Turn your hand-drawn sketches into digital files with this smart notebook

By Malarie Gokey Published November 22, 2014

moleskin sketches digital adobe creative cloud apps moleskine — Image used with permission by copyright holder

There’s nothing quite like drawing on real paper. Scores of styli and drawing apps try to replace paper and ink, but there are also a handful of companies who want you to stick with ink and paper. Moleskine teamed up with Adobe to create a special notebook and app that digitize your drawings, so that you can digitally edit them in Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps.

Of course, you have to use Moleskine’s fancy new Smart Notebook and download the iOS companion app on your iPhone or iPad before you’ll be able to turn your hand-drawn sketches into editable .jpg or .svg vector files. You then have to take a photo of your sketch using the app and sync with the Creative Cloud to upload your file to one of Adobe’s editing programs. The notebook has special markings on each page that alert the app to the orientation of the drawing, so that your horizontal sketch doesn’t end up as a vertical file on PhotoShop or Illustrator. The markings also ensure that the image isn’t distorted, no matter how off center your photo was.

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Once you’ve got your drawing digitized and synced with Adobe PhotoShop or Illustrator, you can edit it to your heart’s content. You’ll need an Adobe Creative Cloud membership to take full advantage of the Moleskine notebook and digital editing capabilities, though. However, chances are if you’re interested in turning paper and ink drawings into digital files in the first place, you probably already are a member of Adobe’s creative app suite.

The notebook itself costs $33 and is available for pre-order now. Luckily, it should ship in December, so if you’re looking to buy the Smart Notebook for an artistic friend or family member, it should arrive in time for the winter holidays.

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