Annotating Slides

Note - This guide applies to Genio Notes on your browser, desktop app and new mobile app 📱

You can annotate your slides with freehand drawings, shapes, arrows etc.


Once you have your slides posted into your Event you can annotate using the toolbars below your slides.

Note - The annotation toolbars are hidden by default and will disappear after a few seconds of inactivity. Hover over or tap your slides for them to reappear.


image highlighting the toolbar, slide selector and slide control toolbar

View Toolbar

a image screenshot of annotating toolbar

The View toolbar allows you to simply annotate your slides.


Options 4 and 5 allow you to add to any text in your slide. Use options 6 and 7 if you want to annotate non-text elements.


  1. Select Arrow - allows you to select your annotations
  2. Drag Selector - allows you to move and drag the slide around when zoomed in.
  3. Add Text - adds your own text to the slide
  4. Text Markup Menu - select text to underline, squiggly underline or strikethrough.
  5. Highlight Text - allows you to highlight text
  6. Free Hand Line - adds a line anywhere on your slide. You can adjust the width of the line, from very fine to thick, using the Style Menu (10).
  7. Hand Highlight - adds a highlight anywhere on your slide
  8. Shapes Menu - use the Shapes menu to add shapes to your slides
  9. Eraser - allows you to delete your annotations.
  10. Style Menu - allows you to change the colour and stroke width of your annotations, including freehand lines, highlights, underlines, shapes and arrows.
  11. Undo - undoes the last action; you can keep clicking to undo multiple edits
  12. Redo - redoes the last action you undid.

Adjusting stroke width

You can change how thick or thin your annotations are, which is useful for precise marks, like annotating equations or graphs.

  1. Select an annotation tool, such as Free Hand Line, Hand Highlight, a shape or Text Markup.

  2. Open the Style Menu:

    Style Menu highlighted with an arrow pointing to the Stroke Width slider

  3. Drag the Stroke Width slider left for a thinner line or right for a thicker one. The width in pixels shows above the slider.
  4. Start annotating. Your chosen width applies to everything you draw with that tool.

Note - Each tool remembers its own width, so changing the width of your freehand line won’t change your highlighter or shapes. Stroke width isn’t available for Add Text, Highlight Text or the Eraser.

Tip - Keyboard users can adjust the Stroke Width slider with the arrow keys.

Note- Annotations are persistent and remain visible across Reading View, in the Slide Selector panel, and when copying/exporting notes.

Slide Selector


Use the Slide Selector to view and scroll through your slide deck.

Slide Control Toolbar


Use the Slide Control toolbar to adjust slide size, search slides, import multiple slide files and view slides in full screen.

an image of the slide control toolbar

  1. Zoom out - Use the controls to make your slides smaller on screen
  2. Zoom in- Use the controls to make your slides bigger on screen
  3. Search Slides - Find slides by searching for keywords.
  4. Maximise Slides - Use to view slides in full screen
  5. Slide Options Menu- where you can delete, replace or import additional slides. https://help.genio.co/article/175-replace-delete-or-add-more-slides

Note - When using option 4, you can still access all annotating tools.

Important - when importing multiple slides, files must be in PowerPoint or PDF format and not exceed 200MB.

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