(Archived) Multi-page hand written notes?

[Valdar 0]

Hi everyone,

I want to know how others are handling multiple pages of hand written notes?

You can't put them into PDF because the PDF on OCRs is sub-par compared to that of images. So the searching capability of evernote is useless when putting them into PDFs.

Images are inconvenient because they are one at a time and then I have to copy and paste them into a single note.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle multi-page hand written notes?

Thanks!

[jbenson2 2,147]

My suggestion is to use a keyboard and type in the important information just above the multipage PDF in the Evernote note. I won't type everything, just the key words and important thoughts.

Why?

If Evernote searching is important, I do not want software to try to figure out my own handwriting.

Sometimes, even I can't figure out what I wrote down.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

If you have that many pages & it's very important to you, it may be worth the time & expense to invest in OCR software.

I rarely write things down with the exception of short notes while on the phone. (I'd rather keyboard.) IE, time & place to meet up with someone, doggie groomer appointments, etc. Those I handle like jbenson suggested. I'll take a photo of the note & type in the person's name or the company & sometimes the date (in case the creation date were to get munged. Then I toss the scrap of paper. The only reason I even add these images to EN is there have been times when I wondered if I put something in my calendar incorrectly. It's nice to be able to go back & "see" what I wrote down.

Sometimes, even I can't figure out what I wrote down.

Me too. That's exactly why I don't write much anymore.

[Valdar 0]

I appreciate the responses.

The solution seems to be:

1) Take handwritten notes

2) put it into evernote

3) put more notes on top of those handwritten ones

It's frustrating because evernote image OCR is great for handwriting. And typing notes kind of removes the convenient of just scanning my handwritten stuff.

I'd type everything if I could, but the nature of my work usually leaves with me a piece of pen and paper, but no laptop.

Any other ideas are appreciated.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Well, like I said, you could buy your own OCR software & OCR all your PDFs, if it's that important to you. If you don't mind my asking, what work situation are you in where extensive notetaking is very important and yet you cannot have a laptop/netbook/PDA?

[Valdar 0]

I do evaluation of new technologies for my company. So usually touring some other company's manufacturing floor or looking at something in a research lab...areas that aren't conducive to pulling out the laptop. Sometimes I don't even have a table... :-/

OCR software sounds like it might work, I'll see if I can get some trial versions.

[jbenson2 2,147]

I certainly relied on pen and paper while on the road, but the concept of saving hand-written customer visits is an anathema to me. I was a sales manager for an international company for 22 years and made countless customer visits. My trips to Europe and Asia usually ran from 1 to 2 weeks. Part of the reason for the visits was to get out on the customer's manufacturing floor and see how our products were used.

Due to the importance of the information I always re-typed my notes (either in the hotel or later in my office). These stories helped inform our sales people on new applications. By transcribing the info, I was able to prevent any secret or proprietary information from leaking out to the field.

I've been transcribing my trip notes for many years. Way back in time (early 80's), my very first trip reports were done in the office on Selectric typewriters. Eventually the company bought a couple of those new fangled huge IBM word processors ($12,000 per machine) which made it a lot easier to transcribe my trip notes onto 8" floppy disks - yup, 8 inches. Eventually I upgraded to a transluggable Comapaq (28 pounds with an Intel 8088 running at 4.77MHz, 128K RAM and a 9" monochrome display with 2 320K 5-1/4" disk drives) which I would use at home. The big breakthrough happened when we started using IBM PC's and I could create flow charts, graphs, and more detailed graphic instructions on product usage. I still have many of these documents stored in my archives and can quickly search them using Google Desktop.

Of course the vast majority of the documents are useless now. Some were saved in Lotus Ami Pro format. But they are part of my memories and they do bring back interesting reminders from trips long ago. Let me tell you about my visit to Tangier on a camel, sometime.

[Lblossom 0]

I find this sort of help to be very disrespectful. No access to any real help and then people post questions but NO answers are provided. The search ability, on the computer, are terrible. Awful! what is the point to storing all of this if I cannot do a simple, quick search? I feel like a number. I won't upgrade until the basic service is better. I have learned that upgrading does not change things like this. It explains the three star rating. Since the ability to get help equals communicating with Microsoft (why I use Mac)' where can I basic info?

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I find this sort of help to be very disrespectful. No access to any real help and then people post questions but NO answers are provided. The search ability, on the computer, are terrible. Awful! what is the point to storing all of this if I cannot do a simple, quick search? I feel like a number. I won't upgrade until the basic service is better. I have learned that upgrading does not change things like this. It explains the three star rating. Since the ability to get help equals communicating with Microsoft (why I use Mac)' where can I basic info?

There is nothing disrespectful posted in this thread. OP is trying to accomplish something given the scope of Evernote. If you really, really, really want to put a square peg into a round hole, the only options may be to make the peg round or make the hole square. Suggestions were provided to OP on how he could best accomplish the task he's trying to do. Questions were asked b/c there may be an option someone might suggest to OP that he'd not thought of for his situation.

Just because the answer isn't one you don't want to hear doesn't mean it's disrepectful.

BTW, the search ability of Evernote is awesome. If you read OP's other thread, you will see why his situation differs from other situations and why Evernote OCRs jpgs differently from PDFs.