GoodNotes features for top planning

Knowing the features of GoodNotes is essential for productive and enjoyable planning. These basic features will give you a better understanding of the GoodNotes 5 application so you can customise all your documents.

You can use GoodNotes 5 features with the application’s notes pages or download templates for diaries, notebooks and other PDF documents. The GoodNotes 5 application allows you to import PDF files for your note taking. You can import text files from your courses or training, digital notebooks and digital planners.

You will find several planning and productivity products in the PiiMedia Planner shop. PiiMedia Planner offers notebooks, diaries, planners, journals in digital format perfect for use with GoodNotes.

By the way, all the images in this article show the use of GoodNotes using products from the PiiMedia Planner shop.

How to use the features of GoodNotes

Digital stationery products such as notebooks, notepads and diaries are often interactive. That is, these documents have hyperlinks. Hyperlinks help you to quickly access certain pages in your document.

Once your file is open in the application, it can be used in two distinct modes: read-only and edit.

It is in the edit mode that you can annotate and customise your digital planner. In GoodNotes 5, once this mode is selected in the second icon in the upper right corner, a menu bar appears. This is where the main GoodNotes 5 features for note taking are found.

Here are the 12 GoodNotes features that will help you make better use of your planning documents:

1. Pen

This is the main feature of GoodNotes, and the writing feel is one of the best reasons to use this application.

To use the pen, select the second icon in the menu bar. If you press the icon again, a settings menu for the function will appear.

In this menu you can choose from 3 types of pens: fountain pen, biros and brush pen.

Fountain pen: is pressure sensitive, you will have a variation in thickness.
Biros: no variation in thickness with pressure. This is my favorite for everyday notes.

Brush pen: is pressure sensitive and suitable for more artistic lines, ideal for calligraphy exercises.

In the pen menu you will also find the draw and hold option which allows you to get perfect shapes by drawing and holding the pen at the end of the drawing. Experiment with making straight lines, rectangles and circles.

In the advanced options, the fill colour adds a transparent colour inside the shape you have just created.

In the right hand corner of the menu bar you have the line thickness options. You can select your 3 favorite thicknesses for quick access.

2. Shape tool

The shape tool works like the “draw and hold” function but it is rather automatic for everything you draw, creating perfect lines and shapes by default. You can decide this in the settings, as well as activate the “fill colour” function.

Tip: Press on the shape to see the blue dots which allow you to edit the dimensions of the shape.

3. Highlighter

To use the highlighter function, click on the 4th icon in the menu bar. Just like the pen you can choose the colour and thickness of the brush. As well as leaving your 3 favourite options at hand in the menu. Then highlight the text or drawing in your diary or notebook.

Double click on the highlighter function to see the settings menu, here you have the option to draw in a straight line. At the end of your line, hold the pressure and the line becomes perfectly straight.

4. Eraser

To access the eraser function, press the eraser icon. You can choose the size that is most appropriate for what you want to erase. The eraser tool only works with items you have written or drawn with the pen, shapes or highlighter.

Tips: With the Apple Pencil 2nd generation you can double tap the stylus to switch between writing and erasing.

In the Eraser settings menu you can choose “auto deselect”, to automatically switch to the pen or highlighter once you stop erasing. You also have the option to erase only the highlighting without erasing the handwritten text underneath.

5. Undo option

The undo option is one of the easiest and most convenient to use. One of the reasons I hear most often from people who have switched to digital planning is the fact that they don’t make scratches and always have a clean agenda. While there are other features that can help you keep your planner organized, it’s the “undo” tool that makes it quick when you’re making your notes.

TO USE THIS FEATURE:
Find the inverted arrow (top right corner)
Press it (as many times as necessary)
To redo something, press the forward arrow to the right of it.
And you’re done!

6. Lasso tool

This is my favourite feature in GoodNotes, you have so many possibilities with this tool!

You can use this function on all the items you have added to your diary or digital notebook. To use this feature, just circle your writing, images, text so you can move them around or use the secondary menu for other options.

