Handwriting Tool like MyScript Nebo in Evernote

[TeacherNote 25]

I would love to see an integration or the possibility of Myscript Nebo in Evernote.

I think Evernote is a note taking tool. I love to write with apple pencil. I dont want to use other Apps like penultimat. I wish i could open Evernote start a new note and write with pencil as good as myscript nebo it offers. 

[ecclesarcher 6]

Another vote for Nebo integration. The handwriting recognition and gesture implementation (like scribbling to delete) is superb. If it’s not possible to add all this directly into Evernote, I’d settle for the kind of sync provided with Penultimate, direct to notebooks without changing the format. I don’t like storing notes as PDFs or Word documents unless I’m editing that document; I like to be able to see what I’ve written from the note preview. 

[MazurkaAl 4]

Nebo is by far the best at text recognition. It is at least 5 times better than anything else out there. Would love to see it integrated with Evernote. 

[pcurtain 4]

I'm a longtime Evernote user.  Back to coming out of my Newton (developer) withdrawals.    Evernote holds everything in my world.

But now, with my iPad Pro, i LIVE in MyScript Nebo.  It lets me do all my content creation (meeting notes, articles, ideas) in handwriting that is near-perfectly recognized as text.

My wish would be to do that same creation *within* Evernote.  I'd simply be back to living in Evernote again.

I can imagine you guys making their page tool part of evernote.  I can also see it via better transfer of formatted notes into evernote, retaining more than just plain text, which is all I can export now.

Thanks everyone! Love Evernote!

--p

[Restevesmills 6]

Is there any further movement on this? The Nebo note taking experience is streets ahead of any other app I have seen. Can we get that functionality embedded within Evernote ao we don’t need to switch between? I’m answer to the question above, I’m happy for this to be a premium only feature. To be honest the Apple Pencil and Nebo have transformed how I work to such an extent that if Evernote don’t do this, I’m likely to stop paying for premium and look elsewhere.

[pcurtain 4]

My key request in this is, I think, the harder one: incorporate handwriting as a first-class input type IN Evernote.  
That's the reason I mention Nebo specifically; they license their engine and from the examples, it's at least do-able. (I agree with the above comment that "should be easy" is always a dangerous thing to operate on).

 

--p

[DTLow 5,721]

2 hours ago, Andi123 said:

I would love to see an integration or the possibility of Myscript Nebo in Evernote.

I think Evernote is a note taking tool. I love to write with apple pencil. I dont want to use other Apps like penultimat. I wish i could open Evernote start a new note and write with pencil as good as myscript nebo it offers. 

I'll check out Nebo

I have no concern with using other editors for note taking; my favourite app on the iPad is Notability
Using the share feature, it's easy to store my writing in Evernote as an fileattachment; in native or pdf format

What kind of integration are you looking for?

 

[NoniTea 2]

Am I willing to pay for such a great PDF annotation tool? Yes I will. It can cost up to $50 a year and I'm still in. 

Evernote is a tool for writing things down and I'm wondering why it belittles digital handwritings which is essential for the people who desire paperless life. 

Taking a photo of Post-its and OCR them for future search is a lousy thing to do, but they made this feature so that we can at least try to connect our everyday writings to Evernote. 

Why not take a step further and make some awesome feature that'll really punch in the face of Onenote users who claim it's better?

 

 

[DTLow 5,721]

You're welcome to add your vote to this request.  Voting buttons are at the top left corner  of the discussion.

Evernote has not indicated an  interest in expanding into the handwriting market.
My solution is to use external editors like Notability on my iPad.
I store the documents in a note as a file attachment, in pdf format.

[billpetro 6]

Many of the leading handwriting apps use Nebo's underlying technology MyScript. While the Nebo app is not as feature-rich as some of the others -- GoodNotes, Notability, Noteshelf 2 (my personal favorite because it automatically syncs to Evernote) -- for conversion from handwriting-to-text Nebo is unmatched. Since no further development is being done to Penultimate, I would welcome MyScript being integrated into Evernote.

