Database Info

PDF on PDA: a pain in the...?

After trying all sorts of pdf readers, I come close to the conclusion that reading pdf documents on a PDA is not practical at all and even irrealistic.
Due mainly to the fact that one cannot view an entire page with a readable font size without having to scroll sideways.
I end up converting pdf to lit.
Please, give opinion and eventually solutions.
Thanks all, and take care

Come on folks, just a few words about your experience with pdf...

donno i read a book as pdf once
on my pda
only had to scroll down not sideways
depend on the doc in question really i suppose
pref lit though because of bookmarks and cleartype
and not being as much a res hog as acrobat reader which i used at the time

VGA a requirement
I use an older version of Adobe reader on a VGA screen. My eyes are still good enough that I can zoom out, get a full page on the screen, and still read it. I have read an entire book this way. I am sure there are better ways to do it on a PDA. But my goal is to be able to grab a document off of the web and read it as I travel. If there is going to be conversion between formats, it would have to take place on the PDA.
That being said, it is still easier to read a word or text document than a PDF. But if you have the screen resolution and size to work with, PDF's are not impossible.

Thanks folks, that was my impression.

Answers
There are ways to improve PDF experiance. Using reflow when creating PDFs (available as an option when saving PDFs from OpenOffice, for example) greatly improves things.
Anothr good option is Repligo - you can print / convert PDFs to that format. It uses less space, documents open faster and look better (less jagged fonts).

Believe me, PDFs are annoying even in actual, desktop environments. >_>
That said, I'm using Foxit for the PPC. It loads 15MB++ files faster than Adobe, follows the original PDF format faithfully (doesn't try to rearrange like idiotic Clearvue), yet it is a standalone program that requires no installation.
That said, PDF reading is only for devices with a big screen. Definitely bigger than a Mini, let alone an Atom. Otherwise, at a big enough text to be legible, scrolling to the side is necessary - and that tends to lag a bit with bigger PDFs for devices with only 64MB of RAM or less.

I have train skeds and the Tokyo Metro Map plus a crap load more pdf files
that I use on my X01HT and yes you do have to scroll both ways but I mean
have you seen the detail of the Tokyo Metro Map?!?
It works for me. I actually like it.
Plus I get 'really cool' nods from Japanese when they see me looking
through the Tokyo Metro map on my X01HT because most of them
use the low tech pocket paper fold out.
Yes, I am a gaijin otaku and proud of it!!!

imexp then big pictures makes pdf useless on pda's as they can move the text to scale but in there is a picture in the middle they cant really handle scaling the picture down to match the width of the pda screen

I think converting to repligo is the most elegant solution since images are conserved...but it is not free
Otherwise, if pics are not important, converting to text then to lit and using microsoft reader is an acceptable free solution.
To "AquiEsta!": why don't you use the excellent "metro" freeware?

You can use the free xpdf (pocketpdf). It at least has better zoom functions then adobe and it has the option to read pdf as text files with associated functions. You lose pictures but pure textfiles are a breaze to read...

elio said:
I think converting to repligo is the most elegant solution since images are conserved...but it is not free
Otherwise, if pics are not important, converting to text then to lit and using microsoft reader is an acceptable free solution.
To "AquiEsta!": why don't you use the excellent "metro" freeware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know such a thing existed. Where would I find that? In English
would be great too!
Thanks

AquiEsta! said:
I didn't know such a thing existed. Where would I find that? In English
would be great too!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://nanika.net/Metro/
You will love it

elio said:
http://nanika.net/Metro/
You will love it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"more than 350 cities covered now"... I'm already in love with it because
I travel a lot and this hopefully will save me time and advils.
THANK YOU!!!
off I go to set it up...

Adobe Reader for PPC 2 works with my HTC Athena/Advantage VGA screen without legibility problems using its reflow function which wraps the text to your screen - no sideways scrolling needed.
Even if your documents were not prepared specifically for this Active Sync will do the necessary conversion when you transfer the docs from your PC (turn it on in file settings). If you bypass ActiveSync your reflow button gets greyed out.
For documents like maps you can switch to sideways scrolling whenever you want.
My only gripe is that the characters are a little fuzzy, so I'm looking for a fix for this.
UPDATE: fuzzy characters fixed:
Switch resolution to 95 dpi using RealVGA before opening Adobe Reader. Now works as it was meant to. Only downside is the the resolution switch involves a reset.

For reading articles and such offline I use ScrapBook (a Firefox extension) to capture the page/selection and delete ads/sidebars and then 'Save Page as...' and copy the html and corresponding images folder to my SD card. It's a pain but it's the best solution that I could find.

I use Mobipocket Reader to do the conversion and reading, it's free and works well for me www.mobipocket.com

For PDFs Picel Browser, and Foxit Reader for Windows Mobile are pretty good.

I second the picsel reader. http://www.picselpowered.com
Don't let the number of Cons over Pros put you off.
Even with these problems I still use it on a daily basis, and preferred to buy it over using free alternatives like Adobe.
Proof that mobile apps don't have to look like clunky old windows apps.
Pro
Excellent rendering of PDF files
Fine control over zoom, can use a gesture (tap & drag)
Cons
Out of memory errors with just a few other apps running
Remembers last document opened, but not page
No Search
No way of jumping to a page

pdemoore said:
I second the picsel reader. http://www.picselpowered.com
Don't let the number of Cons over Pros put you off.
Even with these problems I still use it on a daily basis, and preferred to buy it over using free alternatives like Adobe.
Proof that mobile apps don't have to look like clunky old windows apps.
Pro
Excellent rendering of PDF files
Fine control over zoom, can use a gesture (tap & drag)
Cons
Out of memory errors with just a few other apps running
Remembers last document opened, but not page
No Search
No way of jumping to a page
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I back this as well, it is bar far, THEE most impressive on a PDA.
It has no rendering lag, making it the fastest PDF reader on WM.
I would only recommend that VGA users view PDFs, QVGA isn't practical.

