How to take notes on iPad

Need to draft a to-do list or capture your impressions while reading a book? You may have used the Notes app on your iPad. If you want the best note-taking app, consider PDF Expert packed with the tools you need to read and annotate documents and papers in a PDF format. Have a file in a different format? Not a problem, check out how to convert it to PDF. Besides note-taking, it provides an option to create a PDF from photos, scan a document, merge files, sync your files with cloud storage, create your own digital library, and much more.

That’s not what you expect from a PDF editor, right? Let’s learn how to take notes on iPad with PDF Expert.

Create a new note

Tap the blue plus icon at the bottom right and select Note. PDF Expert offers eight different paper types including lined and grid pages. Whether you want to jot down ideas for your thesis or take notes for a math class, you can select the best option. After choosing the paper type and color, tap Done.

A one-page file is ready for your notes! To add more pages, tap  at the top left. Here, you’ll see the layout of your document. Select  Insert at the top to add a new page. PDF Expert will offer you to add Blank Page, Scan Page, or add Another File. Choose Blank page, then the paper type and color, and tap Done. You can easily reorder existing pages by using drag and drop.

Read a book and take notes at once

Imagine you have a textbook with a list of questions you need to answer. Or maybe you want to write a summary for a particular page or chapter. In PDF Expert, you can add a blank page for notes right to your book. For example, you can read a page on the left and take notes on the right. It helps you focus on your work instead of constantly jumping between a book and a note-taking app.

Open your book and tap the View Settings  at the top right. Tap Two Pages and enable the First Page Alone.

Now, let’s add a blank page for writing notes on your iPad. Tap  at the top left and then tap the insert icon  on the top toolbar. Select the page appearance and tap Done. If you need to move the inserted page, touch and hold it and use drag and drop.

You can always extract the pages with your notes as a separate PDF file to review and store conveniently. Tap  and then Select at the top right. Tick the needed pages and tap Extract on the upper toolbar. In a pop-up message, name your file, choose where to save it, and tap Done. Now, you have your notes in one place!

Take notes in the margins

Use the free margin space to note important comments and thoughts while reading. If you need more space, PDF Expert has a solution - Resize Margins. You can change how much blank space is available on an individual page or all pages in a file simultaneously.

To resize margins in PDF Expert:

1. Open a PDF in PDF Expert.
2. Tap the View Settings in the top right corner (the aA icon).
3. Tap Resize Margins.
4. Tick the checkboxes. There are four checkboxes available on each side of a page.
5. Tap the Plus button (+) to add extra space to the selected margins.

Now you have the blank space for all your comments and annotations on the topic of your document.

Have you accidentally added unnecessary space or decreased the margins? You can restore them to their original state by tapping Restore Original.

Use Shapes, Sound notes, and Apple Pencil

Once you open your file, tap Annotate to access powerful annotation tools. When you need to write or draw, select the Pen tool on the toolbar and choose its color, line thickness, and tip sensitivity. You can create four different pen patterns and quickly switch between them while writing. To save the selected pen patterns, tap the Star icon. It will update your pen selection in the tool Pens available in the toolbar via the Plus button.

If you need to delete your writing:

1. Tap the Annotate tab and tap the Eraser tool.
2. Move your finger over the unnecessary annotations to remove them.
3. Tap the Eraser once again to deactivate it.

Enable wrist protection to take notes on the iPad more naturally with a stylus or Apple Pencil. It allows you to rest your palm on the screen while writing and prevents the iPad from reacting to this touch. 

To activate wrist protection:

1. Open PDF Expert, open My Files.
2. Tap Settings (the Settings icon is located at the bottom left of My Files.)
3. Tap General and tap PDF Viewer.
4. Find Wrist Protection settings and tap Right-handed or Left-handed.

One final tip: You can move the annotation toolbar to make writing more comfortable. Touch and hold the two lines located at the end of the toolbar and move them to the right, left, or top of the screen. For example, if you’re left-handed, you can drag the toolbar to the right to manage tools with the right hand while writing.

If you’re not a fan of handwriting, just type your notes. Select the Text tool  on the toolbar and tap where you want to add text. You can select the text font size, color, font family, as well as advanced settings for border style, thickness, and color. When you’re finished, tap Done or tap the Text tool once again.

You can always tap text to edit or delete it as well as resize and move the text field.

If you love visualizations, you can build diagrams and schemes in your notes. Select the Shape tool , choose the shape you wish and its color. You can easily move, resize, and combine shapes to present the information in the most beautiful and convenient way.

Use sound annotations to capture sudden thoughts or emotions. If writing something down isn’t enough, just say it! Touch and hold anywhere on a page and choose Sound. Say everything you wish and tap the Stop button when you’re finished. Tap it to listen to your note. It’s a great way to comment on a document and literally say what you think.

All your notes are saved in PDF, making it easy to share and view them on multiple devices. You can keep your notes organized with PDF Expert’s built-in file manager. You are always backed up: PDF Expert works with all major cloud storage options, so you can access your files anywhere. Also, if you have PDF Expert on Mac, you can continue editing your notes there.

Bonus for all learners, PDF Expert provides a 50% educational discount for students and educators. 

Download PDF Expert, one of the best note-taking apps for iPad, and start taking notes on your own with ease.