How to use Evernote

We have already touched on the topic of note takers on our website. To be more precise, the conversation was about Evernote. Let us remember that this is a powerful, functional and very popular service for creating, storing and sharing notes. Despite all the negativity that poured out on the development team after the July update of the terms of use, it is still possible and even necessary to use it if you like to plan all aspects of your life or just want to create, for example, a knowledge base.

This time we will consider not the capabilities of the service, but specific use cases. Let's look at how to create different types of notebooks, create notes, edit them and share them. So, let's go.

This is where you should start. Yes, of course, you can save all your notes in a standard notepad, but then the whole essence of this service is lost. So, notepads are needed, first of all, to organize notes and more convenient navigation through them. Also, notebooks related to the topic can be grouped into so-called “Sets”, which is also useful in many cases. Unfortunately, unlike some of its competitors, Evernote only has 3 levels (Notebook Set - Notepad - Note), and sometimes that's not enough.

Also note that in the screenshot above, one of the notebooks stands out with a lighter name - this is a local notebook. This means that notes from it will not be uploaded to the server and will remain only on your device. This solution is useful in several situations:

1. This notebook contains some very private information that you are afraid to send to other people’s servers
2. Saving traffic - the notepad contains very heavy notes that will very quickly “gobble up” the monthly traffic limit
3. Finally, you simply don't need to sync some notes, due to the fact that they may only be needed on that specific device. These could be, for example, recipes on a tablet - you’re unlikely to cook anywhere other than at home, right?

Creating such a notebook is simple: click “File” and select “New Local Notebook.” After this, you just need to specify the name and move the notepad to the desired location. Regular notebooks are created through the same menu.

Interface setup

Before moving on to the actual creation of notes, we’ll give you a little advice - customize the toolbar so that in the future you can quickly get to the functions and types of notes you need. This is easy to do: right-click on the toolbar and select “Customize Toolbar”. After this, you just need to drag the elements you need onto the panel and place them in the order you like. For added beauty, you can also use dividers.

Creating and editing notes

Now we get to the most interesting part. As mentioned in the review of this service, there are “simple” text notes, audio, webcam note, screenshot and handwritten note.

Text note

In fact, this type of notes cannot simply be called “text”, because you can attach images, audio recordings and other attachments here. So, this type of note is created by simply clicking on the blue “New Note” button. Well, then you have complete freedom. You can start typing. You can customize the font, size, color, text attributes, indentation, and alignment. Bulleted and numbered lists can be very helpful when listing things. You can also create a table or divide the contents with a horizontal line.

Separately, I would like to note the rather interesting “Code Fragment” function. When you click on the corresponding button, a special frame appears in the note, into which you should insert a piece of code. It is certainly encouraging that almost all functions can be accessed via hot keys. If you master at least the basics, the process of creating notes becomes noticeably more enjoyable and faster.

Audio notes

This type of notes will be useful if you like talking more than writing. It starts just as easily - using a separate button on the toolbar. There are a minimum of controls in the note itself - “Start/Stop recording”, a volume slider and “Cancel”. You can immediately listen to the newly created recording or save it to your computer.

Handwritten note

This type of notes will undoubtedly come in handy for designers and artists. It’s worth noting right away that it’s better to use it if you have a graphics tablet, which is simply more convenient. The usual tools here are a pencil and a calligraphy pen. For both of them, you can choose from six width options, as well as color. There are 50 standard shades, but in addition to them you can create your own.

I would like to note the “Shape” function, when used, your scribbles are transformed into neat geometric shapes. The “Cutter” tool also has a separate description. Behind the unusual name lies the quite familiar “Eraser”. At least the function is the same - removing unnecessary objects.

Screenshot

I don’t think there’s even much to explain here. Click “Screenshot”, select the desired area and edit in the built-in editor. Here you can add arrows, text, various shapes, highlight something with a marker, blur an area that you want to hide from prying eyes, put a mark or crop the image. For most of these tools, the color and thickness of the lines can be adjusted.

Webcam Note

With this type of notes it’s even easier: click “New note from webcam” and then “Take a photo.” Why this might be useful to you, I can’t imagine.

Create a reminder

Some notes obviously need to be remembered at a strictly defined moment. This is exactly why such a wonderful thing as “Reminders” was created. Click on the appropriate button, select the date and time and... that's it. The program itself will remind you of the event at a given hour. Moreover, the notification is not only displayed with a notification, but can also come in the form of an email. A list of all reminders is also displayed as a list above all notes in the list.

"Sharing" notes

Conclusion

As you can see, using Evernote is quite easy, you just need to spend a little time setting up the interface and learning the keyboard shortcuts. I am sure that after just a few hours of use, you will definitely be able to decide whether you need such a powerful note-taker, or whether you should pay attention to analogues.