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The best app for note taking in iPad is:

  • Notebooks for iPad

    Votes: 17 4.6%
  • UPAD

    Votes: 28 7.5%
  • neu.Notes

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • Penultimate

    Votes: 65 17.5%
  • FastFinga

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • Noterize

    Votes: 7 1.9%
  • Noteshelf

    Votes: 49 13.2%
  • Note Taker HD

    Votes: 43 11.6%
  • CourseNotes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • PhatPad

    Votes: 2 0.5%
  • Notebooks for iPad

    Votes: 8 2.2%
  • WritePad for iPad

    Votes: 4 1.1%
  • Other (Please mention)

    Votes: 147 39.5%

  • Total voters
    372

GIZBUG

macrumors 68020
Oct 28, 2006
2,424
1,541
Chicago, IL
Looking at buying Note Taker HD. Will this app or any apps in this thread allow me to import a PDF and mark it up?
 

jojoba

macrumors 68000
Dec 9, 2011
1,584
21
everyone seems to love Noteshelf but it doesn't have the one thing I'm looking for which is conversion to text. is there a "second place" that has that feature? Notes Plus seems buggy from the reviews, which would be fine to test if it was a dollar or two but for $10 (including the conversion add-on) it's a "major" purchase.

7notesHD has handwriting to text conversion. It's a good app, my favourite along with Notability.
 

dinggus

macrumors 65816
Jan 17, 2012
1,309
63
Looking at buying Note Taker HD. Will this app or any apps in this thread allow me to import a PDF and mark it up?

I asked for a Jot Pro and this is what I'd like to know as well.

Write notes, and then scratch them up with edits - I want the realistic of a notepad.
 

jojoba

macrumors 68000
Dec 9, 2011
1,584
21
Looking at buying Note Taker HD. Will this app or any apps in this thread allow me to import a PDF and mark it up?

I asked for a Jot Pro and this is what I'd like to know as well.

Write notes, and then scratch them up with edits - I want the realistic of a notepad.

Don't think 7NotesHD does that (I could be wrong), but Notability definitely has PDF import which you can then annotate.
 

epicmar

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2008
155
0
Northern Florida
I think that Notability is the best of the lot at the moment (just wish they would go with nested folders instead of their single level Category/Subject approach).
 

jeyf

macrumors 68020
Jan 20, 2009
2,173
1,044
recommendation please:
need a note / journal app strong to import a large CSV file from my previous note product that i have been using for years. One text entry per day; I am really into being able to import and export the whole data base of part of it or just one entry.

sync over drop box would is nice and able to manage existence on several computers and or iphone.
 

tigres

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2007
4,213
1,326
Land of the Free-Waiting for Term Limits
Good notes

I have a need for a certain functionality on a note app.

Good notes is so far the only one I can find to do it.

I need to take screenshots, import the photo into the open not app full screen and mark it up with arrows, text etc.

Anything else out there that anyone would recommend. I am keen on this app, just wanted to know if I should give something else a try befor I spend another 5 on my quest.

Thanks
 

GerritV

macrumors 68020
May 11, 2012
2,124
2,428
Assuming your screenshots are in your camera roll, many note taking apps will let you import them. GoodNotes treats the image as a whole, NoteShelf p.e. turns it into pixels (editable with the eraser). Subtle difference, but perhaps important to you.
 

Luis2004

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2012
615
1
I'm currently using Noteshelf, primarily because I really like the UI (I don't like the spiral binding being unchangeable on the notebook covers on GoodNotes) and because the pdf rendering in GoodNotes is a bit laggy when flipping pages.

The developer of GoodNotes has told me that he is working on the rendering issue for the next update, but of course I don't know when that will be.

Goodnotes is ALMOST perfect, but Noteshelf has just a bit more features that I really like (totally custom covers/pages, unlimited ink color options, fantastic handwriting engine that renders ink realistic and smooth, and nice shelf UI).

I do wish Noteshelf would have a pdf annotation feature planned in a future update. But who knows if that will ever happen.
 
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tigres

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2007
4,213
1,326
Land of the Free-Waiting for Term Limits
Assuming your screenshots are in your camera roll, many note taking apps will let you import them. GoodNotes treats the image as a whole, NoteShelf p.e. turns it into pixels (editable with the eraser). Subtle difference, but perhaps important to you.

I'm currently using Noteshelf, primarily because I really like the UI (I don't like the spiral binding being unchangeable on the notebook covers on GoodNotes) and because the pdf rendering in GoodNotes is a bit laggy when flipping pages.

The developer of GoodNotes has told me that he is working on the rendering issue for the next update, but of course I don't know when that will be.

Goodnotes is ALMOST perfect, but Noteshelf has just a bit more features that I really like (totally custom covers/pages, unlimited ink color options, fantastic handwriting engine that renders ink realistic and smooth, and nice shelf UI).

I do wish Noteshelf would have a pdf annotation feature planned in a future update. But who knows if that will ever happen.

Thanks for the reply's.
Going to look at Noteshelf now. Can you draw a straight line/ type/ etc on top of the imported photo from camera roll on this app? Then, take (say) a 23 page notebook, and export to pdf? dropbox/email etc. thanks!
 

