Preview saves editable annotations
Preview saves highlights back into the PDF as annotations. Save the file and open it elsewhere; the highlights travel with the document.
Avoid flattened PDFs. A flattened highlight looks correct on the page but no longer exists as a separate annotation object.
Save or export the PDF
After highlighting in Preview, use File > Save, File > Export, or File > Export to PDF. These paths preserve editable annotations. Use Export to create a clearly named annotated copy alongside the original.
Avoid File > Print followed by Save as PDF for extraction. That path can flatten annotations and remove their editable data.
- Open the PDF in Preview.
- Add highlights, underlines, strikeouts, and notes.
- Use Save, Export, or Export to PDF.
- Open the saved copy and choose View > Highlights and Notes to confirm the annotations are present.
- Import the saved or exported PDF into PDF Highlights App.
Use the sidebar to check your work
Preview's Highlights and Notes sidebar is a quick pre-import check. A complete list of expected highlights signals a ready PDF.
A page mark that appears outside the sidebar may be flattened or part of the page image. PDF Highlights App cannot treat that mark as a normal PDF annotation.
Keep file names meaningful
Preview users often work directly from Downloads or email attachments. Before importing a set of PDFs, rename the annotated copies so the source names will make sense later in your export.
Good file names make it easier to connect each extracted quote back to a paper, brief, chapter, or client document.