If you are looking for a way to still take handwritten notes but also use the technology of your iPad, this post may be a help to you. There is one app that has met the needs I have and has made my processes more efficient. This app combines handwriting with today’s technology. Every person who has an iPad for ministry should consider using Noteshelf as their journaling application.
The iPad has revolutionized the way I organize my study life. One “con” to using an iPad is that it was and is extremely difficult getting used to NOT handwriting notes. This challenge was taken care of when I began using Noteshelf. Noteshelf exports to Evernote, where I am able to view, search, and organize all of my study notes for a particular passage. Here are the top ten reasons I chose Noteshelf for journaling and exporting into Evernote:
Ten Reasons I Choose Noteshelf for Journaling into Evernote
- Noteshelf turns your iPad into a high tech, old-school legal pad.
- Noteshelf surpasses the competition for journaling. I have tried both Penultimate and Moleskin. Penultimate is good, but does not allow the ability to zoom, thus I cannot write as legibly as I personally like. See #5 for additional thoughts on Moleskin.
- Noteshelf easily exports to Evernote. Noteshelf allows you to either email or export to Evernote. In addition, exporting to apps like Dropbox is a nice feature.
- Evernote Premium users are able to search handwritten notes. This is especially good as it relates to Bible study. If you like to handwrite your notes as you are studying, then this feature would allow you to search by word [in Evernote]. Evernote recognizes words within your handwriting and displays the results of all of notes that contain the search word. Being able to search the research is important if the research will continue to be a help in future studies or work.
- The zoom function in Noteshelf allows the notes to be written in a more legible format. Moleskin has a similar feature, but the handwriting appears more pixilated in this software.
- Entire notebooks can be exported to Evernote. Some notebooks are created for projects that have a terminating point. In these cases, you can export the entire notebook to Evernote with just a few steps.
- Organization of the notebooks in Noteshelf allows for ease of search and instant access to what you need for the moment. Noteshelf allows you to stack notebooks that are for a similar function.
- Noteshelf offers a password protect feature for notebooks that contain more sensitive information. In ministry, counseling minutes must be kept confidential. This feature allows you to password protect specific notebooks.
- Cutting and pasting handwritten notes has become a feature that I use more and more each week. This allows you to cut and move certain portions of notes within Noteshelf or to other applications.
- Instant highlighting is a great feature that I use quite often. If you take minutes or notes like I do, you have a lot of details; but you know that there are only a few key points that you need to remember so that you can form “Tasks” from them later. One button turns your stylus into a highlighter so you can annotate what you just wrote. I do this to highlight the main points in sermon notes as well. Great feature!
Whether you are taking sermon notes or taking notes from your personal Bible study, Noteshelf has been a great iPad application that has allowed me to use the preferred method of handwriting.
The goal of these technology posts is to help those who are in ministry find ways to make their processes more efficient. If the technology is not helping you accomplish the work for the LORD, then why have it?
Is there one particular application that has helped you in ministry work?
January 14th, 2013 at 10:41 AM
Will the solution also work for the macbook pro or is this only for ipad app because of screen pick-up capability?
January 14th, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Good question. Noteshelf is an iPad app that is designed to allow you to capture handwriting. As far as I know, there is not Noteshelf App for Macbook. You can export Noteshelf as PDF’s from iPad for viewing on Macbook though.
January 15th, 2013 at 6:57 PM
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