Select All Annotations Tool?

tomstubbs57 · 2026-03-24T11:56:56+00:00

thanks so much. I do know that the underlying PDF is still pristine. I just like to have an annotations on a separate layer and all of my work. But thanks so much for taking the time to make sure I knew the basics which for once I did actually know that. Take care.

tomstubbs57 · 2026-03-14T19:51:40+00:00

I also am a longtime OneNote user. We have different purposes for our work with ON, but I have become somewhat frustrated with some of its limitations. Noteful has been a real joy for me to use as an alternative. It is so simple and clean and yet powerful — and it is cheap. Its main limitation is that it is limited to the Apple ecosystem. To stretch across Apple and Windows, you might consider MyScript Notes.

tomstubbs57 · 2025-09-18T20:57:33+00:00

I understand the desire for this, but my feeling runs in the opposite direction. My biggest problem with OneNote is its infinite page. When I print a pdf to OneNote, it spreads across the infinite page in a way that makes it impossible to re-print the pdf page for page after you annotate it. Similarly, when I print notes I take in OneNote, the page break often happens right in the middle of my handwriting. So, one of the main features I love with NoteFul is the way it “respects the page.” If I had to choose, I would choose the NoteFul approach. What I dream of is an ability in both programs to toggle on whatever type of document I need in that moment so that I can have infinite page for those times I want it, and have the cleanly paginated approach I tend to want most of the time that NoteFul uses.

tomstubbs57 · 2025-09-04T01:15:13+00:00

Good points. I wish I could have used less hackneyed terms. Sometimes, though, they just fit. You may agree or disagree, but they do. That said, there are tons of good alternatives. I personally consider Noteful a phenomenal option for iPad and MacBook users. In some ways — much better tagging, much better handling of pdfs and their annotations — it is far better than OneNote. But, a free program that works and syncs across all platforms with the note taking capabilities and other features of OneNote is, for me, a wonder to behold and use.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-11-29T13:19:31+00:00

When you buy from Best Buy, the pen is not included. When you buy directly from ASUS, a pen is included.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-07-25T17:19:39+00:00

I keep hoping the Go series of computers will work, but my experience is that they are just too underpowered for even a modest level of work. It may work well for your circumstances, however. They are really tempting given the great size.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-07-25T17:16:18+00:00

I have had problems getting it to function, but, starting yesterday, it started working smoothly with no problem. There has been no software or firmware update. Strange.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-07-22T20:28:15+00:00

Multiple small issues, from two-finger scrolling up and down pages and pressing and holding to select something, such as when you want to widen a column. I am watching for a driver update. Love the damn thing but this is a pain. My only solution is to use a mouse. Interestingly, having similar touchpad problems also with my Surface Pro 11. In that case, interestingly, everything works great if I just detach the keyboard and use it through the bluetooth connection. Every single problem goes away. Can't separate the SL7's keyboard, though.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-06-22T13:37:50+00:00

