What is the Elements tool? 

If you find yourself taking repetitious steps just to reuse the same content across different notebooks, the new Elements tool (indicated by the star icon on the toolbar) will come in handy because it lets you save content for efficient reuse. For example, you can save image stickers for decorating your notebooks, or signatures/stamps for personalizing your PDF documents.

Create Elements from existing content

An element can be anything created with GoodNotes tools, namely handwriting, highlightings, shapes, images, text boxes, and any combination of those. All elements are organised into 'Collections', in much the same way as Folders in the app organise your notes and notebooks. This helps ensure that your elements are easy to find and categorised for quick access.

Add an image as an Element

1. Select the Image tool, tap on an image twice, and choose Add Element.

2a. Tap an existing collection to add the element to.

OR

2b. Choose New Collection..., name it, and tap Create. You're recommended to use descriptive names for your collections (e.g. signatures, stickers) so that you can easily find an element later.

Add other content as an Element

1. Select the Lasso tool, circle the content, tap the selection, and choose Add Element.
2. Choose an existing collection, or create a new one as above.

Share a Collection

1. Tap the Elements tool twice.
2. From the bottom scrollable list, tap the collection, then tap its title at the top. Alternatively, long-press the collection and choose Edit.
3. Tap the ... icon near the top-right corner and choose Share.
4. Choose a location for your .collection file.

Import external files to an existing Collection 

1. Tap the Elements tool twice.
2. From the bottom scrollable list, tap the collection then its title at the top.
3. Tap Add Photos to add one or more photos from Photos, or "Import from..." to add an external file from Files. Supported formats include .jpg and .png.

Import an exported Collection

1. Tap the Elements tool twice.
2. From the bottom scrollable list, tap the collection, then tap its title at the top. Alternatively, long-press the collection and choose Edit.
3. Tap "Import from..." and choose the exported collection (with the .collection file extension).

Insert Elements

Inserting elements back to the page works similarly to adding images with the Image tool. There are two ways:

• Select the Elements tool, tap on any location on the page, tap a collection from the bottom scrollable list, then tap on an element to insert it at that location.
• Tap the Elements tool twice. Then tap on any element to insert it in the middle of the page. Alternatively, you can drag and drop an element to a location on the page.

Edit / Delete a Collection (including a built-in one)

1. Tap the Elements tool twice.
2. From the bottom scrollable list, tap the collection, then tap its title at the top. Alternatively, long-press the collection and choose Edit.
3. You can then:

• Rename the collection: Change the "title" field.
• Add more images: Tap Add Photos if they're in Photos, or "Import from..." if they're in Files.
• Delete an element: Tap the red X on it.
• Delete the entire collection: Tap the ... icon near the top-right corner and choose Delete Collection.

Tips & Tricks

• You can separate the Elements tool in another window (Split View) so you can easily drag and drop elements to your notes. To do that, tap the Elements tool twice and tap the small split window icon:
  
  
  You can then float the Elements window by dragging the handle at the top of the window into the GoodNotes window.
  
  
• Once an element is inserted to the page, it will stay selected as a whole until you tap outside the selection. Afterward, the element becomes a regular page object again, indistinguishable from other objects. For example, many built-in elements are composed of both an image and typed text (e.g. the "Sign here" sticker), and after inserting such an element and unselecting it, you'll need to use the Text tool to edit the text and the Image tool to edit the image.

Want more elements to jazz up your notes? Buy digital stationaries from the GoodNotes Shop! The elements you buy will be automatically imported to GoodNotes as a new collection.