Xournal++
Handwritten notes and PDF mark-up for a stylus or drawing tablet.
Our verdict
Xournal++ is the app for a pen. If you used OneNote or Windows Journal on a touchscreen laptop to scribble notes and sign PDFs, this does that job on Linux.
Open a PDF, write on it, save it, and the writing is part of the document. Pen pressure works properly with a graphics tablet, and there are layers, straight-line and shape helpers, and an eraser that behaves as you expect.
Two things are missing compared with OneNote. There is no handwriting recognition, so your notes stay pictures of writing rather than searchable text, and there is no built-in sync. Put the files in a Nextcloud or Syncthing folder if you want them on more than one machine.
What's good
- Writes straight onto a PDF, which is what you want for forms and marked-up handouts
- Supports pressure-sensitive pens from Wacom, Huion and XP-Pen
- Layers, shape tools and even audio recorded alongside your notes
What to know first
- Handwriting is never converted to typed text
- Nothing syncs by itself, so files move between devices only if you arrange it
- Feels utilitarian next to OneNote, with no templates or polish
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- Yes (GPL-2.0-or-later)
- How you install it
- App store (Flatpak), AppImage download, .deb installer, Built-in app store
Windows apps it can replace
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