Luis2004

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2012
615
1
Thanks for the reply's.
Going to look at Noteshelf now. Can you draw a straight line/ type/ etc on top of the imported photo from camera roll on this app? Then, take (say) a 23 page notebook, and export to pdf? dropbox/email etc. thanks!

I just tested the features you asked about.

When you import a picture from the camera roll, you can adjust the size of the picture and float it to anywhere you want on the page. Once you hit "paste", it's set. You can then draw lines on it, type text, erase portions of it, do whatever you want.

And yes, you can export an entire notebook via email, dropbox, or evernote (although the email option has a maximum of only 20 pages. There is no limit as far as I can tell with dropbox). What you do is hit the little binoculars icon in the upper right hand part of the page within the notebook. This will call up thumbnails of all your pages in the notebook. You then hit the "edit" button, then "select all" on the bottom part of the screen, then the export icon to the left of "select all". It will ask you if you want to do it as image or pdf, HD or not, etc. Then once you confirm it, it will begin the process. If you have a large notebook, it will take a while, obviously. Especially if you choose the HD option.
 

Yujenisis

macrumors 6502
May 30, 2002
310
115
For me, it's Penultimate.

There is something to be said for simplicity and a program that pretty much stays out of the way.

I certainly recognize it's not everyone's cup of tea and that others may want a lot more functionality.
 

Luis2004

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2012
615
1
Thanks for the reply's.
Going to look at Noteshelf now. Can you draw a straight line/ type/ etc on top of the imported photo from camera roll on this app? Then, take (say) a 23 page notebook, and export to pdf? dropbox/email etc. thanks!

When you import a picture from the camera roll, you can adjust the size of the picture and float it to anywhere you want on the page. Once you hit "paste", it's set. You can then draw lines on it, type text, erase portions of it, do whatever you want.

And yes, you can export an entire notebook via email, dropbox, or evernote (although the email option has a maximum of only 20 pages. There is no limit as far as I can tell with dropbox). What you do is hit the little binoculars icon in the upper right hand part of the page within the notebook. This will call up thumbnails of all your pages in the notebook. You then hit the "edit" button, then "select all" on the bottom part of the screen, then the export icon to the left of "select all". It will ask you if you want to do it as image or pdf, HD or not, etc. Then once you confirm it, it will begin the process. If you have a large notebook, it will take a while, obviously. Especially if you choose the HD option.
 

tigres

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2007
4,213
1,326
Land of the Free-Waiting for Term Limits
When you import a picture from the camera roll, you can adjust the size of the picture and float it to anywhere you want on the page. Once you hit "paste", it's set. You can then draw lines on it, type text, erase portions of it, do whatever you want.

And yes, you can export an entire notebook via email, dropbox, or evernote (although the email option has a maximum of only 20 pages. There is no limit as far as I can tell with dropbox). What you do is hit the little binoculars icon in the upper right hand part of the page within the notebook. This will call up thumbnails of all your pages in the notebook. You then hit the "edit" button, then "select all" on the bottom part of the screen, then the export icon to the left of "select all". It will ask you if you want to do it as image or pdf, HD or not, etc. Then once you confirm it, it will begin the process. If you have a large notebook, it will take a while, obviously. Especially if you choose the HD option.

Appreciate the test. Thanks.
I am also checking out some others as well.
 

richimages

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2008
128
4
Southeastern US
...

I do wish Noteshelf would have a pdf annotation feature planned in a future update. But who knows if that will ever happen.

Noteshelf developer says that pdf import is coming ... But, I'm with you, who knows when that will be. Right now I use Noteshelf strictly because the GUI is so user friendly. It does everything a basic handwriting app should - and very well, and very well laid out in the GUI.

Before Noteshelf, I used Notes Plus. I like all the bells and whistles of Notes Plus ... but I didn't really use all of them. And, although the GUI is nice, it's not as simple as Noteshelf. The one thing I really miss about Notes Plus that's missing in Noteshelf was that everything was vectorized in Notes Plus. You could even reselect an image and re-place it elsewhere on the page, resize it (up or down), etc ... Not so in Noeshelf, once it's placed ... it's composited into the background.
 

dheisler1

macrumors newbie
Jul 17, 2008
1
0
Mac User

I'm looking for a Note taking app that works with Macintosh. The posts on the forum seem to be mainly Windows oriented. What recommendations work with Macs.:confused:
 

GerritV

macrumors 68020
May 11, 2012
2,124
2,428
I'm looking for a Note taking app that works with Macintosh. The posts on the forum seem to be mainly Windows oriented. What recommendations work with Macs.:confused:

Not sure I understand what you mean, most apps here are iOS oriented...
Anyway, first thing that came to my mind was SimpleNote. Google it, you'll find Mac solutions that sync with iOS.
 

richimages

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2008
128
4
Southeastern US
I do not have have a mini ... But was wondering if anyone has comment for the reduced real estate with their favorite writing app for the mini.
 
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Luis2004

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2012
615
1
I do have have a mini ... But was wondering if anyone has comment for the reduced real estate with their favorite writing app for the mini.

Do you prefer a full sized notebook for writing notes (college ruled, etc.), or a notepad? That will probably tell you.

I myself prefer as much screen real estate as possible.
 

lexvo

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2009
1,467
551
The Netherlands
Choosing a note taking app is a personal thing. I myself like typing my notes and for me Notability fits best. DailyNotes is also very nice, but Notability has more features.
 
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