Obsidian's digital ink limitations make it a downgrade for creative note-takers compared to OneNote

At a glance:

• Obsidian lacks native drawing tools, forcing users to rely on plugins like Excalidraw for sketching and annotations.
• OneNote offers seamless digital ink integration with features like searchable handwritten notes, math solving, and up to 15 custom pens.
• OneNote's infinite page provides an unbounded canvas for brainstorming, while Obsidian's Canvas requires managing nodes and cards.

The drawing experience: OneNote's native ink vs. Obsidian's plugins

Most productivity enthusiasts praise Obsidian as the ultimate OneNote killer, promising a revolution in note-taking. However, after extensive use across multiple devices, the author found that Obsidian's text-bound nature falls short for those who rely on sketches and handwritten annotations. When brainstorming complex UI layouts or annotating technical schematics, Obsidian presents a significant limitation. In contrast, OneNote's digital ink is woven into the core experience. When using the S Pen on a Samsung S24 Ultra or the Apple Pencil on an iPad, users can scribble headings, lasso to move them, and even convert handwritten formulas into clean LaTeX. This seamless integration allows ink to be searchable and to coexist with text as an equal partner. Obsidian, being a Markdown-based text editor, requires plugins like Excalidraw to achieve a similar drawing experience. While these plugins are impressive, they essentially create separate image files embedded within text documents, turning the note-taking process into a collection of attachments rather than a living document.

Canvas vs. Infinite page: Two approaches to spatial thinking

Obsidian's Canvas feature was designed to bring spatial thinking to the app, but it functions differently from OneNote's infinite page. In Obsidian Canvas, users work with a digital whiteboard that excels at connecting existing ideas—dragging in notes, PDFs, and images and drawing lines between them. However, creating new content requires generating cards first, and drawing is often restricted to the boundaries of a specific node. This node-based approach forces users to constantly manage the canvas by resizing boxes, zooming, and creating new cards. OneNote, on the other hand, offers a boundless, empty field for creation. There are no predefined nodes or containers; users can start a diagram in the center of the screen and let the page expand as needed. This flexibility is crucial for brainstorming, as thoughts rarely fit neatly into 400x400 pixel squares. The author emphasizes that OneNote's infinite page mirrors the fluidity of the thought process, while Obsidian's Canvas introduces friction by requiring constant management of spatial elements.

OneNote's performance and advanced features: Why it excels for creative workflows

OneNote's performance is optimized for hardware digitizers, providing a natural writing experience with minimal latency. When using the S Pen or Apple Pencil, the digital ink flows exactly where the tip touches the screen, mimicking the feel of pen and paper. One of its standout features is searchable ink, which uses OCR to make handwritten notes searchable. This allows users to scribble shorthand during meetings and later retrieve them by typing keywords. Additionally, OneNote includes a Math assistant that can solve handwritten equations, provide step-by-step instructions, and even graph them. The app also supports up to 15 custom pens, each with adjustable thickness and color, adding personality to brainstorming sessions. Other features include customizable background colors, page lines, a ruler for straight lines, and the ability to convert handwritten notes into text. These capabilities make OneNote a powerful tool for creative workflows, especially for those who treat their tablets as digital paper.

Conclusion: When structure meets creativity

The choice between Obsidian and OneNote ultimately hinges on how one captures and develops ideas. Obsidian is a masterpiece of structure and networked thought, with its Canvas feature representing a step forward for visual thinkers. However, for those who rely on pen and ink for brainstorming and creative expression, OneNote's seamless integration of digital ink offers an unparalleled experience. The author's inability to switch from OneNote to Obsidian stems from the latter's lack of native drawing capabilities and its node-based approach to spatial organization. While Obsidian excels at organizing text and connecting ideas, it falls short for those who need an unbounded canvas for their thoughts. For power users of OneNote, leveraging tags can help organize a growing collection of notes efficiently. In the end, the best note-taking app is the one that stays out of the way during the creative process, and for many, that app remains OneNote.