Kobo Sage · Guides
Handwritten notes with the Kobo Stylus on the Sage
How the Sage's stock notebooks and in-book handwriting work with the Kobo Stylus, and where they fall short of a dedicated writing tablet.
The Sage’s note-taking is intentionally basic: two notebook types, a handful of tools, and export by email or cloud rather than an open file. That is enough for meeting notes, book annotations and light PDF markup. If you need lasso-select, layers, templates or serious handwriting search, this is not the device for it — but as a reader that happens to take notes, it works well.
-
Understand the two notebook types
From the home screen, open "My Notebooks" and tap the plus. A "Basic" notebook is a plain writing canvas — good for quick sketches and notes. An "Advanced" notebook is lined and supports handwriting-to-text conversion and simple layout tools, but is slower and more restrictive. Most people use Basic.
-
Learn the writing tools
The toolbar has a pen with a few thicknesses, a highlighter, an eraser, and undo and redo. There is no lasso-select, no layers, and no brush variety — it is deliberately simple.
-
Write notes inside a book
While reading, tap the top of the screen for the reading menu and choose the notebook or annotation icon. You can attach a page of handwriting to a spot in the book. These notes are tied to that book and sync with your reading position.
-
Convert handwriting to text
In an Advanced notebook, use the "Convert" option to turn a page of handwriting into typed text. It works best with clear printing. Basic notebooks do not offer conversion.
-
Export a notebook
Open a notebook, then its menu, and choose to email it as a PDF, or sync it to Dropbox or Google Drive if you have linked one under Settings. There is no way to pull the raw notebook file off by cable.
-
Mark up a PDF
Open a PDF and write on it directly with the stylus. The Sage keeps your marks as an annotation layer and can export the annotated PDF from the share menu. On the 8-inch screen this is workable for reports and sheet music, less so for dense A4 documents.
-
Set realistic expectations
The Sage is a reader that also takes notes, not a writing tablet. If note-taking is your main use, the Kindle Scribe or a reMarkable will do it better; the Sage's advantage is that it is also a proper Kobo e-reader.