Use iPad or iPhone to sketch in or mark up Mac documents

With Continuity Sketch and Continuity Markup, you can use your iPad or iPhone to easily insert sketches into your Mac documents, or perform live markup of PDFs and images on your Mac.

Set up your devices

Continuity Sketch and Continuity Markup work when your compatible devices are near each other and set up as follows:

• Your Mac and iPad or iPhone have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.

• Your Mac and iPad or iPhone are signed in to iCloud with the same Apple Account using two-factor authentication.

• Your Mac is using macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, and your iPad or iPhone is using iPadOS or iOS 13 or later.

These features work with any Apple or third-party app designed to support them, including Pages, Freeform, Numbers, Keynote, Mail, Messages, Notes, and TextEdit.

Use Continuity Sketch

With Continuity Sketch, you can use your Mac to request a new sketch from your iPad or iPhone, then insert the sketch into your Mac document.

1. Open a document on your Mac.

2. Take either of these actions:

   • From the File menu (or Insert menu, depending on the app), choose Insert from iPhone or iPad > Add Sketch.

   • Or Control-click in your document and choose Add Sketch from the shortcut menu that appears.

3. On your device, a sketch window opens, ready for you to create a sketch with your Apple Pencil or finger:

   

4. When you're finished sketching, tap Done on your device. The sketch then appears in your Mac document:

   

Use Continuity Markup

With Continuity Markup, you can use your Mac to request markup of a PDF or image. As you add markup on your iPad or iPhone, you see it happening live on your Mac. It's a great way to sign documents, correct papers, circle important details, and more.

1. In the Finder on your Mac, find the PDF or image that you want to mark up. Then take either of these actions:

   • Select the icon of the document, then press Space bar to open a preview window. Click the markup button at the top of the window.

   • Or Control-click the icon of the document, then open a preview window by choosing Quick Actions > Markup from the shortcut menu that appears.

2. From the markup toolbar at the top of the preview window, click the annotate button. Or if you have multiple devices nearby, click and choose a device.

   

3. A markup window opens on your device. You can now use an Apple Pencil or your finger with the sketch tools, or tap the plus sign and use the markup tools for adding text, a signature, a magnifier, or shapes and arrows.

   

4. As you work on your device, the changes appear live on your Mac:

   

5. When you're finished marking up the document, click Done on your device.

6. To save the changes, click Done on your Mac.