[PinkElephant 6,211]

@BABMy preferred workflow on the iPad Pro to get stuff into Evernote in a controlled way is this:

• Open the web page
• Whenever possible, switch to the reader version
• Tick "share", tick "print". A print window will open. Select the range of pages you want to transfer (in reader view, it is mostly the whole document, in web site view you often have a lot of clutter on the backward pages).
• Put 2 fingers (best thumb + 1 finger) on the little document shown, pinch outward like you want to open the little preview
• Bang - the little thing opens - what you have now is a pdf version of the website (in reader mode)
• Tick on "share" again, select Evernote, change the title if needed, pick a notebook, select tags, save

Voila - you now have a clean copy of the website content as a pdf in Evernote - and this pdf you can annotate using your pencil, or whatever.

I prefer this way above clipping the page directly. It comes out clean and reliable, can be opened, shared further, annotated etc. The trick to go through the share-print-process does not only work with websites and Safari - you can create a pdf of nearly whatever you have in many apps by this, not only to send it into Evernote, but save or work on it in many other apps (depending of what you have installed on your device).

[jampff 8]

Regarding the original topic of this thread: yes, Evernote and Nebo DEFINITELY need to talk to each other!

I have difficulty understanding why a note taking app (Evernote, that I value and pay for)  completely avoids developing handwriting functions. To me, it's integral. 

Another thing I don't understand: Evernote already recognizes handwriting!! If I can upload a picture that includes handwriting,  and Evernote makes it searchable, that means... Evernote recognizes it as text, right? So, it's not as if they must embark on a very difficult development journey to "figure out" how to recognize handwriting as text. The app already does it. Isn't it a simple step from there to actually render the handwriting as text, just like Nebo does? 

I understand everyone wants to avoid feature creep, and wheel reinvention. The obvious solution is: integration. Find another service that already does what you want your app to do, and make them play nicely together.

[chilcotin 3]

I too rely on Nebo and would dearly love to be able to use the Nebo functionality in Evernote. I do much of my Nebo handwriting on my Microsoft Surface Book but also use Nebo handwriting on my iPad Mini. Please, please either find a way to sync Nebo notebooks with Evernote notebooks or, even better, incorporate the Nebo functionality directly into Evernote. Using Ink Notes in Evernote is a good start but it pales in comparison with the functionality of Nebo.

[Guttormson 0]

I too would love to see either 1) the option to sync Nebo notes to EN (sync NOT import) 2) myscript (Nebo backend) integration into EN.

Nebo/myscript is far and away the best handwriting to text in my research.

[TeacherNote 25]

Have you tried the app with new iPad and Pencil. Writing in these app is very natural without any lags like in notability, noteshelf, ... On the other side the instant transformation of handwriting is incredible. 

I want to use as few apps as possible. Integrate this well working process of natural writing and transformation direct in Evernote would be a great step forward:

Example: Open a new note in meetings, handwriting and after meeting transform this to typed text instant - without using a third party app without syncing or export as pdf. 

[DTLow 5,721]

6 hours ago, Andi123 said:

Have you tried the app with new iPad and Pencil.

The apps work well for handwriting and sketching

I'm checking out GoodNotes which has a similar featureset including OCR.  An additional benefit is opening two windows on my iPad Pro and transcribing my handwriting section by section.  I need this to correct errors; my handwriting quality is sad

I'm also using  Myscript Stylus.  It's an alternate keyboard replacing the letter keys with a handwriting area.  It converts your handwriting on the fly while you write

 

[Callum Buchanan 3]

It seems that MyScript actually license out their technology for other developers to use

http://www.myscript.com/interactive-ink/

I'm no app developer, but it looks like it would be less work than expected to have a high quality handwriting environment within Evernote. 

While OCR is useful with things exported from other apps, it's cumbersome to start a document in a handwriting app, edit it in Evernote then do a bit more writing in the handwriting app later. A solution like incorporating interactive ink into the Evernote editor would seemingly enable this, and make Evernote so powerful for me as a University student taking notes in different contexts.

[DTLow 5,721]

On 2017-06-26 at 7:10 AM, Callum Buchanan said:

I'm no app developer, but it looks like it would be less work than expected to have a high quality handwriting environment within Evernote. 

