What would be the easiest way to add annotations/drawings to an image, in an already existing note ?
On mobile, when you tap on an image, it shows fullscreen. But unfortunately we can’t access iPadOS annotations from there.
A workaround could be to show the image in iPad’s file explorer so we could then edit the image, but I can’t find this option on iPad.
Any workarounds ?
Thank you !
You could use the Shortcut Launcher community plugin to send the image or its path to a shortcut that opens it in Files or maybe even directly opens the annotation view.
@CawlinTeffid : This is a great idea, unfortunately, it sends a copy of the image, not the original image…
When using “Receive from share sheet” in Shortcuts, the shortcut appears directly in the Obsidian options (of the image opened in Obsidian). I thought that here it would allow to edit the original (as opposed with Shortcut Launcher plugin), but here again it seems to send a copy (Once I’ve annotated the image using Quickview, there is only an option to save image in Files…) !
In Shortcuts, I also tried to receive a link from share sheet in order to then open it in Files, but it fails to obtain the link (I get a error message related to iCloud).
Has someone an idea how to make this work ?
Thanks !
The option to save the image in Files should open a file picker that will let you select the original location and save it there.
I don’t know why the iCloud error is happening. If you post more detail about the setup, someone might be able to troubleshoot it (possibly me, but I’m not an expert on Shortcuts).
Yes you are right, however, please find below what the whole procedure looks like : Once the note containing the image you want to edit is open :
(It says : "Receive Images input from share sheet > Show in quickview)
Honestly, I can’t think of a more cumbersome way to annotate image. I will nonetheless use it since apparently it’s the only workaround before a more streamlined method is implemented in Obsidian ?
I also tried to get the link to the image to open it directly in files, with the following Shortcut :
(it says : Receive Images input from share sheet > Obtain link from share sheet > Open Link to file in Files)
But I get following error :
(“Workbench.jpeg” is not downloaded on iCloud. Impossible to obtain a link to this file because it must be downloaded on iCloud")
Finally, I also tried the following Shortcuts :
But they all seem to send copies of the image so you have to browse the whole iPad file explorer to save it to the correct location after annotation.
Adding an option to “Show file in system explorer”, like on desktop, could be a sufficient workaround before a more streamlined solution is implemented.
You can save some steps by using the Shortcut Launcher plugin. Make a launcher that sends the “Selected Link/Embed Contents” (find that text in the plugin’s README for explanation of how to proceed). Then add the shortcut to the mobile toolbar, and steps 2–6 become
2. Tap the image link.
3. Tap the shortcut on the mobile toolbar.
If your images are all in the same folder, you can save time by adding it as a Favorite in Files. If they’re are all over your vault, you’re probably stuck navigating your whole iPad folder structure. But you could save a tap or two by marking your vault folder as a Favorite in Files.
I agree that Obsidian should make all of this unnecessary and that “Show file in system explorer” should exist on mobile.
Thanks for your suggestion, this is probably the best we can have for now 
Mmm… As great as the new mobile version is, it seems it disabled the Shortcuts that we could access from “Share sheet” !
[X] iPadOS
Obsidian Mobile version: v1.0.5
On iPad, when you click on an image’s link, it opens the image inside Obsidian. Then, when going to option menu (the 3 vertical dots) and hitting “Share”, the iPad’s “Markup” option does not appear. Neither is it possible to choose an app to open and edit the image.
It is very important because it would allow to easily annotate images inside Obsidian.
That feature works with PDF files (we can also choose in which app to read and edit the PDF, which is great), but not with images.
is this still happening?
Yes, there is still no convenient way to annotate a picture.
is it not possible to share an image editor?
With a cumbersome workaround, I think it’s possible to open the image in “markup”. But the problem is that it’s useless : once the image is annotated, there is no way to save it in place.
Indeed, iPadOS just opens iPad’s root folder and you have to find the image’s original location, which may be a great hassle depending on your file structure. Overall, it’s not a viable workaround for simply annotating an image.
I found a workaround.
I use “open with” plugin which allow me to add new entry in the contextual menu when I right click an image.
I added an entry which allows me to open the image with my favorite image editor software (ksnip on linux).
I annotate the image in ksnip, then ctrl+S to save.
then in obsidian I do ctrl+alt+o to reload the file, and my annotation appears.
