reMarkable 2 · Guides
Notebooks and handwriting conversion on the reMarkable 2
How the reMarkable 2's notebooks, layers, handwriting-to-text conversion, and export to PDF and email work, and where the limits are.
The reMarkable 2’s note-taking is the feature set that made the brand’s name — a wide range of pens, layers, per-page templates, and reliable handwriting-to-text if you print rather than scrawl — on a plain monochrome screen with very low writing latency. The limits are that it is a closed system best used through reMarkable’s own apps, and that organisation is down to you: use folders and tags early.
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Create a notebook and pick a template
From the library, create a new notebook. Choose a template — plain, lined, dotted, grid, planners, music staves and many more. Each page can have its own template, and you can change a page's template later from the page menu.
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Learn the writing tools and layers
The toolbar has several pens (ballpoint, fineliner, marker, pencil, calligraphy, brush), a highlighter, an eraser, and a selection tool for moving, resizing and cutting handwriting. The reMarkable 2 supports layers, so you can keep a diagram and your annotations of it separate. The screen is monochrome, so pen "colours" show as shades of grey (and export in grey).
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Write on an imported PDF
Open a PDF and write directly on it. Your marks are stored as an annotation layer over the original, so the source page is never altered. You can also add pages to a PDF for extra working space.
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Convert handwriting to text
In a notebook, open the page menu and choose "Convert to text", or select handwriting with the selection tool and convert just that. The result can be emailed or copied. Accuracy is good with clear printing and drops with fast cursive; many languages are supported, set per notebook.
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Organise with folders and tags
The library uses folders, and you can add tags to notebooks and to individual pages, then filter by tag. On a device that fills up with notebooks quickly, tags are worth using from the start.
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Export a notebook or annotated PDF
From a notebook or document menu, choose to email it, or export it as PDF or PNG. With the desktop and mobile apps you can also open your notes there. An annotated PDF exports with your marks merged or on a separate layer, depending on the export option.
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Know what it does not do
There is no app store and no third-party apps in the normal software. You cannot import notes from another brand of tablet directly. Full-text search of handwriting is limited. Everything lives in reMarkable's system — you export to PDF or text; there is no open notebook file without developer mode.