Looking for a distraction-free handwriting app on your laptop or drawing tablet? Meet Rnote—an open-source vector note-taker that feels as smooth as pen on paper.
What Is Rnote?
Rnote is a cross-platform, vector-based handwriting and sketching program built for Windows, macOS and Linux. Use it to scribble lecture notes, annotate PDFs or story-board your next design—all with infinite zoom and razor-sharp export quality.
Key Features
- Built for stylus first—full pressure-sensitivity support with custom curves
- Three canvas modes: fixed pages, vertical scroll or infinite sheet in any direction
- Custom paper colours, grids and ruling (college, dot, isometric, music, etc.)
- Import PDF, PNG, JPG and SVG; mark them up, then re-export to PDF/SVG/PNG
- Multi-tab workspace—keep several notebooks open at once
- Auto-save + print support so you never lose a stroke
Hands-On Impressions
Why Hand-Written Notes Still Matter
You’ve seen those slick iPad + Apple Pencil study setups on YouTube. Rnote delivers the same freedom on your laptop or graphics tablet—no cloud subscription, no lock-in.
Buttery Ink & Minimal UI
The toolbar stays out of your way; pen, eraser, shapes and text are one hot-key apart. Pressure curves are adjustable, so whether you draw with a Surface Pen, Wacom or Huion, lines feel natural. Annotation mode lets you slap arrows, equations or diagrams straight onto imported PDF slides.
Sketch & Brain-Dump Heaven
Designers will appreciate the textured brush engine for quick mock-ups, while the selection tool can scale, rotate or nudge entire sections without pixelation—everything stays vector.
Vector = Forever Crisp
Zoom to 6 000 % and strokes remain laser-sharp. Export pages or selections to PDF, SVG or PNG at any DPI—perfect for printing posters or dropping artwork into Figma.
Download Notes
The official repo is hosted on GitHub; if your connection hiccups, grab the latest pre-compiled builds below:
- Windows (MSI or portable ZIP)
- macOS Intel & Apple Silicon (community build)
mac users: pick the ARM64 dmg for M1/M2 chips, x86_64 for older Macs.
License
Rnote is completely free and open-source under GPL-3.0. No ads, no IAP, no feature gates—just clone, hack or contribute on GitHub if you like.