Use your favourite handwriting tools from Goodnotes in Classroom to create for interactive and absorbing lessons. Here is a brief overview of the different handwriting tools that you can find in Classroom. All these Tools can be accessed from the Toolbar.
Before we look at some of the different Tools, let's find out how we access them and their extra options.
Tool options
You can bring up more options about how each Tool works by tapping its icon in the Toolbar, and then tapping it again. Depending on the Tool, this will give you access to:
- Stroke Style
- Sensitivity
- Draw and Hold options
- Writing Aids
- Gesture toggles
- Other Tool-specific options!
Each Tool will also have extra options such as color and stroke size customization. These are usually found in the Contextual Menu on the right-hand side of the Toolbar.
To learn more about the Toolbar and different Tool options, you can check them out in the Goodnotes 6 Help Centre.
Pen tool
The Pen Tool lets you hand-write your notes just like the traditional way on paper. To access the Pen Tool, tap the first icon on the Toolbar.
You can adjust the settings of the Pen Tool in its options by tapping on it twice. Here you will find the following options:
- Pen Style: Choose between Fountain Pen, Ball Pen or Brush Pen
- Appearance: Set the Tip Sharpness, Pressure Sensitivity and Tip Flatness (Depnding on your Pen Style Choice)
- Enable/disable Draw and Hold: With this enabled, you can draw a perfect line/curve/oval/polygon by drawing a rough shape in one stroke.
- Snap to Other Shapes: To quickly connect two lines or curves, draw a line or curve and hold the stylus tip close to an endpoint of another line or curve. This feature is especially helpful for drawing tables or closed shapes that require multiple strokes. Once closed, the shape can be moved and adjusted as a whole.
- Fill Color: Every closed shape you draw will be filled transparently with the selected color.
- Scribble to Erase: You can scribble over some strokes to erase them quickly
- Circle to Lasso: You can draw a loop around objects to select them.
- Recognition Language: Tap to set the language used for handwriting recognition in the document.
- React to pen rotation: This feature is available only with Apple Pencil Pro on supported iPads. If enabled, stroke appearance will vary with the rotation of the Apple Pencil Pro tip.
You can also customise your color and stroke width using the Contextual Menu on the right-hand side of the Toolbar. You can choose a preset, or tap a preset again to customize it yourself!
Eraser tool
Everyone makes mistakes! The Eraser Tool lets you erase handwriting and annotations created with the Pen Tool and Highlighter Tool.
You can adjust the settings of the Eraser Tool in its options by tapping on it twice. Here you will find the following options:
- Eraser Style: Choose between Standard, Stroke and Precision Eraser
- Erase Highlighter Only: Enable or disable this function
- Erase Tape Only: Enable or disable this function
- Auto-Delect: Enabling this will automatically switch back to the Pen Tool once you have made one Eraser stroke.
You can also choose a preset size, or customize the preset sizes in the Contextual Menu.
Highlighter tool
The Highlighter Tool lets you highlight content in your Assignments or PDF content to help you or your Students know what's important.
You can adjust the settings of the Highlighter Tool in its options by tapping on it twice. Here you will find the following options:
- Draw in a Straight Line: When enabled, all your Highlighter strokes will be perfectly straight!
Like the Pen Tool, you can set color and size in the Contextual Menu on the right-hand side of the Toolbar.
Text Tool
The Text Tool can be used like Text Boxes in other word-processing applications. You can access the Text Tool by selecting it in the Toolbar. You then simply need to tap somewhere on the page to create a new Text Box and start typing. Text boxes can then be resized by tapping and dragging the handles on each side.
Most of the customisable options for Text Boxes can be found in the Contextual Menu on the right-hand side of the Toolbar. Here you can set:
- Font: Choose from a variety of preinstalled fonts
- Font Size: Tune in the perfect size font for you document
- Text Alignment: Choose from Left, Center or Right aligning text
- Color: Choose a preset Text color, or add your own custom color from the chart or Hex code input
- Text Box Style: Use the Presets or Tap Advanced to choose your Text Box's background, Border color and size and padding
You can save your current Text Box setup as the Default, by tapping on Text Tool twice, and choosing Save as Default.
How should I use Handwriting tools?
There is no right way to use these tools! Use Classroom's handwriting tools any way you enjoy them. We recommend for teaching, use consistent colours and styles for creating class content as this makes it engaging and easy to follow.