Note Taker HD Review

Are you a technophile who still values the concept of a journal and enjoys jotting down bits and pieces of information? Would you benefit from the use of a stylus on your iPad for note-taking or diagram-drawing? Or are you looking for a solid note-taking app for your business meetings or personal use? If so, you might not have to look any further! Note Taker HD is one of the most powerful apps of its kind.

Note Taker HD is a versatile note-taking app that allows you to write using an iPad-compatible stylus or your fingertips--whichever you prefer. Developed by Dan Bricklin, programmer and electronic spreadsheet pioneer, Note Taker HD effectively incorporates the simplicity of a notebook or journal and adapts it for an electronic interface that’s user-friendly and efficient.

In version 4.0, you are able to choose from several line thicknesses, pen and highlighter colors, custom backgrounds taken from images or PDFs, background colors, and background styles: lined, unlined, narrow or wide grids, etc--all while benefiting from wrist guard support that ensures writing accuracy.

Although you have the option of writing on its screen like you would on the pages of a notebook or journal in the Edit 1 view, what’s most impressive is its Edit 2 view. Edit 2 is a dual-view layout that allows you to zoom in on a selected region of a page and write or draw as large (or small) as you may wish. Your writings or drawings will shrink and fit into their respective regions, allowing you to pack in a tremendous amount of text or drawing data onto a page quite effortlessly.

The advance and auto-advance tools allow you to continue jotting down notes without having to continuously select adjacent detail areas--saving you both time and hassle. You’re then able to export your notes as a multi-page PDF file or single-page JPEG to share with friends and coworkers.

The ability to select an image or PDF for the background is also one that’s beneficial to many users. If you’re looking to write on a blueprint, for example, you can do so with this app. If you’d like to draw within the boundaries of a grid or chart, you can also do that. If you want to jot down mathematical formulas and solve your math assignments electronically, this app can help. With the various ink options and backgrounds as mentioned above, Note Taker HD allows you to take notes the way you like as if you’re writing on paper, all while benefiting from the ease of export, note sharing, and enhanced mobility that you can only get from an electronic platform.

Although there’s no built-in handwriting recognition engine, you may import your notes within Evernote and use its handwriting recognition feature. The downside is that this must be done manually, on a page-by-page basis. We hope future revisions will rectify this issue, but it’s a small setback and not one that tremendously detracts from the joy of using this app.

What’s also noteworthy is the responsiveness of the developer to user criticisms and the improvement of this app with every new release. We anticipate this app to go from being a solid one to one that’s truly phenomenal in the near future. We’re also pleased with the provided documentation and on-screen help. Although there may be a small learning curve, the documentation makes the transition a quick one. Feel free to purchase this: We doubt you’ll regret it.