iPhoneiOSiOS 27Markuptutorial

How to Mark Up a Screenshot on iPhone (iOS 27)

Name: Pizazoo
Author: Pizazoo

Mark up an iPhone screenshot with the iOS 27 built-in tools: pen, marker, pencil, ruler, shapes, text and signatures, plus options for blur and steps.

October 6, 20267 min read

Muhammed BasilFounder & maker of Pizazoo

To mark up a screenshot on iPhone, take the screenshot and tap the Markup button at the top of the full-screen preview, or open it later in Photos, tap Edit, then tap Markup. Draw with the Pen, Marker or Pencil, and tap the Add button for text, shapes, stickers or your signature. Tap Done to save.

The steps below follow Apple's iOS 27 iPhone User Guide and also apply to iOS 26.

How do I open Markup on a screenshot?

There are two ways in:

Right after you take it: in iOS 26 and iOS 27, a new screenshot opens full screen by default, with Close, Markup, Share and Done buttons along the top. Tap Markup. If you turned off Full-Screen Previews in Settings > General > Screen Capture, tap the thumbnail in the lower-left corner first, then tap Markup (Apple, Apple).
Later, from Photos: open the screenshot, tap Edit, then tap the Markup button. The Add Annotations button adds stickers, captions, text, shapes or your signature. Tap Done to save (Apple).

If the Markup toolbar is minimized, tap its minimized version to expand it.

What markup tools does iPhone have?

Apple's iOS 27 guide lists these tools in the Markup toolbar, from left to right (Apple):

Tool	What it is for
Pen	Writing and drawing
Mono line	Lines of even thickness
Marker	Highlighting (translucent, like a highlighter)
Eraser	Pixel Eraser scrubs away part of a stroke; Object Eraser removes whole strokes
Lasso	Selecting drawings to move, recolor or copy
Ruler	Straight lines; rotate it with two fingers
Pencil	Sketching
Color Picker	Grid, Spectrum or Sliders
Add button	Text, shapes, stickers, signatures and image descriptions

To change line weight, tap the selected drawing tool, then tap an option. To change opacity, tap the selected tool and drag the slider. Apple's support article on Markup describes the same pen, highlighter and pencil tools (Apple).

How do I draw arrows and shapes on a screenshot?

Tap the Add button, then Add Shape, and choose a shape. Then (Apple):

Drag the shape to move it, and drag a dot on its outline to resize it.
Drag a green dot to change its direction or dimension, such as the curve of an arrow.
Use the Markup toolbar to set border color, border width, fill color and opacity.

You can also draw a shape freehand in one stroke, then pause. iPhone replaces it with a clean version. Apple lists straight lines, arrows, arcs, squares, circles, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, chat bubbles, hearts, stars and clouds. Tap Undo if you want to keep the freehand stroke.

Pinch open to zoom in for precise placement, and drag with two fingers to move around.

How do I add text or a signature to a screenshot?

For text, tap Add, then Add Text, tap the text box and type. The toolbar changes font, size, justification, style and color, and the More button next to the box lets you cut, copy, duplicate or delete it.

For a signature, tap Add, then Add Signature. Pick a saved signature, or sign with your finger and tap Done. Drag it into place and drag a blue dot to resize it. iPhone saves your signatures, so you can keep several, such as initials (Apple).

Where is the magnifier in iPhone Markup?

Probably not where you remember it. Apple's general Markup article still describes a loupe that you drag around, with a blue dot for size and a green dot for magnification (Apple). The iOS 16 guide placed it in the Add menu (Apple, iOS 16), but the iOS 17 and later guides list only text, signatures, stickers, shapes and image descriptions there. On Apple's Community forums, users report that the Magnifier has been missing from screenshot and Photos markup since iOS 17 (Apple Community).

If you need a zoomed-in callout, use an app with a magnify tool (see below).

How do I undo or remove markup?

While editing, tap Undo, or use the Eraser. In Photos, edits stay reversible after you save: open the screenshot, tap the More button, then tap Revert to Original (Apple).

That is handy for mistakes. For privacy, remember two things: the unmarked original stays recoverable in your library, and a translucent Marker stroke or a shape below full opacity is not a redaction.

Can iPhone Markup blur a screenshot or number steps?

No. iOS 27 Markup has no blur, pixelate or numbered-step tool. To hide information with the built-in tools, cover it with a shape filled with a solid color at full opacity, never the Marker. Our guide on how to blur or black out a screenshot on iPhone covers the safe way to do it and why the highlighter leaks.

What does Pizazoo's markup editor add on iPhone?

Disclosure: we make Pizazoo. Pizazoo for iPhone and iPad is free on the App Store for iOS and iPadOS 17 or later. Open a screenshot in Pizazoo and tap the markup button to get tools the built-in editor lacks:

Pen and arrows for quick callouts.
Steps: numbered step badges for tutorials and bug reports.
Text labels.
Spotlight to dim everything except the part that matters.
Magnify to enlarge a small detail.
Redact: Blur an area or cover it with a Black Bar.
Crop and Translate.

The Mac app has a larger editor with watermarks, signatures, pixelation and auto-redaction; see the markup editor feature page. If you would rather not install anything, the free online Screenshot Editor adds arrows, boxes, text, highlights, step numbers, blur and crop in Safari, and the image never leaves your device.

How do I mark up a screenshot with Apple Pencil on iPad?

On iPad, swipe up with Apple Pencil from a bottom corner of the screen to take a screenshot, then draw on it right away. The tool palette at the bottom switches tools, and Share or Done saves or sends the result (Apple). More in where screenshots go on iPad.

In Pizazoo for iPad, the markup editor also works with Apple Pencil, and double-tapping the Pencil switches between your two most recent tools.