Chapter 5. Annotating, Sharing, and Organizing Windows Journal Notes

Windows Journal has many useful features, but some are easy to overlook if you don’t know they are there. For example, you can import documents created in various applications into Journal. Although you can’t modify the imported documents, you can annotate them. If necessary, you can export notes as graphic files to share notes with people who don’t have tablets. The search capabilities of Journal include ink, text boxes, and imported text. You might also discover that Journal can be useful for presentations and meetings.

Importing and Annotating Documents

Document import and annotation is one of Journal’s coolest and most useful features. The Import command is really a Print command. When you import a document into Journal, you essentially print it onto Journal paper, which becomes the background for a new document. You can then use your pen, highlighter, and eraser tools to mark up the pages just as you would a real page. The page is more than just a digital printout, however. You can store multiple versions of the same document. You can even search the imported text, which is something you can’t do on real paper. Once you have marked up the document, you could e-mail the final product to someone in full color, even if they don’t have a Tablet PC and Journal. Microsoft Word documents, Web pages, Microsoft PowerPoint slides, and pictures are all importable. If you can print it, you can import it into Journal.

To import a document into Journal, tap the Import button on the Standard toolbar or select Import from the File menu. Once you select the file to import, Journal will open the program used to read that file. The first time you import a file into Journal, a dialog box appears reminding you that Journal must open the original program to print the file into a Journal note and that the original program must be installed on your computer. This Import dialog box is shown in Figure 5-1. If the program that created the file is not installed on your computer, you may have trouble importing the note. For example, if you’re sent a WordPerfect document and you use Word, you may need to open the document in Word and save it as a Word file before importing it into Journal. The dialog box appears every time you import a note until you check the Don’t Show Me This Again check box.

When importing a document into Journal, the document will be opened in its default program.
Figure 5-1. When importing a document into Journal, the document will be opened in its default program.

Imported documents always open as a new note with the same page dimensions as the original document. Because many of the files you will import will be 8.5-by-11-inch pages, the text may appear rather small on the tablet screen. Adjust the view setting as you work to show the whole page as you scan through the document, and zoom in when you need to see the text more clearly. Reading view is especially helpful when you’re scanning a multi-page document. The contents of the imported document are treated identically to a non-editable picture on a Journal template. You can write ink and insert text boxes or pictures on the surface of the imported material, but you cannot select or change it. Figure 5-2 shows an example Journal note created from an imported Word document and annotated with pens and highlighters. Even though the imported document is non-editable, it is not a background image, so it will print even when the option for printing backgrounds is unchecked.

Mark up imported documents just as you would real paper.
Figure 5-2. Mark up imported documents just as you would real paper.

Try This

The next time you need to fill out a form using a file on your computer, rather than printing it and filling it out, import it into Journal. Use Journal to fill out the form, taking advantage of the ability to correct mistakes and convert your handwriting to text if needed. When you are done, you can print out the form already completed and save a copy for your records. If it’s a form you use regularly, you can make it into a template.

Another way to import documents into Journal is to use the Journal Note Writer driver. If you’re working in an application (such as Word) and you want to use the current document in Journal, you can print the document and select Journal Note Writer as the printer as shown in Figure 5-3. Instead of printing the document, Journal will convert the document to a Journal note file. You’ll be given the opportunity to specify name and location of the Journal note file. Once the Journal note file is created, it is automatically opened in Journal. Printing to Journal Note Writer has exactly the same result as the Import command but doesn’t require opening Journal first.

Printing to Journal Note Writer is another way to import documents into Journal.
Figure 5-3. Printing to Journal Note Writer is another way to import documents into Journal.

Adding pages to imported documents works similarly to other Journal notes. To add more pages after the imported pages, tap the Next/New Page button, and to insert pages before the page you’re viewing, select New Page from the Insert menu. The new pages will have the same style and background used for your new notes, but they will have the paper size of the imported page. So, if your notes are normally on 5.5-by-8.5-inch graph paper and the document you imported was 8.5 by 11 inches, then all pages you add to the imported document will be 8.5-by-11-inch graph paper. If you want to customize how additional pages appear, you can change the size and format of the paper using Page Setup. Journal will not change the size of the imported pages, however, so your Journal note will contain two different page sizes.

The Insert/Remove Space tool works a bit differently on pages with imported documents. Since the document itself is not editable, the Insert/Remove Space tool will move your ink but leave the underlying imported document untouched. This can wreak havoc on your annotations, as shown in Figure 5-4. There is no option to make the page longer when using the Insert/Remove Space tool on an imported document. If you push items off the bottom of the page, they will automatically move onto a new blank page.

