Paper and screens have different shapes
Printed paper has its own proportions: A4 and A5 are 1 : 1.41, US Letter 1 : 1.29. Tablet screens vary more than most people expect. The 10.2-inch and 12.9-inch iPads, the reMarkable 2 and the Kindle Scribe are all exactly 3:4 (1 : 1.33). The 11-inch iPad Air and iPad Pro are taller at about 1 : 1.44, which is almost the shape of A4. The iPad mini is taller still.
When a page and a screen don’t match, the note app fits the page inside the screen and leaves bars, and every line on the page shrinks with it. Here is how much of each screen a page covers, worked out from each device’s published resolution and pixel density:
| Device | Screen, portrait | Shape | Letter | A4 | Tablet 3:4 | Tablet 7:10 | 5 mm spacing looks like |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPad 10.2-inch (7th to 9th gen) | 156 × 208 mm | 1 : 1.33 | 97% | 94% | 100% | 93% | 5.2 mm |
| iPad Air 11-inch (M2) | 158 × 227 mm | 1 : 1.44 | 90% | 98% | 93% | 99% | 4.9 mm |
| iPad Pro 12.9-inch | 197 × 263 mm | 1 : 1.33 | 97% | 94% | 100% | 93% | 6.6 mm |
| iPad mini (6th gen) | 116 × 177 mm | 1 : 1.52 | 85% | 93% | 88% | 94% | 3.6 mm |
| reMarkable 2 | 158 × 210 mm | 1 : 1.33 | 97% | 94% | 100% | 93% | 5.3 mm |
| Kindle Scribe | 157 × 210 mm | 1 : 1.33 | 97% | 94% | 100% | 93% | 5.2 mm |
The bold figure is the best fit for that screen. The last column shows how far apart 5 mm lines or dots appear when that page fills the screen, which is why a spacing that feels right on paper also feels right on a tablet. On the iPad mini everything shrinks by more than a quarter, so choose a larger spacing there.
- Letter on iPad Air 11-inch (M2)90% of the screen
- Tablet 7:10 on iPad Air 11-inch (M2)99% of the screen
- Letter on reMarkable 297% of the screen
- Tablet 3:4 on reMarkable 2100% of the screen
The generator includes both tablet shapes alongside the paper sizes. Choose Tablet 3:4 (150 × 200 mm) or Tablet 7:10 (160 × 229 mm) under Digital in the size list. Spacing is still set in real units, so 7 mm lines are 7 mm on the page.
PDF or PNG?
| Use | Format | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A notebook with many pages | sharp at any zoom, one import | |
| A custom template or background | PNG at 264 dpi | some apps only accept images |
| E-ink tablets | crisp lines, small file | |
| Printing later | exact size on paper |
The PNG download offers 150, 264 and 300 dpi (and 600 dpi on small papers such as A6). 264 dpi matches the pixel density of every iPad in the table except the mini: a Tablet 3:4 page at 264 dpi is 1,559 × 2,079 pixels, close to a 10.2-inch iPad’s 1,620 × 2,160 screen. Higher settings make bigger files without a visibly sharper page.
Dark mode and e-ink
- Paperlight blue lines on white
- Dark modesoft grey on near-black
- E-inkdark grey that survives a grey screen
Dark mode sheets have a near-black background (#1B1F24) with grey lines, and pair well with light ink colours. Because the dark colour is part of the page, it stays dark whatever theme the app uses. Start from dark mode lined paper or turn on the dark preset in the generator. Keep line contrast low so the lines guide without glowing.
E-ink screens are greyscale with a light grey background, so the pale blue lines of a paper template wash out. Our reMarkable dot grid and Kindle Scribe lined pages use darker grey lines and slightly larger dots for that reason.
Importing into note apps
Menus change between app versions, but the steps are the same everywhere:
- Download the PDF (or PNG) to your device, for example into Files on an iPad.
- Open your note app and use its import option to bring in a PDF, or open the PDF from Files and share it to the app.
- To reuse it as a template, look for the app’s custom template or paper option and add the PDF or image there. Every new notebook can then use it.
- For a full notebook, set the number of pages in the generator and import the PDF once.
For e-ink tablets, transfer the PDF with the device’s desktop or phone app, its website or its email-to-device service, then open it as a notebook or document.
Tips for digital notebooks
- Use a slightly darker line colour than for paper; thin light lines can disappear on screens and e-ink.
- Number the pages so search results and bookmarks are easy to follow.
- Make a study pack: the notebooks and packs page puts Cornell notes, dot grid and blank pages in one PDF with a bookmark per section, which most note apps show as a table of contents.
- Keep the original PDF so you can import a fresh copy when a notebook fills up.
