How To Mark Up Your Screenshots In Android 12

Android 12 is officially here and it brings some changes to how screenshots work, including the ability to mark up screenshots. If you’re looking some tips to walk you through how the new tool works, that’s exactly what this guide is for.
Learning to mark up your screenshots makes sharing better in Android 12
Now, taking screenshots has been possible in Android well before version 12 and so has the ability to mark them up. But Android 12 takes that to a completely new level. And the reasons why that’s helpful are really straightforward.
When it comes to taking screenshots, the reason for taking the screenshot typically comes down to sharing. Whether sharing something spotted on a website or in-app, for work purposes, to developers to report an issue or for effectively any other reason. Users tend to take screenshots in order to share their experiences.
Beyond that, users sometimes take screenshots to remember what’s on-screen, and Android 12 will be no different.
Whatever the reason for taking screenshots though, the ability to mark them up, especially in Android 12, serves a connected purpose. Namely, allowing attention to be called to on-screen elements. Or text. Or adding text for a meme or to illustrate a point. There really aren’t any bounds on the features.
The addition of new mark-up tools, to that end, brings new possibilities. Whether for conciseness, for fun, or for any other reason. So knowing how to use the tools is all but required to get the best experience.
Start by working out how to get to the markup UI
Of course, the first step to adding a mark-up to screenshots in Android 12 or other versions is learning to take them, to begin with. Fortunately, we have some helpful guides for devices that are a bit different. Such as on the Samsung Galaxy Z series handsets. Or on newer OnePlus-branded gadgets. There are also some handsets that include the tool in the Quick Tile settings above the notification shade. But nearly every Android handset or tablet should also be able to utilize the following steps.
Go to the screen you’d like to take a screenshot of
Press and hold both the volume down and power physical buttons simultaneously. This can be a bit tricky and take some practice. But it is the easiest method that does typically work on every Android device. Conversely, some OEMs have reversed the keys so that the volume up key is used instead of the volume down. So that may be worth a try if this step fails for whatever reason
Android will then snap a screenshot and highlight that shot in the bottom segment of the screen
Next to the screenshot preview, Android will also show other icons in a solid colored bar. Among those will be a three-connected-point share icon and an icon for markups. Typically, the latter is represented by a pencil, pen, or similar icon. Tap the latter icon to enter the page for mark-up tools for screenshots in Android 12. The final icon is for scrolling screenshots.

Mark up your screenshots
Now, scrolling screenshots are the biggest change to the feature in Android 12. That means that you won’t need some specialty version of the feature made by a phone’s OEM to take shots of the entire screen. That can be accomplished simply by pressing the “Capture more” button. Followed by selecting whatever part of the screen you’d like to capture.
Otherwise, the markup tools are actually very similar to what’s found in Android 11 and even earlier iterations. With a few new options to play with.
Regardless of which type of screenshot you’ve chosen to take, however, the following options should be available on your handset. As long as it’s updated to Android 12.
Crop your screenshots in Android 12
The most commonly used mark-up tool in Android, let alone Android 12, is arguably going to be cropping. With cropping, you can choose to cut away some of the excess screen real-estate you’ve captured. Instead opting to only capture whatever portion you initially wanted.
After snapping your screenshots and moving to the Android 12 mark-up screen following the steps above, look for and select the “crop” icon. That’s typically shaped like a square with overlapping lines in the top left and bottom right corners, located in the bottom-left-hand side of the UI. It’s also typically the default option
The image you’ve captured should show with a heavy Material You-colored outline, as well as four semi-circular nubs. Tap and drag anywhere on the line, along the left- or right-hand side to cut away excess portions of the image from the side edges. Tap and drag anywhere on the top or bottom lines to cut away excess portions from the top and bottom edges.
Areas of the image that aren’t going to be included, after the crop is complete, will be dimmed or washed out. While areas that will be part of the completed, cropped image remain bright and crisp
If you’re ready to be done editing the image tap on the “Save” icon at the top-left-hand side of the UI.
Conversely, if you don’t want to keep the image at all anymore, simple tap the trash-bin-shaped ‘delete’ icon
If you want to share the image as is, with crop in place, simply tap the three-connected-dots icon at the top-right-hand side of the UI. That will call forward the sharing UI so that you can choose where to share the image
If you have more edits to complete, continue on through the next steps on this guide

