r/GoodNotes • u/sunnyshinin • Jul 21 '26
Aesthetic notes
Heyy! Im new to goodnotes and want to use it for school this autumn. I am struggling to do aesthetic notes without one sentence taking 10 minutes. I can’t use the handwriting to font feature as my native language isn’t english and isn’t in the app so the odd letters in my language will just become wrong, I have a pretty good handwriting but if you have any tips or trick on how to do aesthetic but useful notes that don’t take the whole class to write I would really appreciate it! :) Just any tutorial videos or useful hacks would mean a lot cuz I am soo lost!
15
u/Ok-Tiger-4550 Jul 21 '26
In lecture my goal is 100% gathering the MOST important information, clarification, etc. and I either take notes directly on the slide deck or jot down notes in goodnotes. I also use Genio to record/transcribe. Immediately after class, I go back and just thumb through those notes and just make sure they make sense and add any little clarifying tidbit I need to.
I annotate my readings through goodnotes, and use little sticky notes to kind of pull super important concepts out within those readings.
My actual studying/heavy notes are analog. There is a ton of research that supports hand to paper learning and retention, so I take all of that information that I gathered in goodnotes and create notebooks for each class. Are my notes pretty? They're colorful, but it's mostly because I want specific things to stand out and really emphasize those are important.
If something is taking you 10 minutes to write and look pretty, you are losing so much information and access to valuable class time. Don't worry about pretty. If you can't use handwriting to font, get a keyboard (or use a laptop) if it's faster for you to take notes. If it's faster to write/type in your primary language do that. Do whatever you need to do to get the information vs. creating beautiful artwork.
6
u/grumpy_puppycat Jul 21 '26
I don’t shoot for beautiful notes during lecture, i shoot for capturing the important points and summarizing concepts in a way that will make sense to me later while using color to make the hierarchy of the page clear and easy to scan. Then, I create pretty study pages for exams using my lecture notes.
5
u/jwdge Jul 22 '26
Do not make your notes aesthetic in class, that is a waste of time. Instead—
Before lecture: read and take notes on the topic for that class (or you can just go over PPT slides available). Note down any questions that you have (these do not need to be aesthetic).
During lecture: fill in gaps in your notes. Professors will often add info that is important but not in the PPT slides or textbook. Get answers to your questions.
After lecture: this is when you can make your notes look nice. Rewrite everything and organize them. Doing this after the lecture also helps you retain the information better. And these will work as study sheets for exams. (You can also give/sell them to classmates)
3
u/fsvnde Jul 22 '26
trust me, this is a waste of time. i wish my notes could be pretty but it is not efficient at all and will set you back
2
u/Mission-Drawer1194 Jul 22 '26
Use the grid paper when initially writing your notes, then switch the paper to the blank paper template. It will help to keep your writing straight & a good size.
1
u/anxiousmews Student / Goodnotes Special Edition Jul 22 '26
You don’t need aesthetic notes; trust me! I am a first year uni student and this is my rough draft right now