Annotation Tool - How to control placement of drawing

Question

Even in orthographic views there is 0 control over the depth at which it draws. you draw a line, then pan even a tiny amount and it's obvious the line is nowhere near where it first appeared. I have even experienced it seeming to draw behind the viewport camera position? Not to mention trying to point to a specific vertex or face, where it will randomly draw in front or behind the mesh. I was wondering if anybody has managed to use this tool successfully. Am I missing a vital setting?

I am in 2.9 by the way.

thanks for reading!

Answer 1

By default the depth is determined by the 3D cursor position.

All the settings are in the N panel > Tool > Active Tool > Placement, you can choose between:

• 3D Cursor: The annotation is drawn perpendicularly to your view and it is placed where your 3D cursor is.
• View: The annotation does not depend on the 3D view.
• Surface, The annotation is drawn on the surface of the objects.

Also good to know: Ctrl left click to erase (if you use the D shortcut to draw annotation, the erase shortcut is D and right click).

Click on N panel > Tool > Active Tool > Note to set the thickness and color of the stroke.

CLick on the "+" and "-" button to create or delete an annotation, click on the eye icon to switch it visibility:

If you move in the Timeline and draw again, by default it will create a new annotation that starts at this frame. If you want to keep the previous one, click on the Note > Frame: X (Locked) button. To unlock, click again on this button. To delete this annotation on all its frames, click on the X button.