Commenting and annotating attachments in Airtable

Attachment comments are similar to record comments except you can leave them on any attachment. This allows you to have separate conversations for each individual attachment in a record. For example, if you use Airtable for marketing planning, you can leave feedback directly on individual images or videos uploaded by your team.

Add an attachment comment

Start by clicking an attachment in one of your records. At the bottom-right of the attachment preview you’ll see a comment box where you can start typing to add a comment. You’ll also see a feed of any existing comments just above the comment box.

Just like record comments, you can @mention collaborators directly within an attachment comment to notify them.

Receive notifications for attachment comments

If another collaborator @mentions you in an attachment comment, you’ll be notified according to your Airtable notification settings. If you are already watching a record’s comments, you’ll automatically receive notifications for attachment comments on that record. You can also adjust whether you’re watching the record directly from the attachment comment feed.

View attachment comments in the record activity feed

In the record comment feed you’ll see collapsed sections for attachment comments which when clicked will open the full attachment. You’ll also see a comment bubble directly on the attachment thumbnail (in the expanded record view) that displays how many comments have been made.

Adding annotations

Attachment annotations let you leave comments in a specific position on an Airtable attachment. You can give fast, clear, actionable feedback on any type of visual asset to help speed up your creative process and ship high-quality content, fast.

You can annotate images and videos by clicking the relevant position on the attachment when previewing it in full-screen mode within Airtable. See the examples below for more specific details on leaving annotations for different file types.

Annotating images

Open an image attachment and click anywhere on the image. This will start an annotation where you can type a comment and press enter to save the annotation. If you click on an image and drag, this will create a box annotation instead of a point annotation.

Annotating videos

Open a video attachment and pause the video. Clicking on the paused frame will start an annotation where you can type a comment and press enter to save the annotation.

To view an annotations made within the video, click on the annotation number (located just below the actual video) to see the location and content of the annotation.

Supported file types

We currently support attachment annotations for images and videos.
The following image types are supported:

• JPEG
• PNG
• GIF

The following video types are supported:

• MP4
• WebM

Annotation notifications 

If another collaborator @mentions you in an attachment comment, you’ll be notified according to your Airtable notification settings. If you are already watching a record’s comments, you’ll automatically receive notifications for attachment comments on that record. You can also adjust whether you’re watching the record directly from the attachment comment feed.

Annotations in the record activity feed

In the record comment feed you’ll see collapsed sections for attachment comments which when clicked will open the full attachment. You’ll also see a comment bubble directly on the attachment thumbnail (in the expanded record view) that displays how many comments have been made.

FAQs

Can I leave comments on an attachment lookup field?

If you open an attachment from a lookup you’ll see all the comments from the underlying record and you’ll be able to respond with new comments.

How do attachment comments work on mobile?

Viewing attachment comments looks the same as record comments on mobile. However, writing attachment comments is currently not available on mobile.

Can I get a notification for every new attachment annotation?

Yes. If you are watching a record’s comments, you’ll receive notifications for attachment annotations on that record. You can also adjust whether you’re watching the record directly from the attachment comment feed.

How do attachment comments work on mobile?

On Android, the attachment comment experience is very similar to the web experience. On iOS attachment comments currently look like record comments.

Will attachment annotations show up in the record comment feed?

Yes. In the record comment feed, you’ll see attachment annotation comments which when clicked will open the annotation thread.

Can I leave annotations on an attachment lookup field?

Yes. If you open an attachment from a lookup you’ll see all the annotations from the underlying record and you’ll be able to add new annotations as well.

How do I hide annotations?

In the top right corner of the attachment comment feed, there’s a button to hide comments. Hiding comments will also hide all annotations.