How to Draw and Sketch in OneNote
Dec 5, 2020 · 8 minute read
OneNote is an application that gives you this opportunity to add your desired text, photos, and videos to your document.
In this article, we are going to explain, how to write your desired text with the pen, how to draw your desired shape in this program, and in the end, you will learn how to use OCR technology in the OneNote program, and convert scanned documents to the text.
How to Draw and Sketch in OneNote
OneNote is one of the Office software that is much more practical than other note taking software. But when it comes to note taking, this software provided the possibility of designing and creating shapes and drawing. For this reason, in the One Note software, there is a tab called Draw, in which we have everything from different types of pens with different colors and thicknesses to erasers. You can use a stylus to make better and smoother use of the Draw tab tool. Of course, you can also use these tools with the mouse. Design or write your ideas manually using the Drawing tool of this program select Excel lists and transfer them to OneNote pages, search for the forms you want on your computer and the Internet, and use them with the possibility of Screen Clipping, Take a picture and save it on OneNote pages. It is even possible to record audio and video using the tools of this program. The speed of taking notes on OneNote is amazingly motivating. In OneNote, like other word processing software, we do not need to worry about text placement. Just click anywhere on the page and enter the text you want. Many researchers and students spend a lot of time taking notes and recording them in word processing software or sheets of paper. But in today’s world, access to books, articles, newspapers, etc. in cyberspace is easily possible. In addition, specialized websites have emerged in various fields, which provide scientific information in the form of photos, videos, diagrams and text articles.
In this section, you can draw or sketch with the help of different pens that Microsoft has installed and use it in your own notes. Of course, it is worth noting that this section also works with the finger, in this article the options of the Draw tab are explained to add handwriting, sketch, shape and diagram to the notes. In this tab you can choose from a variety of pens and colors as well as drawing tools such as shapes, graphs and charts.
How to Use Pens in OneNote:
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Go to the Draw tab.
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Click on one of the pencil or brush modes in the Tools group.
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Draw your pattern on the page.
If you click on the small arrow next to the pen’s group, you will see a number of pens and highlighters in different colors and thicknesses. In the Favorite pens section, it shows your favorite pens that you have used a lot recently.
At the end of the list, there is an option called Pen Mode. Clicking on it will open a submenu.
Create Both Handwriting and Drawing mode means both handwriting and drawing is possible.
If you want to use Pen Mode for drawing only, select Create drawing only option.
If you want to use Pen Mode for handwriting only, select the Create Handwriting only option.
You can even use the pen as a mouse pointer or a painter to draw and sketch with.
How to Adjust the Color and Thickness of the Pen in OneNote
To adjust the color and thickness of the pen you can go to Color & thickness option and based on your needs and taste start drawing and sketching.
How to Create Shapes in OneNote?
To create a shape in OneNote and make your notes more attractive you need to follow these steps:
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Go to the Draw tab.
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Select a shape from the Shapes group.
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Drag the shape on the screen, the shape is drawn.
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To see additional drawing choices, click the More option in the Shapes gallery, and then choose a shape from the list that is shown.
How to Move Created Shape in the Page in OneNote
To move the created shape in the page, you should use the Lasso select tool in the Tools group. When the shape is selected, you can move it to the desired location by using a four-way arrow.
How to Clear Drawn Shape in OneNote
To clear a drawn shape, you should use the Eraser tool in the Tools group. You can change the size of the eraser in the eraser drop-down list.
How to Convert Handwritten Note to Text Format in OneNote
How to Convert Written Handwriting to Text with Lasso Tools
One of the most useful features of OneNote software is that it supports handwritten notes. These handwritten notes are especially useful when using OneNote software on a touch device or tablet. Of course, you can also use this OneNote feature with a mouse and on regular computers.
After creating the handwritten note, you can convert it to text format. Or even write your formulas by hand and then convert them to typed formulas. To do this, you can use the Lasso tool to select the text you want and then select the option to convert text or formula to text.
When we scan an image containing text, the computer extracts characters from the text using image processing. Even if your text is rotated when you take the photo, the computer rotates the photo a few degrees and again processes the image on it to get the result.
How to Convert Written Handwriting to Text with Pen Mode
If you want to use handwriting in your notes or draw something by hand, you can also use Pen Mode and then convert them to text. You should follow these steps:
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Go to the Draw tab.
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Select one of the pen modes and write the text you want.
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You can select the Rule line option from the view tab to line your pages and make your text readable.
- Now click on Ink to text in the Convert group to convert all your handwriting to text. To select part of the text, you can use the Lasso select tool in the same Draw tab.
How to Convert Handwritten Formulas to Typed Equations
In the same way as writing text, you can also write your formulas with pens too. Do the followings:
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Write your formulas.
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Select the writing with the Lasso select option.
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Right-click and choose the Ink to match option from the menu that opens.
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A window is opened to correct the formula if you made a mistake.
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Click the Insert option and have the formula typed in your notes.
Even if you use a calculator, it will still not have enough efficiency in some calculations. Fortunately, OneNote does not have such a limitation. Just write the equation and wait for the software to do its job. Be sure to enter your equation as a sequence in a row, otherwise OneNote will not be able to correctly identify it.
You may also want to have the contents of a photo or handwritten text editable and searchable. The first solution that may come to mind is to re-type them, which is really a time consuming task. OCR technology allows you to scan pages containing text and convert them from image format to text.
How to Convert Handwritten Formulas to Typed Equations with OCR Technology
OCR technology stands for optical character recognition. This technology allows you to convert pages containing scanned text from image to text, making it easy for you to retype them. OneNote software can detect English manuscripts. This feature is known as OCR. So if you have an image of a letter or fax or text that is saved as a scanned image, OneNote can convert it from “image” to “text” format for you.
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Right-click on the text.
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Select Copy Text From Picture.
- Paste the text elsewhere.
- Select the Alt Text option to display the text inside the image.
OCR technology is divided into two types: typing and handwriting
In the typing, letters and writings have already been typed and printed by a computer or any other typewriter.
In handwriting, all the letters are written handwriting.
The example above was of a typed text; but you can also convert handwriting into text. The process is the same.
One of the interesting parts of OneNote and the last design option in the draw tab is the option “Convert text to math” or Ink to math. Using this tool, you can find numbers as well as various mathematical formulas in the software environment by Write, and the program itself converts your writing into math characters. Of course, the feeling of this tool and working with it is perhaps more enjoyable with hands and touch screens or light pen.
The information you collect can take many formats, including text, images, audio, and video. One feature of OneNote is that you can store all kinds of information in it and you do not need to have multiple files in different formats. You can also add a description of each of these pieces of information and write down keywords related to them so you can quickly find them when you need them with a simple search on OneNote. This feature becomes important when you have gathered a lot of information from various sources.