Saving Preview with Annotations as Objects

[danallen]

mac App: Preview

Scenario: screenshot saved as .png. Open the screenshot with preview, add annotations. Save the annotated screenshot, close file, open again later for editing annotations, encounter suck point. Hopefully this image shows what i am referring to.

Question: How to save annotations as objects on image, instead of the annotations becoming embedded as part of an image file?

 

[Dave Braine]

Can't be done as far as I know.

 

[danallen]

Can't be done as far as I know.

Is there a different app for this kind of thing?

 

[Dave Braine]

Is there a different app for this kind of thing?

You could use Graphic Converter. The Test version will do what you want, but you would have to save the edited image as a Graphic Converter file.

Lemke Software: GraphicConverter

www.lemkesoft.de

 

[chown33]

You'll need to use a file format that supports objects. PNG is purely a raster-graphics format.

Try saving the initial PNG file as PDF in "Preview". Then add annotation objects. Save to the PDF file. Close, reopen.

Example PDF attached. One text item ("Example") + one yellow rectangle.

EDIT
Here's a page in the User Guide for Preview.app:

Annotate an image in Preview on Mac

In Preview on your Mac, sketch and draw, adjust colors, and use notes, text, shapes, and other tools to mark up an image.

support.apple.com

It specifically mentions annotating image files (PNG being an example), and to save as PDF first if you want to change the annotations later:

Note: If you annotate an image file, you can’t edit, move, or delete the annotations after you save the image. If you think you’ll need to change annotations later, you can convert the image file to a PDF file, then add annotations to the PDF.​