Comparison

Note Taker HD vs Photo Measures

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Note Taker HD

This app allows for versatile handwritten note-taking and PDF annotation on iPad and iPhone. It offers features like zoomed ink, shapes, typed text, and image insertion, with flexible organization and sharing options.

Highlights
  • Zoomed ink for detailed writing
  • PDF annotation capabilities
  • Insert photos and shapes
  • Typed text blocks
  • Organize with folders and tags
  • Export as PDF
Features
Read full description

Zoomed ink, PDF markup, photos, shapes, typed text, folders and tagging, extensive AirPlay control, and much more. The latest upgrade of one of the first note taking apps designed specifically for the Apple iPad and now also available for the Apple iPhone, Note Taker HD has long been known as a powerful and stable application for writing and organizing handwritten notes and diagrams. Note Taker HD can also be used to annotate PDF files. It can shrink your writing so you can easily fit a lot of text on a page. You can read the reduced-size "ink" as if you had written those letters with a very fine pen. It gives you solid functionality and control to produce the pages you need. Documents are flexibly organized by tags, date/time last modified, favorites, and more, with a scrolling list of thumbnail images of part of each page to help you find them later. You can email one or more pages as a single PDF file, "Open In" other apps, or, if your device supports it, print. Note Taker HD lets you create pages by writing on the screen with your finger or an iPad/iPhone-compatible stylus. You can either write directly on the page for large drawings, or have the "ink" you write shrunk down. You can write in large letters on the screen rather than trying to make tiny motions like a pencil. You just keep writing and Note Taker HD automatically adds new writing next to the old. To quickly correct mistakes, it has multi-level undo and redo buttons as well as an eraser -- just drag your finger over the page to erase the "ink" under it. You can zoom in and out on a page using the pinch gesture while viewing or editing. The Zoomed Editing window lets you see both a zoomed-out overview and a zoomed-in close-up writing area at the same time. You can use "Open In" in other apps send PDF files to Note Taker HD for annotation. Other features include: - Pages organized into documents and folders - Typed blocks of text with optional borders - 60+ highly customizable shapes - Insert and crop images from Photo Albums, Pasteboard, or the iPad/iPhone camera - Custom backgrounds from images or PDF pages - Free templates and clip art on the support web site - VGA/HDMI/AirPlay support with zoom, pan, and a moveable pointer - Wrist guard to avoid inadvertent touches - Layout variations better suited to some left-handed users - Optional fields in output footers like in a word processor - Extensive built-in help - Smooth and crisp ink on screen and in PDF output - Share editable copies of your documents with others - Backup to a single file for off-iPad/iPhone storage - Password protected folders - Support for the iOS Data Protection API - Support for languages written right-to-left - Full-screen preview mode - Automatic advance and auto-return in zoomed editing - Copy/Cut/Paste between pages, rotate/resize ink Note Taker HD was designed and programmed by Dan Bricklin, the same person who over 40 years ago came up with VisiCalc, the pioneering electronic spreadsheet that made working with numbers on a personal computer so easy. To see it in action, click on the Support link here or go directly to www.notetakerhd.com.

About

Photo Measures

Easily measure and annotate dimensions directly onto your photos. Perfect for home improvement, real estate, or any project requiring precise measurements. Save, organize, and share your annotated images with ease.

Highlights
  • Draw measures directly on photos
  • Zoom for precision
  • Add text comments
  • Support for angles
  • Imperial or metric units
  • Organize photos by category
  • Export as PDF or JPG
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Photo Measures is the most elegant and the easiest way to save measures on your own photos on iPhone and iPad! Architectural Digest - "Very useful when shopping or meeting with contractors" Tuaw.com - "It's perfect for your own work around the house, and handy for creating plans to bring to a contractor" AppSafari - "So incredibly convenient" Featured on the front page of the AppStore under New & Noteworthy and Staff Favorites in more than 70 countries, including the US, France, Germany and Canada. Recommended by many reference magazines, websites and blogs all around the world: Architectural Digest, Tuaw.com, This Old House, AppOfTheDay.com, AppSafari.com, etc... ◆◆◆◆◆ Constructing a house? Engineering a new project? Moving to a new place? Take some photos and note down the dimensions on the photos to remember the exact layout, and to make sure that everything will fit easily. Need to keep in mind the exact dimensions of an object? Just take a photo and quickly write them on it. Are you decorating? Want to buy a new frame or a new furniture but not sure it will fit? No problem since you can have all your house dimensions always with you! ◆◆◆◆◆ You are a real estate agent? A contractor? An engineer? A designer? Working in the construction industry? Someone who wants to keep his house's measure easily accessible? Whenever you need to save dimensions, sizes, angles or write down a detail you need to remember, Photo Measures will help you to be more efficient and more accurate. ◆◆◆◆◆ Photo Measures helps you to: . Take a photo and directly draw measures on it . Zoom into and out of your photo when you need more precision . Edit your measures with a very intuitive interface . Quickly add text as comments when measures are not enough . Native support for angles . Save your measures in imperial or metric units . Easily organize your photos by category . Export your dimensions in high resolution by email or to the photo library . Export as PDF or JPG . Import photos of any size and aspect ratio . Support Retina display Keep posted, a lot of new features are planned for the next versions!

