Digital Planning FAQ’s, Quick Tips & Videos

Using the GoodNotes editing tools:
Taking notes and writing in your digital planner is super simple. Just like writing with a pen on paper. When you open your digital planner in GoodNotes5, you’ll see two bars at the top of the screen.

The upper one in dark color is the nav bar. The navbar, as indicated by its name, lets you perform navigation actions or actions that affect the document as a whole. You also notice the Read-Only Mode is now located at the nav bar.

The lower one is the toolbar. You can select the tools or colors by tapping on the icon once. The selected tool will be represented in color, whereas inactive tools are colorless. Tapping on the icon of a selected tool a second time will reveal additional options or tool-settings.

Pen Tool
Write on the page with your finger or a stylus. Other pen styles can be selected in the pen options.

• Fountain pen: Pressure-sensitive pen style
• Ball pen: no pressure sensitivity
• Brush pen: create artistic ink and notes with this highly pressure-sensitive pen style (works best with a high thickness)

Eraser Tool
Erase ink strokes or highlighting on the page.

Highlighter
Highlight notes or texts.

Shape Tool
Draw perfect geometric shapes or straight lines.

Lasso Tool
Select objects on the page to reorder, resize, or edit them further.

Image Tool
Insert images from your photo library and edit them.

Camera Tool
Take photos with your iPad camera to add them to the page or create a whole page from a photo.

Text Tool
Create a text box by tapping anywhere on the page to type with your keyboard.

Zoom Window Tool
Magnify a part of the page to write neatly and precisely.

Contextual area

On the right side of the toolbar, you’ll see the “Contextual Area”. Each tool has its own quick actions that appear in this area. The pen, the highlighter, and the shapes tool show a set of shortcuts for adapting the color and thickness. You can select more colors or change the thickness of the strokes by tapping on these icons again. Other tools, like the Image tool, have different quick actions in the contextual area.

The digital planner is a navigable PDF of our best selling paper planner and is designed for use on a tablet with a stylus. It can be imported into most PDF annotation/note taking apps. We highly recommend and provide getting started tutorials for use on an iPad with the GoodNotes5 App.

• First, try our sample planner, available below with your App of choice before you purchase as all sales are final, no refunds.
• This digital planner is a navigable pdf designed for use on a tablet with a PDF Annotation App and a stylus.
• We highly recommend use with an iPad & GoodNotes5. We currently only provide How to Guides for use with GoodNotes5.
• A pdf annotation App is required and sold separately (ie: GoodNotes, Notability, Noteshelf 2, Xodo)
• GoodNotes5 requires iOS devices be able to run iOS 12+ or later. (See GoodNotes5 Stylus Requirements below)
• Please note this is a navigable and annotatable PDF File: Annotation functionality will be dependent on your app of choice.
• This is a Digital Planner download. Please note that no product will be shipped.

Try our sample digital planner prior to purchase here:

1. First, Get the GoodNotes5 App for iPad – Click Here
2. How to Import the Digital Sample Planner into GoodNotes 5: (See video Below)
   • • Using your iPad, Open Safari and download the zip file below.
       • Commit30 Sample Planner Zip File
     • Downloading the zip file will save to your iPad Downloads Folder.
     • Open GoodNotes5:
       • From GoodNotes “Documents” Add New Folder by tapping “+” icon -> Select “Import” -> Select the Downloaded Zip File from the iPad Downloads Folder.
       • This will import the planner into GoodNotes for use.
     • FYI, to click on the planner tabs you need to be in “read” mode. Toggle the pen icon on/off to switch between read and write mode.
3. Please Note: The sample planner is undated, so you can start at any time by writing in the dates, to test out a month. Our full version planners are dated.
4. Other ways to import to GoodNotes  Click Here.

What you will receive:

The Commit30 2020 Digital Planner PDF download, includes:

• 2020 Weekly Digital Planner optimized for an iPad, a Stylus and the GoodNotes5 App.
• 12 Months: Jan 2020 – Dec 2020 with mini 2020-2021 monthly planning section for looking ahead.
• 3 bonus months Oct 2019 – Dec 2019
• A smooth tabbed navigation system to freely navigate between all months and custom tabs including: Vision Board, 2020/2021 Calendar, My Vision, My Goals, Stickers, 30/30 Challenge, Food, Fitness, Budget, Today, Checklist, Home, Travel, Gifts, Gratitude, Birthday/Holiday, Custom Tab Pages: 1-7.
• Weekly Sunday or Monday Start Day Layout – 7 days a week plus “Life & Work to do list” sections. Weekly layout has space for meetings, tasks, meal planning, errands, calls to make, exercise tracking & more – totally customizable based upon users needs. Appointment guide from 5:00am – 7:00pm.
• 9 Cover Color Options Included (Limited Edition Covers: Gold, Pink, Blue, Sea Green, Red, Marigold, Purple & Standard Cover: Black & Brown)
• Free Sample Digital Sticker Page Included
• 2020 & 2021 Calendar Overview Section
• Commit30 30-day Challenge Tracking Tool & Motivational Quotes Each Month
• Project Planning, Notes & Sketching Section at bottom of each weekly layout & in each monthly section.
• Unlimited notes pages in your digital planner – take notes in meetings, jot or doodle ideas, takes notes in class. 4 blank or dot grid notes pages to copy and past in as many times as you need throughout the digital planner.

