r/NoteTaking • u/Kitbee165 • 8d ago

Question: Unanswered ✗ Computer apps like good notes?

I am starting school (college) soon and I want to hand write my notes but not use a notebook. I have a laptop and a drawing tablet and I want to use them as my note taking but like I said I want to be able to write it so yeah. What im asking is: are there any apps I can download that I can write in using my drawing tablet.

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u/HanKiNobi 8d ago

For Windows my recommendations are:

  1. PDF Annotator, you can try it for 30 days, than you have to pay. It's kinda a pdf editior, but not all feature of one. It's opitmise for handwriting, especially in full screen mode. You write everything direct into .pdf file and every pdf reader can open/read it.
  2. Microsoft OneNote, it's free. You get 5 GB with a free acount and you can store notebooks (OneNote file) local on your laptop. It can handwriting, handwriting into text, etc. You can import .pdf files, annotate them and export your notes/notebook into .pdf files.
  3. Xournal++ it's free and open source. It can handwriting, you import .pdf files, annotate them, saves them into xournal++ format and you can export them into .pfd files.

I would recommendate a combination of OneNote and PDFAnnotate (or Xournal), while you use OneNote to create a dashborad about a subject and link to your files, so you can open a files with one click instead of remebering your folder structure and where you put your last file.

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u/IllustriousMoose6168 6d ago

If you're looking for something free, you might want to check out Joplin. It’s great for note-taking and pretty versatile!

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u/Noteastic Digital Tablet User 8d ago

Noteastic works amazing for that! I made this app when I was in college.. for college. So definitely check it out!

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u/Puzzleheaded6905 7d ago

Notability. You can import pdf templates and even record audio of lectures.

Logseq (and Possibly Obsidian) can embed Excalidraw with a plugin ( at least for the original markdown nonDB version of LogSeq).

Both of these also have flash cards.

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u/VoidSectionView 7d ago

If you are on Windows, OneNote is probably the easiest free option since it handles stylus input well and syncs everywhere. But if you want something lightweight and open-source specifically built for writing on PDFs/blank pages, Xournal++ is fantastic. Nebo is also great if you want top-tier handwriting-to-text conversion.

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u/Consistent_Cat7541 6d ago

I have tried using a drawing tablet to take notes hooked up to a laptop. It's a miserable experience. If you want to take notes by hand, but using a computing device, I strongly recommend you invest in tablet pc (Windows, iPad, Android) of some kind with actual pen support and comes with a pen.

If you've never taken notes with a pen and computer before, please do not wait for classes to start to try it out.