# Working with photos, GIFs, PDFs, and other attachments

> Learn how to add and work with photos, images, videos, GIFs, PDFs and scanned documents in Bear notes, including the 250MB attachment limit.

Source: https://bear.app/faq/working-with-photos-gifs-pdfs-and-other-attachments/

Bear is a note and writing app at heart, but sometimes a photo says it all. Or maybe a PDF, or just about any other type of file on your device. Here is how you can work with each type of medium, as well as some useful things to know.

## Photos
### Insert photos from photo library

![](https://bear.app/faq/images/photos_keyboard.png)

To add photos from your iOS Photo Library, open the BIU keyboard, then long-press ![](https://bear.app/faq/images/photos_camera_icon.png) and select ![](https://bear.app/faq/images/photos_library_icon.png). This will open your photo library, where you can choose one or multiple images to insert directly into your note.

## Images
![](https://bear.app/faq/images/attachment.jpeg)
### Resize images
You can resize an image by dragging its handle in the lower right corner.
* On Mac, simply mouse over the image for the handle
* On iOS, long-press the image, then choose **Resize**
  
### Crop images
You can crop an image with long press on an image on iOS.

## Videos
Videos can be attached to Bear notes, but note that there is a general limit of 250MB per attachment (a rule set by iCloud). Video file sizes can grow large quite quickly—just a minute of 4K video shot with a modern iPhone could exceed this limit. Attachments over 250MB will not sync via Bear Pro and instead remain on the device.

To play any supported video, simply click or tap it to open a Quick Preview player.

## GIFs

![](https://bear.app/faq/images/attachment_1.jpeg)

GIFs and Bear go together like captions and memes. To play a GIF, simply click or tap it.

**Sidenote if you’re curious why GIFs don’t auto-play**: It’s a performance thing. GIFs can be surprisingly resource intensive in some scenarios, especially when multiple are present. We opted to preserve your device’s performance and battery life.

## PDFs

![](https://bear.app/faq/images/attachment_2.jpeg)

Bear will do its best to display a preview of PDFs attached to notes. To read a PDF, simply double-click (Mac) or tap (iOS) it.

To **hide PDF preview**, right click (Mac) or long press (iOS) on the PDF, then click or tap **Hide preview** on the pop-up menu.

## Document Scanner

![](https://bear.app/faq/images/attachment_3.jpeg)

You can scan documents directly into a Bear note on iPhone and iPad:

- In any note, tap the **B*I*U button** to display the style keyboard
- Long-press the **attachment button** (it has a camera icon) to display a menu of attachment options, and slide your finger over to the **scan document button**
- The camera will open
- Position your device above your document so that it fits within screen bounds
- Once the camera recognizes a document is in view, the document will highlight and your device will automatically take a photo
- Optionally, you can scan more documents
- Tap Save when you’re done to save them all to your note

## Tips & Things to Know
- Individual Bear attachments can be up to 250MB (this size is set by Apple’s iCloud rules and we have no control over it). That’s more than enough room for most photos, PDFs, and other files
- Videos file sizes can easily exceed Bear’s attachment limit, especially when shot with modern smartphones at HD or 4K sizes
- Attachments larger than the limit will not be synced to other devices. They will remain on the original device where they were attached