This is part of a series of articles where I engage in creative projects that could be used in classrooms using the same apps, tools, and features across different Apple devices and operating systems. In this example, I create a draw a sketchnote by hand using my typical sketchnoting app, Keynote. I use the same Keynote file on iCloud and draw on 3 different platforms: iPadOS using Apple Pencil 2; macOS using trackpad and Keynote’s Pen tool; and visionOS using the Drawing features and “drawing in the air.”
I estimate that I have drawn over 200 sketchnotes over the past several years (here are some examples), and I have developed a method using what I believe is the best device, app, and tool for the process. For this exercise, I followed my process, but I alter the drawing methods to report on the differences among operating systems.
Here is the process I used:
- Researched a topic, in this case, architecture from Fort Sheridan in Highland Park, IL, USA. (Fort Sheridan is a former military base with historic architecture converted to residential housing in the late 1990s.)
- Compiled text research in the Notes app, along with URLs of images (mostly from the Library of Congress).
- Planned a sketchnote in the Keynote app using Apple Pencil drawings, text boxes, and images set to 30% opacity to use the tracing method for sketchnoting. Since the exercise involves 3 operating systems/devices, I researched 3 structures and created a layout with a 3-panel design.
- Since I prefer to use handwritten text in sketchnotes, I created the headline and most labels on iPad with the Apple Pencil.
- Finally, I used my research and planning to draw each panel using 3 different platforms. Each panel includes a headline, a drawing, and some text bullets about the structure.
This project was an exercise in ever-increasing tedium.
Beginning with the end in mind, here is the sketchnote I created for this activity. The timings indicate how long each panel took to create. I will elaborate on each panel below.
Keynote on iPadOS with Apple Pencil 2
I have several reasons I prefer Keynote as my primary sketchnoting app:
- The app is free, available for all Apple operating systems, and Keynote files can be accessed on iCloud from all devices.
- Easy set-up allows for quick starts, and all my sketchnote files can be easily formatted in HD format (1920 x 1080) on a white background using a 1-click template.
- Keynote allows me to create unlimited slides to pre-draw and/or plan as I’m working—like a sketchbook with unlimited pages.
- Drawing tools are accessed easily by tapping the Apple Pencil on the screen.
(I have only ONE complaint...APPLE: Let me turn OFF Auto-Center on the iPadOS version of Keynote so I can zoom in and draw all the way to all edges. This missing feature is VERY annoying!!)
For this activity, I used the iPad/Apple Pencil to plan the sketchnote so I could open it on all devices and easily draw each panel. This is the Drawing interface of Keynote on iPad using Apple Pencil:
I find drawing on the iPad screen with the Apple Pencil 2 quite natural. I also appreciate that I can efficiently plan my sketchnote layouts on iPad or Mac using the same file. It’s easy for me to drag images from Safari, the Photos app, and from Keynote’s searchable collection of shapes. I also use Apple’s well designed emoji in some designs.
Drawing on iPadOS with Apple Pencil is the method I have practiced for more than 8 years—I began soon after the Apple Pencil was released (Apple Newsroom, 2015). As a researcher I disclose this as a bias, and as a sketchnoter (sketchnotist?) I acknowledge my many hours of practice. However, I am using this opportunity to try other methods I use less often, along with a brand new method.
For the record, the time it took me to set up the sketchnote and create the iPadOS/Apple Pencil panel was 28 minutes. In this panel, the subject was Fort Sheridan’s iconic Water Tower. In drawing the Water Tower, it appears linear, but includes several curves and flared edges that make its design more complex. These details are not major obstacles for drawing by hand with an Apple Pencil.
I also included a hand-lettered headline for the slide, and I planned of the layout for the other two panels on the iPad using Apple Pencil. The planning and drawing activities took very little effort, caused me no frustration, and felt quite natural.
Keynote on macOS with Trackpad and Pen Tool
Somewhat oddly, Apple has chosen to not include access to the hand drawing tools on Keynote for macOS. The “Drawing mode” could theoretically be included and allow drawing on the trackpad with fingers. However, Apple allows “hand drawing” on macOS using the Pen tool. This method is very close to other professional illustration apps, such as Adobe Illustrator, and the Pen tool works similarly to other apps offering Bézier curve drawing.
That being said, this method is slower for me, and I am not as practiced. Further, I made the exercise more difficult by using the Pen tool to hand-letter the sketchnote by drawing each letter by hand (since I hand-letter using the Apple Pencil). I allowed myself to copy/paste (and option+drag to duplicate) letters to save time. This hand-lettering method made drawing this panel somewhat laborious.
On the other hand, drawing the building—the Guard House—was not particularly difficult since I have some experience the Pen tool. Although I am no expert in Adobe Illustrator—and Apple’s Pen tool has less features than pro-level illustration apps—the Keynote Pen tool is more than powerful enough for this kind of drawing. In general, drawing straight lines with the Pen tool is easy, and duplicating them using copy/paste or option+drag to duplicate makes the process relatively painless. Drawing angles simply means clicking and dragging an endpoint of a straight line. Drawing arcs and curves involves adding or selecting points on a line, converting them to angles or curves, and then forming the points into a final shape. This takes practice, but I find the process straightforward. Here is the panel drawn in Keynote in macOS with the Pen tool:
To make this panel as stylistically close to Apple Pencil’s hand drawing in Drawing mode as possible, I used a line that resembles the same pencil pattern and thickness of the Apple Pencil settings. If you look closely, the line pattern and weight are not the same, but from a distance they appear similar.