[Q] One great Android ebook reader app...someone, please??

I would really like to find a great ePub reader app and wondered if anyone here might know of one I haven't found, or have the skills to build one that will beat all the competition by including what I'll explain below.
As an author, I am very conscious of how books will look when read using different eReaders and different reader apps (FBReader, Aldiko, Laputa, etc.). There are two major issues I see so far with how the current stock of apps display the text content, and how they display images inside ebooks. Other than the iPad, I haven't found a single Android app that does both in a way that works for me (and I'm not sure even the iPad does it perfectly yet).
On text/content handling-- it boils down to whether the app actually uses the internal style that the author or publisher designed, meaning, does it read and use the .css stylesheet correctly or does it ignore it for the most part. In my case, the book looks perfect in ADE and Calibre on my laptop, meaning it displays exactly as it should look based on xhtml and the internal stylesheet. It also looks perfect on Aldiko both on my EVO and my rooted Nook color. But other than Aldiko, I have not seen one other app that correctly displays the book based on the styles and formatting stipulated in the .css file. Maybe the developers didn't think it mattered, or didn't know how to do it, but the .css file is part of the ePub standard.
As for image display--the iPad allows a double-tap to pop the picture off the page and view it enlarged (though I don't think you can pinch-to-zoom even then). The other day I was told the the latest version of FBReader for Android now lets you 'long-press' on a picture to optionally see a full-screen version of it in their image viewer (also excellent, though you still can't pinch-to-zoom on that larger image either). No other reader app I've found--even Aldiko--has the tap or press functionality to see a larger version of an embedded picture. So far I've had to do hyperlinks from the text to a larger version, or have thumbnails in the text linked to the larger picture, though still no pinch-to-zoom.
(Fwiw, the zoom function is a capability of the hardware apparently. On my EVO the internal viewer allows that--but the ES Image Viewer does not..so maybe it has to be built into the app. Pictures on an ePub book page are apparently limited by the page size unless you can view them separately, but getting them displayed with a viewer that also allows pinch-to-zoom hasn't been done yet I guess.)
So, not to drag this out any further, does anyone know of an existing reader app, or a new one under development, that has it all? I'd even donate some money if someone here wanted to look into making a reader app that combines the Aldiko stylesheet capability with the FBReader 'long-press' image view capability.
Personally, I have illustrations and pictures that need to be seen full-screen (better yet, zoomed to see the detail) so the image handling issue is a huge deal for me. The text handling using the .css stylesheet is for reading esthetics so that indentation, quotes, text and paragraph alignment and spacing, look good, as they would in a typical book--not all jammed together in the same size with no differentiation from one section to the next.
Any help, information, or ideas, will be appreciated. Thanks.
-JTT

Don't know if it will do it, but I have tried both Laputa and i think it was moon+ reader, they might do what you are looking for

With all due respect, I don't have time to read such a long post however Moon+ is pretty excellent

I'll try not to write as long a post next time since some people don't have time to read before they reply, though if they'd read the initial post they would have realized their response was pointless. But I'll let it slide and just say that Moon+ is very nice (I already have it) and I especially like the way it displays the Table of Contents. Unfortunately, it also ignores the .css file and style specifications, which is what was being explained in the long post...if you'd taken the time to read it.

Pickx said:
With all due respect, I don't have time to read such a long post however Moon+ is pretty excellent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually use Laputa for most of my reading, which is a vote for that app, though I do have Moon+ as well since I've been testing all the reader apps I could find. But neither Laputa or Moon+ seem to use the .css styles when displaying the book content like Aldiko does, and neither allows any functionality to tap or press to enlarge images like FBReader does. So back to square one...but thanks for mentioning them.

This is more of a "non-answer" to your question.
I've read your entire post and I actually like your idea. So my idea is just to send your suggestion to the devs of the ePub reader (I use Moon+). They'll probably answer and give you an idea if they plan to implement the feature or what's holding them back from doing so.

Have you tried to write to Cool Reader's application (which supports epub also) author?

I dont know if when you posted this fbreader would ignore css, but i installed it today and it has CSS settings (txt alignment and font size only) plus the image tap to view

[APPS & Review] Better NOTES on our Note (synced)? These are MY solutions... ;)

