LinaPad: PDF Notes & Recording

Your handwritten notes can remember more than words on a page. LinaPad is a focused PDF note-taking and lecture recording app designed for iPad. Import class slides, handouts, research papers, or meeting documents and write directly over them with Apple Pencil. Prefer a clean page? Create a blank notebook and choose ruled, grid, dotted, or plain paper. As you write, LinaPad keeps your vector handwriting and lecture audio on the same session timeline. When it is time to review, select handwriting from that session to return to the related point in the recording. Instead of scrubbing through a long audio file and guessing where a topic began, your own notes become a visual way back into the lecture. HANDWRITE ON PDFs • Import PDF documents and annotate them without changing the original PDF asset • Write with ballpoint, fountain, brush, and highlighter tools • Adjust ink color, opacity, and stroke width for a comfortable writing setup • Use Apple Pencil or a compatible stylus for precise handwritten notes • Erase an entire stroke or only part of a stroke • Undo and redo edits while you work CREATE FLEXIBLE DIGITAL NOTEBOOKS • Start a blank note when you do not need a PDF • Choose ruled, grid, dotted, or blank page styles • Change the paper color to suit your workspace • Add, duplicate, rotate, delete, and reorder pages • Move through multi-page notes with a dedicated page navigator EDIT VECTOR HANDWRITING • Lasso handwriting to select exactly what you need • Move, resize, and freely rotate a selection • Copy, cut, paste, or delete selected ink • Keep handwriting separate from the original PDF for editable, non-destructive annotation • Preserve clear vector strokes when reopening a note or exporting pages RECORD WHILE YOU WRITE • Record a class, lecture, interview, or meeting inside the note • Pause and resume recording while preserving the session-relative timeline • Keep independently saved audio segments organized by recording session • See which handwriting has related audio • Select a stroke to jump to the connected moment in the recording • Follow highlighted handwriting as recorded audio plays • Change playback speed during review ORGANIZE YOUR STUDY NOTES • Search your local note library by name • Sort notes by recent activity or title • Mark important notebooks as favorites • Group coursework, projects, and meeting notes into folders • View page previews before opening a document • Move deleted notes to Trash before permanently removing them EXPORT AND BACK UP YOUR WORK • Export selected pages as a PDF with handwriting included • Save pages as individual PNG images • Export completed recording segments as M4A audio files • Create an editable .linapad backup containing the source PDF, vector ink, audio, and note metadata • Restore a backup as a new note without modifying the backup archive LOCAL-FIRST BY DESIGN Your PDFs, handwritten notes, and lecture recordings are stored on your device. LinaPad does not require an account and does not include ads, subscriptions, or real-time cloud sync. You stay in control of when and where your work is exported. LinaPad is built for students who annotate lecture slides, researchers who read and mark up PDFs, and professionals who want handwritten meeting notes connected to the conversation. It brings PDF annotation, a digital notebook, a lecture recorder, and audio-linked review into one calm iPad workspace.