Screenshots

Note Taker HD4 screens
Photo Measures4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Photo Measures at 4.6 against Note Taker HD's 4.0. Photo Measures also leads on chart position (#37 vs unranked) and ratings volume (524 vs 140). Note Taker HD's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $6.99). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Note Taker HD costs $4.99 and Photo Measures $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Photo Measures holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 140 and 524 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Note Taker HD's written reviews are positive against 89% of Photo Measures's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, Photo Measures every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Note Taker HD versus Photo Measures: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote Taker HDPhoto Measures
Price$4.99 — better$6.99
Rating4.0 (140 ratings)4.6 (524 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.7% of reviews88.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings140524 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#37 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoftware GardenCubent

Customer experience

Note Taker HD

All ratings140 ratings
Positive73.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative19.3%
Written reviews595 reviews
Positive83.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative10.3%

Photo Measures

All ratings524 ratings
Positive91.0%
Neutral2.3%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews802 reviews
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.9%
Negative6.4%

User reviews

Note Taker HD

From 140 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic app, great for engineering and customer communication
  • 👍 Text and sketching on the same page
  • 👍 Typed notes are more legible than handwritten
  • 👍 Typed text remains as editable text objects
  • 👍 Zoom window for precise drawing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes when exporting PDFs
  • 🐛 Crashes when adding photos
  • 🐛 Crashes and loses data
  • 🐛 Exporting to email not working well
  • 🔍 Interface not very intuitive, steep learning curve

Photo Measures

From 524 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive and effective
  • 💡 Valuable for work and personal use
  • 🚀 Saves time and effort
  • 👍 Simple and straightforward

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable after updates
  • 🐛 Measurements not always accurate
  • 🐛 Difficult to navigate and browse photos
  • 🐛 Lack of features like undo and bulk photo deletion
  • 💡 Need more customization options (e.g., text color, font, shapes)

Bugs and requests

Note Taker HD

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when exporting PDFs
  • Crashes when adding photos
  • Crashes and loses data
  • Exporting to email not working well

Requested features

9 requests
  • Evernote integration
  • Ability to scroll between pages
  • Ability to underline, bold or italicize typed text
  • Ability to group objects together
  • Voice recording and clip function
Show 4 more
  • Dropbox/iCloud sync and backup
  • Ability to convert handwriting to text
  • Folders and sub-folders for better organization
  • Ability to rotate objects

Photo Measures

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Measurements not aligning properly with photos
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Inability to edit or delete measurements

Requested features

5 requests
  • Sync across devices (iCloud, Google Drive, etc.)
  • Ability to import/export PDFs
  • Integration with laser measuring tools
  • More advanced drawing/annotation tools
  • Improved photo organization and management

In-app purchases

None

Note Taker HD

No in-app purchases

None

Photo Measures

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Note Taker HD free?
Note Taker HD costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Photo Measures free?
Photo Measures costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Note Taker HD or Photo Measures?
Photo Measures is rated higher. Note Taker HD averages 4.0 out of 5 from 140 ratings, while Photo Measures averages 4.6 from 524 ratings.
Do Note Taker HD or Photo Measures have ads?
Neither Note Taker HD nor Photo Measures shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Note Taker HD or Photo Measures?
Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, and Photo Measures every 3 months. Most recently, Note Taker HD was updated on October 17, 2026 and Photo Measures on October 16, 2026.

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