r/NoteTaking

Need something good for study notes and summaries. What do you guys use?

What im looking for doesn't seem to me to be that insane of a thing BUT after years of looking i cant find it. Im moving from obsidian because i guess im finding out now that it cant really use images without a lot of understanding of markdown and i do not want to leaarn markdown for just taking notes.

what im looking for

Folder hierarchy, i like to sort everything. at least be able to have Notebook - SUBJECT FOLDER - notes. with the ability for unlimited folders.
not necessarily a whiteboard like Onenote(which i loved other then the folder situation) has but just. the ability to easily move images around a page and wrap text around them. i guess like word processor? obsidian had this feature w a plugin but i found out it just reloads them in the default position so its useless.
i liked obsidian linking system but just the ability to search is enough
i write a LOT and i like using images dotted throughout,
absolutely no ai and if it is there the ability to completely turn it off is needed.
i have like 10 bucks i could use for a sub but id prefer not to, i just want somewhere to keep my research and notes w pictures. kinda like wikis do i guess?
i dont want to have to learn coding to make a page look at least decent

if anyone could help me find anything please share id be very grateful <3 ive been on and off looking for years since leaving onenote and i just cant find anything. everything seems to be the exact opposite of what im loooking for :V

below is my obsidian setup. i love the plugins and community i just want to be able to easily insert and use images

https://preview.redd.it/ex9pbw7q472h1.png?width=1915&format=png&auto=webp&s=8cbdcd435d1185214d7dcaabc9cbd584fecbb47a

https://preview.redd.it/prfui4vyo62h1.png?width=2662&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e6504afe54ce38a0332cac42264f4d6016eca30

https://preview.redd.it/aao8ztuyo62h1.png?width=2640&format=png&auto=webp&s=c392e8605e6bcc2c8955aed62c4fb6ed9ad1c485

I am sure this has been done many times before, but hopefully this will be helpful to some. It has definitely been a game-changer for me, even if it is such a small change.

I am constantly struggling to focus when I see a huge block of text, even when divided by headers with a colourful font. My dyslexia and ADHD probably do not help.

I have been trying to recreate what I saw in Notion years ago, and wrote this quick CSS snippet to add to a Tokyo Night theme I am using. I tried callouts previously; they looked great, but were obviously not headers.

Pretty happy with the result, I applied this to all headers, but I am considering keeping only H1 - H3.

Here is the code - I am not technical, so it has obviously been written with Claude. I tinkered with this a bit to make it look solid. Colours can be adjusted to fit the different themes.

If you have any suggestions on what can be improved, please share!

/* H1 - Salmon/Pink */
.markdown-rendered h1, .cm-line:has(.cm-header-1) {
    background-color: #2b2024;
    color: #e06c75 !important;
    padding: 8px 14px !important; 
    border: 6px solid transparent !important;
    background-clip: padding-box !important;
    border-radius: 10px !important; 
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    position: relative !important;
    left: -6px !important;
    width: calc(100% + 12px) !important;
    display: block;
}


/* H2 - Green */
.markdown-rendered h2, .cm-line:has(.cm-header-2) {
    background-color: #283129;
    color: #81b866 !important;
    padding: 8px 14px !important;
    border: 6px solid transparent !important;
    background-clip: padding-box !important;
    border-radius: 10px !important; 
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    position: relative !important; 
    left: -6px !important; 
    width: calc(100% + 12px) !important; 
    display: block;
}


/* H3 - Teal */
.markdown-rendered h3, .cm-line:has(.cm-header-3) {
    background-color: #203131;
    color: #34b79b !important;
    padding: 8px 14px !important;
    border: 6px solid transparent !important;
    background-clip: padding-box !important;
    border-radius: 10px !important; 
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    position: relative !important; 
    left: -6px !important; 
    width: calc(100% + 12px) !important; 
    display: block;
}