The Insert/Remove Space tool does not affect the underlying imported document.
Figure 5-4. The Insert/Remove Space tool does not affect the underlying imported document.

Sometimes documents will not import correctly using the standard Import command. This could be the result of missing fonts or linked files on your computer or peculiarities of the original program. If you experience problems importing a document, you can try importing the document as an image instead. Importing the document as an image will take longer, and you won’t be able to search the imported document text. Searching notes will be discussed in "Searching Notes" later in the chapter.

To import documents as images, open the Journal Options dialog box and tap the File Import Preferences button on the Other tab to display the Journal Note Writer Properties dialog box. Switch the output format to Print As An Image, as shown in Figure 5-5. Once you have imported the file, be sure to switch the preference back. Importing files as images should be used only when necessary.

If importing a document the standard way doesn’t work, you can try importing the document as an image.
Figure 5-5. If importing a document the standard way doesn’t work, you can try importing the document as an image.

Tip

Windows XP and Journal use Microsoft ClearType technology to improve the readability of text on the screen. If you are having trouble reading a document in an application that does not support ClearType, try importing the document into Journal.

To make sure ClearType is turned on, open the Display control panel, tap the Appearance tab, and tap the Effects button. In the Effects dialog box, make sure Use The Following Method To Smooth Edges Of Screen Fonts is checked and make sure ClearType is selected in the drop-down list.

Sharing Journal Files

If you want to share a Journal note with another tablet user, just send them the note. All the information, including ink, imported documents, text boxes, and pictures are saved in the note file. If you want to share your Journal notes with someone who does not have a tablet, and therefore does not have Journal, you must export the note either as a Web archive file (.mht) or as a Tagged Image File Format image (.tif).

Web archive files are essentially self-contained Web pages that include text and graphics in a single file. Web archive files are readable by Internet Explorer 5 or later, on both Windows or Macintosh platforms, and by most Microsoft Office programs. Web archive files are in color and can be a single page or multiple pages. When displaying Web archive files, Internet Explorer shows a bar above the page that includes navigation buttons, the current page number, and possibly a zoom drop-down list, as shown in Figure 5-6. To export a note as a Web archive file, select Export As on the File menu and select Web Archive as the file type.

Exporting to Web archive format lets you share your files with people who do not have a tablet and Journal.
Figure 5-6. Exporting to Web archive format lets you share your files with people who do not have a tablet and Journal.

Tip

If you have an office intranet, you can share Journal notes on the company Web site in Web archive format.

As discussed in Chapter 4, notes can be exported as Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) files. These files are only in black and white, but they are readable by just about anyone. TIFF files also have a higher resolution than Web archive files and print better for notes containing predominantly text. Highlighted text and photographic images look terrible in the TIFF format—often so bad they are unreadable. TIFF files containing more than one page are also unreadable by some programs. In general, Web archive is the best format for sharing your Journal files, but if the Web archive file isn’t working, you can try the TIFF format. To export a note in the TIFF format, select Export As on the File menu and select Tagged Image File Format as the file type.

Sending as E-Mail

If you are going to send a note by e-mail, you can make the process of exporting shorter by selecting Send To Mail Recipient on the File menu. Journal will ask which of three formats, Journal note, Web archive, or TIFF, you want to use, as shown in Figure 5-7, and then will create a blank e-mail message with the note already attached.

You have a couple of different options when using the Send To Mail Recipient command.
Figure 5-7. You have a couple of different options when using the Send To Mail Recipient command.

Searching Notes

As mentioned in Chapter 3, Journal performs background handwriting recognition on your ink as you lay it down on the page and stores the list of probable words and alternatives. The word list is used both for converting your ink to text and for finding words in your notes. When you search your notes using the Find command, Journal will show all items in which your search text matches the words it recognized or any of the top six alternatives. This “fuzzy find” is a bit of a trade-off. By finding alternatives, you are more likely to find the text you want, but you will also find several near misses. To search your current note for specific text, select Find from the Edit menu or tap the Find button on the Standard toolbar to make the Find pane appear, as shown in Figure 5-8.

Use the Find pane to quickly search for text in your note.
Figure 5-8. Use the Find pane to quickly search for text in your note.

Tap the Look For field, and use Input Panel to enter your search text. Next tap Find. The first match in the document will appear selected. Continue searching the document by tapping Next until you find the text you want. Find is not case-sensitive and you cannot search for more than one word or phrase at a time. Figure 5-9 shows a typical search result in which the word “specific” is found correctly, but tapping Next finds the similar word “pacific.”

Tip

Find starts looking on whatever page you are viewing. If you want to search an entire note, either start your search from the first page or say yes when asked whether you want to continue your search from the beginning of the note.