What you CAN DO with GoodNotes5:

• Designed for the iPad and the GoodNotes5 App. The digital planner takes all the best features of our paper planner and makes it digital 🙂
• Navigate to specific tabbed pages with a tap, and/or swipe to flip through the planner pages.
• You can write, draw, doodle, color, type, scale, highlight, undo, redo, erase, insert, copy, paste and more. (Designed for use with a stylus)
• The digital planner is a 12 month dated planner (with a few bonus months), just like our paper planners, and is sold annually.
• With GoodNotes5 you can sync your digital planner to any iOS device (iOS 12+ required) using the same Apple ID.
• Backup your digital planner with GoodNotes backup and restore features.
• Test out a sample planner before you buy.

What you CAN’T do with GoodNotes5:

• It does not import/export or sync with other calendars.
• It does not have built in notification or reminder functionality. (We recommend using it in conjunction with Siri and the Reminders App on your iPad)
• The GoodNotes App is currently only available for iOS devices running iOS 12+.

Want to learn more about how to use the GoodNotes 5 App and all of its features?

• Checkout the How To Guides. Click Here

GoodNotes 5 is currently only available for devices running iOS 12 or higher. 

GoodNotes 5 supports the following styluses:

• Apple Pencil 1st gen
• Apple Pencil 2nd gen
• Logitech Crayon
• All non-Bluetooth capacitive styluses – Find on Amazon

Not sure which iPad you have? Find out here.

Learn more about Apple Pencil on the official support page here.

Can I use the digital planner on my iPhone?

Yes, the GoodNotes app does work on iPad & iPhone, and it will sync between the two using iCloud sync. We recommend primarily using it on the iPad as it is a better user experience with the larger screen and a stylus. Then, use it on your iPhone primarily as read only option to see your calendar. You can annotated the planner on iPhone but it is more tedious with the small screen.

Can I sync between my iPad and iPhone?

Yes, with GoodNotes5 you can turn on iCloud Sync, which will allow you to use the planner on both your iPad and iPhone.

In order to sync with iCloud both devices must be using the same Apple ID.

Can I import/export to other calendars with GoodNotes?

No, the planner will not import/export or sync with other calendars.

You can print, backup and share the planner to other iOS devices using the GoodNotes iCloud sync function.

Can I use a different App? Will this work on Andriod or MS Tablet or a Mac?

Our digital planner is a navigable PDF file and will work on most pdf annotation apps.

However, we highly recommend it for use with GoodNotes5 as it is feature packed with the best digital planning tools. Also, we don’t provide support or instructions for use on any other App than GoodNotes5.

If you want to try it out with a different app, please try our Sample Planner first to see if it works to your liking as we don’t offer refunds on our digital products. Some other App options include – Notability, Noteshelf 2, Xodo.

What is the cost….. is it a subscription?

Our digital planner is just like our paper planner. It is a 12 month dated planner (with a few bonus months) that is sold individually/annually. It is not a subscription. A new planner will be for sale next year that you can purchase at your convenience.

How do I click/navigate using the planner Tabs?

1. Clicking on the Tabs: In GoodNotes you will either be in “write” mode or “read” mode. In order to click on the planner tabs you must be in “read” mode. You can toggle between modes by selecting the “pen” icon in the upper right corner of the navbar.
2. Swiping to move between pages: If using the apple pencil you can swipe left to right with 1 finger to scroll between pages (Up/Down if you have selected vertical orientation). If you are not using an apple pencil you will scroll with two fingers.
3. Thumbnail View: Click on thumbnail icon in upper left corner. You can see all of the pages of the planner and go directly to any page.

How do I use the Stickers?

How to use Pre-Cropped Stickers (Our sticker books are pre-cropped stickers)

1. Use your lasso tool to select the sticker of choice.
2. Press with your stylus on the lassoed image until you see the menu appear and click “Copy”.
3. Then open your Digital Planner to the page you want to insert the sticker. Press on the screen with your stylus until the menu appears and click “Paste”.
   • You can resize, rotate and move the sticker to your desired location.

Tip: The lasso tool will grab anything it touches. To make sure you don’t grab the sticker next to the one you want, only select a small portion of the sticker with the lasso.

How to change your planner cover?

1. From the navbar select the “thumbnail” icon (upper left).
2. Scroll down to the bottom where you will see different cover colors.
3. Press and hold on the planner cover page. Then drag to the top and place in the page 1 location. Then do the same for the old cover page, hold and drag to the bottom/last page for future use.

Depending on when you ordered your planner…. You will either import the PDF file directly. (See video below). Or you will get a zip file download.

Zip File Download/Import Instructions Here:

1. First, Get the GoodNotes5 App for iPad – Click Here
2. How to Import the Digital Planner into GoodNotes 5:
   • • Using your iPad either click on the download link in your order confirmation email. Or, download via your account on our website. (If you created an account)
     • When clicking on the zip file it will save to your iPad Downloads Folder.
     • Open GoodNotes5:
       • From GoodNotes “Documents” Add New Folder by tapping “+” icon -> Select “Import” -> Select the Downloaded Zip File from the iPad Downloads Folder.
       • This will import the planner into GoodNotes for use.
3. Other ways to import to GoodNotes  Click Here.