Markers
What are markers? ¶
Markers make your images better. They highlight different parts of a picture using colored rectangles and circles. In the picture below, a specific component of this motherboard has been marked up with a red circle. These colored markers usually correspond to the same color bullet in the text of the step. In the example below, the red marker corresponds to the red bullet at the far-right of the image.
How to use markers ¶
After an image has been uploaded using the Image Uploader, it appears as a thumbnail while editing a step. When you move the mouse over the wrench symbol at the lop-left corner of the thumbnail, four options will appear.
Click on "Markers..." Doing so brings you to a screen that looks like this:
Now it is time to add your marker:
- Select a color. Choose red as the first markup color. If you mark up a different item in the photo, as well, use orange for that one. Then yellow, etc. Knowing that the first markup in a step will always be red, the second will be orange, and so on, keeps markups from getting confusing.
- Select a shape. The rule of thumb for shapes is to choose the shape that best matches what you are marking up. If you are marking up a screw, choose a circle. If you are marking up a sandwich, choose a rectangle.
- Select a size. You can do this either before or after you place the marker on the photo. To resize a marker, click the small box to the lower right and drag it to the size that you want. Marker sizes should be large enough that you can see the entire highlighted part—but no larger.
- Place the marker. Click the marker and drag it to the desired spot on the photo. You can change the position by clicking the marker again and dragging it to a new spot. You can also change the size after it is placed by clicking and dragging the box on the bottom right.
Marker shapes and sizes ¶
Markers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Simply resize your markers to best fit the object you want to highlight. The example below shows the possible size ranges and shapes for markers.
- Red: the default size of a marker
- Orange: the smallest size of a marker
- Green: the largest X and Y dimensions possible for rectangular markers
- Blue: the largest total size possible for a marker
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