The Find command returns words that match or are similar to your search text.
Figure 5-9. The Find command returns words that match or are similar to your search text.

Text boxes and the imported document text can be included in the search as well, but the results will depend on how the text was inserted. Text boxes created from handwriting converted to text retain their alternate words list, so the fuzzy find still applies, and similar words are included in the results. If the text box contains text pasted from another program, there is no alternate list, and only exact matches are found. In either case, Find selects the entire text box, rather than a single word within it, but this usually isn’t a problem because text boxes rarely contain more than a paragraph of text. If the note contains text imported via the Import command using the standard import, all the imported text is included, but only for exact matches. When one of these words is found, it appears highlighted. Documents imported as images, as well as any words contained within an image, are not included in the search. Figure 5-10 shows how ink, text boxes, and imported text would appear in a search for the word “campaign.” In reality, only one of these found words would be selected at a time and you would use the Next and Previous buttons to move between them. Notice that the word “campaign” in the picture was not found by the search.

Here are examples of how search results appear for ink, text boxes, and imported text. Text in pictures cannot be searched.
Figure 5-10. Here are examples of how search results appear for ink, text boxes, and imported text. Text in pictures cannot be searched.

If you don’t want alternate words or the imported text included in your search, tap the More button on the right of the Find pane and uncheck the options for Include Close Matches or Include Document Image Text as needed. The expanded Find pane also provides an option for finding flags instead of text. The expanded Find pane is shown in Figure 5-11.

Use the expanded Find pane to specify additional search parameters.
Figure 5-11. Use the expanded Find pane to specify additional search parameters.

By default, Find searches only your current note. To search through multiple notes, enter the search text in the Look For field of the Find pane and then specify in the Look In field the folder or drive you want searched. If the Find pane is expanded, you’ll notice that additional options are enabled. You have options to limit your search by specific dates and whether to search subfolders. After you specify your options and tap Find, the note list pane opens, showing all the notes that contain matches. Tapping any note in the note list opens that note at the place of the first match. Tapping Next finds the next match in that note. Once the end of the note is reached, tapping Next finds the first match in the next note on the list. Figure 5-12 shows an example search across multiple notes.

Note

If you use the Search tool on the Start menu to search for text within documents, it will find matches to handwritten words, text boxes, and imported document text in Journal notes. It will see only the handwriting recognizer’s most likely word, however, and not any of the alternates.

Your search results are listed in your current note.
Figure 5-12. Your search results are listed in your current note.

Presentations and Meetings Using Journal

When it comes to making digital presentations, PowerPoint may have the corner on the market, but Journal can be a powerful presentation tool. In Chapter 6, we will explore the tools that the Office Pack for Tablet PC adds to PowerPoint, but even with the Office Pack installed, Journal offers much more sophisticated and flexible pen and highlighter tools, lets you switch quickly to a blank writing surface, and provides the ability to select and edit objects you just drew. If your presentation is highly interactive, Journal may be the best tool for the job. In fact, some of the business people testing tablets during development imported entire PowerPoint presentations into Journal just to take advantage of the pen and editing tools. Importing a document into Journal and then projecting it on a screen is also a great way to work collaboratively in a meeting.

Here are a few tips for getting the most out of Journal as a presentation and collaboration tool.

  • Switch to landscape orientation if you’re using an LCD projector

    If you forget to do this it will be obvious when you turn on the projector and the image is sideways! Switching beforehand is less embarrassing.

  • Use full-screen view

    Full-screen view makes your presentation as large and visible as possible. Making the most of screen space is especially important when viewing portrait orientation documents on a landscape orientation screen, which most digital projectors require. Full-screen view also hides other distracting programs, the taskbar, and extra toolbars.

  • Customize the Journal toolbars

    When in full-screen view, Journal shows different default toolbars. If you’re viewing landscape orientation documents, such as imported PowerPoint slides, arrange the toolbars onto one line to use less space. If you’re viewing portrait orientation documents, consider turning off the toolbars altogether. All the commands to change pens and tools are still available through the menus.

  • Use reading view if appropriate

    Reading view is a great way to move through a document one page or one screen at a time. Either the down arrow or the Spacebar will advance you to the next page.

  • Display the page bar if appropriate

    The page bar shows all the pages in your note as numbered blocks, and you can jump to any page by tapping that block. This is very handy with large documents but can be distracting to your audience as they wonder what is on the upcoming slides.

Figure 5-13 shows an imported PowerPoint presentation in full-screen view with reading view and the page bar turned on.

Use full-screen view and the page bar when using Journal for presentations.
Figure 5-13. Use full-screen view and the page bar when using Journal for presentations.

Key Points