BEST of BOTH Worlds? Digitizing Field Notes inside Obsidian [Showcase]

Summary

In this video, the creator shares their process of combining the analog joy of physical note-taking with the powerful digital organization of Obsidian. Starting with scanning pocket notebooks, they clean up the images and bring them into Obsidian, where they apply custom CSS themes to preserve the aesthetic of their handwritten notes. The creator also discusses handling multicolor ink, searchability, and the use of OCR plugins for text extraction. This integration allows them to retain the tactile satisfaction of analog while benefiting from the digital features of tagging, linking, and organizing notes, creating a seamless workflow for their creative projects.

Takeaways

• 😀 The user started with DIY pocket notebooks to test the field notes approach before committing to larger subscriptions.
• 😀 Handwritten notes in pocket notebooks offer a tactile satisfaction, which the user finds unmatched compared to digital methods.
• 😀 Obsidian, a powerful note-taking software, became an essential tool for organizing and linking notes, offering a digital 'second brain'.
• 😀 The user integrated physical notebook pages into Obsidian, combining the benefits of analog notes with the power of digital organization.
• 😀 Scanning physical notebooks at 600 DPI is ideal for high-quality digital versions without large file sizes, allowing for better preservation.
• 😀 Post-scan, the user cleans up images using editing tools like Affinity Photo to separate ink from the page for easier digital use.
• 😀 Custom CSS in Obsidian allows users to maintain a personalized look for their digital notebooks, replicating the feel of handwritten notes.
• 😀 The user employs CSS snippets to adjust page color, text color, and even pen color for imported scanned images to match the original feel.
• 😀 The process also supports adding diagrams and sketches, either maintaining the original look or recreating them digitally.
• 😀 Searchability for handwritten text is enhanced through plugins like OCR and by transcribing important text manually into Obsidian.
• 😀 Some challenges exist with formatting, such as handling multicolor notes, but the user uses HTML tags and CSS to work around these limitations.

Q & A

What was the creator's initial approach to using pocket notebooks?

The creator decided to try the whole field notes concept to see if keeping a small notebook on hand would help with organization and capturing fleeting thoughts. Initially, they created their own notebooks from scratch to avoid committing to buying packs or subscriptions.

Why did the creator become so attached to using physical notebooks?

The creator enjoyed the tactile satisfaction of writing in their notebooks and the joy of watching their ideas and sketches accumulate, which provided a unique experience that couldn't be matched by digital tools at the time.

How did the creator's approach to note-taking evolve after discovering Obsidian?

After discovering Obsidian, a powerful note-taking software, the creator started using it to track notes and documents for various projects. Obsidian became a second brain for them, allowing for better organization, searchability, and linking of digital notes.

What challenge did the creator face when integrating handwritten notes into Obsidian?

The creator faced the challenge of maintaining the aesthetic and feel of their handwritten notes while transferring them into the digital format of Obsidian. The white-on-black monospace style they used in Obsidian didn't align with the visual style of their physical notebooks.

How did the creator resolve the visual mismatch between their handwritten notes and Obsidian's style?

The creator resolved this mismatch by taking advantage of Obsidian’s customization options, specifically per-note CSS, which allowed them to adjust the look and feel of their notes, retaining the character of their handwritten pages while incorporating the digital features they needed.

What process did the creator use to digitize their handwritten notes?

The creator scanned their notebooks using a flatbed scanner at 600 DPI, ensuring high-quality images. They then cleaned up the scans in an editing program like Affinity Photo, isolating the ink from the paper and removing any imperfections before importing the images into Obsidian.

What software did the creator use to clean up the scans of their notebooks?

The creator used Affinity Photo to clean up their scanned images, though Photoshop or any capable image-editing software would work as well. The main task was to separate the ink from the background and make sure the lines remained crisp.

How did the creator integrate their digitized images into Obsidian?

The creator imported the cleaned images into Obsidian by either copying and pasting them directly into their notes, or saving them as PNG files and embedding them. Obsidian automatically handles these as images in the vault.

How did the creator apply customization to their digitized notes in Obsidian?

The creator applied customization using CSS classes in the YAML front matter of each note, allowing them to change background colors, text colors, and even pen colors in their imported images to match the aesthetic of their physical notes.

What is the role of OCR in the creator's workflow with Obsidian?

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is used to extract text from images, making handwritten text in diagrams and sketches searchable within Obsidian. While OCR works well for legible text, the creator prefers manual transcription for better accuracy, especially when dealing with messy handwriting.