Note-Taking app w/ text, handwriting, and .doc support

[MMAniacle 0]

Hi everyone,

I have used Evernote for some time now as a note taking app while in class. This allows me to use the search function to help find key topics and such later on. I love the set-up, except for a few small problems:

I have a professor who periodically e-mails us a word document containing what he will be talking about in the next class session, and these pages frequently complain areas where we are to draw graphs and tables while in class. Is there an existing app (or feature that I'm not aware of in Evernote) for the iPad that will integrate importing a Word document and then allowing me to draw graphs while also typing additional notes (My handwriting is terrible, hence I like to be able to type)

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

what a cruel professor! word is proprietary software that he is forcing his students to purchase. shame on him (i am a lecturer as well)!

evernote is not especially good at editing ongoing projects in non-text files (images, pdfs, etc.). this is especially true on the ipad, which makes it pretty difficult for different apps to work together. the standard procedure on the ipad is to click on a file and "open in" another application. this means that you literally cannot edit a non-text file in evernote on the ipad. short of folding pdf annotation and word processing features into one monster app, i don't think there is much evernote can do about this.

so, what do you do?

if i need to edit something, i convert it to a pdf (i use pdfprovider) and then open it in an application like iAnnotate or Note Taker HD in order to write on it. this should solve your problem. both apps also allow you to type. there are numerous other options out there (see link below), but i think the procedure is basically the same: convert to pdf and then annotate.

of course, once you are done you can email the document to your professor and cc your evernote account with it. i handwrite notes during most seminars, and i email them to my evernote account at the end of class, or open them in evernote. sometimes i email them to my fellow classmates as well. here is a link to evernote-friendly handwriting apps. many of them allow you to import a pdf and annotate it.

http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/handwriting.html

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

what a cruel professor! word is proprietary software that he is forcing his students to purchase. shame on him (i am a lecturer as well)!

Openoffice (free) can open Word documents & save as Word documents.

(But it's not an iPad app, AFAIK.)

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

what a cruel professor! word is proprietary software that he is forcing his students to purchase. shame on him (i am a lecturer as well)!

Openoffice (free) can open Word documents & save as Word documents.

(But it's not an iPad app, AFAIK.)

yep. but, formatting is often messy, and more importantly, the expectation (i guess) is that students have microsoft products installed. a much, much better system would be for him to use open office and/or pdfs. that's what i do. i'd never send my poor students a word docx file.

[Metrodon 2,184]

Goodreader might do it...

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Goodreader might do it...

Not as far as I know. It will read Word documents. You cannot edit them. This seems to be true of most applications. It is far easier on the iPad (in my experience) to convert Word, PowerPoint, Keynote, Excel, etc. into PDFs so that you can annotate them.

[anjoschu 67]

Also, there's QuickOffice HD which lets you edit MS Office docs (but not draw as far as I know). It's quite costly, and some commentators didn't like it a lot. But it appears to integrate with Evernote ok (normally with iPad/iPhone apps, you can't open an Evernote attachment, edit it and save it back to the same note. QuickOffice HD seems to solve this problem by directly communicating with the Evernote server API).

http://blog.evernote...-school-series/

Also see the comments for opinions.

[C6REW 416]

I have just downloaded QuickOffice HD to the ipad and can see an immediate problem.

You must have an internet connection and every time you open a document it is downloaded and when you close it uploaded back to the Evernote site!

Could be an expensive way of changing notes! I can find no mention of this in QuickOffice help. Nor can I find any way of adapting a document that has been downloaded. Might be there but I cannot see it.

Best regards

Chris

[why? 37]

I don't know about doc support, but find 7notesHD Premium pretty good and it integrates with evernote nicely.

You can actually write with a stylus and it converts the hand written notes to text as you write.

You could convert the doc to pdf and then annotate using something like notability. If you have the premium version of evernote it will make the pdf searchable as far as I am aware.

[John0 0]

So, let me get this straight, I have to use several other programs to make Evernote work on iPad?  Why use evernote?

[David Hundley 0]

I agree with John0. Why would I (or anyone) use Evernote if I have to use several other apps/programs to convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint, photos, and PDF files? It seems simple enough - import any of these, or whatever, and allow one to write, draw, edit, provide instructions, whatever on to the Evernote file. Then, be able to save it, send it, whatever. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.