Heeey folks!
Due to the fact, that I´m still a bit dissapointed about not being able to find THE perfect note solution for my demands, I want so share the solutions that I use after one week with my sweety-little-big note^^
S-Memo is nice is some ways (and they did a pretty good job when it comes to the Usability Experience), but IMAO it lacks some essential features ( e.g. a good automatic two way synchronization or at least a good & simple folder backup solution (i just found the folder were the manually synced jpegs are stored)).
Not to put too fine a point on it, let´s start
This is what I definitely want to have:
- possibility to skitch/scrabble/paint/draw (...what´s the correct word again?^^)
- possibility to use the keyboard (I rarely need it, but sometimes..)
- possibility to send my note to apps (gmail, gdocs, skype, whatsapp etc)
And VERY important:
- Automatic (not manual!) two way Sync with *any* established cloud-based application (dropbox, googlemail, googledocs, whatever)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These would be some nice addons (not obligatory):
- palm recognition (well, this SHOULD be essential as well, but let´s stay fair...android is still in its infancy when it comes to pen recognition, there is more to come )
- possibility to integrate photos into the picture
- some drawing tools (cut&paste)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------​
Now...here are some apps which I´ve tested, but which are not able to "fullfill my demands" ​
1.) S-Memo: As said above...well done, nice optic...but no automatic two way sync and pretty much lag when it comes to lavish notes/drawings (have a closer look right here)
2.) TabNotes: This pretty much seems nice on the first sight...but the strokes are too thick, there is no backup feature yet and all in all it seems not to be developed for our note (more a tablet thing perhaps?)
Market-LINK
3.) Canvas-Memo: Definitely a very nice looking app with a good surface and nice tools...but NO possibility to backup (or sync ) your notes...and it really cannot handle my DPI settings (240)
Market-LINK
4.) ApMemo Lite: I really like the widget idea...you can place single notes directly on your homescreen...but hey, try it yourself, it´s not exactly what I´m searching for (and...not sync!)
Market-LINK
5.) Picasso, Drawing Pad, Zen Brush, Omni Sketch etc.: Nice drawings, but no alternative solutions for note-taking
Links:
Picasso
Drawing Pad
Zen Brush
Omni Sketch
6.) Autodesk Sketchbook and Sketch&Draw: These are drawing apps as well, but i wanted to seperate them from the others, just because they simply RULE!!!
Sketchbook (if you like sketchbook, go for the pro version...it´s worth it!)
Sketch&Draw
Okay and last but not least:
7.) Evernote: Of course one of the most famous notes apps on the market. Very nice programmed, windows version available, very good databank system...but I really hate the smoothing in skitch! I am barely able to write words without loosing at least one letter through smoothing! That´s really sad because beside this fact, Evernote would be one of the Kings to me! But like that it´s really not a good notes app for the Note @Evernote Devs: Just integrate a "smooth-off" function AND a palm recognition...and you are definitely my personal Notes-Gods
Market-LINK
Okay folks, so this was an overview about some of the apps I tried out...and which did not really make me happy. Come on, this pretty expensive phone calls itself a "note"...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------​
So which apps are tending to fit to my ideas of productive notetaking?
​
1.) NOTE EVERTHING
I´m pretty sure that all of you are aware of "Note Everything" (link). This IMAO really is a great tool for our note! You can make notes with your keyboard, you can write/draw with the pen, you can make voicenotes, you can make photonotes (paid)...and these are only a few of it´s possibilities. Okay it does not look that sexy...but hey, usability kills style here^^
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
But Note Everthing lacks some features as well...there is no palm recognition yet and there is no backup-sync! You can just send your notes to GDocs manually or backup them to your SD.
This is my workaround for Note Everything:
You need:
- A Dropbox account
- A Dropbox sync app like Dropsync (link)
Note Everthing places a folder on your SD Card, which contains every single note you take (JPEGs, textfiles, Soundfiles etc.). I´m autosyncing this folder to my Dropbox via Dropsync...and voila, here we are I´m happy! Dropsync (the paid version) became one of my very main favorite apps in general, can´t live without it anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.) GNotes:
I loved Datos Gtasks...and I love Datos GNotes (link)! GNotes is just pretty perfect like it is...it syncs your notes (written and drawed) with your gmail acc (places a label called "notes" within your labels) very reliable! What I dislike here is the lack of possibility to adjust the thickness of your pen...but I´m sure that dato will try to integrate that feature in near future! And I had some problems with uploading big pictures to my gmail acc...but beside that: Very nice app!
Just try it out...it looks not that sexy as well, but its a new app I think it´s worth a shot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------​
Ehm...okay...and that´s it for now^^ As I said, this was just a "perhaps there is somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody that might be interested in what I think" thread...so if there is some interest in this, I will update the thread as soon as my "research" on this topic goes further...
I´m still so excited about my Note and of course I am happy with it...but I have to admit that one can "feel" that android is still new to this "pen thing". There are more apps like ...
Writepad Stylus (link)
MakeNotes (Link)
Quill (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.write.Quill&feature=also_installed)
Antipaper Notes (link)
...and more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...which of course are really looking damn promising...but which are not running on the note yet due to compatibility reasons (Android Version 3.0+). I hope that our Note will unfold its full potential by the release of ICS.
...and if you like what you´ve just read, feel free to use the "thanks" button...feels so nice when the counter grows^^

Good info, thanks! On top of that I discovered dropsync, really cool app.

I use freenote, have you tried it?

Supernote from Asus transformer is awesome! And it works on other devices like galaxy tab or xoom, but it fc on note, dunno why...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

you can turn-off smoothing in skitch

hey guys, thanks for your feedback!
@VTEChump: No problem man, glad that dropsync found another fan (as I said, can´t live without it anymore, it´s really helpful to me)
@Elusivo: Thank you, I will try it as soon as possible, looks primising!
@Beretta93: The reason should be simple: The app needs Android 3.0 or higher
@ejoya: Wow, I´m ashamed now...why the hell haven´t I seen that before?? Thanks man!

Try DSM. All encompassing!
Not sure of sync method.

"Jotter" is very good! Also with palm recognition.

