Skip to main content

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

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.

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more
Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

Read more
The Nokia 3210 is the worst phone I’ve used in 2024
A person holding the Nokia 3210, showing the screen.

Where do I even start with the Nokia 3210? Not the original, which was one of the coolest phones to own back in a time when Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace wasn’t even a thing, but the latest 2024 reissue that has come along to save us all from digital overload, the horror of social media, and the endless distraction that is the modern smartphone.

Except behind this facade of marketing-friendly do-goodery hides a weapon of torture, a device so foul that I’d rather sit through multiple showings of Jar Jar Binks and the gang hopelessly trying to bring back the magic of A New Hope than use it.
The Nokia 3210 really is that bad

Read more