Taking Notes With Xournal++

Xournal++ is an open source notetaking application that supports pen input from devices such as Wacom, Huion and XP pen tablets, PDF annotation, Lua scripting and LateX support. It is a rewrite and enhancement of the original Xournal, and is also backwards compatible with it.

Each journal page consists of one or more layers stacked on top of the background. The logical separation between layers allows for drawing and erasing to be performed on the topmost layer, while not affecting the background or any other layers. This enables the creation of a "whiteboard" style document, for example, to quickly add notes in preparation for an upcoming lecture.

Linear and area selection tools provide easy ways to select text or areas of a drawing. Buttons are provided to copy selections to the clipboard; highlight, strikethrough or underline selected text; or to apply a simple rectification (squared or dotted). Enhanced drawing tools allow for a wider range of geometric shapes to be drawn: lines with variable width; arrows; circles; ellipses; and quadrilaterals. The set-square and compass tools help with measuring the dimensions of elements in drawings, and for drawing straight lines using guide points.

The shape recognizer, which is a special operating mode of the pen and highlighter tools, can automatically replace a drawn stroke with a recognized geometric form. To improve recognition, it helps to draw the shapes carefully and deliberately: a closed curve that isn't quite round tends to work better than a rounder curve; for arrows, it may be necessary to lift the pen between consecutive points on the tip; and elongated rectangles are best drawn in short strokes, rather than long ones.