Any note that allows to write directly on the homescreen widget ?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

tytung2020 said:
Any note that allows to write directly on the homescreen widget ?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try apmemo....
Inviato dal mio GT-N7000 usando Tapatalk

I use Jotter to take quick Notes. A simple program that only reacts to the S-pen, so you don't have to worry about the palm or fingers messing up your notes.
Brgds... /Tubgirl
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Dear brooon,
have you heard about SugarSync?
It is in my opinion better than DropBox, because it gives you more free storage, more options (such as selected folder syncing and including the 'dropbox' way, what they call the 'magic folder') and it has a free mobile app that also does all of this! So you can, for free, sync certain folders on your phone to your SugarSync account. This beats DropBox (and some features of iCloud, such as instant photo syncing).
If you are thinking the whole time: nice, but I need to share files with people who use DropBox.
I suggest the following:
sync your DropBox folder with SugarSync.
All the changes you make in DropBox will be synced to SugerSync as well (and if you so choose will also be available on your phone) and vice versa. You can now share your files with DropBox and SugarSync users and the paid DropBox sync app becomes obsolete (never used it but that's what I suppose).
With SugarSync you can sync any file on your phone, so also the note files various apps make (note that not all files can be opened on the computer).
For interested people I share my SugarSync referral link:
https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?...xemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral

Hey Brooon
Have you tried Jotter yet? What did you think about it? I really like it... it's THE program I always use now when it comes to note taking.
Brgds... /Tubgirl
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

u guys mean this jotter , the one made for the Galaxy Note
it looks intersting.... would love some feedback on it , with pros/cons
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.intulon.android.jotter&feature=search_result ??

Goodm7sn said:
u guys mean this jotter , the one made for the Galaxy Note
it looks intersting.... would love some feedback on it , with pros/cons
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.intulon.android.jotter&feature=search_result ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, we mean that one.
Pro:
-Palm recognition (very handy!)
-Disable back key
-Left hand mode
-Note encryption
-Widget
-Updates, it's still in development phase
-Change background type and colour
-Share option
-Export to pdf
Contra:
-Not very stylish design
-No sync yet
-No text mode, only pen

Goodm7sn said:
u guys mean this jotter , the one made for the Galaxy Note
it looks intersting.... would love some feedback on it , with pros/cons
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.intulon.android.jotter&feature=search_result ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's the one. I like it because it's so simple... just like real pen & paper! That and the fact that it only reacts to the S-pen so you don't have to worry about messing up your Notes with your palm or fingers. FreeNote also have a setting for this but the program is too complicated for my taste. I just need something real simple that can replace pen & paper. Jotter is the closest I've come so far!
Brgds... /Tubgirl
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Handrwiting Note App that has a homescreen Widget
Tubgirl said:
Yes, that's the one. I like it because it's so simple... just like real pen & paper! That and the fact that it only reacts to the S-pen so you don't have to worry about messing up your Notes with your palm or fingers. FreeNote also have a setting for this but the program is too complicated for my taste. I just need something real simple that can replace pen & paper. Jotter is the closest I've come so far!
Brgds... /Tubgirl
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is an old thread, but I've been looking for a simple note app that has a widget. I currently have a Note 2 and Note 10.1 2014 editiion tablet, so I wanted S-Pen capabilities. Also I'm not too worred about sync'ing across my devices, but the widget must be resizeable, so I can see it.
My solution is to combined ApMemo Lite with the Nova launcher. Both are free. ApMemo Lite allows you to write (draw) directly on the page and with the ApMemo Lite Widget it provides you was a standard un-resizeable widget to place on the homescreen.
Nova launcher allows resizeables widgets, so you can take the ApMemo Lite widget and resize it to become truly visable on your homescreen, regardless of the amount of real estate you have to work with. It works for me and its a great combination to use on both your phone and/or table.
Just me 2 cents.....:good:

thanks nice one
brooon said:
Heeey folks!
Due to the fact, that I´m still a bit dissapointed about not being able to find THE perfect note solution for my demands, I want so share the solutions that I use after one week with my sweety-little-big note^^
S-Memo is nice is some ways (and they did a pretty good job when it comes to the Usability Experience), but IMAO it lacks some essential features ( e.g. a good automatic two way synchronization or at least a good & simple folder backup solution (i just found the folder were the manually synced jpegs are stored)).
Not to put too fine a point on it, let´s start
This is what I definitely want to have:
These would be some nice addons (not obligatory):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------​
Now...here are some apps which I´ve tested, but which are not able to "fullfill my demands" ​
1.) S-Memo: As said above...well done, nice optic...but no automatic two way sync and pretty much lag when it comes to lavish notes/drawings (have a closer look right here)
2.) TabNotes: This pretty much seems nice on the first sight...but the strokes are too thick, there is no backup feature yet and all in all it seems not to be developed for our note (more a tablet thing perhaps?)
Market-LINK
3.) Canvas-Memo: Definitely a very nice looking app with a good surface and nice tools...but NO possibility to backup (or sync ) your notes...and it really cannot handle my DPI settings (240)
Market-LINK
4.) ApMemo Lite: I really like the widget idea...you can place single notes directly on your homescreen...but hey, try it yourself, it´s not exactly what I´m searching for (and...not sync!)
Market-LINK
5.) Picasso, Drawing Pad, Zen Brush, Omni Sketch etc.: Nice drawings, but no alternative solutions for note-taking
Links:
Picasso
Drawing Pad
Zen Brush
Omni Sketch
6.) Autodesk Sketchbook and Sketch&Draw: These are drawing apps as well, but i wanted to seperate them from the others, just because they simply RULE!!!
Sketchbook (if you like sketchbook, go for the pro version...it´s worth it!)
Sketch&Draw
Okay and last but not least:
7.) Evernote: Of course one of the most famous notes apps on the market. Very nice programmed, windows version available, very good databank system...but I really hate the smoothing in skitch! I am barely able to write words without loosing at least one letter through smoothing! That´s really sad because beside this fact, Evernote would be one of the Kings to me! But like that it´s really not a good notes app for the Note @Evernote Devs: Just integrate a "smooth-off" function AND a palm recognition...and you are definitely my personal Notes-Gods
Market-LINK
Okay folks, so this was an overview about some of the apps I tried out...and which did not really make me happy. Come on, this pretty expensive phone calls itself a "note"...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------​
So which apps are tending to fit to my ideas of productive notetaking?
​
1.) NOTE EVERTHING
I´m pretty sure that all of you are aware of "Note Everything" (link). This IMAO really is a great tool for our note! You can make notes with your keyboard, you can write/draw with the pen, you can make voicenotes, you can make photonotes (paid)...and these are only a few of it´s possibilities. Okay it does not look that sexy...but hey, usability kills style here^^
But Note Everthing lacks some features as well...there is no palm recognition yet and there is no backup-sync! You can just send your notes to GDocs manually or backup them to your SD.
2.) GNotes:
I loved Datos Gtasks...and I love Datos GNotes (link)! GNotes is just pretty perfect like it is...it syncs your notes (written and drawed) with your gmail acc (places a label called "notes" within your labels) very reliable! What I dislike here is the lack of possibility to adjust the thickness of your pen...but I´m sure that dato will try to integrate that feature in near future! And I had some problems with uploading big pictures to my gmail acc...but beside that: Very nice app!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------​
Ehm...okay...and that´s it for now^^ As I said, this was just a "perhaps there is somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody that might be interested in what I think" thread...so if there is some interest in this, I will update the thread as soon as my "research" on this topic goes further...
I´m still so excited about my Note and of course I am happy with it...but I have to admit that one can "feel" that android is still new to this "pen thing". There are more apps like ...
...which of course are really looking damn promising...but which are not running on the note yet due to compatibility reasons (Android Version 3.0+). I hope that our Note will unfold its full potential by the release of ICS.
...and if you like what you´ve just read, feel free to use the "thanks" button...feels so nice when the counter grows^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[App] Write - a word processor for handwriting (freeware)

