What I Want From an Electronic Jotter Pad
2009-10-11
While wrestling with the innermost guts of PhotoPrint recently, I found myself wanting to take some notes on paper, and as is so often the case couldn't find any nearby that wasn't already written on!
I found myself thinking "I have a Wacom pad - why do I need to resort to bleached woodpulp and carbon-deposit device?" Thus began my quest to find the ideal note-taking application.
While I've not searched too deeply yet, all the programs I've looked at so far either lack features, have some flaw which breaks flow or is otherwise perfect-but-for-one-thing. So here's my wish-list for my idea of the Perfect Note-taking Program - perhaps someone can suggest a program which measures up?
- Must be fast to start up
- Must be able to operate in full-screen mode
- Should have an auto-hiding toolbox which lurks at one side of the screen.
- Should automatically save pages upon exit, and periodically while working.
- Adding a new page should be a one-click operation - preferably a "dog-eared" corner on the page. No flow-breaking dialogs asking for filenames, or whether I want to save.
- Page should be resizable on the fly. If I need more paper, I will just drag the edge of the page out to make room.
- Should be possible to add text just by typing - no need to select a separate tool.
- Must support multiple tools and XInput - so the eraser on the stylus can be used.
Features offered by some of the existing programs, but which I don't need myself:
- Shape and/or handwriting recognition
- Collaboration support
- Vector output.
My needs are simpler - I simply want a virtual notebook that I can scrawl diagrams on, and have them be automatically saved for future reference.
