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 in Goodnotes 6, it’s an essential tool to master for a great note-taking experience.

How to Use It

Write

• Just select the Pen Tool and write or draw your notes! The app is designed to make handwriting notes a breeze, so you’ll probably find yourself using this tool a lot.

Use a preset stroke

• Tap one of the stroke slots in the contextual section located on the right-hand side.

Set stroke color

• Tap one of the color slots in the contextual section located on the right-hand side.

Customize the selected color slot

1. Tap the slot again.

2. Choose a color for the slot:

   • If you'd like to choose a preset color, simply tap on it from the palette.
   • If you'd like to choose a different color:

     1. Tap the Custom tab.

     2. 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.

        

        The Eyedropper

     3. Tap Add to Presets.

Add another color slot to the toolbar

You have the option to add up to 12 color slots, making it easy to switch between them whenever you need to.

1. Tap the Add Color Slot icon at the end of the scrollable contextual section:

   

2. Choose a color for the new slot.

Delete a custom color slot

1. Tap the slot twice.

2. Tap the Settings icon in the top-left corner.

   

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

   <aside> ℹ️ To quickly delete all the custom color slots, choose Restore color sets to original.

   </aside>

Customize the selected stroke

1. Tap the slot again.
2. Make customizations:
   • To set the style, choose Solid , Dashed, or Dotted.
   • To set the thickness, adjust the thickness slider.

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: Drag your finger across the screen in any direction. ****If you do not have an Apple Pencil connected, you will need to use two fingers for this.

• Scroll between pages: Swipe your finger up or down (or left and right if you're in *horizontal scrolling mode).* 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.

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

• 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:, then type the page you want to jump to.

<aside> 💡 Goodnotes 6’s proprietary AI features will help you take better and faster notes:

• Spellcheck
• Word Complete (Experimental)
• Pen Gestures </aside>

How to Customize It

You can personalize this tool to make it better fit your note-taking preferences. For instance, you can make your handwriting (and your notes!) look even nicer by editing the ink settings.

As with all tools, you can tap the tool again to adjust its settings.

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.

• Tip Flatness: This controls how blunt the tip of the Apple Pencil is, giving you dynamic inking with the Fountain Pen.

  

• Pen Settings

• Writing Aids

• React to pen rotation: The stroke will vary with the rotation of the Apple Pencil Pro tip (supported iPads).