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I'm trying to find a program, or set of programs, that will allow easy markup of student assignments submitted as PDFs. I'd like to include more complicated math with this markup.

I've tried pen tools, like the one in Acrobat DC, but they tend to be too messy to read. (I have an old Bamboo pen tablet which isn't terribly sensitive.) Right now my best setup is typing in Word using MathType for the math and using the snipping tool to transfer it to the PDF in Acrobat. It's pretty clunky.

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    $\begingroup$ There is nothing in this question specific to the teaching of mathematics. $\endgroup$ – Dan Fox Dec 20 '17 at 10:41
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    $\begingroup$ Well Adobe Acrobat can convert PDF to images and vice versa (combine files into a single PDF). $\endgroup$ – user5402 Dec 20 '17 at 16:01
  • $\begingroup$ Is hand-annotating out of the question then, given the remark about the pen tablet? I'm just making sure you're not looking for other annotating software (I'm not familiar with Acrobat DC). $\endgroup$ – pjs36 Dec 20 '17 at 20:43
  • $\begingroup$ @pjs36 I'm open to hand annotation, but find two problems. First, the writing often shows up pretty messy and can be hard to read, especially because I don't have neat writing. Second, I haven't found an editor that can keep up to writing. If I write anywhere near the speed I'd use with paper, it misses quit a bit and the rest is illegible. $\endgroup$ – user2520444 Dec 21 '17 at 22:18
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I don't think it's perfect for your situation, but check out crowdmark. When grading you can type comments in MathJax (LaTeX-like math markup). However, from how I've used it, their intended setup is a bit different than yours. Crowdmark's idea is that you make the exams on the crowdmark website, print them out and give those to the students, and then scan and reupload to crowdmark. I'm not sure if you can just upload your own PDFs to their site.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks @Mike Pierce. I've contacted Crowdmark and am waiting to hear back, but it looks like they work with entire schools. I expect this to be too much of a change from my school's current process to be useful for me. $\endgroup$ – user2520444 Dec 20 '17 at 16:45
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    $\begingroup$ I'd second Crowdmark, however you will need to have each student fill out a QR coded pdf specific to that student. Your workflow might have to include printing all the PDF's to pdf to flatten in interactive elements. $\endgroup$ – Nate Bade Dec 20 '17 at 21:52
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    $\begingroup$ I've been given the Crowdmark tour and agree it's a pretty good setup. Unfortunately our school has a continuous intake and doesn't match the workflow used in Crowdmark very well. (On a given day we have small numbers of assignments arriving form all points in the course, where their setup is for large batches of identical assessments). For someone doing synchronous work, this would be a good setup. $\endgroup$ – user2520444 Dec 21 '17 at 22:13

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