/* H4 - Blue */
.markdown-rendered h4, .cm-line:has(.cm-header-4) {
    background-color: #252a40;
    color: #6f88d9 !important;
    padding: 8px 14px !important;
    border: 6px solid transparent !important;
    background-clip: padding-box !important;
    border-radius: 10px !important; 
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    position: relative !important; 
    left: -6px !important; 
    width: calc(100% + 12px) !important; 
    display: block;
}


/* H5 - Purple */
.markdown-rendered h5, .cm-line:has(.cm-header-5) {
    background-color: #2d233f;
    color: #a981d4 !important;
    padding: 8px 14px !important;
    border: 6px solid transparent !important;
    background-clip: padding-box !important;
    border-radius: 10px !important; 
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    position: relative !important; 
    left: -6px !important; 
    width: calc(100% + 12px) !important; 
    display: block;
}


/* H6 - Yellow/Orange */
.markdown-rendered h6, .cm-line:has(.cm-header-6) {
    background-color: #2d2820;
    color: #e5c07b !important;
    padding: 8px 14px !important;
    border: 6px solid transparent !important;
    background-clip: padding-box !important;
    border-radius: 10px !important; 
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    position: relative !important; 
    left: -6px !important; 
    width: calc(100% + 12px) !important; 
    display: block;
}

I’m going into college this fall and got a new iPad Air. I’m using this mainly for notes and I don’t like big and bulky cases so I’m thinking of going for a folio case. The clear answer would be moft but the issue is that they don’t have a pencil holder besides that plastic one and if you add that it’s no longer a sleek design. There’s the second place, pitaka, but that one isn’t as good as moft.

What case do you guys use and if you don’t use a pencil holder do you just store it in a pencil case?

In this video I explain my note-taking workflow using zk and Helix together.

Hello everyone,

A little background: I’m one of those people who struggles a lot with perfectionism, and I’m also a master procrastinator. I tend to overthink systems, organization, and even the “right” way to take notes, which usually ends up slowing me down from actually doing the work.

Lately, I’ve been trying to get around that by focusing less on perfection and more on simply capturing thoughts as they come. If something is on my mind, I write it down instead of trying to organize it perfectly first. I mostly use the PARA method in Obsidian for managing notes, ideas, projects, and random thoughts, and it’s been helping me reduce some of the mental friction.

That got me thinking about the balance between digital and physical notes. I still enjoy writing on paper sometimes because it feels more natural and less distracting, but digital notes are obviously easier to organize, search, and connect together.

So I’m curious: how do you separate your digital and physical notes? What kind of things go into each system for you? Do they overlap, or do you try to keep them completely separate? And if you use both, how do you avoid ending up with information scattered everywhere?

I realized I’m pretty bad at taking notes during meetings. If I focus on writing, I miss half the conversation. If I just listen, I forget details later. Lately I’ve been trying a different setup with Bluedot. I use it mostly for capture, it records quietly with no bot, then gives transcripts, summaries, action items, and searchable meeting history after. The Claude integration has been useful too since I can search old meetings instead of manually digging through notes.

Are you all still taking notes manually during meetings, or relying more on AI tools now? And how are you organizing everything long term so it doesn’t become a mess later?

I am looking for ear-buds (preferable over headphones) that can listen to a call (on iphone or through Windows PC including Zoom, etc.) and take notes but NOT record. I want something that doesn't notify the listeners that notes are being taken. I want it to not record specifically due to two-party notice laws. I find I can't listen actively and take notes at the same time since I can barely read my own handwriting. Thanks.

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I (20F) am an ESL teacher who also teaches middle and high school Science as a freelancer. I’ll be starting med school around September. I bought an iPad 11th gen last year and have been using the built-in Notes app for my classes. It worked okay for basic things, but PDF markups have been a real headache. Since this is my first Apple product, I’m not sure if it’s just a learning curve or if the app truly isn’t great for heavy use.