HOW TO DO IT :

• Select the lasso icon (dotted circle) ;
• Circle the items you want to change;
• You can move them.
• If you want to specify the items to be changed/moved, you can choose them rom the settings menu by clicking a second time on the function in the top menu.
• Click a second time on the selection to see a secondary menu in black. This menu allows you to copy, cut, change the colour, etc.
• To paste the items you have copied, use your finger and hold it down until the black menu appears and then click “paste”.

7. Converting handwritten text

Sometimes you may take handwritten notes and then need to email them to a colleague, for example. Of course you can export your handwritten notes as they are, but an even better option is to convert them into text.

To do this, you simply need to select the notes to be converted using the lasso tool (see previous point). Then bring up the black menu by clicking on the selection and choose the convert option.

8. Input tool (text)

The input tool is there for you, if you prefer to type your text on the keyboard. For example, when you want to use your diary on your computer or mobile phone. Or if you don’t have a stylus. Or for those who say their handwriting is not beautiful.

TO USE THE TEXT FUNCTION :

• Select the text icon;
• Press the place you want to write Write using the keyboard;
• You can write directly on iPad (with a virtual keyboard) or a Bluetooth keyboard.

Another magical option is writing with the “scribble” function, you write in a handwritten way with your stylus and the writing is converted into text.

9. Add images

I really like this function! I find it really nice to personalise my notes and diaries with pictures of my routine and activities. It’s a great way to keep memories and decorate my notes.

IT’S PRETTY SIMPLE. TO ADD PICTURES :

• Select the image icon
• Choose the image you want to use
• Once the image appears, you can resize, crop or rotate as you wish.
• To crop, use rectangle or hands-free mode.

10. Add new pages

Ah, this feature is the real magic of digital note taking! Add pages over and over again.

Simply go to a page in your diary, click on the little + in the top right corner.
The “add page” settings menu appears.
Press “before, after or last page” to choose the location of the new page.
Choose the current template to duplicate the current page.

11. Using hyperlinks

If you use any of the products in the PiiMedia Planner shop, you will probably have hyperlinks. Hyperlinks provide quick access to key pages in your document, they are created on a file basis and cannot change even when you add new pages.

All of the above GoodNotes features (1 to 10) are located in edit mode. However, to use the document’s hyperlinks, you need to be primarily in read-only mode. To activate this mode (or switch between modes), you need to click on the icon in the top right-hand corner (the second icon).

Once you are there, the edit bar disappears and you can move around by clicking on the hyperlinks.

Another way to do this, which I find particularly inconvenient, is to long-press a link while in edit mode and then press the “open link” button. This is an option, but not as fast.

12. Moving pages

GoodNotes 5 has another view that is very useful for moving pages and creating favourites, it is an overview of your digital agenda. To access this view, press the icon with 4 small squares in the upper left corner. A window with all your pages in thumbnails appears.

When you press the small arrow at the bottom of each page, you will find a menu with several options. Select what you want to do. You can also move the pages by dragging with your finger.

GoodNotes features and folder management

All these features of GoodNotes make it very easy to take notes every day, whether for your diary or for your studies. In GoodNotes, you group all your documents and you can organise them into various folders and favourites.

In the GoodNotes application, you can group several documents together. You can organise everything in various folders, as well as in favourites for quick access.

You can find templates for digital planners, notebooks and journals for use with the GoodNotes application in our shop.

The application also offers the possibility to share a document with other users to take notes together in the same file.

You can duplicate the digital files as many times as you like. This is what makes digital planning even more attractive!

This is especially interesting when you buy undated digital diaries, as you can use them year after year. You can also duplicate and reuse any notebook, notepad or diary. I recommend keeping a file with a library of original copies and coming back to them whenever you need them.

I hope this article helps you get the most out of your digital diary and note taking. GoodNotes is an app that is quite complete with which you can be quite creative and definitely have a top planning!