OneNote formatting suggestions

[law2007]

After using OneNote for a semester in law school, my friends and I have come
up with the following suggestions for improvement. Most are formatting
features that are present in Word but not OneNote:

1. Include the "paste special" feature so that text is not pasted
unformatted plain text

2. Include the highlighter pen

3. Include the format painter

4. Include tables/borders

5. Include keyboard shortcuts for character map

6. Include ability to move pictures after they are drawn

 

[Erik Sojka]

Most of these features listed either exist in the product, or some
workarounds exist. Make sure you've upgraded to OneNote SP1 for some of
these features.

Many people request features that are present in Word; remember that
OneNote isn't intended to create finalized polished documents like a word
processor, so it's understandable that these features don't exist in the V1
product.

Responses inline:

After using OneNote for a semester in law school, my friends and I have come
up with the following suggestions for improvement. Most are formatting
features that are present in Word but not OneNote:

1. Include the "paste special" feature so that text is not pasted
unformatted plain text

After pasting, a "clipboard" icon should appear, allowing you to choose some
paste options. You might have Tools | Options | Editing | "Show Paste
Options" button turned off if you're not seeing this.

It's not a full "Paste Special" as found in other applications, but it
should allow you to specify whether the pasted text gets the source or
destination formatting.

2. Include the highlighter pen

There is a text highlighter found on the Formatting toolbar, and if you're
on a Tablet, several highlighter pens exist. Can you clarify what you mean?

3. Include the format painter

Agreed; This would be nice.

4. Include tables/borders

Table support has long been requested for this product.

5. Include keyboard shortcuts for character map

You can use the AutoCorrect options under the Tool menu for this. You can
have AC insert the section symbol when you type "ss" for example.

6. Include ability to move pictures after they are drawn

Turn on Tools | Options | "Show note containers on pages". After you create
a drawing with the pen or mouse, over the mouse pointer over it. Use the
vertical handle at the top of the grey rectangle to move the container
around.

 

[law2007]

thanks for your help. while i realize that one note isn't intended to be a
formal document, we had a great number of problems in transferring text back
and forth between word and OneNote; we tried to combine the many notes that
had been typed in one with outlines created in the other. with the ease of
creating outlines in onenote thanks to the superior indenting and bulleting,
we found the problems listed above. i tried to create an outline in onenote
and cut and paste it into word, and the formatting was a nightmare.

below is my response to your request for clarification:

There is a text highlighter found on the Formatting toolbar, and if you're
on a Tablet, several highlighter pens exist. Can you clarify what you mean?

In Word, the formatting highlighter pen can be turned "on," allowing the
user to highlight the text with the cursor at the time they select the text,
as if using an actual highlighter to go over the text. This is as opposed to
making a selection and then selecting a formatting highlight. In OneNote,
the formatting highlighter pen cannot be selected; text highlights cannot be
made by selecting the highlight first, and then the text. There are
highlighter "pens" in the pens section, but these do not follow the line of
the text exactly since they appear to be intended to serve as free-form
drawing tools.

I hope this clarifies the distinciton.

 

[stern88]

For all interested - This has been submitted as a suggestion in "Connect"
using id 175055 and named "Pens, Highlighters - Colors". If you would like
this idea and would like to vote to see if we can add this functionality -
please login to "connect" and cast your vote ..