Either way, I’m not a big fan of it for serious note-taking and intense work. Recently I went down a huge rabbit hole comparing note apps. I even paid about $3 for one year of FreeNotes (and immediately canceled auto-renew) to try it out, planning to buy the lifetime Plus version for $7 if I liked it. But now I keep hearing that GoodNotes is better, while also seeing plenty of negative reviews. Then I discovered Notability, Noteful, CollaNote, Killo notes, and many others and now I have total choice paralysis.

Here’s exactly what I’ll be using the app for:

(As a teacher)

- Making lesson plans

- Annotating PDFs with quick revision notes

- Creating homework assignments

- Designing learning materials (very visually heavy lots of flowcharts, mind maps, and diagrams)

(As a med student)

- Taking notes in class

- Making short personal notes and quick summaries

- Annotating e-books for revision

- Creating mind maps, flowcharts, and flashcards

- Practicing diagrams

(My requirements)

- Must have a dark mode because i mostly study at night and my students mostly live in different timezones

- No subscriptions at all

- One-time payment under $50 is fine (as long as it has the necessary features)

Please help me settle on something that fits my needs! Which app would you recommend for this kind of heavy visual + PDF work, and why? Personal experiences would be super helpful.

Hey :)

I've been looking for an app to take notes on my Lenovo tablet. Preferably free. I need to have different notebooks for different topics. If the app turn hand writing to digital writing it would be perfect - I haven't found one that does this yet.

Thank you

My workflow's getting messy lately. Some meetings are on Zoom/Meet, others are in a room with a whiteboard, and i'm struggling to keep everything in one place without missing stuff.

Ideally looking for something that works for both in-person + virtual meetings, can capture or summarize conversations, and doesn’t feel like a heavy CRM or overkill system.

Some tools my team mentioned so far are Circleback, Granola, and even going back to Notion.

Are you mostly manual, or using AI tools for this now? Any suggestions?

I've been using Notion, Obsidian, Evernote, and Otter on Android for a while now.

The biggest daily friction for me with voice notes is:

1. Everything gets uploaded permanently to the cloud immediately
2. Search only works if I remember the exact words.
3. Transcription quality drops noticeably with accents.
4. Apps often feel heavy and slow on normal phones

Curious, do others face the same issues, or have you found good workarounds for voice notes in your workflow?

I was very excited about the idea of note taking on my iPad but when I actually tried
It was nota good experience…

what are your thoughts on digital notetaking as compared to traditional ones.

I received the Evernote AI memory feature,and it's incredibly powerful—a game-changer! Here's what I did:

I have a notebook where I always analyze documents using a specific template. Now I've told Evernote to remember to apply that template whenever I request a summary of those documents in that notebook. It's fantastic!

I have another notebook where I capture information, and I always request the same things:

A summary of the note A clear and concise explanation A callout or key point Recommended tags based on the note's information.

Extraordinary!

Finally, I can ask it to be a medical expert, a lawyer, or whatever, or a productivity expert, and give me weekly tips on how to improve my workflow...

Amazing!

I recently bought Lenovo tablet and unfortunately it doesn't have any inbuilt app like Samsung or apple. So I've been using an app called "Free Notes" which was amazing initially, but now they added more ads and limited books and shit.

So now I've been searching on online about any notepad which is free and has unlimited books to add. A lil bit of ads are okay for me, but not too much ffs.
I work with PDF annotations and digital notes.
And also I've tried OneNote but unfortunately I didnt like there scrolling option or jumping directly to the feature, so I'm avoiding it.
And Obsidien feels like a Rocket science setup sht IDK man xD

Also if there's nothing at all, then I'd like you guys to suggest which app should I go with, which is not expensive and has good value for the money! (Also I'll prefer lifetime subscription)

i have used it for a long time but I think I want to switch to something else because i'm not a huge fan of some of their new features. i just want one that's good for note taking and organizing notes essentially

free would be preferred but im open to looking into ones where you have to pay