There are so many feature requests which say "It would be easy ....."
I question this, and if users would be willing to pay for this feature

I use Evernote's editor for basic notes; I'm content to use dedicated apps when I need extended features

>>A solution like incorporating interactive ink into the Evernote editor would seemingly enable this

I actually store the file as an attachment in it's native format.  For example Word doc files, Notability note files

 

[BrianA 3]

I also wish to see Nebo integration with Evernote or Evernote licensing this handwriting engine.

[BAB 5]

I totally agree with previous comments.

I own an iPad Pro and the typing thing is from an old age.

Even MS in PowerPoint allows you to recognize hand writing and even drawing figures.

Anyway we already pay every year so if Evernote does not want to lose wore subscribers it will be about time to incorporate this new possibility. Tablets at work will overrule laptop. 

[BAB 5]

36 minutes ago, DTLow said:

You're welcome to add your vote to this request.  Voting buttons are at the top left corner  of the discussion.

Evernote has not indicated an  interest in expanding into the handwriting market.
My solution is to use external editors like Notability on my iPad.
I store the documents in a note as a file attachment, in pdf format.

Finally I bought Nebo. Very happy with it as it is full compatible with MS Office. So,perfect for work. 

[Jayknl 0]

Please add nebo 

[PinkElephant 6,211]

Personally I prefer GoodNotes 5. But i agree - any good handwriting solution directly going into a note and staying editable would be very nice.

Currently I import from GN as a pdf, which means I can annotate the pdf, or have to go back to GN to edit. That works pretty well for static notes, especially because they are searchable (sort of OCRed), but not for ongoing stuff.

[BAB 5]

So do I. 

I'm also a Nebo user and an Evernote subscriber, and I think it is unbelievable that Evernote does not provide a solution where you can use Apple Pen. It's just doesn't make sense for a note app. 

[DTLow 5,721]

19 minutes ago, BAB said:

I think it is unbelievable that Evernote does not provide a solution where you can use Apple Pen. It's just doesn't make sense for a note app.

I use Apple Pencil and store the documents in Evernote

Evernote provides a solution for using any app you chose.  The document can be stored in a note as a file attachment.

[BAB 5]

50 minutes ago, DTLow said:

I use Apple Pencil and store the documents in Evernote

Evernote provides a solution for using any app you chose.  The document can be stored in a note as a file attachment.

I guess my post was not clear. I am talking about using the Apple Pen anywhere you want. 

For instance when I save a web page in Evernote, you cannot make any annotation on the page like you will do on a PDF. 

Having annotations apart on another file  and as a file attachment is not a way to work especially with other colleagues. 

Today in order to manage my expectations I have to use 3 applications: Evernote, Nebo and PDF Expert. 

It does not make my life easy...

[DTLow 5,721]

54 minutes ago, BAB said:

For instance when I save a web page in Evernote, you cannot make any annotation on the page like you will do on a PDF. 

Confirmed, you can not make annotations to bare note contents; you can annotate pdf/image file attachments.

I can save a web page in pdf or image format

The background tech here is that note contents are stored in enml/html format

[BAB 5]

21 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Confirmed, you can not make annotations to bare note contents; you can annotate pdf/image file attachments.

I can save a web page in pdf or image format

The background tech here is that note contents are stored in enml/html format

Thanks for your response. However I do not agree with you so I guess I'm missing something. 

On the iPad Pro when you are using Safari and you are sending a web page to Evernote you cannot choose the file format, correct?

Then when you read the saved page in Evernote you cannot use Apple Pencil to draw or write on that page.  

Not sure we are talking about the same thing. I even Google it and there is no solution to do it. Otherwise please  provide tutorial link. 

[DTLow 5,721]

4 hours ago, jampff said:

I have difficulty understanding why a note taking app (Evernote, that I value and pay for)  ...To me, it's integral. 

Evernote's core is a storage/organization service for notes, documents and other files
(that I value and pay for)
An editor is provided for notes in enml/html format.  
(it's free but I value and use this for basic notes)

>>Another thing I don't understand: Evernote already recognizes handwriting!!

Evernote provides an OCR feature for image and pdf files.
Handwriting is identified in images, and a text file is generated of possible matches
More documentation at https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208314518-How-Evernote-makes-text-inside-images-searchable

>>I understand everyone wants to avoid feature creep, and wheel reinvention. ... Find another service that already does what you want...

