# Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing — Draw, sketch, pen handwriting

> Digital handwriting and sketching app with advanced visualization and organization. (iPhone/iPad app by Creaceed SRL.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/carbo-pencil-notes-and-drawing/id956811074 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Creaceed SRL](https://appshunter.io/developer/291683889)
- Category: Productivity, Business
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.30/5 from 51 App Store ratings · 146 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 36 MB
- Languages: American English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French (France), German (Germany), Greek, Hindi, Italian and 14 more
- Released: 2015-05-21
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/carbo-pencil-notes-and-drawing/id956811074/reviews.md

## What is Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing?

Carbo lets you capture and organize handwritten notes and sketches, bringing handwriting in the digital age, right on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Carbo's innovative visualization technology sets you free from pixel artefacts, while preserving all expressiveness of your original drawings. Collect notes, design sketches, or whiteboard drawings. 

Tag and annotate your notes for easy retrieval. Store them either on the device itself or in the cloud, with native support for iCloud, Evernote, and Dropbox. Finally, turn your notes and drawings into beautiful creations using a variety of handcrafted export styles and share them with the world.


KEY FEATURES 

• Hybrid visualization technology: note picture is cleaned up and turned into a highly accurate monochrome representation. Carbo’s innovative rendering technology offers both the advantages of vector (sharpness) and bitmap (easy editing) techniques.
• Image-based input options: take a new picture, import from camera roll, or import an image from iCloud Drive.
• Drawing support: highly accurate and natural sketching capabilities. Full support for Apple Pencil & 3D Touch pressure sensitivity.
• Note editing: edit any part of your note, i.e. select, resize, relocate, or remove any element. Make strokes thinner or thicker.
• Annotations: add descriptive text to your note. These annotations are archived along with the image, and are globally searchable.
• Tag your notes. Tags are colored for easier detection, and will help you classify notes.
• Notes can be stored either on your device, or in the cloud using Evernote, Dropbox, and iCloud.
• Efficient file-based storage: typical note is 400KB instead of the usual 3MB JPEG of a photo.
• Export styles (iOS): choose among 7 beautifully handcrafted styles and their variants to customize your notes (Blackboard/chalks combos, Blueprint, Paper with several pen styles…).
• Up to 1200-dpi black-and-white high-fidelity exports for print.
• Many sharing options: Twitter, Facebook, AirDrop, Mail, Messages, iCloud Drive, Open in (another app)...
• Latest iOS Support: App Search, iPad multitasking, Siri 'Remind Me', 3D Touch shortcuts, modern iOS 14 photo access (browsing & searching).
• macOS 11 Big Sur / Mac Catalyst (Optimized for Mac).
• Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
• Pro Pack 2 or Pro Plan: one-off purchase to remove the 10-note limit. 

PRICING
You can unlock all features either through Pro Pack 2, a one-time purchase, or through Pro Plan, an affordable subscription. Pro Pack upgrade pricing is also available if you own a previous version.

HELP & FEEDBACK
Visit creaceed.com/carbo for more information. Send your questions and feedback to carbo@creaceed.com

Terms of Use: https://creaceed.com/terms
Privacy Policy: https://creaceed.com/privacy

## Key features

- Hybrid visualization technology
- Image-based input options
- Natural sketching with Apple Pencil support
- Editable notes and drawings
- Tagging and annotation for search
- Cloud storage integration
- Customizable export styles

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Plan (Monthly) | $3.99 | per month |
| Pro Plan (Yearly) | $9.99 | per year |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Pack 2 | $23.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 👍 Great for sketching ideas
- 👍 Pleasantly surprised by subscription plan
- 👍 Laser-focused on B&W scanning
- 👍 Excellent for capturing notes
- 👍 Manipulate scans easily
- 👍 Perfect for long-term reference
- 👍 Great for illustration on the go
- 👍 Amazingly useful for handwritten notes
- 👍 Good for capturing whiteboard notes
- 👍 Great for math applications
- 👍 Nice for organizing notebooks
- 👍 Simple and effective organization
- 👍 Bridges paper and digital notes
- 👍 Great for diagram capture
- 👍 Vectorizing photos for clear scans
- 👍 Fast and works in low light
- 👍 Syncs with Evernote
- 👍 Simple yet powerful
- 👍 Captures monochrome notes nimbly
- 👍 Good balance of capture and editing

