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Cootey · 06-26-2021, 07:30 PM

I’ve been experimenting with the Notebooks on the new Kobo Elipsa. There are pluses and minuses, as you can imagine. I’ll share my thoughts here and invite you to ask questions or post your own observations.

For the record, I reserve the copyright on all my images. © 2021 Douglas Cootey

I don’t want them showing up on another website without compensation.

Let’s start with Basic Notebooks.

You’re given the choice when you create a new notebook whether you want a basic or advancing version. There are upsides to both types.

The basic notebook allows you to draw all over the page. There is no distinction between text and graphics, just like in a pen & paper sketch pad. Here’s my test page:

The pen icon up top allows you to choose from ballpoint, fountain, calligraphy, brush, or highlighter. There are five preset sizes and five shades of black to gray. There is no white ink. (The snapshots are a bit dim because I was in the dark with half brightness)

There is an eraser icon, though I never use it. I’ve grown accustomed to shifting my finger to press the back button on the stylus when I want to erase. There are also undo and redo icons, which are very helpful.

The ellipses (…) icon acceses a set of operators where you can clear the page (erases everything), delete the page (removes it entirely from the notebook), refresh the page (useful to eliminate ghost images when you’ve reworked an area), and export, which I’ll cover later.

There is also the option to change your background from a lined grid, ruled lines, a dotted grid, and a blank page.

For a sketchbook or for just jotting down ideas, this notebook is an excellent choice. The controls are responsive, the stylus lays down lines without glitches, and it’s all around almost exactly like drawing with a pen and paper thanks to the Kobo stylus nib and the friction of the Elipsa’s screen surface.

I experimented most with fountain pen. I thought I would enjoy the variety over ballpoint for simple writing, but I did not like its irregular thicks and thins. I suppose in time I will figure out the quirks of that nib, but it wasn’t analogous to writing with a fountain pen IRL. I’ll probably use it for headlines when the calligraphy nib is too much. The brush nib flowed nicely. I’ll have to experiment with it more. I found that the highlighter worked just like highlighters IRL. Putting strokes or drawing over previous highlighted marks will cause an overlap stroke that is darker. However, unlike IRL, if you never lift the stylus off the surface of the Elipsa, you can spread an entire area like a paint brush with no overlapping marks. You can see its effect in my illustration.

As far as editing, I cannot, for instance, circle the word “demands“ and move it as I could in adobe illustrator. However, I can’t do that IRL either. My only option would be to erase the word and rewrite it a little bit lower since I don’t like the spacing between it and the line above it.

There are two ways to export the basic notebook. One is from the My Notebooks page. The other is from the Export menu item within the notebook. Exporting from within the notebook has the option of exporting a single page versus the entire notebook. Both methods offer the same output choices, however.

First we are asked if we want to export to internal storage for retrieval later through USB to a computer, or we can export to Dropbox. Then we are given the choice to export as PDF, PNG, or JPG. If the notebook has several pages, they are exported as separate images in a zip file. They appear in the Kobo folder in Dropbox’s Apps folder under “Exported Notebooks”.

You can see how well the Elipsa exports the notebook images from my examples above.

And that’s my review of the Basic Notebook. I’m looking forward to utilizing them in my workflow.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

06-26-2021, 07:30 PM	#1
Cootey Absentminded Reader Posts: 1,339 Karma: 7440829 Join Date: Apr 2017 Device: Kobo Mini, Libra Colour & Elipsa; Kindle Paperwhite 3 & 4; iOS apps	Elipsa Notebooks Chat I’ve been experimenting with the Notebooks on the new Kobo Elipsa. There are pluses and minuses, as you can imagine. I’ll share my thoughts here and invite you to ask questions or post your own observations. For the record, I reserve the copyright on all my images. © 2021 Douglas Cootey I don’t want them showing up on another website without compensation. Let’s start with Basic Notebooks. You’re given the choice when you create a new notebook whether you want a basic or advancing version. There are upsides to both types. The basic notebook allows you to draw all over the page. There is no distinction between text and graphics, just like in a pen & paper sketch pad. Here’s my test page: The pen icon up top allows you to choose from ballpoint, fountain, calligraphy, brush, or highlighter. There are five preset sizes and five shades of black to gray. There is no white ink. (The snapshots are a bit dim because I was in the dark with half brightness) There is an eraser icon, though I never use it. I’ve grown accustomed to shifting my finger to press the back button on the stylus when I want to erase. There are also undo and redo icons, which are very helpful. The ellipses (…) icon acceses a set of operators where you can clear the page (erases everything), delete the page (removes it entirely from the notebook), refresh the page (useful to eliminate ghost images when you’ve reworked an area), and export, which I’ll cover later. There is also the option to change your background from a lined grid, ruled lines, a dotted grid, and a blank page. For a sketchbook or for just jotting down ideas, this notebook is an excellent choice. The controls are responsive, the stylus lays down lines without glitches, and it’s all around almost exactly like drawing with a pen and paper thanks to the Kobo stylus nib and the friction of the Elipsa’s screen surface. I experimented most with fountain pen. I thought I would enjoy the variety over ballpoint for simple writing, but I did not like its irregular thicks and thins. I suppose in time I will figure out the quirks of that nib, but it wasn’t analogous to writing with a fountain pen IRL. I’ll probably use it for headlines when the calligraphy nib is too much. The brush nib flowed nicely. I’ll have to experiment with it more. I found that the highlighter worked just like highlighters IRL. Putting strokes or drawing over previous highlighted marks will cause an overlap stroke that is darker. However, unlike IRL, if you never lift the stylus off the surface of the Elipsa, you can spread an entire area like a paint brush with no overlapping marks. You can see its effect in my illustration. As far as editing, I cannot, for instance, circle the word “demands“ and move it as I could in adobe illustrator. However, I can’t do that IRL either. My only option would be to erase the word and rewrite it a little bit lower since I don’t like the spacing between it and the line above it. There are two ways to export the basic notebook. One is from the My Notebooks page. The other is from the Export menu item within the notebook. Exporting from within the notebook has the option of exporting a single page versus the entire notebook. Both methods offer the same output choices, however. First we are asked if we want to export to internal storage for retrieval later through USB to a computer, or we can export to Dropbox. Then we are given the choice to export as PDF, PNG, or JPG. If the notebook has several pages, they are exported as separate images in a zip file. They appear in the Kobo folder in Dropbox’s Apps folder under “Exported Notebooks”. You can see how well the Elipsa exports the notebook images from my examples above. And that’s my review of the Basic Notebook. I’m looking forward to utilizing them in my workflow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Last edited by Cootey; 06-28-2021 at 07:02 AM.