How to Import and Use Digital Stickers With a Digital Planner

Digital planners offer so many possibilities and one of my favorites is using digital stickers to decorate and personalize my planners.

At first adding stickers may seem difficult, but once you understand the concept it's absolutely simple and fun . I would even say that it can be addictive for some, because it allows you to unleash your creativity.

The magic of digital stickers (different from physical stickers) is that you can reuse them endlessly! No more fear of using your favorite sticker and then regretting it . You can reuse your digital stickers every time you use a new digital planner or even on every page if you wish.

What are digital stickers?

First of all, if you are just getting started with digital planning you may need to understand the concept. Like physical stickers for paper planners, digital stickers are used to decorate and personalize diaries .

A digital sticker is simply an image in PNG format with a transparent background . When you import an image with a transparent background onto your digital planner, you have the same effect as a traditional sticker on a paper planner.

Importing individual PNG stickers

Before you start using digital stickers with your digital planner, you need to understand how to import them into the note-taking app. Importing individual PNG files can be quite similar across different applications, you can either drag and drop or copy and paste. I will show you step by step with the GoodNotes application that it's the one I use every day. I explain the 3 methods below, the 3rd exclusive to the GoodNotes 5 application.

Drag and drop

The first method for importing individual digital or PNG stickers into GoodNotes 5 is "drag and drop."

Important detail : This method is only available if you have installed IOS 11 on your iPad.

IMPORTING WITH THE “DRAG AND DROP” METHOD

1. Open GoodNotes on the desired page.
2. Open the “Files” app in “ Slip View ” with the GoodNotes app.
3. Locate the folder that contains your PNG files.
4. Long-press the desired image and drag it to your GoodNotes page.
5. Move or change the dimensions of the image.

Copy and paste

Alternatively, you can copy and paste individual PNG files from the source directly into your planner.

IMPORTING WITH THE “COPY-PAST” METHOD:

1. Open the “Files” app on your iPad and locate your PNG files.
2. Hold down the desired sticker and select the “copy” option.
3. Then open GoodNotes and navigate to the page you want to place your sticker on.
4. Tap and hold anywhere on this page and select the “paste” option from the context menu.
5. Move or change the dimensions of the image.

Good to know : With these methods, you import your stickers with the "Photos" tool located next to the "Elements" tool on the editing bar. However, I recommend primarily using the “Elements” function, the third method that I explain below.

If you imported your stickers using the first two methods and then want to transform them into elements:

• Click on the “Photo” tool
• Select image
• Press a second time, a context menu appears.
• Select “add item”
• A window with your collections appears. Choose an existing collection or create a new collection.

TRICK :

If you have made a design that you would like to have as your own sticker, use the same method above. Before, circle your drawing with the “lasso” tool , tap to see the context menu and select “add an item” . Follow the steps and you will have created something to easily use and access elsewhere in your notes.

The “Elements” function on GoodNotes 5

GoodNotes recently added a new function on the main bar to help easily add the digital stickers. This is the best way to do it because you create your own library of images that are organized and easily accessible within your app.

Some stickers are already available with the app, this already allows you to have an overview of how digital stickers work. The great thing is that you can create your own collections. Creating sticker collections allows you to always have materials to personalize and decorate your GoodNotes documents.

HOW TO CREATE DIGITAL STICKER COLLECTIONS:

1. Double-tap the “Items” star icon to open the collection box.
2. Next, select the plus (+) button located at the bottom right of the collections box.
3. A window " New collection " appears.
4. Give a title to the new collection you are creating.
5. Add elements ( PNG images ) from your photo albums or folders.
6. To add saved images to your “Photos” app, tap the “Add Photos” option.
7. To add images stored in your folders, tap the “Import from…” option.
8. Once you are finished, press the “Create” button top right.

Your new collection will now be available in the “stickers” tab.

You can create as many collections as you want to organize all your digital stickers into various categories.

Creating different collections helps you stay organized and to easily find your images without wasting time .

TRICK :

Often you have many digital stickers to import. For example, when you buy everyday stickers, it is a collection that has more than 800 images.

To be able to import several PNG images at the same time and save yourself time, you have two ways to do it:

1. Save the PNG images from your folders to your photos app from your iPad. So, when you choose the “Add photos” option, you will be able to select several images together to compose your collection.
2. If you have a Apple computer , I highly recommend that you install the GoodNotes application. Once you have the app on your computer, you have access to all your synced calendars and notebooks. The bonus is that it's still faster to add your digital stickers . Follow steps 1-4. Then, to add the images, you select them from the folder on your computer and you slip them into the collection box that you are creating.

EDIT AN EXISTING COLLECTION

To edit an existing collection, you need to open the collection and then click on the collection title and the “Edit Collection” box appears. You can move images, add more or delete them.

How to use digital stickers

Once all your collections are created, you can use your digital stickers. You have many possibilities for digital stickers, from labels to themed designs. The idea here is to add color, information, labels to organize, and more. You can unleash your creativity. Adding digital stickers is as fun as it is productive. You can use digital notepad-style stickers to mark something important to remember on your planner, just like you would on paper.

Resize, rotate and move digital stickers

Select the one you want to place in your calendar from the collection, it appears on the page.

With the selection you have the option to move it, rotate it or even resize it .

To move items, place your finger or stylus on the image and move.

On the bottom right corner you have an icon with arrows. This indicates that if you press it and move the pen (or finger) you will rotate or resize it.

• Rotate: make circular movements.
• Resize: Move diagonally.

Once you find the location, size and position, click elsewhere on the page to remove the selection.

IMPORTANT DETAIL:

If you imported your images with the first two methods which refer to the “Photo” function, you also have the option of crop the image . You will see arrows at the top and right side of the image. You can click once on the selection and in the context menu you will find the “crop” option. With this option you can transform the dimensions of the image. This is the function to customize images in JPG.

This function is less relevant when you have individual PNG files, because these are files with a transparent background . That said, these images are already ready to be integrated without the need to crop them. You can simply resize them with the little arrows on the bottom right corner.

InMotion Planner Daily Stickers

Are you ready to use digital stickers? To get started with personalizing your digital diaries and notebooks with digital stickers, we have an excellent option for you!

THE everyday digital stickers are a collection that brings together more than 800 PNG images to help you plan and organize your daily life, whether you use a planner or a digital notebook.

With this collection you have 873 PNG images into three different categories:

• Labels (keywords and numbers) in 6 colors
• Style Widgets in 3 colors
• Notepads style in color and black and white

Want to see videos with import method with “Items” feature in GoodNotes 5, join our Facebook group !