USING NOTABILITY PDF EDITING APP ON AN iPAD
In Notability, which you can scan a document, insert or mark responses, store and
organize documents, open shared documents from a teacher, and share new
documents with a teacher, all in one place.
1. When you open the app, it will open to either the last note (document) you worked on
or the main page. If you are in a note but want to access a different note or a folder, tap
on the left facing arrow in top left-hand corner and it will bring you to the main
page. Unfiled notes are listed on the right and any folders you have created are on the left.
2. There are some back up and Google Drive settings to set up before the student can share completed notes to the
teacher. The student must be signed into his/her Google Drive on the iPad and be signed into Notability using the
same account. You should only have to do this one time.
a. Go to “Settings” the gear on main page in lower left corner; opens to “Auto-Backup”
b. In “Select Service” select Google Drive if it is not already checked
c. Under “Google Drive Settings”
i. Destination: will say “Notability”. This means a “Notability” folder will be created in Google Drive
and notes will be shared there automatically
ii. “Subjects to Back Up”: This means that any note that is worked on, no matter how many times you
go back and work on it, the note will be backed up in Drive. Also, any folders created will be backed
up in Drive.
iii. “File Format”: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – change the format to PDF
1. Tap on “Note” which is the default format for the documents in this app
2. Tap on “PDF”
d. In Settings menu, go to “Typing” and enable “check spelling” and “tap anywhere”. You can also change the
default font style and size if desired.
e. In Settings menu, go to “Handwriting” and enable “Palm detection”
3. Set up folders for different subjects to organize and file notes (electronic binder):
a. Tap on the plus sign in top left corner
b. Tap on “Create Subject” a colored dot appears, enter a title for the folder
c. You can drag existing unfiled notes into the folders by touching and holding down the note you want to
move; the note wiggles and highlights and a menu opens
d. Drag the note to the desired folder; it disappears from the Unfiled Notes list
4. Scan a document:
a. Tap on box with down facing arrow in top right-hand corner
b. “Document Scan” is listed at the bottom of the drop-down menu, tap on it
c. Camera opens, position the document in the camera view and take picture
d. Adjust the corners of the document if necessary, to capture the entire document
e. Tap on Keep Scan if good, Retake (bottom left corner) if shot was blurry or not acceptable
f. If there is more than one page to scan, for example, a packet of pages, you would take a picture of each
page. To scan a packet successfully, the pages should all be oriented in the same direction. If one page is in
landscape and others are in portrait orientation, then it will be hard to work with them when they are
uploaded into another app.
g. When done scanning, tap on Save
h. Import as PDF, it opens
i. Change the title if needed by tapping on the title and date at the top of the document, which is now called a
note
j. A text box opens at the bottom of the screen or on top of the onscreen keyboard, change the title to
something that is easy to understand by tapping on the x with a circle around it and typing in a new title.
Tap out of this box to close. The title changes at the top.
5. Teacher share document to student from iPad
a. In teacher Google Drive, find the document to share and tap on three dots on right
b. Tap on Share
c. Enter student’s email address and tap on send arrow
6. Teacher share document to student from computer
a. In teacher Google Drive, find the document to share and right click on it
b. Clcik on Share
c. Enter student’s email address and click on send
7. Transfer shared document from Drive to Notability:
a. Find the document you want to access in Google Drive
b. Tap on the three dots on the top right corner of the document
c. Tap on “Open in”
d. Tap on the Notability icon when it appears in the list of apps.
e. Choose “Create a New Note”
f. Change the Note title if desired
i. Tap on the title
ii. Delete the text in the box by tapping on the x with a circle around it
iii. Enter new title
iv. Tap on “Back”
g. If you have folders set up, you can send this note directly to a folder
i. Tap on Subject
ii. Choose the folder
iii. You can create a new folder if needed
1. Tap on “New Subject”
2. Enter title
3. Tap on “Add”
h. After completing e, f, and g, tap on “Import”, you will receive a message that a file was sent to Notability.
Tap on Done. Go to Notability.
8. To create basic word processing notes in Notability:
a. Open the folder for the subject in which you want to create a note
b. Tap on the square with the pencil in the top right corner
c. Insert a title for this note; see i and j in #4
d. Word processing features such as size and style of font, text color, bold/indent/underline are at bottom of
screen or on top of onscreen keyboard
9. To annotate or mark responses on a scanned or shared note:
a. Open note
b. Tap on the “T” in the menu at the top of the screen if the “T” is not already colored blue.
c. Tap on the screen where you want to begin typing. A text box will open, and you can change the shape and
size of the box to fit the space. If you want to move the box, place your finger on the tab on top of the text
box and slide it around until it is aligned properly.
d. You can also use the speech-to-text feature on the keyboard to dictate responses into the text box once you
have opened it.
e. If you need to circle anything or check off a box, tap on the pencil icon, next to the “T” in the menu; the
pencil will darken in color. This will allow you to draw or write by hand on the note with your finger or
stylus. You can change the color and thickness of the pencil stroke by pressing and holding the pencil icon
until a menu pops up.
f. If you make a mistake, you can tap on the eraser, it will turn blue. Swipe your finger over anything that you
need to erase. It will look like you are erasing the worksheet, but you are not, it will reappear. When you
are done erasing, you can tap on the pencil or the T to begin working again. The eraser only erases student
input, not the original worksheet.
g. There is also a highlighter feature which is the icon between the eraser and the pencil. You can change the
color and thickness of the highlighter stroke by pressing and holding the pencil icon until a menu pops up
10. Share a completed note to teacher through Google Drive
a. Tap on the “Send To” box which has the up-facing arrow located in the top left-hand corner
b. Tap on Google Drive; the predetermined Folder should say Notability and Format should say PDF (see #2)
c. Tap on “Send to Google Drive” blue button at bottom of box
d. Open student’s Google Drive and find the note
e. Tap on the three dots on the top right corner of the screen
f. Tap on “Share”
g. Enter the teacher’s email address
h. Tap on the arrow in the bottom right-hand corner to send
Updated 03/2020 Apps are updated frequently so steps may change without notice. Kelly Cox, ATAC
