screenshot of the 'Annotated Articles' section of My Library ('One convenient spot to find all the articles you have highlighted and commented on', showing 1-10 of 25 articles). An example article lists links for 'Personal Annotations' and, under 'Shared Annotations', the shared sets 'Legal Team' and 'Project Team'. The sidebar shows Annotated Articles highlighted.