That's my solution.  I use Notability on my iPad
The documents are stored in Evernote as file attachments

[mttransplant 1]

The Ink function is okay, but I would rather just write directly in the note so that it is continuously saved. I've lost handwritten notes after switching to another app for a short bit. When I got back to Evernote, the Ink page was gone along with all my notes from that meeting. This would ideally function similarly to how it does in OneNote on iOS, where you just switch modes from typing to drawing, but stay on the same note page. 

[DTLow 5,721]

20 minutes ago, mttransplant said:

I would rather just write directly in the note so that it is continuously saved.

The save operation is something Evernote must address

however the note format is html based and does not support the ink actions.   
This will always be a file attachment, and separate editor

 

[Kyryll 0]

On 9/22/2019 at 11:24 PM, chilcotin said:

I too rely on Nebo and would dearly love to be able to use the Nebo functionality in Evernote. I do much of my Nebo handwriting on my Microsoft Surface Book but also use Nebo handwriting on my iPad Mini. Please, please either find a way to sync Nebo notebooks with Evernote notebooks or, even better, incorporate the Nebo functionality directly into Evernote. Using Ink Notes in Evernote is a good start but it pales in comparison with the functionality of Nebo.

Second that! Badly need the ability to edit hand-written notes and covert them to text on the fly as if they were text notes - with paragraphs and easy gestures to delete and edit handwritten characters as if they were text. 
 

Current indexation of jpeg images in Evernote is kind of useful, but for some one who relies on notebooks and organisation - really not that beneficial. 

[Michael Bush 0]

Although ideally - Evernote would license or acquire the Nebo technology - I am taking notes using Nebo then converting the text and exporting it directly to Evernote - no problems at all with this and it solves the issue of having searchable, handwritten notes.  I love the workaround and it's going well at this point.

[EN_Enduser 1]

Late to this party here, I guess, but I thank you all for your advice. Thought I share my own findings about how to use Myscript Nebo and Evernote together:

- I write my handwritten notes in the Nebo app on my ipad, making use of the automatic and perfect OCR (kudos to Nebo)

- To store the original, handwritten file in Evernote, to stay organized,  I click (from the open Nebo file):

- ... (three dots on the top right of the screen)

- HTML

- "More" (another three dots button at the end of the app list). Make sure NOT to press the Evernote button that pops up before the three dots at this step!

-  Scroll down and click "copy to evernote"

This opens a note in Evernote with my original, handwritten Nebo file as ATTACHMENT.

I do this for notes I would like to file in their original, handwritten form, for example my daily journal entries.

Additionally, I file the same Nebo note after choosing PDF while exporting, then putting it into Evernote. This makes use of Nebo's automatic conversion of the handwriting via OCR, which results in a text file (no longer handwritten), and makes the text searchable in Evernote. For any handwritten notes that I don't need to keep in original form, this second step is sufficient.

I join all other users in hoping for an easier integration of Nebo and Evernote. Should a better way to make both apps talk to each other already exist or come along, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

[chinarut 29]

It’s really great to see this vote here.  I used Penultimate back in 2014 and recall being in awe of what I saw possible on my original iPad.  Fast forward to today and I admit, it’s been left in the dust by its competitor (which is I agree is kinda sad).   That said, I’m glad we have alternatives and yes, it’s dicey in regards to how they integrate with Evernote.

I got an iPad Pro 3 weeks ago (seems like an eternity!) and after watching lots of YouTube videos and reading a lot of the input esp on this thread, I decided to get Nebo due to its superior handwriting recognition and conversion (and the higher probably Thai will show up sooner than later).

On 1/27/2020 at 6:58 PM, EN_Enduser said:

- "More" (another three dots button at the end of the app list). Make sure NOT to press the Evernote button that pops up before the three dots at this step!

@EN_Enduser  thanks for this tip to use the “Copy to Evernote” option!  I finally have a Nebo note in Evernote now!    I am curious if you had the same behavior that I had when using the default Share to Evernote option - does the Share pane just hang and never create a note?    That’s the issue I ran into and glad you figured out an alternative way.