Write is a word processor for handwriting, available for Android 3.0 and later and Windows tablet PCs. Write provides a unique set of tools which ease the editing of handwritten text by grouping strokes into lines, much like typed text in a word processor.
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.styluslabs.write
Features:
* tools: draw, erase, select, insert space, and add bookmark
* configurable stylus button support in Android 4.0
* move strokes and insert space in multiples of the page's ruling
* reflow handwritten text with the insert space tool
* insert bookmarks and label them with handwriting
* cut, copy, paste selection
* unlimited undo/redo jog dial (volume keys can also be used for undo/redo)
* pan/zoom with two fingers
* customize and save pens
* user defined page size, color, and ruling
* pages can grow automatically as you write
* split screen with web browser to take notes from web pages or videos
* html/svg document format viewable in any modern web browser
* view thumbnails as a grid or list
* when viewed as list, arrange thumbnails by drag and drop
Comments, bug reports, and feature requests can be posted to this thread; I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
-- Matt
Update (Aug 31):
v1.5 adds ability to export all docs as a single zip file, more options for pen/touch input, and more

About to try it out I'll report back
Edit:
DUDE THIS IS AWESOME.
-UI is nice and clean, also very intuitive
-Hand writing experience is the best I've used.
Things to consider:
- fit to screen button as a shortcut if you've zoomed too far in and need to get out quick.
- page navigation could be located in the bottom right and left corners of the screen, makes it a bit more intuitive. Where the up and down arrows are Now for navigation could act as an area for stating what page your on.(e.g page 6/9)
Things I'm personally looking for:
- drop box integration and PDF annotation support
Keep up keep up the good work.
Sent from my ThinkPad Tablet using xda app-developers app

Why isn't there an option for zoom and pan only with touch input?
Sent from my ThinkPadTablet using xda app-developers app
Edit: I could have sworn touch input always drew lines. Installed again and now it works fine. My bad.

DeucesAx said:
Why isn't there an option for zoom and pan only with touch input?
Sent from my ThinkPadTablet using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I understand the question - the default behavior is to allow for zooming and panning with two fingers (if the fingers start very close together, zooming is disabled). This behavior can be configured so that you can pan with a single finger or disable touch input entirely, in which case the pen button can be configured to pan (and there are zoom options available in the application menu).
If the pen isn't being recognized, try setting Force Pen in the preferences.
-- Matt

As a long-time lurker, I registered an account just to talk about this app! I've been in love with my Thinkpad Tablet for almost a year now, but I never really "clicked" with any of the handwriting apps available for it, which really sort of frustrated me. I tried out your app, and so far I've been really enjoying it! I do have a question: is there an easy path to convert the handwritten text from the Write app on the tablet into a typed form on my PC?
Basically, I'm looking for a way to use the TPT to capture my handwriting when I'm out and about, as it's easy to carry the TPT and work in any environment. The ideal solution would be some function/process to then export the document from the Write app and have it convert it to .txt or something. If I had to e-mail it to myself, or use ES File Explorer to drop it onto my file-share at home where I could get at it from my desktop PC, that would be fine too.
Just looking for recommendations on the least-frustrating way possible to do what I want to do!
Thank you very much for this app!

darkwingduck13 said:
I do have a question: is there an easy path to convert the handwritten text from the Write app on the tablet into a typed form on my PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have Evernote installed, you can use "Send Current Page" from the Document submenu and select Evernote, which will OCR the page and make it searchable. I'm not sure if there is an easy way to extract the converted text. In the future, I will look into exporting all pages at once to Evernote.
What are your main reasons for wanting to convert handwriting to text (especially since any conversion will introduce quite a lot of errors unless your handwriting is flawless)? To be consistent with the rest of your documents? For searching? For sending to others? Something else?
-- Matt

