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Create and personalize handwritten notes using Windows Journal

With Windows Journal, you can use your tablet pen to take handwritten notes on your Tablet PC.

Create a Journal note or template

Use the following procedures to help you get started using Journal:

 To create a new note

When you open Journal, it automatically opens a blank note. You can open additional blank notes, or you can create new notes from templates.
1. Tap to open Windows Journal.
2. Tap the File menu, and then tap New Note or New Note from Template.
3. If you choose to create a note from a template, in the Open dialog box, select the template that you want to use, and then tap Open.

 To create a template

In addition to being able to use the templates that come with Journal, you can also create and save your own Journal template (.jtp) file. Creating a template makes it easy to customize your notes and create different types of notes for different situations.
1. Tap to open Windows Journal.
2. Tap the File menu, and then tap Save.
3. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder you want to save your note in.
   By default, Journal notes are saved in Journal note format (.jnt). If you want to save a note as a template, select Windows Journal Template (.jtp) from the Save as type list.
4. In the File name box, enter a name for your note or template, and then tap Save.
   Journal uses handwriting recognition to suggest a file name based on the note title that you write on the top of the first page.

For more information about working with Journal notes, see E-mail your handwritten notes using Windows Journal and Insert text into a Journal note.

Personalizing how your note looks

After you've mastered the basics of working with Journal, you can change the lines and backgrounds, as well as the pen and highlighter colors and styles. Use the following procedures to personalize how your Journal notes look:

 To customize how the page looks

You can change paper size, line style, page color, background picture, and the appearance of the title area for your notes in page setup.
1. Tap to open Windows Journal.
2. Tap the File menu, and then tap Page Setup.
   • Use the Paper tab to change the paper size and orientation of your note.
   • Use the Style tab to change the lines and paper color of your note.
   • Use the Background and Title Area tab to add a background picture or customize the title area of your note.

   Tip

   • To use the new page settings for future notes, first customize a blank Journal note page, and then save the blank page as a template (.jtp) file. To use your template to create a new note, tap the File menu, and then tap New Note from Template.

 To change pen and highlighter settings

On the Pen toolbar, you can choose one of several pens or highlighters that have different settings for ink color, ink thickness, and tip style. You can customize the pen and highlighter settings to suit your preferences.
1. Tap to open Windows Journal.
2. On the Pen toolbar, tap the small arrow to the right of the Pen or Highlighter button.
   A list of pens or highlighters appears.
3. Tap the pen or highlighter that you want to use, or tap Pen Settings or Highlighter Settings.
4. In the Current pens or Current highlighters list, tap the pen or highlighter you want to change the settings to.
5. Select the appropriate color, thickness, and tip style.

   Tip

   • With some Tablet PCs, your tablet pen can be pressure sensitive. This means that as you press harder with the tablet pen, the ink that you create in your note becomes thicker.
     If your Tablet PC supports it, you can make a pen or highlighter pressure sensitive by selecting the Pressure Sensitive check box.

   Tip

   • You can change how ink that you've already written looks by selecting it with the selection tool, tapping Edit, and then tapping Format Ink.

 Draw a shape or a line in a note

You can add basic shapes to your notes. Just draw the shape and then convert it to the shape that you want.
1. Tap to open Windows Journal.
2. On the Pen toolbar, tap Pen.
3. In an open space in your note, draw a shape (for example, a square).
4. On the Pen toolbar, tap Selection Tool , and then tap the drawing.
5. Tap the Actions menu, point to Change Shape To, and then tap the name of the shape (for example, tap Square to make it look like a square).

   Notes

   • The new shape expands to the size of the selection box and replaces all of the ink that you select. If you select pictures, flags, or text boxes along with your drawing, Journal can't convert the shape.

   • To restore your original ink drawing, on the Standard toolbar, tap Undo.