Notes Plus Review - iPad Handwriting Apps

An inkblog Bluetooth pressure sensitive capacitive touch stylus written response to a comment!

 

Yesterday October 17, 2013 was a pretty big day here in America — our lackluster government has resumed spending ten billion dollars per day and the default crisis has been averted postponed until mid-January.

But I also got a comment on my blog entry iPad mini note taking problems. I decided to write a reply in atypical, inkblogging fashion. Here's the comment by Jeremy.

What did you think of the Notes Plus IOS App? I've used quite a few low and high end stylus' with the app and have not been disappointed with the results. www.notesplusapp.com

Here's my handwritten 'ink' reply, with text transcript.

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! This is written in Notes Plus on my iPad3 (retina) w/ Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus. I've had the app for quite awhile, but never spent much time with it until recently. I really like the recent app enhancements and the close-up writing mode — its method for adjusting the writing box is probably the best I've used. [Note: referencing the app itself] I wish that it was either raster-based, or had cleaner line creation, more adjustability, more color options (or better colors), and finally, Bluetooth capacitive touch stylus support (for line thickness — pressure sensitivity). Jeremy, you've inspired me to work on a full Notes Plus review. Question: which stylus is your favorite, or what type of styli do you like, the soft tip, disc shaped [tip], Bluetooth, etc? Last, what iPad version are you using, and are you using iOS7? I prefer iOS6. I think that iOS7 slowed down my iPad mini substantially. I hope that you have a great weekend and I look forward to hearing from you!

It's difficult to simultaneously compose beautiful sentences and fiddle with legible handwriting, spacing and color, but it was an interesting exercise. I think that my quasi-cursive writing style looks pretty good; quality that I think would be impossible in either Penultimate or Bamboo Paper and probably many of the handwritten notes apps, with the exception of Noteshelf and Remarks.

The image at the top of this post was edited (just for fun) using Repix and Distressed FX — both apps downloaded free. I'm not very familiar with either yet, so I decided to combine the effects of each to gauge the results. Distressed FX is particularly cool; I think I'm going to use it more, likely in combination and conjunction with other apps such as Tangent and Over, for photos and designs.

If you're looking for a great app to use with a capacitive touch stylus and don't mind a vector-based app, check out Notes Plus. It has a great deal of features and a lot of options, but remains usable and straightforward.

Posted with Blogsy

3 Best iPad Notes Apps

I forgot that I wrote this last month for Halloween. I guess the colors are appropriate for Thanksgiving, too. Anyway, the information is still valid.

The three best note taking apps for iPad

1. Noteshelf – Ramki
2. Remarks - Write notes and Annotate PDFs – Readdle
3. Infinite Sketchpad – AllTom

Noteshelf and Remarks are similar, but there are notable differences. Remarks uses some kind of vector line technology for its ink, while Noteshelf is raster. Both can export and notes in multiple formats (image and PDF) and both can backup to Evernote and Dropbox, albeit in different ways. Both Noteshelf and Remarks have a selection of paper types (grid, lined, dot grid, blank, etc) and zoom. Many users will likely choose one over the other, but there are distinct uses for both.

• Noteshelf can send individual pages and export them, and has pressure sensitivity support — Adonit Jot Touch, HEX3 Jaja and Pogo Connect. Noteshelf has extensive color and line shape options (pencil, pen and calligraphy lines) as well as highlighter colors.
• Remarks can automatically backup pages in a specific Dropbox notebook, a very handy feature. Documents can also be saved as annotated or flattened PDFs and opened in a myriad of other iOS apps, including Evernote, iBooks, Kindle reader, GoodReader and other backup services such as SkyDrive and Box.

If you're mostly drawing, sketching, and note taking by hand, pick Noteshelf. If you work with PDFs and want to insert images and audio recordings, choose Remarks.

Saving (perhaps) the best for last...

Infinite Sketchpad is a creative's dream canvas. This unique app is a must-have for sketchers, doodlers and planners; as its name implies, with Infinite Sketchpad, you can draw and write on a near infinite workspace with single-color vector pen tools. Incredibly simple, straightforward and intuitive, the incredible zoom levels, undo/redo, and lightning fast UI make Infinite Sketchpad the ultimate blank sheet for ideas. Files can be sent as images or published on the web as a scalable format that allows viewers to zoom in and out, exploring the document they would from the iPad itself.

If you do any kind of work on the iPad, consider these apps if you haven't already. These three are amongst the best notes and planning software for any platform, and should work wonderfully on the new iPad mini. Let me know if you have a different favorite note-taking tool!

Brad Chin uses Blogsy