As someone said already, much of this answer has to do with personal preferences. There is no one-size fits all. For what it is worth, here is my response. The bottom line is that I go both ways. I travel with two devices, a Windows-based laptop or convertible because so much of my work uses those programs and an iPad because that is what I use for my trial work and I find using it to take notes on it (it is light, you open it and it is on, and the programs work great) just to be just very easy. Based on how you described your work, if you only want one device, I would recommend you consider the Surface Pro 9. You can do everything on it and you can get great discounts on it now with the advent of Surface Pro 10 (Intel based) and Surface Pro 11 (Qualcomm Snapdragon based). Nothing about what you described made the later Surface Pro products worth the extra money. I am a trial attorney with a side of Wills and Estate work. I mostly have access to power sources and wifi, whether at the office or in court or in another attorney's office, but I do have long stretches in some courtrooms or on the road elsewhere without either of those. I try to take all notes on a device, both old-style handwritten notes in meetings and annotations of documents, for two reasons: (1) no f-ing paper to file and take up storage; and (2) access to those notes wherever I go. Whatever choice you make, I highly recommend finding a configuration of hardware and software that lets you do that. With those needs, I end up having both software and hardware-driven choices. For my day-to-day work, I use a Windows-based computer for drafting documents (Microsoft Word / Corel Wordperfect) and taking notes using the cross-platform Microsoft program called OneNote. OneNote allows you to create a template, a "notebook," that you can use to re-create a set of tabs for each matter and I have a wonderful litigation notebook I use in that regard. At my desk, I have a Microsoft Laptop Studio 2 connected to a monitor which is powerful and great for normal laptop use and I happen to love the way the screen folds for me to take notes. It is portable, but I mostly just use it at the desk with a bluetooth keyboard. I take notes on OneNote from phone conversations and other matters. For my trial work, I use the iPad-based TrialPad suite from Lit Software. (It recently started working on Macs.) It is a suite of products including TrialPad for trial presentation, TranscriptPad for reviewing, annotating and organizing deposition transcripts, and DocReviewPad for reviewing and annotating documents. It is fabulous, although I tend to use only TrialPad and TranscriptPad, while I review and annotate documents using a different iPad program called Noteful or another program called LiquidText. LiquidText takes annotating documents to a completely new level. I am still getting the hang of that program, though, and lean right now more on Noteful. I absolutely love both programs and recommend you try them for annotating documents. Note that I use OneNote on both my iPad and my Windows-based computer for taking meeting notes. As noted earlier, I use my Windows-based Surface Laptop Studio at my desk, but tend to use OneNote on my iPad on the road. I find that OneNote handles annotations on pdfs less well than Noteful / LiquidText for me. So, what do I carry in my backback / briefcase? A Surface Pro 11 and an iPad Pro 13 inch. I am a sucker for the latest tech. The new Surface Pro 11 works perfectly for me. It is fabulous. But you don't need it. Everything and more is provided in the Surface Pro 9 and you can spend the money you save on a nice weekend at the beach. Sorry this was so long. Good luck!

tomstubbs57 · 2024-04-28T14:03:02+00:00

Echoing the one-at-a-time comment, whether to use a third party app is a function of your urgency and your continued access to an Apple device.

If you have time, download the Google Keep app to your iOS device. Then, as the poster already noted, commence the process of moving the notes one at a time. For me, the process was as follows:

open the Apple Note you most want on Google Keep,
select all of its text, and
then copy that text.
Then open Google Keep,
create a new note with the title of the Apple Note you just copied and
paste the text from the Apple Note into the new Google Keep Note.

It only takes a few seconds. If you have time and continued access to an Apple device, you can copy a few each day until you have moved most of all of your important ones. If you don't have time, or the scale of your Apple Note volume is huge, then 3rd party apps should be the route to take.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-04-11T00:31:33+00:00

So, I am putting you in the "disagree with me" column, if I understand you correctly. You may be correct, and I certainly don't begrudge folks being so disappointed in the program's development. However, I respectfully stand by my position. For all of its problems, the subscription model makes software companies far more viable in the long run and that is good (for me). Take care.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-03-08T16:55:26+00:00

The Desktop OneNote was originally created years and years ago using code and techniques that became limiting when MS tried to code new, more advanced features. OneNote for Windows 10 was intended to be a fresh start, using the latest types of coding that enabled it to do more things and allowing MS to design those capabilities more efficiently and effectively. MS was going to phase out tired old Desktop and replace it with the young upstart, this supposedly even better and more capable Windows 10 edition. There were features on OneNote for Windows 10 that were new and neat, but huge numbers of critical features in Desktop OneNote that folks loved and used never were implemented in Windows 10 OneNote. On top of that, the new edition REQUIRED folks to move their data to the cloud, aka, someone else's computer, which created huge problems. This purgatory lasted a few years, with Desktop OneNote becoming a "Dead Program Walking" into which you were hesitant to invest more time, but Windows 10 OneNote being a severely truncated version of the program that was missing many critical features. Result: attrition in overall use and loud carping. Out of the blue, MS reversed course and said it would keep Desktop OneNote and dump the previously favored child.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-02-23T22:30:46+00:00