PBSurf said:
If you have Evernote installed, you can use "Send Current Page" from the Document submenu and select Evernote, which will OCR the page and make it searchable. I'm not sure if there is an easy way to extract the converted text. In the future, I will look into exporting all pages at once to Evernote.
What are your main reasons for wanting to convert handwriting to text (especially since any conversion will introduce quite a lot of errors unless your handwriting is flawless)? To be consistent with the rest of your documents? For searching? For sending to others? Something else?
-- Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thanks for responding to my question Matt!
I don't have Evernote installed, but I'll install it just to try the feature you're talking about.
Basically, I would want to convert handwriting to text in order to be able to do a number of things:
1. Easily post things I've written to my blog.
2. Move chapters of my stories into an editable word-processor-compatible format.
3. Send to an editor.
4. Archive in an easily appendable format...in the case of my stories, each one would eventually go into a single larger file as it's polished/finished and saved on my network drive and backed up.
The writing application that came with the TPT was pretty decent at translating my writing to text, but I didn't like using it to write as much as yours, and on top of that, when I rooted the tablet and installed CM 8 (or whatever version this is), that handwriting app didn't come along for the ride. I didn't realize at the time that it wouldn't be part of the package, so I'd been looking for suitable replacements. Quill had been where I'd settled until I saw your post, and I just like the functionality of your app better so far when it comes to usability while doing my scribbling.

This is a great handwriting app. I have bee using Quill for almost a year since I couldn't find another app that can do what it can. However, this app does more than Quill and I am considering switching over to this app. There are a few things I would like to see added to this app before I do. I would like to be able to draw lines and geometric shapes. It would be great if you could add an auto save function, that way I dont have to worry about losing my notes. While using Write I found myself getting ticked off by the zoom levels. When I tried to zoom to lever .65, it would automatically got to .75. Instead of having the volume keys used to undo/redo it would be better to have the used for changing pages and adding pages. I also noticed that if you have many pages of notes you wont be able to quickly go to a specific page of notes, you have to go through all the pages. A way to get around that is by making thumbnails of the pages inside the document so you can easily browse through them. Overall this is a very good app, it just needs those few things to completely win me over.

sakobatoneko said:
This is a great handwriting app. I have bee using Quill for almost a year since I couldn't find another app that can do what it can. However, this app does more than Quill and I am considering switching over to this app. There are a few things I would like to see added to this app before I do. I would like to be able to draw lines and geometric shapes. It would be great if you could add an auto save function, that way I dont have to worry about losing my notes. While using Write I found myself getting ticked off by the zoom levels. When I tried to zoom to lever .65, it would automatically got to .75. Instead of having the volume keys used to undo/redo it would be better to have the used for changing pages and adding pages. I also noticed that if you have many pages of notes you wont be able to quickly go to a specific page of notes, you have to go through all the pages. A way to get around that is by making thumbnails of the pages inside the document so you can easily browse through them. Overall this is a very good app, it just needs those few things to completely win me over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The document is automatically saved whenever it loses focus or the screen turns off, so the only thing that could cause you to lose your notes would be Write crashing ... if you've experienced this, let me know! Or if by auto save, you meant backing up to a different location, you could try something like SugarSync, which allows you to sync folders on Android. You can also change the folder where documents are saved (in advanced preferences) for other sync applications that don't let you specify the folders to be synced.
I've been thinking about the best way to handle geometric shapes, so there might be something like this in a future release (but not the next release).
The zoom is intentionally limited to discrete steps. The idea is to usually work at zoom = 1 and adjust the page size and ruling (i.e. line spacing) as desired. So if you prefer the way the page looks at zoom = 0.65, you can change the default Y ruling from 40 to 40*0.65 = 26.
The next release of Write will allow the volume keys to be configured.
Document navigation could definitely be improved (e.g. thumbnails). There are a couple things you could try in the meantime. First, zooming out all the way (0.10) should make it possible to scroll through pages pretty quickly - double tap with two fingers to zoom to 100% on the desired page (or one finger, if you switched the preference to single finger panning). Second, for pages you frequently go to, add a bookmark on the page next to the title or some other identifying writing - you'll then see it in the bookmark list and can jump to it by tapping on it in the list.
-- Matt

PBSurf said:
The document is automatically saved whenever it loses focus or the screen turns off, so the only thing that could cause you to lose your notes would be Write crashing ... if you've experienced this, let me know! Or if by auto save, you meant backing up to a different location, you could try something like SugarSync, which allows you to sync folders on Android. You can also change the folder where documents are saved (in advanced preferences) for other sync applications that don't let you specify the folders to be synced.
I've been thinking about the best way to handle geometric shapes, so there might be something like this in a future release (but not the next release).
The zoom is intentionally limited to discrete steps. The idea is to usually work at zoom = 1 and adjust the page size and ruling (i.e. line spacing) as desired. So if you prefer the way the page looks at zoom = 0.65, you can change the default Y ruling from 40 to 40*0.65 = 26.
The next release of Write will allow the volume keys to be configured.
Document navigation could definitely be improved (e.g. thumbnails). There are a couple things you could try in the meantime. First, zooming out all the way (0.10) should make it possible to scroll through pages pretty quickly - double tap with two fingers to zoom to 100% on the desired page (or one finger, if you switched the preference to single finger panning). Second, for pages you frequently go to, add a bookmark on the page next to the title or some other identifying writing - you'll then see it in the bookmark list and can jump to it by tapping on it in the list.
-- Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was worried that the document didn't save by itself since there was an option under the document menu to "save now." I thought that meant that I would have to click on that every time I finished taking notes. Adjusting the page size has solved the problem I was having with the zoom. The more familiar I get with this app the more comfortable I am writing with it. Keep up the good work and thanks for the fast reply. Oh, when will the next release be, if you don't mind me asking?

sakobatoneko said:
Oh, when will the next release be, if you don't mind me asking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The next release will probably be early in January.
-- Matt

I love how responsive it is, best free/paid app I've tried. I would like to see a different background other than normal paper. I have always liked writing on graph/grid paper. Thanks for the app and keep up the good work.

daswahnsinn said:
I love how responsive it is, best free/paid app I've tried. I would like to see a different background other than normal paper. I have always liked writing on graph/grid paper. Thanks for the app and keep up the good work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can configure the page color and background by selecting Page Setup from the application menu. To get grid paper, for example, select one of the "grid" options for "Ruling".
-- Matt

Been messing with some of the setting and found the grid/graph paper, that has tons on options, and I found pen only input which always is need or at least for me it is. The more I play around with this app the more I see what other apps needed.

