Create an Annotation on a Document

Last updated: Dec 5, 2025
Who can complete this task? Veeva Basics users with access to review or approve documents in a Veeva Basics Vault.

Vault includes robust annotation capabilities, allowing you to add or reply to annotations in your browser. There are six different types of annotations: Image, Text, Sticky Note, Line, Link, and Anchor annotations. Each annotation has two parts, the selection on the document, and the note, which includes any comments you made, if supported by type.

Comment Annotation

To create an comment annotation:

  1. Open a document for which you have a review or approval task.

  2. If the area you want to annotate contains selectable text, highlight the text. If not, click and drag to highlight an area.

  3. Click Create Comment.

    Screenshot step 3

  4. Enter a comment. Optionally, select color or formatting.

  5. Click Save.

    Screenshot steps 4-5

To create a link annotation:

  1. Open a document for which you have a review or approval task.

  2. If the area you want to annotate contains selectable text, highlight the text. If not, click and drag to highlight an area.

  3. Click Create Link. Document Link and Permalink Link are default link types. Depending on your Vault type, you may have Vault-specific link types, such as Claim Link in the below screenshot for PromoMats Basics.

    Screenshot step 3

  4. Select a document to link by clicking . You can also click to de-select a document.

  5. Click Close to finish linking the document.

    Screenshot steps 4-5

Bring Forward Annotations

When upversioning a document, it can be useful to bring forward annotations that have been made so that the latest version includes all relevant information.

To bring forward annotations:

  1. Click the Bring Forward Annotations button at the top of the document.

    Screenshot step 1

  2. Select the Source Version (where the annotations should be brought from), the type(s) to bring forward, and click Continue.

    Screenshot step 2

  3. The annotations are brought forward.

    Screenshot step 3