I'm looking to get a cheaper tablet for note taking, and would need some software recommendations that can add pages and have doodles in pdf. Okular can draw but can't add pages. I'd rather get the reading and editing done on linux (on the big screen) than just looking at the small tablet screen.

You're looking for a pdf editor here are some recommodations:

GIMP(requires a degree, but can do anything)
inkscape(more for movement, but can do a lot)
libreoffice draw(requires probably the least study)
PDFSam(specialised for your purpose, but a little minimalistic)

I require digital ink for note taking too.

I bought this tablet since it was cheap and had a stylus. Works great for hand written notes with Write.

I've always used Xournal for handwritten notes and annotating PDFs. It's not a PDF editor though, it stores the changes separately, which can then be merged into a new single PDF.

It seems one can annotate PDFs with LibreOffice Draw in a way that can probably be edited. Click the icon that seems to be a pencil drawing out a curve.

If you don't need to edit and just need to add more annotations and pages, I also recommend Xournal (and maybe Xournalpp). It has pressure sensitivity support too.

For what it's worth, I also recommend Wacom tablets, even if it's their cheapest product. (In fact, I've only ever had their cheapest product.) They have a wireless battery-less technology and out-of-the-box Linux support for years now.

I've always used Xournal for handwritten notes and annotating PDFs. It's not a PDF editor though, it stores the changes separately, which can then be merged into a new single PDF.

This is the stuff! Well I've tried it with the mouse, but I'm guessing once I have the tablet, and if it can be used as a drawing tablet for linux xpp will work life a charm with it too. (And it's conveniently in the repos as well.)

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I might post a follow-up when I've actually tried it with the tablet, how the experience was.

Last edited by dvd on 22 Aug 2024 at 7:08 am UTC