xournalpp VS CherryTree

I highly recommend Rnote to anyone on Linux that misses the "hodgepodge" notetaking of apps like OneNote. It works like a dream on touchscreens and drawing tablets, with a surprising amount of configuration under the hood.

Also worth noting is Xournal, an older but similar project: https://xournalpp.github.io/

I've been using Xournalpp[1] for many years, highlighting books as I read them, adding in text/hand drawn annotations in whitespaces if necessary. Unlike other PDF readers/annotators, it saves a separate file, so the original PDF is untouched. It can also export the annotated PDF as a new PDF with highlights and annotations.

Obsidian[2] also has PDF support, where you can open a markdown document side by side with the PDF to take notes as you read. I think it also lets you highlight the PDF itself.

Emacs I think has a similar feature, via plugins/org-mode(?) to the Obsidian setup.

And of course your typical PDF reader probably has support for highlighting PDFs too, but I find them clunky and they save by exporting a PDF, which can be a bit heavy-handed IMO compared to just saving the annotations/highlights as a separate file as Xournalpp does.

[1]: https://github.com/xournalpp/xournalpp/

Currently, I am trying to build a small open source NLP project for which I first find text on a page and then translate it; see the current project state here: https://github.com/PellelNitram/xournalpp_htr. The purpose of this project is to make handwritten text in Xournal++ searchable for all users.

[Xournal++](https://xournalpp.github.io/) is in my option the best handwritten note-taking software out there, because it has all the coolest features (like LaTeX snippets and shapes) and it's open source too, so make sure to check it out!

I am started using CherryTree. (There is a screenshot here.)

I wonder if an extensible editor (example: Atom) could do both of those things with Markdown files. Assuming by styling you mean things like being able to highlight and custom-style some text, even in a typically text-only view of a markdown file. It wouldn't be a big surprise if that could be done...somehow. Collapsible points ought to be doable for sure.

Personally I use other methods for styling within markdown, for example emoji, tags, link formatting with brackets (for things that are not really links), etc.

I also take any list that's longer than 8-10 items and break it up by category or reorganize it so it's less visually overwhelming.

Otherwise you may find it helpful to look into more rich-editor-style notetaking solutions like cherrytree or Notecase Pro. The latter is proprietary but I used it for years and was very happy with it. Good luck in your search.

https://www.giuspen.com/cherrytree/

https://www.notecasepro.com/

I'm kinda surprised no one mentioned cherrytree yet.

cherrytree

I use FocusWriter. It's a lightweight, full-screen app that does more than enough for a manuscript. I used to use Google Docs with Wavemaker, which has a lot of extra functions like cards and timelines, etc. Docs slowed down a lot with a lot of open windows or really long docs, however. And with WFH the sync isn't that important to me anymore. For notes lately I've been using CheeryTree. All these are free.

CherryTree for a general note-taking database. As an Application Packager I can't remember PowerShell scripts I wrote two weeks ago, so saving my recipes in here is priceless.

How do you keep track of/document everything? I have been using Cherry Tree. It is a fancy open source note taking program that lets you keep notes in a tree like structure.