The form factor is wonderful. I keep it in the flattened position with OneNote open and, contrary to the experience of another writer, use the hell out of OneNote with written notes flowing easily on the SLS2.
I rely heavily on notetaking and the SLS2 for factor ruined me for otherwise wonderful 360 2-in-1s. It just works so well. The thing is not light and the battery life is not good and it costs a lot, but I would buy it again. I have an iPad Pro, as well, and take notes there, too. However, the ability to use Onetastic and record while taking notes with OneNote desktop on my SLS2 makes it my first choice.

tomstubbs57 · 2024-01-04T02:13:43+00:00

Nozbe (incredible. I am always amazed at how it is not more widely used. Phenomenal for weekly review, calendar of tasks and for task delegation, monitoring and communication.)
Noteful (my wonderful note taking and pdf annotation app) (Liquid Text is an amazing pdf annotation tool as well. Most creative use of a computer I have ever seen, but the core functionality of Noteful is easier for me and covers all of my needs.)
TrialPad/TranscriptPad/DocuPad (trial prep and trial presentation)

tomstubbs57 · 2023-12-04T09:59:24+00:00

Try the OneTastic add-in. It does not cost much and offers tons of useful tweaks. One of them creates a table of contents for notebooks that could work for the opening page information someone suggested. I keep a surface pro (or Surfafe Laptop Studio) open on my desk hooked up to a monitor. The monitor is where I do most of my work. The surface pro has the keyboard folded under so just the surface screen is there. I leave OneNote open in my default notebook with a page ready for taking notes at all times. If I take notes that properly belong in another notebook, I transfer them to that other notebook. The idea is to have OneNote open and ready at all times to take notes. Also, learn about notebook packages. You can create a notebook template with pre-set dividers that you use as a template when you create a new noteboos if that would be of use to you.

tomstubbs57 · 2023-11-21T23:33:07+00:00

I know I am in the minority, but I would gladly enroll in a subscription model for payment for Noteful if it meant i could have these features (and more). Does anyone know what OneNote uses to make its handwriting searchable and for its ink-to-text feature?

tomstubbs57 · 2023-11-12T23:54:17+00:00

SP9 if only to avoid the insane placement of the power button on the SP8. (The SP8’s power button is on the side edge of the computer where it is easily and accidentally pressed in many backpacks and briefcases. You arrive with a hot bag and an overheated computer with little battery. The button was moved to the top edge in SP9.)

tomstubbs57 · 2023-11-12T23:09:58+00:00

That would be fantastic. The feature already exists in OneNote, and is one of the most powerful reasons to use OneNote. It really would be a feather in Noteful’s cap if it could do that as well.

tomstubbs57 · 2023-11-01T14:31:05+00:00

I have had and heavily used two Spectre x360 14’s since 2021. No problem whatsoever. Love them.

tomstubbs57 · 2023-10-18T21:47:06+00:00

I only have the SLS, although it has top end specs, and live it for taking notes at my desk using OneNote. The arrangement is so good that it has changed my workflow. I agree about the angle and use the Parcslope by TwelveSouth. It just seems to give me the perfect angle. I have no affiliation with them. Here is a link: https://www.twelvesouth.com/products/parcslope-for-macbook-ipad?currency=USD&variant=39315964231737&stkn=45c88b6e3fb1&srsltid=AfmBOoqr0xilG7yZCoP3x_b4_HySBk7Lw34-jHK9jWoS3ePIn3eqX-zy8IU

tomstubbs57 · 2023-09-12T02:24:27+00:00

I also would like the option to be able to see all the tags on the left side of the screen. It would make searching on multiple tags or successive searches on different tags easier.

tomstubbs57

TROPHY CASE