What It Does

The Pen Tool lets you handwrite your notes just like the traditional way on paper. With our new pen-based AI features, it’s an essential tool to master for a great note-taking experience.

How to Use It

Write

• Choose the Writing Tools icon from the toolbar, then select the Pen icon and write or draw your notes! You can use a preset stroke width and type, and color on the right-hand side.

  

Reorder the color slots

• Hold and drag them.

Customize the selected color slot

1. Tap the slot again.

2. Choose a color for the slot:

   Apple

   • Select a color from the Presets or History tab.

   • For a custom color, choose the Custom tab:

     

     1. Create a color by choosing one from the palette or the color wheel, entering a color code in the HEX field, or tapping the Eyedropper (Color Picker) in the top-right corner to select a precise color pixel on the screen.
     2. Tap Add to Presets or **the Back button.

   Android, Windows, and Web

   • Select a color from the palette.

   • For a custom color, choose the color wheel:

     

     1. Create a color by entering a color code in the HEX field, or tapping the Eyedropper (Color Picker) in the top-right corner to select a precise color pixel on the screen.

        

     2. Tap the Add to Presets icon (next to the HEX field).

Add another color slot to the contextual section

You can add more color slots, making it easy to change colors quickly.

1. Tap the Add Color Slot icon at the end of the color list:

   

2. Choose a color for the new slot.

Delete a custom color slot

1. Tap the slot twice.

2. Open the More Settings menu:

   • Apple: Choose the top-left corner icon:

     

   • Android, Windows, and Web: Choose the color wheel, then the More icon:

     

     

3. Choose Remove (Selected) Color Slot. Note that this option won’t be available if you have only 3 slots.

<aside> ⚠️ (Apple only) To quickly delete all the custom color slots, choose Restore color sets to original. This action cannot be undone.

</aside>

Customize the selected stroke

1. Tap the slot again.

2. Make customizations:

   • Set the style: Choose Solid, Dashed, or Dotted.

   • Set the thickness: Adjust the thickness slider.

   • Restore stroke:

     • Apple: Tap the More Settings icon in the top-left corner > Restore Stroke.

       

     • Android, Windows, and Web: Tap the icon in the top-right corner.

       

Move around your document

To take precise notes, you may want to zoom in for a closer look at the details on the page and navigate easily around your document.

• Zoom in: Place two fingers on the screen and spread them apart.

• Zoom out: Place two fingers on the screen and pinch them together.

• Pan around a page while zoomed: Two fingers is the standard way to pan. On iOS, if you’re using Apple Pencil, you can usually pan with one finger (since the Pencil is used for writing).

• Scroll between pages: On iOS, you can typically scroll with one finger regardless of the selected tool. On Android, Windows, and Web, one-finger scrolling requires the Lasso tool selected; otherwise, a two-finger gesture is used. **For longer documents, you can scroll the page a little to reveal the scrollbar. Then, long-press the scrollbar until it widens, and drag it up or down to quickly scroll through pages.

• (Apple only) Scroll to the top: Tap the status bar at the top of the screen, which shows the clock, today's date, etc.

• (Apple only) Fit the paper to the screen width: Double-tap the screen.

• Jump to a page:

  1. Open the More menu.

     

  2. Choose Go to Page, type the page number you want to jump to and tap the go key.

<aside> 💡 Goodnotes’ proprietary AI features will help you take better and faster notes:

• (Apple only) Spellcheck
• Pen Gestures </aside>

How to Customize It

Pen Style

• Fountain Pen - for your everyday notes and sketches (pressure sensitive)
• Ball Pen - for your everyday notes and sketches (not pressure sensitive)
• Brush Pen - for more artistic sketches, drawings, and lettering (highly pressure sensitive)

To set the appearance of the selected pen style, drag the appropriate slider(s), if available.

• Tip Sharpness: This adjusts how sharp the end of the stroke is.
• Pressure Sensitivity: This changes how thick or thin your line is based on how hard you press with your Apple Pencil. Remember, the "Min" value doesn't remove sensitivity.