If you're looking to annotate screenshots quickly, Markup Hero might just be your answer.
With the premise of getting started with your annotations in just sixty seconds, the creators of Markup Hero have come up with a solution that will appeal to many users.
This review will cover the installation and setup process, a walkthrough while using the app, and integrations with other third-party applications. Let's get right into it.
What Is Markup Hero?
Markup Hero is a screenshot annotation tool. If you're a blogger, a designer, an IT professional, or anyone that takes screenshots regularly, the chances are that you need to annotate screenshots quite often.
Markup Hero is a straightforward, lightweight, and fast program that serves as a screenshot and annotation tool. It is the perfect solution for any circumstance where you would like to add text, shapes, and other features to your screenshots.
Downloading, Installation, And Setup
An installer can be downloaded and guides you through Markup Hero's screenshot app. You can download this installer from the Markup Hero website.
The installation of the application couldn't be easier. All you need to do is follow the download link and double-click on the file you get from the download page.
The app works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. In addition, there is a Chrome extension that you might want to install if you prefer to work solely in online mode(more on this later).
If you run into trouble while trying to install the app, Markup Hero helps by offering a detailed tutorial page.
Once the installation is ready, Markup Hero will be placed as an icon in your taskbar, prepared to be used.
Keyboard Shortcuts
You can set your keyboard shortcuts for the screenshot function, which is very handy if you're already used to such shortcuts in other programs or just want a quick way to take screenshots. You can assign keyboard shortcuts by going into the settings menu and choosing the shortcuts tab.
Taking And Annotating Screenshots
After pressing the shortcut button or clicking on the "Screenshot and Markup" option, the tool will show you an overlay with some choices for your annotations.
There are various options in terms of the screenshot that you're about to take, including:
These options are beneficial for quickly getting the right screenshot you want to work on.
After taking a screenshot, you will immediately be brought into the markup window.
Note that the markup window will appear in a browser tab by default. This window is simple and easy to use, allowing you the option of going for several annotations as well as customizing their color, opacity, and size. In addition, you can add some text notes and shapes such as circles or arrows.
Main Annotation Features Of Markup Hero
Continuing with the above screenshot, I was quickly able to create the following annotations to the image that I just took:
With various options available in the annotation screen, the above was relatively easy to do. Here are the options that you have available in the top menu.
Adding Text
You can type in text using a keyboard. After adding text, you can change its color and opacity. You can also move it around by clicking on it and dragging it with your mouse.
Adding Arrows And Lines
If you want to highlight something on your screenshot, you can add arrows and lines that point to it. This is useful when pointing out items on the screen, discussing an issue with someone else, or creating documentation.
Adding Rectangular, Oval, and Blur Shapes
You can draw rectangles, ovals, and blurs on top of your screenshots. You can also change their color and opacity while moving them around as needed.
The option to blur parts of your screenshot is quite useful when concealing sensitive information.
Using The Pen Tool And The Highlighter
You can use the pen tool to draw free-hand annotations on your screenshots. The highlighter is also great to feature something specific in your screenshot, so if you want to highlight text, you might use the highlighter instead of drawing a rectangle over it.
Change The Font Color
With every option available to you as you annotate images, you can change the font color in real-time.
Change The Line Thickness
You can change the line thickness of your annotations as you’re overlaying them on your screenshot. Starting from XS to XXL, you can choose exactly the size you need.
Add An Image To Your Screenshot
One unique feature of Markup Hero is adding any image to your screenshot. The app allows you to upload any image from your hard drive directly onto the screenshot.
This gives a picture-in-picture effect, which might be helpful in specific situations.
Add A Signature
You can also add a signature to your screenshots. This is ideal for protecting your work by creating a digital signature. Markup Hero will remember your used signature for future screenshots, so there's no need to re-enter it each time.
Crop Your Image
With Markup Hero, you can also crop the image that you're annotating. This is useful if there's something in the screenshot that you don't need to be shown.
You can then save the cropped version and a full-sized version of your screenshot.
Available Options When Finishing Your Annotations
After you finish with your annotations, you can choose from any of the following options:
Let's have a look at these features in more detail.
Sharing The Image Online
When sharing an image, Markup hero offers you some choices for this. The first is Google Drive, which will allow you to save your annotated screenshot on the cloud directly.
After uploading it to Google Drive, you can efficiently distribute it to anyone online or share a direct link.
In addition to uploading your file onto the cloud, you can also use Markup Hero to get a unique link that you can share with anyone else.
This makes it easy to send your annotated screenshot to someone else by sending the link.
Copying The Image To Your Clipboard
After annotating your screenshots, you can copy them to your clipboard.
This way, you can then paste them into other applications such as a word processor or an email client. This is useful if you want to create documentation, for example.
Downloading The Image To Your Hard Drive
You can save your annotated screenshots on your local hard drive by downloading them from Markup Hero.
This will save them directly on your computer for easy access in the future.
Duplicating The Image
If you want to make a copy of your annotation on Markup Hero's servers, just hit the 'Duplicate' button.
This will create a copy on their servers, so you can always access either the original or the modified version. This is useful if you want to always have an up-to-date version of your screenshot with annotations without having to go back and edit it again.
The Chrome Extension
Markup Hero also has an extension for Google Chrome available.
This makes it possible to take scrolling screenshots directly in your browser without using the app itself.
This means that you won't have to download and install any external applications to your system, as you can use the extension from your browser to instantly capture ideas whenever you need.
Integrations
Markup Hero offers integrations with frequently used applications and services.
This is useful if you want to share your annotated screenshots with these other applications or services without copying and pasting screenshots one by one.
Some of the available integrations include the following.
Chrome
Take screenshots of any tab in Chrome by capturing websites and saving them directly to your account.
Google Drive
Items in Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Docs can be edited with markups and then exported to your Google Drive.
Slack
Markup Hero can annotate images and PDFs from Slack channels and direct messages.
API
You may integrate Markup Hero's annotation tools into your online application using a plugin. All the tools available via the web app are available through APIs.
Updates For The Future
While things do work as they should in Markup Hero, some things might be considered missing in the current version of the software.
Custom branding is still in beta, so it isn't available for general use. In the future, this would ideally let you use a custom domain when generating a unique URL for your screenshots.
In addition, inviting and managing team members is also in the pipeline. In the future, your entire team will be able to collaborate on one image, with everything having custom privacy settings assigned to them.
Expiring shared links are also unavailable, but it's scheduled to be made available soon.
Markup Hero offers three plans for its customers. They are as follows:
Sidekick
Free
This gives you the ability to try the software risk-free.
Hero
Free
This gives you up to ten markups per month with a few more features involved.
Superhero
$4
per month (paid annually).
This gives you access to all the features and unlimited usage of the software.
Conclusion
If you want to save time and speed up your workflow while communicating more clearly, an app like Markup Hero can be handy.
This allows you to annotate your screenshots and easily share them with other people. Such functionality is beneficial if you're working in a team or sharing information with someone else.
Markup Hero also provides several integrations for its users, making it easy to share annotated images with other services without downloading or uploading them separately.
With many Markup Hero reviews praising the software's usefulness, it is an excellent app to try out.
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Last Updated on October 19, 2023 by Hanson Cheng