A plugin for Obsidian that adds the ability to hand write or draw with a stylus between paragraphs in your notes.
Hand write or draw directly between paragraphs in your notes using a digital pen, stylus, or Apple pencil. Useful for handwriting, sketches, scribbles, or even math equations and scientific notation. Runs on the tldraw framework and drawing provides an infinite canvas.
Demo Note
In the video above, I have set up this plugin's commands to be visible in another plugin called Slash Commander - This allows me to select the insert command quickly by simply typing /.
I record regular development diaries. Subscribe and follow along to see features in development.
Click to view development diaries
I've been building this plugin since December 2023 and I'm currently developing it further and using it daily.
Below are the high level features in my current development plan along with their expected timeframes.
Historical
- Proof of concept handwriting input.
- Proof of concept drawing input.
- Embeddable in markdown files.
- Automatic screenshotting.
- Proof of concept OCR (Transcripts).
- Refined UI.
Current feature focus
- Ability to reframe embedded drawings.
- Pen smoothing enhancements (Not eReader related).
Speculative
- Convert embed format to persist beyond uninstall.
- Separate touch interactions.
- Multiple pen styles.
- Automatic OCR (Transcripts).
- Writing edit interactions.
As with most Obsidian plugins, this is a free gift to the community, provided 'as is' to help you out. While I'm doing my best to make it awesome (And I love feedback), there are always chances things might not work quite right. To be safe, please always back up your files.
Found something that's not quite working right or do you have a feature request? Don't be shy, feel free to make some noise over on the GitHub Issues page. But be sure to check if someone has already posted the same issue and comment on theirs if they have.
You can find this plugin in the plugin directory within Obsidian.
Click for help installing plugins
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Open your Obsidian vault and go to Settings.
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Click on Community Plugins in the side bar.
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If you haven't already, you will need to turn on community plugins.
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Search 'Dale de Silva' and install Ink.
If you would like to install new versions of the plugin that are still being tested, you can install this plugin through BRAT instead. BRAT is another community plugin that allows you to install a Beta version. New features are released as a Beta version first and can take from a few days to a month before landing in the standard version.
Click for Beta version installation instructions
- Open your Obsidian vault and go to Settings.
- Click on Community Plugins in the side bar.
- Turn on community plugins and click Browse.
- Search and install BRAT.
- Scroll down and activate BRAT.
- In the BRAT menu in the side pane, select Add Beta Plugin.
- Follow the instructions presented.
- When a URL is requested, use:
https://github.com/daledesilva/obsidian_ink
Click for Beta version update instructions
- BRAT is set to update Beta plugins by default on startup, however, this can sometimes take some time.
- To force an update, run BRAT's Obsidian commnd
Choose a single plugin to updateand choose Ink.
Please note that while this repository is public and can be browsed and modified for your personal use, it is not open source. It is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The plugin currently works based on the tldraw framework, however, tldraw is implemented using SVG elements which slow down greatly on iOS platforms and possibly others. This equates to significant lag while writing after about 200-300 strokes on iOS (Which is about 3-4 paragraphs). To temporarily mitigate this, the plugin hides strokes while writing that are several lines old. The strokes are still saved and reappear upon freezing the embed, reopening the file, or adjusting the infinite canvas view.
In the future, this plugin will transition off tldraw (at least for writing functionality), to Canvas based input. When this occurs any files that users have created will be converted automatically if necessary—You can count on this as I already have many files in my own vaults that rely on this plugin.
The embed implementation is currently based on a code block that tells the plugin how to display the embed. I'm not happy with this, however, as it means if anyone ever wants to transition off this plugin they have to keep it installed in order to see their old handwritten sections.
I will be modifying this to simply be an image embed that the plugin recognises and enhances. This will mean that even if you uninstall the plugin, all your embeds will still be visible as static images.
There's currently 2 file formats that the plugin implements as embeddable sections. A handwriting file, and a drawing file. This enables the plugin to aid the user in different ways and provide more intuitive UIs for each input mode. The drawing file, however, while I have found that I already prefer using it over other Obsidian plugins, is not the primary goal of this plugin at this stage. It should therefore be treated with caution regarding future support.
Note, however, that the embed format described above will apply here also, which means your exist drawings will still remain visible as static images even if support is removed.
Note also that the drawing functionality will not take the place of Excalidraw. Excalidraw provides a feature rich ability to diagram holistically, whereas this plugin is built around freeform natural pen input. I personally like sketching more freeform with only minimal aid of drag and drop elements, so this is what drawing here is focussed on as that aligns with a handwritten style of taking notes as well.
If you find this plugin saves you time or helps you in some way, please consider supporting my development of plugins and other free community material like this.
You can find links to my other projects on designdebt.club, where I blog about design and development, as well as release other plugins like this one. You can also find my writing at at falterinresolute.com where I combine philosophy and animation.
