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Getting Started With Notability For IPad

If you have been back in school and are still searching for the right note-taking app for your iPad, Notability brings a lot to the table, or desk in a lecture hall, as it were. This 99-cent app combines note-taking via keyboard of apps such as Drafts and Outline+ with the inking capability of a sketch app such as Paper. If your note-taking needs require both methods, I think you'll find a lot to like about Notability.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

When you first launch the app, it opens to a document titled "Welcome to Notability." It's an interactive guide that shows how to navigate the app. In summary, a menu bar runs along the top of the screen. At its center are five tools buttons, which let you choose to type, write, highlight, erase, or select a section to cut, copy, delete, or restyle. To the immediate left of these tools buttons are undo and redo buttons. There is also a microphone button that lets you record voice memos to attach to a document.

You can customize the look of a note by tapping on either the pencil or highlighter tool button to choose the size of the point and color. Tap the paper-icon button to the right of the tool buttons in the menu bar to select a paper type -- color choices along with it being blank, lined, or grid-lined.

Notability uses the standard iPad keyboard, but places a row of its own buttons along the top. The most helpful of theses buttons are the two in the middle. One lets you create numbered or bulleted lists, and the other lets you change the style, size, and color of your font.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Three buttons sit at the bottom of the screen. The "+" button in the lower-left corner lets you add a photo, an image of a Web page, or text boxes of typed or written text. These text boxes are handy because you can resize and reposition them on a note. Two buttons reside in the lower-right corner. One lets you zoom in on an area of your note for finer control, and the other offers you a virtual and resizable palm rest should your palm interfere with your inking.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Tap the library button in the upper-left corner of the screen to return to Notability's home screen. Here, you can organize your notes. On the left pane are your categories and subjects, and on the wide right pane are your notes. (In Notability's organizational scheme, categories contain subjects, and subjects contain notes.) Each subject has an icon to the left and a color tab to the right. You can change the icon and color by tapping the edit button in the upper-left corner and then tapping the gear icon at the top of the right pane for a subject. You can also password-protect a note using this method.

When in this library view, you can tap the button in the upper-right corner to create a new, unfiled note. You can tap and hold to drag a note to a new subject. You can also create a new note within a subject by tapping the "Create New Note" link below the existing notes in a subject.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

You can also move documents into and out of Notability. When in library view, the share button on the left lets you e-mail or print a note or send it to Dropbox, Box, iDisk, WebDAV, or iTunes. Moving in the other direction, the import button on the right lets you import PDFs from Dropbox, Box, iDisk, and WebDAV.

Lastly, you can access settings when you're in Notability's library view. Tap the gear icon in the lower-right corner to access the settings, the most notable of which is Auto Sync. It lets you sync your notes with the same four cloud services that are listed as import options. This lets you keep backups of your notes that you can access from any Internet-connected computer. Synced notes can be saved as RTFs, PDFs, or .Note files.

Do you have a favorite note-taking app for the iPad? If so, please share in the comments below.

Download This App Right Now: Notability For IPhone And IPad Is Now Free

Note-taking apps for Apple's iPhone and iPad are a dime a dozen but every once in a while, a truly noteworthy notes app emerges. Evernote is one example of an app that takes a relatively boring category and gives it a unique and meaningful twist. Another perfect example is Notability.

First released all the way back in 2011, Ginger Labs' Notability app has undergone some huge changes over the years. In its current iteration though, it is easily one of the most nifty and useful note-taking apps we have come across for the iOS platform.

From the app's description:

Welcome to Notability, a powerful note-taker on iPad and iPhone: sketch ideas, annotate documents, sign contracts, complete worksheets, keep a journal, record a lecture, jot travel notes, or teach a class. With iCloud support, your notes always travel with you!

Write, illustrate and annotate using gorgeous ink. Notability's zoom window helps you quickly and clearly draw every detail, while the palm rest protects your notes from unwanted marks. Choose the right pen and paper for any project.

Import forms, contracts, worksheets, documents, presentations, and even books; then use the same tools that help you take beautiful notes in Notability to mark up PDFs. Do you have files in other formats such as doc or ppt? Notability can import these too thanks to Google Drive.

Type an essay, create an outline, fill out an application, or make a list with Notability's advanced word processor. Choose a font, style, color, and size that enhances your work. Even place text exactly where you want using text boxes.

At $2.99, Notability is worth every penny. For a limited time, however — perhaps to celebrate being selected by Apple as the App Store's "app of the week" — Notability is completely free in the iOS App Store.

A direct link to Notability's download page can be found in the source section below.

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Notability For IPad Adds New 'Pencil' Feature For A 'lifelike Handwriting Experience'

Notability, the popular note-taking app for iPhone and iPad, has been updated today with a new "Pencil" feature. According to the company, this feature brings "the most paper-like sketching experience to digital notetakers," including support for the Apple Pencil as well.

This marks the first time that Notability has offered a tool that "enables users to style their ink strokes, add texture, and change colors after writing without any pixelation." Here's how it works: Notability's Pencil is perfect for note-taking, idea sketching and illustrating. Complete with pressure and tilt sensitivity when paired with Apple Pencil, the tool provides the most lifelike handwriting experience resembling digital graphite. For the first time, users can add dimension and shading to their notes in Notability. The Pencil tool enables custom colors, and because of the vector-based technology, users can even style and change the color of Pencil ink strokes at any point during the sketch creation. Ginger Labs, the company behind Notability, says that this feature is built upon "vector-based technology." This is what allows users to adjust and resize the Pencil strokes with "no quality loss" after the fact. "Because of this, users can also style and change the color of Pencil ink strokes at any point during or after sketching," the company says. Change style and colors: The color, thickness, and style of anything you write with pencil can be changed after you write it! Pressure sensitivity: To create a lifelike pencil experience, the opacity of the Notability Pencil changes based on the amount of pressure you use. Tilt-activated shading: Like a real pencil, the thickness of your line changes based on the angle of your stylus. Notability is available on the App Store as a free download and requires a subscription to access full functionality. The subscription is priced at $2.99 per month or $12.99 per year. Follow Chance: Twitter, Instagram, and Mastodon FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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