The Penwell features most people skip
Margin notes, the handwriting picker, read-aloud, remix, timestamped answers, and exports. Small features that change how the notebook gets used.
Most people generate a notebook, read it once, and close the tab. The features that make it feel like yours are one layer down.
Margin notes
The margin is where you argue with the page. Put the lecturer's aside there, or a question you want to ask in the tutorial, or the reason a definition still does not make sense. It takes a second and it turns a generated page into a working one.
The handwriting picker
Pick the font closest to your own handwriting, not the prettiest one. The point is that you will reopen a page that looks like something you wrote. Decoration is a side effect. If you use the same font for every subject, change one and see whether you notice the page more.
Read-aloud and book mode
Read-aloud is the fastest way to catch a sentence that looks fine and sounds wrong. It is also useful on a walk, when you would otherwise be rereading the same paragraph on your phone.
Book mode hides the editing chrome and gives the page the screen. Use it for reading. Switch back when you want to mark something up.
Remix
Public notebooks can be remixed. You start from a real example instead of a blank page, and a remix does not spend a generation. It is the feature I would use first if I did not know what to make.
Timestamped answers
Ask AI about a video or podcast and the answer comes back with transcript quotes and timestamps you can jump to. For a lecture, that means you can check the claim against the minute it was said instead of trusting a summary. Ask AI is a Pro tool; the free Tutor mode handles a single question.
Exports
PDF for printing and annotating by hand. Markdown for Obsidian, Notion, or a folder of files you actually own. Anki CSV when the cues should become spaced repetition. Mind map and diagram formats when you want to keep editing the structure elsewhere.
Pick two
Do not turn on all of this at once. Pick two: margin notes and read-aloud, or remix and exports. Use them for a week, then add another.
Features do not fix a weak source. If the PDF has three ideas, no amount of margin notes will produce a fourth. The useful move is to choose better sources and then use the notebook long enough to have opinions about them.
Tip
The best test of a feature is whether it changes what you do after you close the notebook. If it does not, skip it.
Try it on your own notes
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