Handwritten Note Editor
Draw diagrams, sketch concepts, and write naturally using the digital canvas
The handwritten note editor gives you a digital canvas for drawing, sketching, and writing by hand. Whether you're creating diagrams, visualizing concepts, or simply prefer writing to typing, this tool brings the benefits of handwriting to your digital study notes.
Why Handwritten Notes?
Research consistently shows that handwriting (compared to typing) improves learning:
Better Retention
The motor activity of writing by hand activates more areas of your brain, leading to stronger memory formation.
Visual Learning
Drawing diagrams, mind maps, and sketches creates visual memory cues that make recall easier.
Flexible Expression
Handwriting lets you easily combine text, drawings, arrows, and symbols in ways that typed notes can't match.
Natural Feel
For many learners, handwriting feels more natural and engaging than typing, leading to deeper focus.
Creating a Handwritten Note
To create a new handwritten note:
Open your study note and navigate to the Reading tab.
Long-press on the text you want to annotate. Notesmakr shows its own pop-up menu.
In the pop-up menu, pick a colour, then tap Write under the NOTE caption. The drawing canvas opens, with your selected passage shown in a HIGHLIGHT card above it.
Use your finger or a stylus such as Apple Pencil to write or draw your annotation.
Choose a pen, pick a colour, adjust the thickness, or erase as needed (see tools below).
Tap Save in the top right when you are finished. The editor closes, and the passage you selected is marked with a double underline. Notes are not shown inline in the text: tap the marked passage to open its note, or on an iPad in landscape, find it in the Annotations panel (see Annotations in the Reading Tab). An empty page can't be saved: Notesmakr asks you to draw something first.
The Drawing Canvas
The handwritten note editor provides:
Drawing Area
New pages are a fixed portrait sheet, taller than it is wide (a 5:7 shape). On an iPad in landscape it appears as a tall sheet in the middle of the screen. Pinch with two fingers to zoom and pan; a percentage chip appears while you are zoomed, and tapping it resets the view.
Touch/Stylus Support
Works with:
- Finger — Basic drawing on any device, with a constant line width
- Stylus — Pressure-sensitive drawing with the fountain pen and pencil, for more natural strokes
- Apple Pencil — Works as a stylus on iPad
Palm rejection: Once Notesmakr detects a stylus, finger touches stop drawing, so you can rest your hand on the screen. Two fingers still pinch to zoom.
Multi-Page Support
Create multiple pages within a single handwritten note to organize complex concepts or longer explanations. On an iPad in landscape, a page rail on the left lists your pages and has a + button to add one. On a phone or in portrait, a strip under the canvas has previous and next buttons, "Page 1 of 2" style counter, and an Add page button. The Delete page button in the toolbar removes the current page after you confirm (you can't delete the only page).
Manual Save
There is no autosave. When you're done drawing, tap the Save pill to preserve your work. An amber UNSAVED pill shows once you've changed something, and if you try to leave with changes, Notesmakr asks whether to save them first.
Drawing Tools
The toolbar sits next to the title field. From left to right it holds the Pen, Highlighter, and Eraser, then Color, Size, and Background, then Undo and Redo, and finally Delete page.
Pen Tools
Tap the Pen key to choose from three pen types:
Fountain Pen:
- Pressure-sensitive with a stylus, for varied line thickness
- Smooth, flowing strokes
- Best for expressive writing
Ballpoint Pen:
- Consistent line thickness
- Clean, uniform strokes
- Best for precise diagrams
Pencil:
- Pressure-sensitive with a stylus
- Natural sketching feel
- Best for rough drafts and sketches
Settings for all pens:
- Color — Choose from a palette of ten colours
- Size — Tap + or - to make the line thicker or thinner. The pen goes from 1 to 25 (the pencil from 1 to 15) and starts at 5
Highlighter Tool
A semi-transparent marker perfect for emphasizing areas without obscuring them. It has its own five colours (Yellow, Orange, Pink, Cyan, and Green) and its own size, and it remembers them separately from your pen.