**Cons**

- 👎 Lacking features for daily use
- 👎 Difficult for diagrams and notes
- 👎 Rudimentary editing tools
- 👎 Lacks color
- 👎 Crippled by lack of export options
- 👎 Not what I was looking for (handwriting recognition)
- 👎 Organization is limited
- 👎 Proprietary format for notes
- 👎 Can't bundle pages into PDF
- 👎 Overpriced for PNG creation
- 👎 Can't place all scans in one document
- 👎 Needs more drawing options
- 👎 Poor interface
- 👎 Uncomfortable to use on iPad Pro
- 👎 Limited sketching engine
- 👎 Not useful for $8
- 👎 Basic scanning app
- 👎 Clunky or doesn't work
- 👎 Not much functionality
- 👎 Resolution of captured images not good
- 👎 Not as advertised
- 👎 No edge-detection
- 👎 Imports lines from lined paper
- 👎 Text box or drawing function missing
- 👎 Captured image quality not good
- 👎 Selection is too 'intelligent'
- 👎 Overpriced for basic scanning
- 👎 Limited editing tools
- 👎 No color options
- 👎 Not intuitive to navigate

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Keeps crashing on iPad
- Update bricks app (crashes on launch)
- Carbo keeps crashing
- Sync problem with Evernote
- Exporting pages (archiving) doesn't work
- Buggy on iOS 9.01 and iPhone 6S
- iPhone keeps switching off sync with Evernote
- App crashes frequently
- File import from iCloud shows files but can't be opened
- Beta Evernote sync does not work
- Randomly selects other bits on the page
- Clunky or doesn't quite work
- Sync with Evernote was easy, but iPhone keeps switching off attempt to sync

**Most requested features**

- Adding colors
- More pencil sizes
- Ability to handle multi-page docs
- Viable export options (PDF, etc.)
- Ability to bundle pages into PDF
- Put a title on scans
- Copy and paste selected objects
- Export an entire notebook as PDF
- Desktop client for reassociating tags/annotations
- Save notes as pictures to Photos
- Select multiple vectors and change color/thickness
- iCloud Drive support
- Invert image
- Copy/cut/paste selections
- Export svg file
- OneDrive cloud option
- Scan a whole page of doodles and separate them
- Improve paper edge detection
- Multi-page option
- Text box or drawing function
- Improve captured image quality
- Edge-detection feature
- Better handling of lined paper
- Sync with Evernote
- Choice of line sizes for annotations
- Color picker and highlighter pen
- Support for different writing utensils on one surface
- Multiple page support
- Different sized pens
- More customization for page size
- PDF vector export
- Filter multiple tags
- Re-editing scanned documents
- Cloud sync for notes
- Copy feature for local and cloud storage
- Save to Photos app
- Ability to use notes as pictures
- Select multiple vectors and change color or thickness
- Scan entire page of doodles and separate them
- More cloud options (OneDrive)
- Text box or drawing function
- Better paper edge detection
- Multi-page option
- Improve captured image quality
- Edge-detection
- Better handling of lined paper
- Sync with Evernote
- Choice of line sizes for annotations
- Color picker and highlighter pen
- Support for different writing utensils on one surface
- Multiple page support
- Different sized pens
- More customization for page size
- PDF vector export
- Filter multiple tags
- Re-editing scanned documents
- Cloud sync for notes
- Copy feature for local and cloud storage

## Recent user reviews (10 of 146)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/carbo-pencil-notes-and-drawing/id956811074/reviews.md

### 4/5 — Handy little tool

*2025-02-08*

This is great for sketching ideas as they come to mind.

### 1/5 — Funktioniert nicht

*2024-05-15*

Zu teuer, Monatsabo funktioniert auch nicht, trotz aktiviertem pro pack 2 keine zusatzfunktionen wie Export usw verfügbar. Vorsicht beim Kauf

**Developer response:** Hello. We thank you for your constructive feedback about Carbo and we take note of it. Kind regards. /TC

### 5/5 — В отсутствии альтернатив — 5/5

*2024-04-29*

Нужно было оцифровать рукописные заметки с удалением фона для дальнейшего использования в моей базе obsidian, где я меняю цвет штриха и фона с помощью css-пресетов. Единственное приложение, которое помогло мне решить проблему. Благодарю.