Add some text to your Android 12 screenshots
Arguably second only to cropping, the addition of text to an image can really bring out the moment that’s been captured. Or, conversely, can be used to create memes, add context, draw attention to a specific detail, and more. So learning to add some text to screenshots using Android 12 is going to be incredibly useful to many users. And it’s fairly easy to accomplish too.
After ensuring that the image you want to share or save is the appropriate screenshot and is cropped properly, tap on the add text icon. That’s shaped as two upper-case “T”s with the one on the left being slightly larger than that on the right
Type some text, using the on-screen keyboard, which should appear by default
To change the font or color of the font, there are two rows of options along the top of the screen. Scroll through and tap to select the options you’d like to use.
If you happen to have closed the keyboard by accident, a simple tap on the text you’ve typed will call back the UI for editing. That also allows you to continue editing and changing the text color and font if you change your mind about either
Resize text by first tapping anywhere outside of the keyboard or text that you’ve typed. Or by closing the keyboard. Then use a pinch to zoom or expand gestures to rescale the text. Pinching with two fingers inward will resize the text to a smaller size. Moving your two fingers away from one another will scale the text upward, effectively increasing the size of the text.
Finally, move the text by simply tapping and dragging the text around the image until you’ve found the placement you want
If you’re ready to be done editing the image tap on the “Save” icon at the top-left-hand side of the UI. If you don’t want to save, follow on to the next step
Conversely, if you don’t want to keep the image at all anymore, simple tap the trash-bin-shaped ‘delete’ icon
If you want to share the image as is, with crop in place, simply tap the three-connected-dots icon at the top-right-hand side of the UI. That will call forward the sharing UI so that you can choose where to share the image
If you have more edits to complete, continue on through the next steps on this guide

Draw, highlight, or erase on your screenshots in Android 12
The final segment of this guide, at least in terms of adding things to screenshots in Android 12, covers drawing tools. Including the eraser tool. The tools here are particularly useful since they can highlight or add attention to on-screen details. Or be used to cover up details that you’d rather not share.
To draw on your Android 12 screenshots, the UI gives you three options. The first of which is the marker, which can be selected via a tap on the marker-shaped icon next to the text-adding icon
After selecting the marker, Android 12 provides several color options. Select the color you’d like to use with your marker
Use your finger or a stylus to draw or write on your screenshots directly
To use the highlighter, simply select the highlighter icon. That’s located to the right of the marker icon, as shown in the images below. You can also select color here. The primary difference between the marker and highlighter is that the marker mark-up is completely opaque. While the highlighter is see-through, up until an area has been highlighted enough to make the marks opaque. More concisely, multiple passes with the highlighter will darken the opacity of the mark until it’s opaque
Use your finger or a stylus to draw or write on your Android 12 screenshots directly
The final bottom-row icon is the eraser tool. To use the eraser, simply select the icon, as with the other tools noted here. Then draw with your finger to erase any mark-up that’s on your Android 12 screenshots
When you’re ready to be done editing the image tap on the “Save” icon at the top-left-hand side of the UI. If you don’t want to save, follow on to the next step
Conversely, if you don’t want to keep the image at all anymore, simple tap the trash-bin-shaped ‘delete’ icon
If you want to share the image as is, with crop in place, simply tap the three-connected-dots icon at the top-right-hand side of the UI. That will call forward the sharing UI so that you can choose where to share the image
If you have more edits to complete or aren’t satisfied, continue on through the next steps on this guide

Make a bigger mistake? There’s a couple of ways to fix it
Now, having access to an eraser can be great for smaller edits. But, for larger edits with multiple different mark up types on screenshots in Android 12, the eraser isn’t always precise enough. In those instances, mistakes can be fixed in a couple of different ways.
In the top-row UI of the mark up tool in Android 12, it is also possible to undo or redo any action taken on screenshots
The icons in question here are fairly straightforward. As shown in the images below, the backward-facing curved arrow icon performs an undo action. As the naming convention here implies, a tap on that icon will undo the previous drawing, text, or crop on the image
The redo button, conversely, is a forward-facing curved arrow icon. And that will reapply any action that you’ve removed via the undo button
Finally, if nothing is quite turning out the way you’d planned for — or if you aren’t happy with the screenshot you took to begin with, a quick tap on the delete button will remove the image from your device entirely

The post How To Mark Up Your Screenshots In Android 12 appeared first on Android Headlines.

Source: ndroidheadlines.com