System and method for document markup

The system and method as described herein can be advantageously used in a plurality of scenarios, two of which include field markup and data collection and collaborative review. The system and method handles the allocation of digital paper pattern background and the creation of required page definition files embedded into digital paper enabled PDFs. Optionally, action palettes can be automatically overlaid on the drawings as legend boxes to enable field personnel to select the operations they want to perform on the digital paper as they would on a computer interface. For instance letting users select the types of callouts and clouds to add to their markup. These drawings can be printed or plotted onto paper and sent to a work site for markup.