How to take Digital Notes

Throughout this series we considered research that shows how taking notes is best done with a pen. So, how can we take the advantage of handwritten notes in the digital world?
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[@JebusGolpez]

Hey man!, Your videos are awesome, I just bought a Surface pro 7 (just got it yesterday) and your videos have helped me find a LOT more to do with it than I originally thought I would, at first I was just looking for a tablet for some media consumption and some mobility with my documents, I was actually looking into the Lenovo Duet chromebook, but during research I found your vids and they inspired me to get the surface and take advantage of the full Win 10 OS and all it can do (I'm an IT service management professional) which means I take a LOT of notes about each case I handle, and run a side business building and selling PCs so the productivity power of the Surface, as I came to find out thanks to your videos is exactly what I needed. Keep up the good work! and Greetings from Mexico.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

Another great installment! Personally I take notes with the keyboard folded under my Surface Pro, but the kickstand folded out all the way. This gives you a very comfortable angle to write on and to look at the content you are creating. I didn't know about those desktop OneNote connections with Outlook! I hope they come to the Windows Store version soon.

[@christinacastaneda2419]

Thank you so much for your video! So helpful, accessible and easy to understand! Thanks again!

[@leetronix]

I think the more people start using Digital pens the more at ease they will become with them. You are spot on about the flexibility and the way you can enhance your notes, plus you and easily edit them and add or subtract to you’re already created note(s), something you cannot really or easily do with traditional pen and paper. For me it’s about convenience, filing system/storage accessibility and the power of digital technology and not having to have a pencil sharpener with me all the time or tipex 😆

[@gyozakeynsianism]

Same for me. I also hate the idea of having to consciously charge your pen. I prefer having a battery that lasts basically a year! You have to think about the battery once a year, basically. The solution where there is no replaceable battery, but the pen automatically charges where it stows works for me too.

[@muhammadb.al-assady]

I was taking notes digitally since 2015 when I join college and till now. Firstly I was using onenote and it was brilliant but after that I find another way since all of our lectures are either a PowerPoint presentations or PDFs I start writing notes on the same lecture file especially the PowerPoint presentations it has a lot of free space to write on and after the lecture I can either print the lecture file or read it digitally and I will get my notes on the lecture file near to the title that the notes returns to

[@gyozakeynsianism]

When I was still taking classes, I found it useful to "print" the PDFs into OneNote and takes notes that way. This assumes the lecture notes are available before class of course. One reason this is a good way to do things is that in OneNote I can takes notes and record the audio at the same time, and the audio is associated with the notes I took at that particular moment.

[@begejekan1244]

rather than printing the pdf to onenote i find using drawboard to annotate more comfortable and easy to read again

[@kashifrezasundrani6045]

Fantastic session on digital note taking.

[@nguyendang3463]

Thank you so much for this tip I will be tying out the class note taking on my surface go tablet this year instead of paper. I am trying to cut cost on buying paper every year for school as a student money is very limited so I have to do everything on the computer. I just got m a cheap pen on amazon for 10 dollars and hope this will enable me to start taking notes on my tablet in 2022.

[@mocha2168]

Always great videos and I continue to learn outstanding tips. One issue I can’t seem to resolve and hoping someone can help. During video conferencing I will write notes in my OneNote application on my personal Surface. Then when the meeting is over I paste the notes into the OneNote web version so I can reference them on my office laptop. The issue is that the copied text is shifted and sometimes distorted when I open the notes on my office laptop which also has the full version of OneNote. Is there a known issue with trying to transfer inked notes through the web version?

[@J21364]

Awesome content

[@LoftBits]

Thanks for the informative video. But what about handwriting recognition / converting to editable text? Can it be done in real time during the lecture? Can it be converted later into a mixture of editable text & doodles DOC or PDF? Can it be saved as both handwriting and recongised text?

[@Tuariq1]

Nice B-Roll!! And in general great video

[@oztabletpc]

Glad you enjoyed it 😁😁

[@mickaelmtp2397]

Great video as always. I'm currently studying anatomy to become a personal trainer and the surface pen and digital note taking are wonderful mass knowledge weapons. I do like to use Whiteboard more than OneNote though. On WB, using my finger I can touch something I just drew and move it around more easily (no lasso needed) and hand-drawn shapes are smoothened more naturally too (unlike OneNote) but there is no cloud services with WB so it's a major drawback. I'll use both until OneNote is a bit more whiteboardesque.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

I appreciate how Whiteboard offers this alternate inking experience with the emphasis on collaboration. I personally use OneNote but the inking features of Whiteboard are pretty awesome.

[@oztabletpc]

Take a look at the Journal app from Microsoft Garage. Some really brilliant inking concepts in there that will likely end up in products like Onenote and Whiteboard.

[@mickaelmtp2397]

@@oztabletpc I'll try that. It looks promising but missing the infinite canvas apparently. I may have other uses for the Journal app , so thank you again. The whole pen-based/friendly app ecosystem is truly remarkable. Can't wait to see what future has in store for us. Thanks for your help.

[@oztabletpc]

Yes, I don't view journal as a replacement or alternative. It's a proof of concept that will feed into other products.

[@scoogins]

Do I need the surface pen in order to use onenote or can I use any stylus?

[@stephenbrooks1692]

Awsome Man now try working with people like me "Dyslexics with short term memory issues" of course there are many other barriers to taking notes in lectures like sight impairment and of course others. One Note actually sucks man

[@coreymitchell1194]

Hi, I’m buying a surface pen to use with my surface pro. Do you recommend a screen protector, a little like the iPad paperlike? Or use without a screen protector?

