--- title: "Custom Annotation Inspector" canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/samples/custom-annotation-inspector-java/" md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/samples/custom-annotation-inspector-java.md" last_updated: "2026-05-15T19:10:04.916Z" description: "Customize the annotation property inspector with custom property options." --- # Custom Annotation Inspector Customize the annotation property inspector with custom property options. [Get Started](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/android/getting-started.md) [All Samples](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/samples.md) [Download](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/downloads.md) [Launch Demo](https://www.nutrient.io/demo/) --- ```java /* * Copyright © 2014-2026 PSPDFKit GmbH. All rights reserved. * * The PSPDFKit Sample applications are licensed with a modified BSD license. * Please see License for details. This notice may not be removed from this file. */ package com.pspdfkit.catalog.examples.java; import static com.pspdfkit.catalog.utils.Utils.dpToPx; import android.app.AlertDialog; import android.content.Context; import android.content.Intent; import android.graphics.Color; import android.net.Uri; import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.View; import android.widget.LinearLayout; import androidx.annotation.NonNull; import androidx.annotation.Nullable; import com.pspdfkit.annotations.Annotation; import com.pspdfkit.annotations.AnnotationType; import com.pspdfkit.annotations.defaults.AnnotationPreferencesManager; import com.pspdfkit.catalog.R; import com.pspdfkit.catalog.SdkExample; import com.pspdfkit.catalog.tasks.ExtractAssetTask; import com.pspdfkit.configuration.activity.PdfActivityConfiguration; import com.pspdfkit.ui.PdfActivity; import com.pspdfkit.ui.PdfActivityIntentBuilder; import com.pspdfkit.ui.PdfFragment; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.PropertyInspector; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.PropertyInspectorView; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.annotation.AnnotatingInspectorController; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.annotation.DefaultAnnotationEditingInspectorController; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.views.ColorPickerInspectorDetailView; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.views.PropertyInspectorDividerDecoration; import com.pspdfkit.ui.inspector.views.SliderPickerInspectorView; import com.pspdfkit.ui.special_mode.controller.AnnotatingController; import com.pspdfkit.ui.special_mode.controller.AnnotationInspectorController; import com.pspdfkit.ui.special_mode.controller.AnnotationTool; import com.pspdfkit.ui.special_mode.controller.AnnotationToolVariant; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; /** Showcases how to create custom annotation inspector from scratch. */ public class CustomAnnotationInspectorExample extends SdkExample { public CustomAnnotationInspectorExample(@NonNull final Context context) { super( context, R.string.annotationCustomInspectorExampleTitle, R.string.annotationCustomInspectorExampleDescription); } @Override public void launchExample( @NonNull final Context context, @NonNull final PdfActivityConfiguration.Builder configuration) { // Extract the document from the assets. The launched activity will add annotations to that // document. ExtractAssetTask.extract(WELCOME_DOC, getTitle(), context, documentFile -> { final Intent intent = PdfActivityIntentBuilder.fromUri(context, Uri.fromFile(documentFile)).configuration(configuration.build()).activityClass(CustomAnnotationInspectorActivity.class).build(); // Start the CustomAnnotationInspectorActivity for the extracted document. context.startActivity(intent); }); } /** * Shows how to implement custom {@link AnnotationInspectorController} and how to add custom views * to existing annotation inspector. */ public static class CustomAnnotationInspectorActivity extends PdfActivity { /** Colors that are going to be available in annotation creation inspector's color picker. */ private static final List CREATION_PICKER_COLORS = List.of( Color.rgb(244, 67, 54), // RED Color.rgb(139, 195, 74), // LIGHT GREEN Color.rgb(33, 150, 243), // BLUE Color.rgb(252, 237, 140), // YELLOW Color.rgb(233, 30, 99), // PINK // GRAYSCALE below Color.rgb(255, 255, 255), Color.rgb(224, 224, 224), Color.rgb(158, 