10 Tips for NEAT iPad Handwriting ✏️

[Music] this video is sponsored by skillshare this is what my digital notes used to look like versus what they look like now and my most viewed video on my channel is how to write Neer on your iPad so I wanted to do an updated version a few years later when I first got my iPad I was so excited to start digital planning and note taking but was super discouraged when I hated my handwriting writing on the iPad's glass screen can feel a little bit odd and unnatural at first but I promise with just a little

bit of time and patience you will get the hang of it so if you hate your iPad handwriting this video is for you I'm going to share my top 10 tips on how to improve your handwriting with a bonus tip at the end and having neat notes that are easy to read is just so helpful especially when you're learning a new skill on something like skillshare I am no longer a student but I still want to learn something new this fall so I've started a couple courses with skillshare I couldn't pick just one because there

are thousands of different coures that you can take and there is literally something for anybody they have everything from photography graphic design music cooking business marketing and if you want to learn more ways to use your iPad they have almost 2,000 courses specifically for iPad from everything to learning Garage Band to making animations or even using apps like Adobe Fresco I'm taking a cinematography course by Dan mcmanis also taking a procreate class by Lisa BAU which is perfect if you want to be more creative on your iPad I love skill share because the courses are

by creatives who have already mastered their craft and are sharing all of their knowledge with you if you want to learn something new this fall click the link in my description the first 500 people to use the length will get one month free trial of skillshare to start I am using the iPad air4 and the apple pencil Pro but most of these tips can apply to any iPad or stylus tip one is a no-brainer but pencil grip does matter depending on who you are finding the pencil grip that is most comfortable for you is going

to be the biggest Factor in improving your handwriting on an iPad or on paper I also recommend loosening your grip on your Apple pencil a mistake I see often is people with a harsh grip on their pencil and putting a lot of pressure on the screen the looser your grip the more your apple pencil will just Glide across the screen making your handwriting very smooth especially with things like cursive where you're writing all in one line and having a harsh pen grip will just make your hand cramp up anyways so just loosen up and let

the pen Glide along the screen tip number two is pen settings depending on what app you're using there is going to be different settings for your pen and various different types of pen you can use for this example I'm going to be using goodnotes because it's the most popular digital notetaking app out there and there are three different pens you have the fountain pen ball pen brush pen with various settings underneath each of those and you also have the brand new pencil I recommend going into each of these pens testing them out even if you've

used goodnotes or the same app for forever it might still surprise you what feels the most natural to you and what pen your handwriting looks best in personally I like using the ballpoint pen it's just a uniform pen size and it has consistent pressure other pens like the fountain pen will get thicker or thinner depending on how much pressure you put on the page which can lead to overall Messier handwriting and just having to think more about how much pressure you're putting on the screen but some people have incredible handwriting using the fountain pen so

definitely try it out for yourself and see what you like personally you're also going to want to test different thickness sizes personally I stick around .5 mm for my thickness I find that whenever I have handwriting that is too thin it looks very wobbly and uneven if it's too thick it just looks blotchy so I like somewhere right in the middle around 05 and you can also adjust your writing posture settings within goodnotes which will help the app understand what your hand grip is like overall tip number three is to write small and then adjust

the size later so I found that it's actually much easier to control your letters whenever you are writing smaller if I try to write a big title and actually make it the size I want it to be I find that the letters are inconsistent my handwriting is a little bit wobbly but because whenever I'm writing smaller I have a little bit more control over the brush that my handwriting overall looks a lot neater so I try to write small around the same size and then if I want anything to be bigger I'll just use the

lasso tool and adjust the size from there and this leads me into tip number four which is focus on consistent height and width of your letters and also focus on consistent spacing in between each letter even if each individual letter itself is written in a messy fashion if it is consistent height width and spacing it's going to look neat being mindful of this takes practice and I don't always do it but whenever I do focus on this I find that my handwriting is much neater and easier to read and an easy way to do this

which leads me into tip number five is using grid paper grid paper has built-in line and spacing for you so it makes it much easier to keep your handwriting neat the same thing also applies tot bullet Journal paper it's going to make it so much easier for you to stay consistent with your lettering and that's why I always include bullet or grid paper on all of my planners tip number six is to write at whatever angle feels good to you and move it later this is part of the beauty of digital is that you can

write at any angle you want and then you can adjust it afterwards leaning into the fact that it is digital and you're on an iPad and whatever write doesn't have to be perfect on the first go or the perfect size or angle and that you can adjust all of these things afterward really helps you to just focus on writing the word and then you can focus on all of the angles straight lines and stuff like that later and even adjusting the angle of the iPad itself and over time you're going to find a comfortable grip

and writing angle that works for you and that leads me into tip number seven which is to lean into your natural handwriting style don't arduously sit there and try to get handwriting that looks like a font just because you want this certain style of handwriting rather write normally write as you naturally would and over time do little things to improve the neatness of your handwriting rather than trying to alter your handwriting overall just because it looks different than a font like handwriting style doesn't mean it's messy and you can still have neat clean notes that

are in your personal handwriting tip number eight is to use the zoom tool or if you're using an app that doesn't have this built-in simply just zooming in on your page for me whenever I zoom in I have a lot more control over each of the letters I also like using the zoom tool because I can focus on what I'm writing while still seeing the rest of the page which makes it easier to make sure that the whole layout is working together cohesively while also focusing on the individual word that I'm writing in the moment

if you have done all of the prior tips and you are still struggling and you still hate your handwriting on the iPad the next two tips are for you so tip number nine is to add colors and highlighters when in doubt distract yourself from the messiness color coding is a great way for your notes to appear more organized it's also just a great note-taking method in general but adding different things like colors highlighters stickers and other elements to your notes can really go a long way in the overall appearance of your notes or plans even

if I'm having a bad handwriting day or if I'm just too lazy to try adding in a few colors and highlighters just makes the overall spread look way more visually appealing and tip number 10 is to invest in some iPad accessories something like a matte screen protector can really help you especially when you're just starting out writing on the iPad the actual pen has a lot more grip on it versus just writing on the glass screen I also recommend purchasing something like a pencil grip this helps you have much better control over your pencil and

it also really helps if you're experiencing any pencil slipping so if you tried all the previous tips and you're still struggling wanted to give you guys one more bonus tip and that is smart script that recently came out on iPad OS 18 this is a feature within the notes app that will literally clean up your handwriting as you're writing in the app it will straighten up the lines for you make your letters more consistent and the more you use it the more it learns your handwriting but those are all of my tips for writing Neer

on your iPad I hope that you learned something new and maybe picked up a new tip that you're going to try out and if I missed any tips that have really helped you with your handwriting definitely comment them below and share with everybody I definitely don't have the neatest iPad handwriting in the world but I've improved a lot since I first got my iPad so I'm glad to bring you guys this video and don't forget to check out skillshare below and take a course this fall I hope you enjoyed and I will see you guys

in the next one bye [Music] [Music]