[Avisek Sengupta 1]

There has been some discussion about the users being interested in the extra costs incurred for integrating third party solutions like Nebo. Most of the users who have supported Nebo (including me) have vetted their solution after paying for their product. With a larger user base like I think Evernote has, the cost for a user to use nebo feature in evernote will be much less than buying the nebo note app separately. I dont think anyone will have a problem with this. Also, nebo features may be provided on extra payment only to a section of users who use evernote on an Ipad with a pencil (not all evernote users will benifit from them) and can hence be a paid add on feature for only those users.

[DTLow 5,721]

6 hours ago, Avisek Sengupta said:

. I dont think anyone will have a problem with this.

What about those who don't use Nebo?    
My handwriting tool is Notability, 

Evernote has already made the integration purchase decision (Penultimate)     
Available to users at no charge

 

[PinkElephant 6,211]

In fact, Nebo is used by quite a number of other note taking tools as the engine that handles handwriting. It exists as a stand alone solution as well, but is used by many more people than just the users of the Nebo app.

Probably it would be a workable and fast way for EN to improve the handwriting support if they would license this engine as well. As long as this does not happen, I am happy using Goodnotes 5, as others do with other apps made for this purpose. From what I see, handwriting improvement does not seem to be a top priority for the next time.

[billpetro 6]

I like the idea of adding Nebo handwriting recognition: it is the text-transcription for virtually all the iPad handwriting apps. I use Noteshelf because it is automatically imported into Evernote, but it can then no longer be edited in Evernote. Penultimate was a great idea in its time, but no further work has been put into it, and the industry has moved forward. I’d pay extra for this feature.

 

[billpetro 6]

On 1/27/2020 at 7:58 PM, EN_Enduser said:

This is brilliant. I had no idea that Nebo could export to PDF in a way that Evernote would change handwriting to text. This allows repurposing of Nebo handwriting in other tools, while keeping an archive in Evernote.

 

Late to this party here, I guess, but I thank you all for your advice. Thought I share my own findings about how to use Myscript Nebo and Evernote together:

- I write my handwritten notes in the Nebo app on my ipad, making use of the automatic and perfect OCR (kudos to Nebo)

- To store the original, handwritten file in Evernote, to stay organized,  I click (from the open Nebo file):

- ... (three dots on the top right of the screen)

- HTML

- "More" (another three dots button at the end of the app list). Make sure NOT to press the Evernote button that pops up before the three dots at this step!

-  Scroll down and click "copy to evernote"

This opens a note in Evernote with my original, handwritten Nebo file as ATTACHMENT.

I do this for notes I would like to file in their original, handwritten form, for example my daily journal entries.

Additionally, I file the same Nebo note after choosing PDF while exporting, then putting it into Evernote. This makes use of Nebo's automatic conversion of the handwriting via OCR, which results in a text file (no longer handwritten), and makes the text searchable in Evernote. For any handwritten notes that I don't need to keep in original form, this second step is sufficient.

I join all other users in hoping for an easier integration of Nebo and Evernote. Should a better way to make both apps talk to each other already exist or come along, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

 

[DTLow 5,721]

11 hours ago, billpetro said:

I use Noteshelf because it is automatically imported into Evernote

I'm not overly concerned about the automatic import   
There's always a method to import the documents; I usually go for two formats; native and pdf

[criffus 0]

The issue (or challenge) of getting good handwriting and drawing methods for Evernote has been a thorn in my side for years now.  I have an iPad Pro with matte screen protector on it and drawing and handwriting is just wonderful compared to what it used to be.  The disconnect between that experience and Evernote, again, is disappointing.  
Nebo is my favorite handwriting recognition tool and I would so love it if Evernote and/or Nebo would do whatever it took make exporting Nebo notes to Evernote as seamless as possible - or even automatic if desired by the user.

OneNote seems to have their (sh#t) together in this area.  Maybe Evernote will figure things out someday.

[PinkElephant 6,211]

Many handwriting apps use the Nebo engine to improve their function.

Maybe get one of these - EN was never strong in this field, starting with Penultimate (which AFAIK was purchased from the outside, and never really integrated). The current Sketch feature is an improvement for a quick note, but still a far cry from how GoodNotes 5 (which I use) works.

A positive surprise for me was how good the EN OCR works on handwritten stuff created using the Sketch feature in EN v10 iOS. This is IMHO one of the improvements we have got with v10 over prior versions.

