(Archived) REQUEST: Fewer steps to unify font attributes from the drop-down menu

[epeitso 1]

This restriction or bug has troubled me for a long time on the Mac client (I don't know if it exists on Windows).

Example:

Let's say I've written/copy-pasted some text with mixed typefaces:

"This part is 14 pt Arial. This is 24 pt Georiga, and this one again in Arial."

Problem:

If I want to change the typeface to Arial, I can't do it in on step just by highlighting all and choosing Arial from the dropdown list.

(Same problem with changing font sizes.)

Reason:

Evernote client seems to recognize the highlighted text to be in the dominant typeface/size (see the attachment) and re-choosing the same desired (dominant) attribute won't do anything to the deviant text.

What I have to do now:

Now I have to first choose some other typeface I don't want (e.g. turn them all to Courier New) and then choose the one I wanted (Arial).

How it is usually done:

Usually text editors recognize if the selection contains different typefaces/sizes and blanks the related dropdown list and thus makes one step unifying possible.

[peterfmartin 221]

Sorry (maybe) to tell you, but this isn't a bug, since this is known behavior going back at least several versions, and Evernote has not yet suggested they see it as a problem. That said, others have also requested an easier way to change font attributes, so consider your post a feature request along with theirs. I too hope Evernote makes this change soon, since, as you say, the current setup includes unnecessary, unhelpful steps.

[epeitso 1]

Thank you for the info

I hope they come around. Evernote is powerful and awesome, but I noticed that this inconvenience is the main reason I've started using other tools for making notes (and looking away usually leads to cancelling the subscribtion, but I hope I find a way overcome this problem).

[peterfmartin 221]

Yep, you're totally right.

Although Evernote is commonly referred to as a note-taking app (in large part, of course, because it has "note" in the name), I don't think of it that way, since it's not nearly the most useful note-taking app I've found. If I need to jot some text down quickly, I use Notational Velocity, since it opens in literally less than a second, it's all plain text, and I never have to save documents (that's done automatically). If I need an outline list that I can edit easily, I hold my nose and open Word, since Evernote's bullets and lists are so terrible.

But Evernote is where everything ends up before too long. A note I take in Notational Velocity quickly gets cut and pasted in Evernote. Word documents get added to Evernote. And, of course, lots of not-true-notes go first into Evernote: web pages, images, PDFs, etc.

If it helps you keep taking advantage of all Evernote has to offer to think of it as a database, a library, or a searchable box for all your junk—and not as a note-taking app—I encourage you to do so.