Variations
What prints with the starting settings
| Paper | Tablet 3:4 (iPad 10.2/12.9, reMarkable, Kindle Scribe) — 150 × 200 mm (5.91 × 7.87 in) |
|---|---|
| Line spacing | 7.14 mm = 0.281″ |
| Ruling | College ruled |
| Writing lines on this page | 23 |
| Margins | 10 mm |
| Line weight | 0.18 mm (bold 0.35 mm) |
| Print setting | Scale 100% / Actual size |
Notes that are easy on the eyes
Many people take notes on a tablet in the evening, in lectures with the lights down or in bed. A bright white page in a dark room is tiring to look at. Dark paper keeps the page from glowing, and the ruling is deliberately low-contrast, so it guides your handwriting without competing with it. Bright pen colours look almost like chalk on a blackboard, which is why dark pages are popular for study notes and digital bullet journals.
Lines, dots or squares
- Lined (the default) uses college ruling, 7.1 mm apart, with no margin line and a little space at the top for a heading. Choose wide ruling if you write large or use a smaller tablet, and add the muted margin line to keep page numbers or keywords on the left.
- Dot grid places a grey dot every 5 mm: structure for lists, boxes and headings without visible lines, and the usual choice for bullet journal layouts.
- Graph paper draws a 5 mm grid in dim slate grey, with every fifth line a little lighter so counting stays easy. It keeps digits aligned for maths and physics, and suits code sketches, flowcharts and game maps.
Getting it into your app
Choose the tablet shape that matches your screen: 3:4 for 10.2-inch and 12.9-inch iPads, or 7:10 for 11-inch iPads and iPad Air models, whose screens are a little narrower. Download a multi-page PDF to start a notebook, or a 264 dpi PNG to use as a page template. GoodNotes and Noteshelf can add either as a custom template, and Notability and most Android note apps can open the PDF as a new notebook.
If the lines are too faint on an older or dimmer screen, open Advanced options and choose a lighter line colour before downloading.
More digital paper sheets
Frequently asked questions
Doesn't my note app already have a dark mode?
Many apps darken the interface, and some can invert pages, but inverting a white page also inverts your ink, so a red heading turns cyan. A page whose background is already dark keeps every colour exactly as you chose it, in both light and dark app themes.
Which pen colours work best?
White, light grey, pastels and bright colours such as yellow, cyan and pink. Black and navy disappear on a dark page, so keep them for light-paper notebooks.
Does a dark page save battery?
On OLED screens, which light each pixel individually, dark pixels use less power, so a mostly dark page can help a little. On LCD screens, which use a backlight, the saving is negligible; the main benefit there is a page that is less glaring in a dim room.
Will it work on an e-ink tablet?
Not well. E-ink screens show large dark areas poorly and slowly; use light paper with slightly darker lines on a reMarkable or Kindle Scribe instead.
Can I print it?
You can, but a dark background uses most of a printer's black ink. For paper, print the ordinary college ruled, dot grid or graph paper pages instead.
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