158, 158), Color.rgb(66, 66, 66), Color.rgb(0, 0, 0)); /** Colors that are going to be displayed in annotation editing inspector's root layout. */ private static final List EDITING_PICKER_COLORS = List.of( Color.rgb(244, 67, 54), // RED Color.rgb(139, 195, 74), // LIGHT GREEN Color.rgb(33, 150, 243), // BLUE Color.rgb(252, 237, 140), // YELLOW Color.rgb(233, 30, 99)); // PINK @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); // Create custom annotation creation inspector displaying custom UI in modal dialog. CustomAnnotationCreationInspector customAnnotationCreationInspector = new CustomAnnotationCreationInspector(); // Add custom color picker view to annotation editing inspector. DefaultAnnotationEditingInspectorController customAnnotationEditingInspector = new DefaultAnnotationEditingInspectorController(this, getPropertyInspectorCoordinator()) { @Override public void onPreparePropertyInspector(@NonNull PropertyInspector inspector) { // Prepare standard property inspector. super.onPreparePropertyInspector(inspector); // Add decoration to show dividers between inspector items. inspector.addItemDecoration(new PropertyInspectorDividerDecoration(getContext())); // Add custom color picker for the ink annotation. if (getAnnotationEditingController() == null) return; final List annotations = getAnnotationEditingController().getCurrentlySelectedAnnotations(); if (annotations.isEmpty()) return; for (Annotation annotation : annotations) { if (annotation.getType()!= AnnotationType.INK) return; } final var colorPickerInspectorDetailView = getColorPickerInspectorDetailView(annotations); inspector.addInspectorView(colorPickerInspectorDetailView); } private @NonNull ColorPickerInspectorDetailView getColorPickerInspectorDetailView( List annotations) { final var detailView = new ColorPickerInspectorDetailView( getContext(), EDITING_PICKER_COLORS, EDITING_PICKER_COLORS.get(0), false); detailView.setShowSelectionIndicator(false); detailView.setOnColorPickedListener((view, color) -> { if (getAnnotationEditingController()!= null) { for (Annotation annotation : annotations) { annotation.setColor(color); } } }); return detailView; } }; // Set custom annotation inspector controllers to the activity. setCreationInspectorController(customAnnotationCreationInspector); setEditingInspectorController(customAnnotationEditingInspector); // Restore inspectors state. if (savedInstanceState!= null) { customAnnotationCreationInspector.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState); customAnnotationEditingInspector.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState); } } @NonNull private Context getContext() { return this; } /** * Custom implementation of the {@link AnnotatingInspectorController} showing simplified * annotation inspector in a dialog. */ private class CustomAnnotationCreationInspector implements AnnotatingInspectorController { private static final String STATE_INSPECTOR_DIALOG_VISIBLE = "STATE_INSPECTOR_DIALOG_VISIBLE"; @Nullable private AnnotatingController controller; @Nullable private AlertDialog dialog; @Nullable private Bundle restoredInstanceState; public void bindController(@NonNull AnnotatingController controller) { this.controller = controller; // Bind to annotation creation controller. controller.bindAnnotationInspectorController(this); // Restore saved state if available. onRestoreState(); } public void unbindController() { cancel(); if (controller!= null) { controller.unbindAnnotationInspectorController(); this.controller = null; } } @Override public void onSaveInstanceState(@NonNull Bundle outState) { outState.putBoolean(STATE_INSPECTOR_DIALOG_VISIBLE, isAnnotationInspectorVisible()); } @Override public void onRestoreInstanceState(@NonNull Bundle savedState) { this.restoredInstanceState = savedState; onRestoreState(); } @Override public void showAnnotationInspector(boolean animate) { // Create custom layout for your inspector. View inspectorRoot = getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.custom_annotation_inspector, null); LinearLayout inspectorContainer = inspectorRoot.findViewById(R.id.inspectorContainer); // We are reusing our inspector views just for the sake of simplicity. List inspectorViews = getInspectorViews(); if (inspectorViews == null) { cancel(); return; } for (PropertyInspectorView inspectorView : inspectorViews) { inspectorContainer.addView(inspectorView.getView()); } // Create alert dialog with inspector layout set as content view. this.dialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(getContext()).setView(inspectorRoot).setPositiveButton(android.R.string.ok, (dialog, which) -> dialog.dismiss()).setCancelable(true).show(); } @Override public void hideAnnotationInspector(boolean animate) { if (dialog!