[stocky2605 387]

On 6/9/2020 at 7:04 AM, billpetro said:

I like the idea of adding Nebo handwriting recognition: it is the text-transcription for virtually all the iPad handwriting apps. I use Noteshelf because it is automatically imported into Evernote, but it can then no longer be edited in Evernote. Penultimate was a great idea in its time, but no further work has been put into it, and the industry has moved forward. I’d pay extra for this feature.

 

yes, Noteshelf + Evernote is very cool, Notes not only imported automatically but keep synced when further changes are made in Noteshelf (so it‘s more a sync not an import). And you can move the notes in Evernote into a notebook of your choice as often you want, you can tag them etc. and they stay synced with Noteshelf.

[Frédéric Sagaer 1]

On 6/8/2020 at 4:33 PM, DTLow said:

What about those who don't use Nebo?    
My handwriting tool is Notability, 

Evernote has already made the integration purchase decision (Penultimate)     
Available to users at no charge

 

Penultimate was good but is now dead... They should replace Penultimate by Nebo...

[Robert Dungan 0]

The Nebo math calculations using a stylus is a big factor of why I use it! 

[LB01571 14]

Replying to keep this alive, and also because I also rely on the Nebo for handwriting. 

I'd prefer if EN would deign to allow text extraction. Google does this now. EN is already recognizing text but not giving us direct access to it. But I digress. My current solution is to write in Nebo, then copy over. I'd prefer to be able to write on anything, including pen on paper, then take a Scannable and have EN give me the TEXT, not a searchable image. 

[PinkElephant 6,211]

Nebo is an engine, build into many handwriting apps. And it is an app in its own right, IMHO not the best in the field, but most of the good ones have licensed the Nebo engine to perform their magic.

What I am not sure about is whether EN can integrate an engine like Nebo while it is using frameworks to nest the app into the operating system of the device. This probably only an engineer from EN can answer.

[Carpesimia 0]

So, let me toss out my point of view.

I travel between several office locations.  My normal solution for my daily grind is a steno pad next to me as I work.  Notes, code fragments, configs, you name it I jot them down as I am working.  I have 7 years of these that I can scroll back through at any time.

Now that Im moving between offices, the steno isnt doing the job.  I leave it behind, or it get mangled in the case.  Mostly, its not searchable and with so much history it takes forever to find what Im looking for.

My vision:  To have a tablet (like my galaxy tab 8 ) that I can tote around, carry into meetings, sit beside my keyboard.  I can jot things down, draw pictures, etc.  My handwriting will become text via OCR, and my sketches will become images.  I'd have a notebook in Evernote which has a note for each day, which is all searchable.

And this would be in raw evernote format, as if I used the desktop app to put it together.  Opening an attachment is not how Id like it to work.   Now, if we could somehow sync into Evernote like that from another app (yeah, like Nebo.  Its awesome) that would be the move.  Even better having a rich "handwriting" editor that we could switch to that did the OCR and the images on the fly would be even better.  Id never have to leave evernote.

At the moment Im looking at using Nebo with OneNote (even though I hate onenote) because it would give the solution I need.

In this day and age, and doesnt seem like it should be such an impossible task.  I already pay for evernote, and would gladly add additional cost if I could get the above to work.  Either native imports, or in-app better handwriting.

Its funny I say better handwriting. Im one of the people which the handwriting (sketch) doesnt work.  I can write one letter then the pen (and finger) stop working.  I cant even write a sentence.  So... broken.

[agsteele 2,340]

If I was working as you describe I'd capture my notes in a native program on my tablet. Save the final result as a jpg file and attach that to a note in Evernote.

My preferred approach is to use a Rocket Book notebook which connects to Evernote by design. 

[s2sailor 1,394]

14 hours ago, Carpesimia said:

My vision:  To have a tablet (like my galaxy tab 8 ) that I can tote around, carry into meetings, sit beside my keyboard.  I can jot things down, draw pictures, etc.  My handwriting will become text via OCR, and my sketches will become images.  I'd have a notebook in Evernote which has a note for each day, which is all searchable.

You have it today.  Use Nebo and at the end of each day just export that note in pdf, sharing to Evernote.  Just a couple of taps.