Papyrus vs. Quill For Class Notes

I just got a Note 10.1 and was wondering if Papyrus or Quill was better.
They seem to be very similar, can somebody who has one or both tell me their opinion about using them to take notes for class?
I noticed Papyus is free but with add ons, how much do they cost?
Also are they multiscreen supported?
Or is there a better lecture taking app out there?

Lecture notes is my current go to choice for taking notes. Right now I don't think it can be beat.
Have hope for MyScript though. MyScript has one feature I really wish lecture notes had, the ability to convert handwritten notes to text based on the fly.

I use Papyrus all the time, I prefer Papyrus to Lecture Notes... mainly due to the UI I prefer a lot... but it is not perfect, some basic features are still missing.
Papyrus worth the price...4 $ I think with all features

Si Cotic said:
Lecture notes is my current go to choice for taking notes. Right now I don't think it can be beat.
Have hope for MyScript though. MyScript has one feature I really wish lecture notes had, the ability to convert handwritten notes to text based on the fly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's mine to, but I've never really tried anyone else since I'm so happy with LectureNotes.
One can solve that by using a keyboard for that, Samsung standard keyboard had a handwriting mode and if you don't like that one I'm sure there are plenty others. If you're rooted you can use tasker to set default keyboard for any given application so you won't have to change manually every time.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using xda app-developers app

I use LectureNotes all the time at uni. But one thing, that Papyrus/Quill do better, is that they are vector based instead of pixel based.
If someday LectureNotes will have that feature too, it will be perfect for me!

Can you import lecture notes into papyrus?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD

The Apostle said:
Can you import lecture notes into papyrus?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not used papyrus that much but the only way I can see is to export the notebook from LectureNotes to PDF and then import it to Papyrus somehow. Since LectureNotes are bitmap and papyrus are vector based I can't see any other way.
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app

Papyrus looks great but I have weeks worth of notes in Lnotes.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD

I should add the app Write to the list.
It has the following pros:
It's free
Uses vector graphics
Supports pressure sensitivity of the S-Pen. It's even possible to adjust the pressure sensitivity level.
It's possible to use pages of different sizes and the size of a page can grow automatically when you write close to the edge and do not want/can't start a new line.
It's possible to select part of the handwriting to copy/move/resize it or change its style (color-ink size)
The note file is saved in HTML/SVG format, that should be viewable using any web browser (also on the PC).
One of the "cons" is that it lacks the ability to import pdf or images in the note (but it can export the note to PDF). That is probably understandable as it uses vector graphics and not bitmaps.
However, it is an app simple and well made ​​(with several customization options) and, in my opinion, it's slightly better than Papyrus (between the apps with vector graphics).
So, at the moment, my ranking is:
1) LectureNotes (bitmap based but unbeatable for the number of options)
2) Write (vector graphics based)
3) Papyrus (vector graphics based)
4) Quill (vector graphics based)

Write is the winner for me now
Write updated recently and now you can import images into it. It also had really neat features before that.
If you are writing a sentence and forget a word you can add space by doing a ruled space insert. And it will actually shift words across the line and then down to the next line, which is really cool. It keeps everything nice and organized in the lines.
The undo has a neat "wheel" feature where you can hold down when you click the undo button, if you hold it down then you can rotate in a circle around the wheel that appears to undo multiple things very quickly, but only undo what you want to. It's a little weird to explain, so if that didn't make any sense at all, I'm sorry.
You can also do normal things like select text and move it places.
They have also added in folders now, so you can organize for different classes.

I have tried Lecture Notes and Papyrus to take notes in the university. And my final result is Papyrus. I have pay the two app xpansions to sync with dropbox and be able to draw some forms. By the way, it supports multiwindow.

I tried Lecture Notes for handwriting but Papyrus was a winner due to vector based note manipulation. This is great when you move around and zoom objects and they do not get distorted.
The downside of Papyrus is you need to invest some money (in app) to be able to have your files synced and as its using some kind of proprietary db to save notes you can not locate them in storage or simply sync them via FolderSync.
Another extension would enable text typing and erasing parts of strokes.
I almost went for Papyrus extensions but just revently found even better handwriting app (and free by this time) - Write. It does not have mentioned limitations, has great select feature, picture import (perfect for scanned documents), PDF and HTML export.
If is definitely worth trying if you own LN or Papyrus.