### 5/5 — excellente pour votre schéma d’explications

*2022-07-18*

J’utilise Carbo occasionnellement et à chaque fois avec grand plaisir. 

J’aime beaucoup dessiner à la main des schémas explicatifs pour le boulot. Carbo me permet non seulement de numériser mon schéma intelligemment mais aussi d’y appliquer des effets qui font leurs petits effets ! J’aime tout particulièrement le tableau noir et le blueprint qui donne une touche pro et sérieuse. 

L’appli n’a pas moultes fonctionnalitées mais ce qu’elle fait elle le fait bien et je la recommande.

### 5/5 — She what’s

*2022-04-02*

Mystery woman is over there,she is miss more and second bag
Is rich.who is many’s in a town.she said,I miss you.

### 2/5 — Приложение не работает

*2021-10-16*

Стало вылетать при запуске после последнего обновления

### 1/5 — Пропали почти все заметки

*2021-08-21*

Pro пропали заметки

**Developer response:** Спасибо! /TC

### 5/5 — Pleasantly Surprised

*2021-06-28*

I was worried when I saw that this app went to a subscription plan, especially after losing functionality in other paid apps after they’ve done the same. Im happy to see that I haven’t lost any of the functionality of the app and it still works great. Thanks!

### 5/5 — 5 из 5

*2021-04-14*

Гениальное приложение!)

**Developer response:** Cпасибо! /TC

### 5/5 — The best at what it does

*2021-02-20*

This app is laser focused on scanning and editing black and white images and documents. I’ve relied on it for years for capturing whiteboard notes and receipts quickly. Love the editing functions which easily allow clean-up and rearranging of image elements. I was upset that the v3 update looked like it wanted me to pay again for feature I already had bought but the developer rapidly fixed that bug.

**Developer response:** Great to read. Thank you! /TC

## Frequently asked questions about Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

### What does Carbo do?

Carbo allows you to capture, organize, and edit handwritten notes and sketches digitally. It uses innovative visualization technology to preserve the expressiveness of your original drawings while offering vector-like sharpness and bitmap editing capabilities.

### What are the key features of Carbo?

Key features include hybrid visualization technology for clean, accurate notes, image-based input, natural sketching with Apple Pencil support, editable note elements, tagging and annotation for easy retrieval, and cloud storage integration with services like iCloud, Evernote, and Dropbox.

### How much does Carbo cost?

The app offers a free version with a 10-note limit. You can unlock all features either through a one-time purchase of 'Pro Pack 2' or via an affordable 'Pro Plan' subscription. Upgrade pricing is also available for previous version owners.

### What devices is Carbo compatible with?

Carbo is a universal app designed for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It supports the latest iOS features and is optimized for macOS Big Sur and later.

### What are common use cases for Carbo?

Common use cases include collecting handwritten notes, creating design sketches, capturing whiteboard drawings, and annotating images. Users can then organize, search, and share these creations in various formats.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.4 — 2026-01-21

Carbo 2.4 brings enhanced support for iOS 26 with Liquid Glass integration for a modern experience.
• App icon updated for Liquid Glass
• Added icons to menus

Other improvements:
• Carbo is now localized in 24 languages
• Stability enhancements & optimization for iOS 26

### 2.3 — 2024-09-12

NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS
• Optimized for latest iOS
• App icons update (standard / dark / tinted)

### 2.2.6 — 2024-08-13

Modernization for latest OS & bug fixes.

### 2.2.5 — 2024-04-09

- Modernization for latest OS & bug fixes
- Carbo now requires iOS 15 or higher.

### 2.2.4 — 2022-09-15

This release brings compatibility and optimizations for iOS 16.
Carbo requires iOS 14 or later.

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## More apps by Creaceed SRL

- [Emulsio › Video Stabilizer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/emulsio-video-stabilizer/id397583851)
- [Prizmo Go › Text scanner (OCR)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prizmo-go-text-scanner-ocr/id1183367390)
- [Inko › Whiteboard: Draw+Pencil](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inko-whiteboard-draw-plus-pencil/id1344902057)
- [Inko › Whiteboard (Volume Ed.)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inko-whiteboard-volume-ed/id1375458781)
- [Prizmo › Document Scanner, OCR](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prizmo-document-scanner-ocr/id1460243446)

All apps by Creaceed SRL: https://appshunter.io/developer/291683889

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-01.*