Overall, this panel took 1 hour 16 minutes to complete. The Guard House drawing is fairly detailed, but most of the time was spent hand-drawing letters. Compared to the iPad with Apple Pencil, the activity took more effort, caused little frustration except for the increased lettering time, and felt less natural than hand-drawing.
Upon reflection, lettering was the major problem here. Writing a word with Apple Pencil takes seconds, while using the Pen tool took a few minutes per word. Further, letters written with the Pen tool look less natural, and the process was needlessly complex compared to the Apple Pencil.
Keynote on visionOS with “Air Drawing” (Eye-tracking & Pinching)
Compared to the two previous methods, hand-drawing in the air—a.k.a. as my term "air drawing"—on visionOS was the most unpleasant option. The process was frustrating, tedious, and difficult to the point of being nearly torturous. I feel that I have a high level of patience, and I was committed to seeing this project through, but I essentially gave up after over 2 hours 30 minutes; however, I completed enough of the activity to provide a thorough review of the process.
I began by drawing the building in the panel, the Fire Station. It is the smallest building of the three with the least details. Unfortunately, the building drawing also includes its original sign that reads, “FIRE STATION No 1.” Drawing letters in the air is not efficient, to say the least.
The process of drawing on Apple Vision Pro requires a few steps. First, Drawing mode is enabled by looking at the Photo or Video icon along the bottom toolbar and selecting Drawing from the menu. This enables the same Drawing toolbar that the Apple Pencil uses. The pen and color settings from my previous iPad and Apple Pencil drawing were already selected.
The video below shows the process of hand-drawing a letter "F" using a tracing method. Drawing this letter took 4 minutes 30 seconds. After about 8 seconds, the video is sped up 10x (total runtime is about 30 seconds).
After a while, I started experimenting with ways of drawing better lines. Moving slower seems to always yield a more jagged line. Moving faster usually produces a smoother line, but it is seldom straight, and it starts and stops erratically. I soon learned to use the line selection tool to select a previously drawn line and modify it using the Resize tool. To access the ribbon menu that includes Resize, you must either drag-select to encircle a line, or I stumbled upon this method: tap both fingers on both hands simultaneously after a line is selected to make the ribbon menu appear.
With the ribbon menu displayed, you must look and tap a right-arrow to see the second set of commands, select Resize, and then select one of the blue resize handles to resize the shape by looking, pinching, and dragging. Depending on the size of the shape or line, it can be tricky to select the correct corner and to get the resize to work correctly.
Starting with a crooked and roughly horizontal or vertical line, using the Resize method to make a corrected precise horizontal or vertical line works fairly well. However, drawing an arc, circle, or any irregular line is hit-or-miss. A complex shape is best accomplished by attempting to assemble different shorter lines from fragments. To draw the arcs needed for the Fire Station, I drew several small arcs until I found a roughly symmetrical one and used the Resize tool and eraser to size the arc and remove extra parts of the line.
Attempting to hand-letter with the Apple Vision Pro is among the most time-consuming and exasperating pursuits I’ve ever attempted. Expect to spend about 20 minutes writing each word. My original design included 5 interesting facts that would have added 12 additional words to my description of the Fire Station. According to my calculations, this would have added over 4 hours to this design. The time was simply not worth the effort so I stopped after 2 facts.
Overall, the relatively simple Apple Vision Pro Fire Station sketchnote panel drawing took me 2 hours 48 minutes to complete. It never got easier, despite constant practice. As a basis for comparison, I re-created the panel using Apple Pencil on iPad, and the drawing took 14 minutes:
As I mentioned above, while the Apple Vision Pro can be used to create a sketchnote, it is decidedly not the right tool for the job. I suppose if I needed a couple of hand-drawn lines or shapes and I didn’t have an iPad and Apple Pencil available, the Apple Vision Pro would allow me to produce them. However, a full sketchnote is simply not worth the time and frustration it would take to create a hand drawing with any level of detail. Also, hand lettering on Apple Vision Pro is an exercise in futility.
Potential Classroom Use
At this time, the Apple Vision Pro is not a viable tool for creating sketchnotes or other detailed hand drawings. The best tools I can identify for sketchnoting include an iPad with an Apple Pencil (or Logitech Crayon), followed by the Pen tool on macOS. After this activity, I would not wish to subject students or teachers to drawing by hand on visionOS until the tools are vastly improved and/or until better hand-drawing methods for the Apple Vision Pro user interface are created.
References
Apple Newsroom. (September 9, 2015). Apple Introduces iPad Pro Featuring Epic 12.9-inch Retina Display: Apple Pencil & Smart Keyboard Bring Breakthrough Levels of Precision & Utility to iPad Pro. www.apple.com/newsroom/2015/09/09Apple-Introduces-iPad-Pro-Featuring-Epic-12-9-inch-Retina-Display/
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