I've used Write but as I use a 3rd party stylus with my N8010, there's a 1mm offset that is very annoying. I've switched back to Quill for the now until I can get the offset issue sorted out.
Written on my Galaxy Note 10.1

I see you have left Awesome Note and Evernote completely out of this discussion is that due to the fact that you cannot hand write your notes in either of these? Or at least I haven't found away to. I see some advantages to both of these Awesome Note the calendar sync ability. Evernote the cross platform so I don't have to worry which device I am using all my info is available. I also like the UI of Evernote it fits my organizational ideas. If it just had hand writing to text recognition and at a reasonable speed I would be so happy. Looking forward to your thoughts.

handwritten notes
GreenFuzzer said:
I see you have left Awesome Note and Evernote completely out of this discussion is that due to the fact that you cannot hand write your notes in either of these? Or at least I haven't found away to. I see some advantages to both of these Awesome Note the calendar sync ability. Evernote the cross platform so I don't have to worry which device I am using all my info is available. I also like the UI of Evernote it fits my organizational ideas. If it just had hand writing to text recognition and at a reasonable speed I would be so happy. Looking forward to your thoughts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love evernote and also wish they would include handwrite note taking. All my notes available on all my devices. Awesome. Sigh! But for using handwriting instead of keyboard.
I bought LN, but am disappointed. Papyrus looks good, but I have some notes in LN which I want to copy to papyrus but haven't figured out how. Any help here?
I will try out quill and write.
Thanks

There has been no activity here for a while. Has there been any progress in these? Which apps are abandoned? which support current devices? Any new ones to consider?

All are still good. I've used Quill and Papyrus pretty much as long as I've owned my tablet and recently downloaded Write to try. Lecture Notes happens to be free today in the Amazon App store, so I've just downloaded that but haven't yet used it. Since I don't have tons of notes that need to be grouped or organized, my preferences are based on actually using the apps, not how well they function as a complete system. So take into account if you need this app to also be more like an Evernote or complete storage system, you might value the apps differently than I do.
Quill isn't actively being worked on, and has fewer features and pretty much non-existent organization of notes. But I find it the nicest to actually use if all I want to do is write from scratch. I just like how it's organized, how the menus work, the writing experience, the palm rejection, the eraser settings etc. Notes export just fine to Evernote, to a directory, or to several other Android app the same way the "share" button typically works, and so I export and organize pdfs outside of the app.
Papyrus is my go-to if I need to import a pdf (paid add-on to get this feature). It's also quite good, but I do find it just slightly clunkier to use than Quill. I'm often making little mistakes I need to correct because I'm expecting it to act like Quill, but it doesn't. If I could only have one app, it would have to be Papyrus just because I do need the ability to annotate pdfs in addition to writing notes from scratch. But it always seems *just* a tad more effort to use than Quill. Not enough to be a big deal, but enough to notice that I'm not using Quill. Papyrus was just updated a few days ago, so this is an entirely full-featured, current app that does everything I need it to do. It has some basic note organization which is certainly better than nothing and perfectly sufficient for my needs. I *like* it, I just wish it felt more like Quill while I was using it.
I've had Write for a few weeks and used it a bit. The web view is useful if you would use that (top part of your screen is a browser, then your document is beneath, for you to take notes while on a web page). The "insert space" feature is completely unintuitive, and I still can't figure out how to use it properly, but the "lasso mode" to circle and move text around works as expected, and is a welcome feature that I only recently learned Papyrus has and wish that Quill had! I think in general, I just don't find it the easiest thing to use. It has a lot of menu items, some of which don't intuitively make sense. I think I would have to use it a lot more to actually feel comfortable using it, although it does a lot of things. I've been using software like this since my old tablet PCs 10 years ago, and still I feel like there's a lot of "figuring out" how the developer meant this app to work required to use it. But, it's free! Zooming works well, and you can export to PDF but not import a PDF. It doesn't appear to have been updated since 2013, but then again, neither has Quill and I have no hesitation recommending that one, provided you're OK with a limited feature set and primarily want a smooth writing experience.
I've only just downloaded lecture notes today but I know this is a very popular app and was updated earlier this month. It felt like over kill to me when I tested the free trial version years ago. And even just launching it today, I'm finding all the various menu options and settings a little overwhelming. I didn't feel like I could just pick up and go with this one, although if I dedicated myself to learning and using it, I'd probably appreciate all the customization possible. I tried to find a few basic settings that I know I like (eg stroke erase) and the first hurdle seems to be that it doesn't support that. But, the "cutter" feature (like the "lasso" of Write) works very well and I can see myself using that. You can't initially import pdf files, but have to download their free PDFview app. Once I did that, the menu option to import PDF appeared, but it's kind of a weird PDF import. Instead of actually writing on the PDF (like other apps do), you import maybe a graphic of the pdf (?) because it shows up in the way an imported image would, in a smaller box with the ability to resize it. Trying to resize the PDF to a full page made the original pdf text a little fuzzy. So, I'm not exactly pleased with that compared to Papyrus, but I need to be a little pickier about having original-quality looking PDFs that I can then annotate. Also, that imported PDF doesn't become the background like it does in Papyrus, but rather I found that when I went to erase something, I erased the underlying PDF, too. I think LectureNotes supports multiple layers, so if you go to the trouble of figuring that out, then I would assume you could protect that layer, or only edit layers on top of it. Sorry if this all sounds negative, and certainly I have very little experience with this app so most of this really speaks to how user-friendly it initially seems coming from other apps, and not an indication of how someone well-versed in the app experiences it.
If you must restrict yourself to one app, and PDF import is important to you, I think it has to be Papyrus. Of course, since Write is free, you don't have to restrict yourself to just one. Try Write and maybe it's good enough for you. It's difficult to recommend Quill if you care about organizing the original notes because you do just get one mess of files. But things export nicely, and it's the one I'm happiest actually writing with, if all I'm doing is handwriting notes. My initial reaction opening Lecture Notes is that I don't like it compared to the others, and I don't immediately see what I get from it that I don't from Papyrus. But it's free today, so if you happen to see this then grab it for yourself from Amazon.