Best for:
- Highlighting key terms
- Marking important areas
- Creating backgrounds or regions
Eraser Tool
Remove strokes you don't want. Drag the eraser across them, and every stroke it touches is removed completely when you lift. A ring shows the eraser's size, which you can change with Size.
Undo and Redo
Made a mistake? Undo and Redo step back and forward through your changes on the current page.
Color Palette
Tap Color to choose from the pen's ten colours:
- Black — Default for text and outlines
- Slate — A soft dark blue-grey
- Red, Orange, Amber — Important terms, warnings, attention
- Green, Teal — Examples, growth
- Blue, Violet — Processes, flows, categories
- Pink — Highlights and labels
The palette is fixed: there is no colour wheel and you can't add your own colours.
What to Draw in Handwritten Notes
Diagrams
Visual representations of concepts, systems, or processes.
Examples:
- Biology: Cell diagrams, body systems, food webs
- Chemistry: Molecular structures, reaction pathways
- Physics: Force diagrams, circuit diagrams
- History: Timelines, cause-and-effect chains
- Literature: Plot structures, character relationships
Mind Maps
Branching visual summaries that show relationships between ideas.
Structure:
- Main concept in the center
- Major branches for key topics
- Smaller branches for details
- Use colors to differentiate themes
Flow Charts
Step-by-step processes or decision trees.
Best for:
- Algorithms
- Scientific processes
- Historical sequences of events
- Problem-solving steps
Annotated Sketches
Quick drawings with labels and notes.
Examples:
- Sketch a heart and label the chambers
- Draw a plant and mark where photosynthesis occurs
- Illustrate a math problem with visual representations
Mathematical Equations
Write complex equations, formulas, and calculations.
Benefits over typing:
- Easier to write fractions, exponents, and symbols
- More natural to show work step-by-step
- Graphs and visual representations sit right next to your working
Visual Mnemonics
Draw memory aids and creative associations.
Examples:
- Draw pictures that represent concepts
- Create visual acronyms
- Sketch silly scenes that help you remember facts
Concept Sketches
Rough visualizations of abstract ideas.
Use for:
- Making abstract concepts concrete
- Testing your understanding by drawing it
- Creating visual anchors for memory
Background Templates
Tap the Background key in the toolbar to open a picker with nine patterns to help structure your page:
- None — Clean page for freeform drawing
- Lined — Horizontal lines for neat writing (the default for new pages)
- College (Left) — Lines with a margin on the left
- College (Right) — Lines with a margin on the right
- Grid — Horizontal and vertical grid for graphs and technical diagrams
- Dots — Dot grid for flexible layouts and bullet journaling
- Music Staff — 5-line staff for musical notation
- Tablature — 6-line tab for guitar/bass notation
- Cornell — Cornell note-taking format with a header, a cue column, and a summary area
The picker is a grid of tiles in a pop-up. Below the tiles, Pattern Color lets you choose the colour of the lines or dots from nine swatches. This changes the pattern, not the page itself, and the paper colour stays the same. The pattern and its colour apply to the page you are on.
Editing Existing Handwritten Notes
To edit a handwritten note:
Tap the marked passage in the Reading tab and tap the note in the sheet. On an iPad in landscape, you can instead tap its card in the Annotations panel.
The canvas opens straight away with your drawing loaded. Add more drawings, erase mistakes, adjust colors, or refine your work.
Tap Save to update the note. If a drawing can't be loaded, Notesmakr tells you and turns Save off so your saved drawing stays safe.
Tips for Effective Handwritten Notes
Use Arrows and Connectors
Show relationships, flows, and sequences with arrows you draw yourself.
Add Annotations
Label everything clearly so you can understand your diagram later.
Use Space Strategically
Don't cram everything together. White space makes diagrams clearer.
Mix Text and Images
Combine written explanations with visual elements for multi-modal learning.
Start Rough, Refine Later
Your first sketch can be messy—that's part of thinking! You can always redraw it neatly afterward.
Review and Update
Come back to diagrams as your understanding deepens and add new details or corrections.
Next Steps
Want to add typed explanations? Use the Typed Note Editor. Prefer explaining out loud? Try the Voice Note Recorder for audio annotations.