= null) { dialog.cancel(); } } @Override public void toggleAnnotationInspector(boolean animate) { if (isAnnotationInspectorVisible()) { hideAnnotationInspector(animate); } else { showAnnotationInspector(animate); } } @Override public boolean isAnnotationInspectorVisible() { return dialog!= null && dialog.isShowing(); } @Override public boolean hasAnnotationInspector() { // Enable annotation inspector only for ink and free-text annotations. return controller!= null && controller.getActiveAnnotationTool()!= null && (controller.getActiveAnnotationTool() == AnnotationTool.INK || controller.getActiveAnnotationTool() == AnnotationTool.FREETEXT); } public void cancel() { if (dialog!= null) { dialog.cancel(); dialog = null; } } @Nullable private List getInspectorViews() { PdfFragment fragment = getPdfFragment(); if (controller == null || fragment == null) return null; final AnnotationPreferencesManager annotationPreferences = fragment.getAnnotationPreferences(); final AnnotationTool annotationTool = controller.getActiveAnnotationTool(); final AnnotationToolVariant annotationToolVariant = controller.getActiveAnnotationToolVariant(); if (annotationTool == null || annotationToolVariant == null) return null; List inspectorViews = new ArrayList<>(); // Create color picker. ColorPickerInspectorDetailView colorPicker = new ColorPickerInspectorDetailView( getContext(), CREATION_PICKER_COLORS, controller.getColor(), false); colorPicker.setOnColorPickedListener((view, color) -> { annotationPreferences.setColor(annotationTool, annotationToolVariant, color); controller.setColor(color); }); int padding = dpToPx(getContext(), 8); colorPicker.setPadding(padding, padding, padding, padding); inspectorViews.add(colorPicker); // Create thickness picker for ink annotations. if (annotationTool == AnnotationTool.INK) { SliderPickerInspectorView thicknessPicker = new SliderPickerInspectorView( getContext(), "Thickness", "%d pt", 1, 20, (int) controller.getThickness(), (view, value) -> { annotationPreferences.setThickness(annotationTool, annotationToolVariant, value); controller.setThickness(value); }); inspectorViews.add(thicknessPicker); } // Create text size picker for free-text annotation. if (annotationTool == AnnotationTool.FREETEXT) { SliderPickerInspectorView textSizePicker = new SliderPickerInspectorView( getContext(), "Text size", "%d pt", 10, 32, (int) controller.getTextSize(), (view, value) -> { annotationPreferences.setTextSize(annotationTool, annotationToolVariant, value); controller.setTextSize(value); }); inspectorViews.add(textSizePicker); } return inspectorViews; } private void onRestoreState() { // Restore state when bound to controller and having restored state. if (controller == null || restoredInstanceState == null) return; boolean isDialogVisible = restoredInstanceState.getBoolean(STATE_INSPECTOR_DIALOG_VISIBLE, false); if (isDialogVisible) { showAnnotationInspector(false); } restoredInstanceState = null; } } } } ``` This code sample is an example that illustrates how to use our SDK. Please adapt it to your specific use case. --- ## Related pages - [Application Policy](/guides/android/samples/application-policy-kotlin.md) - [Custom Form Highlight Color](/guides/android/samples/custom-form-highlight-color-java.md) - [Custom Page Templates](/guides/android/samples/custom-page-templates-java.md) - [Digital Signature (Basic)](/guides/android/samples/digital-signature-basic-kotlin.md) - [Disabled Annotation Property](/guides/android/samples/disabled-annotation-property-java.md) - [Image Document](/guides/android/samples/image-document-kotlin.md) - [Compose Image Document](/guides/android/samples/compose-image-document-kotlin.md) - [Inline Multimedia](/guides/android/samples/inline-multimedia-kotlin.md) - [JavaScript Form Filling](/guides/android/samples/javascript-form-filling-kotlin.md) - [Overlay Visibility](/guides/android/samples/overlay-visibility-kotlin.md) - [PdfFragment](/guides/android/samples/pdffragment-kotlin.md) - [Reader View](/guides/android/samples/reader-view-kotlin.md) - 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