[@oztabletpc]

There are Paperlike screen protectors for Surface. They're pretty good. Personally I don't use a screen protector. But it's a personal preference, and I take the risk of scratching it!

[@lilianamfonseca]

I'm a Onenote user for last 3 years. I feel the lack of an option to size the pages because it would help for turning notes to pdf or printing them. Also would like to use a screen protector like Paperlike available for several Surface devices. Writing over glass is not very comfortable

[@oztabletpc]

Review on a nice cheap Paperlike screen protector coming in the next couple of weeks. Make sure to subscribe! 👍😁

[@DavidSmith-mo2qz]

Just tried this and have ended up with a large air bubble down one side of the screen. I have tried pushing it out, but it keeps coming back!

[@shreyamithiya6344]

Hey! Just wanted to know if i can download the onenote desktop app version on a lenovo tablet? I'm so used to that format and the transition to the android version seems very jarring.

[@oztabletpc]

It depends if your lenovo tablet runs Windows or Android. If you have a Windows tablet, then yes.

[@AA-zg5fu]

Any idea when will the next gen of surface pro come out?

[@oztabletpc]

I don't, and even if I did I would not be allowed to say. Surface Pro 7+ just came out and my LTE version arrives next week!

[@EdwardRLyons]

I presume part of the reason the move to digital note taking is not yet mainstream is the type of screen most devices still use. What are your thoughts on digital paper devices? They're not quite there yet, in terms of update performance (and, therefore, applications), but their paper-like feel (feedback through the pen) and the fact that they are illuminated by ambient light rather than backlit promises to be even closer to the traditional pen and paper experience.

[@rossdoehrmann2839]

I struggle with which device to get for note taking as well. Training to be a physician, I mostly take digital notes for mainly the added cognitive benefit component of concept mapping and creating a uniformed place for notes from multiple sources. However, I really encounter a great deal of mental friction based on the tactile feedback of different screen-pen interactions. I like the surface pro feel, but I want as large of a screen as possible (I hate zooming in and out) AND I want the motion on the screen to be seamless w/ no lag which I experience sometimes with the surface pro. As such, I’m currently using the newest generation 12.9 in iPad Pro with a Elecom screen protector to get the “friction feel” of the pen without as much of the lag or stutter I noticed with the surface pro (especially with dragging and resizing images and printouts). However, I would prefer to be in the Windows/Android ecosystem so I may jump back with either the Galaxy Tab S7+, but I wish the form factor was a 3:2 rather than the 16:9. Bottom line for me.....can’t have it all and there will be a trade off either way.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

Personally I don't think the tactile experience of pen and paper is really what makes handwritten notes the way for me. I think it's about the use of space and free-form lines. Digital just adds to that by allowing infinite canvasses, easy erase, lots of colors and non-ink media (like audio recording), and the like. Tablets have also allowed me to almost completely switch from printed paper to digital for reading. I find setting the PDF or book reader to have a dark background basically eliminates the eyestrain problems people often have with prolonged LCD monitor use. Personally, e-ink devices have not been for me. The refresh rates and pen experiences are too slow, and they tend to be expensive for what they do. I'd rather just have a mobile OS tablet.

[@efficaciousuave]

hey...i currently use an hp 2 in 1. will get sp7 soon hopefully. i often use the lasso tool, and its always a hassle to first select it from the menu, then do the selction and move, then reselect the pen to continue writing. i cant do this on my hp pen even though it has two buttons. and i dont think the surface pro has any either. what pen did you have there? the 520?

[@fallinginthed33p]

Am I the only one who writes notes in OneNote with the tablet in portrait orientation? I rarely use it in landscape, only when I'm doing a video call.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

If I'm at a table, I prefer landscape, since I can prop the Surface Pro device at a nice shallow angle using the kickstand. When there's no table, or I just feel like sitting back, I sometimes just hold the Surface like any tablet and take notes in either portrait or landscape.

[@fallinginthed33p]

@@gyozakeynsianism In portrait, I usually put something under the top half to keep the tablet at a slight angle. It's not so easy using a large flat glass slab unless it's tilted.

[@KevOXO]

I tend to use landscape when walking around some location where I need to take notes. The surface back support out over my arm and screen in front, supporting the side with my hand, like a towel draped over my arm. From that position I just scribble away and even add the odd sketch.

[@fallinginthed33p]

@@KevOXO Brave. I have a rugged case on it with a hand strap if I intend to use it outdoors while walking around.

[@shaunmacdonald7651]

Hi when I use my stylus pen on one note and rest my palm on the screen and the screen goes crazy Any advice?

[@oztabletpc]

Left or right handed? What device do you have?

[@jasonferguson4882]

Has anyone tried the new Journal app from Microsoft Garage projects?

[@oztabletpc]

Sure have. It's cool. Just finished writing a script for our video on it...

[@jasonferguson4882]

@@oztabletpc Awesome, look forward to your impressions of it.

[@alex.2trappy427]

4:20, after zooming in and out, one note seems to move the viewing position down the page unexpectedly. Do you have any solution to this as it is something that has been bugging me whilst using one note. Great video otherwise!

[@oztabletpc]

Not sure exaclty of the issue you're describing. Perhaps is has something to do with what content is selected on that page?

[@alex.2trappy427]

@@oztabletpc Thanks for the very quick reply (On a 2 year old video haha) Ill look into it.

[@kchoudri]

I find Pencil to be the best ever.

[@jogon1255]

Great videos for the most part. But it’s a lot of ‘what’ it can do, not really ‘how’ it’s done.

[@QualityBuiltUSA]

Bluey's dad!

[@oztabletpc]

Lol. 😁

[@abdurrafaywali4756]

I can tell from your accent you are from Taxes

[@oztabletpc]

Haha 🤣