PROTOFLOW/Docs

Design Tools

Annotations & Regions

Add text notes, shape annotations, and functional region overlays to document, organize, and communicate design intent within your schematics.

# Text Annotations

Add text notes anywhere on your schematic to document design decisions, mark important areas, or leave instructions for collaborators.

How to Add Text

  1. Press T to activate the text annotation tool
  2. Click on the canvas to place the text
  3. Type your annotation text
  4. Press Enter to confirm

Text Properties

  • Font size — Customizable font size for visibility at different zoom levels
  • Position — Click and drag to reposition text annotations
  • Editing — Double-click to edit the text content
  • Selection — Click to select, then use the Property Editor to modify properties
[ Screenshot ]

Text annotations on a schematic documenting different circuit sections

# Shape Annotations

Draw shapes on your schematic to highlight areas, create visual groupings, or add decorative elements.

Available Shapes

ShapeShortcutDescription
RectangleShift+RDraw rectangular outlines to group or highlight areas
LineShift+LDraw single-segment or polyline annotations
CircleShift+CDraw circles to highlight specific components or areas

Shape Properties

Select any shape annotation to edit its properties in the Property Editor panel:

  • Position and dimensions
  • Resize by dragging handles
  • Move by clicking and dragging
  • Delete with the Delete key
[ Screenshot ]

Shape annotations (rectangles, circles, lines) highlighting different circuit sections

# Schematic Regions

Regions are named, color-coded overlays that define functional blocks in your schematic. They help organize complex designs and provide context for the AI Copilot's topology analysis.

Creating Regions

  1. Use the region tool or ask the AI to "define a region for the power supply section"
  2. Draw the region boundary around the relevant components
  3. Name the region (e.g., "Power Supply", "MCU Section", "Sensor Interface")
  4. The region appears as a semi-transparent color overlay on the canvas

Region Features

  • Named functional blocks — Each region has a descriptive name displayed on the overlay
  • Color coding — Regions are automatically assigned distinct colors for visual clarity
  • Resizable — Drag any of the 8 directional handles to resize the region
  • Movable — Click and drag the region body to reposition it
  • Component grouping — Components within a region are logically grouped for analysis
  • Region analysis — The AI can analyze the components and connections within a region to provide section-specific feedback
  • Layout planning — Regions inform the auto-placement engine about functional groupings during layout optimization
[ Screenshot ]

Schematic with color-coded functional regions: Power Supply (green), MCU (blue), Sensors (purple)

# AI & Annotations

The AI Copilot is annotation-aware. You can configure how the AI uses annotations through the AI settings:

All Annotations

The AI sees and can create both text and shape annotations

Text Only

The AI only sees text annotations (ignores shapes)

Shapes Only

The AI only sees shape annotations (ignores text)

None

The AI ignores all annotations

Next Steps