Appendix D: Annotation Tools Reference
Every annotation tool exposed by Tex, with its default parameters and the settings that control them. See section 3 for workflow and usage.
Tool Reference Table
| Tool | AnnotationType | Default Colour | Default Thickness | Fill | Dash | Default Opacity | Setting Key | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pen | Pen | #FF0000 | 3 px | — | — | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor, Annotation.DefaultThickness, Annotation.DefaultOpacity | Free-form stroke; each drag is one undo step |
| Marker | Marker | #FF0000 | ~6 px | — | — | ~0.7 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Thicker, semi-transparent pen variant |
| Highlighter | Highlighter | #FFFF00 | ~12 px | — | — | 0.4 | Annotation.DefaultHighlightColor, Annotation.HighlightOpacity | Stacks on overlap; good for text lines |
| Rectangle | Rectangle | #FF0000 | 3 px | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor, Annotation.DefaultThickness | Supports rounded-corner variant |
| Ellipse | Ellipse | #FF0000 | 3 px | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Shift-drag for a perfect circle |
| Cloud | Cloud | #FF0000 | 3 px | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Review-style cloud-burst bubble |
| Line | Line | #FF0000 | 3 px | — | Yes | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Shift-drag constrains to 45-degree angles |
| Arrow | Arrow | #FF0000 | 3 px | — | Yes | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Single arrowhead at release point |
| DoubleArrow | DoubleArrow | #FF0000 | 3 px | — | Yes | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Heads on both ends; use for measurements |
| Text | Text | #FF0000 | n/a | — | — | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Fonts: Segoe UI / Arial / Calibri / Consolas / Georgia / Tahoma / Times New Roman / Verdana. Size 10-48 pt. Bold / Italic / Underline |
| Callout | Callout | #FF0000 | n/a | — | — | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Text inside a speech bubble; same font options as Text |
| Step | Step | #FF0000 | scales with thickness | — | — | 1.0 | Annotation.DefaultPenColor | Labels: Numeric / Alphabetic / Roman. Reset via ResetStepCounterCommand |
| Blur | Blur | — | n/a | — | — | n/a | Annotation.BlurRadius (default 10) | Destructive on save; Gaussian blur over dragged rectangle |
| Pixelate | Pixelate | — | n/a | — | — | n/a | Annotation.PixelateSize (default 10) | Destructive on save; mosaic blocks over dragged rectangle |
| Crop | Crop | — | n/a | — | — | n/a | — | Reserved; trims the image to the dragged rectangle |
Shared Behaviour
- Undo stack — up to 50 steps;
Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+Y(see 3.7). - Clear All — wipes every annotation but does NOT go on the undo stack.
- Recent colours — the last 10 colours chosen across all sessions are stored in
Annotation.RecentColorsand appear in the colour-picker swatch. - Commit — Apply & Save (
Ctrl+S) flattens to history; Apply & Copy (Ctrl+C) flattens to clipboard (AnnotationWindow only).
Related Settings
All annotation defaults live under the Annotation section of %APPDATA%\Tex\settings.json:
| Key | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
DefaultPenColor | string (hex) | #FF0000 |
DefaultHighlightColor | string (hex) | #FFFF00 |
DefaultThickness | int | 3 |
DefaultOpacity | float | 1.0 |
HighlightOpacity | float | 0.4 |
BlurRadius | int | 10 |
PixelateSize | int | 10 |
RecentColors | string[] (hex) | last 10 chosen |
See 10.5 for the Settings window Annotation section.