I keep reinventing how I mark inspection reports—sometimes contractors get overwhelmed with details, sometimes lenders…
Open your PDF file in Adobe Acrobat.
Click the Comment button in the toolbar to display the commenting tools.
Select the annotation tool you want to use, such as Note, Highlight, Text Box, or Draw.
Click on the PDF page where you want to add your comment or annotation.
Type your comment or draw your annotation as needed.
Click away from the annotation or press Escape to save your comment or annotation.
You can use multiple annotation types in one session, such as highlighting text and adding sticky notes for detailed feedback.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
In Adobe Acrobat, 'comments' usually mean text-based notes like sticky notes or text boxes where you write words. 'Annotations' are more about marking the document itself, such as highlighting text, underlining, or drawing shapes. Both are ways to add feedback or notes to a PDF, but they do it in slightly different visual forms.
Your comments do not disappear, but they might not be visible if the person you shared the PDF with does not have a PDF viewer that supports comments, or if the comments layer was flattened. To ensure your comments are always seen, you should 'flatten' the PDF before sharing. This makes the comments part of the main document, so they cannot be removed or hidden by others.
Yes, you can easily find all your highlights later. Adobe Acrobat usually has a 'Comments' pane or panel that lists all comments and annotations in the document. You can click on each item in the list to jump directly to that highlight or note in the PDF. This helps you review all your marked sections quickly.