Rnote, the open-source sketching and note-taking application tailored for stylus input and creative workflows, has released a significant update packed with new features and usability improvements. Built specifically for Linux platforms using GTK, Rnote has quickly grown in popularity among digital artists, students, and professionals who value a distraction-free and responsive drawing environment.

With this latest release, the development team has introduced enhancements that improve the app’s flexibility, drawing precision, organization, and overall user experience. Whether used for diagramming, digital journaling, academic annotation, or conceptual design, Rnote’s new toolset makes it more versatile.

A Purpose-Built Solution for Digital Note-Taking and Drawing

Rnote has distinguished itself by delivering a clean, modern interface optimized for pen-enabled input devices on Linux. Its foundation is on GTK and Rust, providing performance and platform-native integration. Unlike many traditional drawing tools focusing solely on illustration or text, Rnote combines both into a streamlined app geared toward note-rich sketching and visual thinking.

The latest update builds on this foundation with a stronger toolkit, giving users access to more creative control, faster navigation, and structured content management. These improvements align with feedback from the growing Rnote community and reflect a maturity in the app’s core capabilities.

Expanded Drawing Tools and Pen Input Precision

The update highlights the expanded set of drawing tools, designed to support a broader range of creative and academic workflows. The pen tool now features improved pressure sensitivity and smoother stroke rendering, enhancing the tactile feel of sketching on tablets and touch-enabled displays.

The brush engine has also been refined for more natural ink simulation, allowing users to control opacity, stroke width, and edge smoothness with greater precision. These changes make it easier to use Rnote for annotation, freehand illustration, and detailed technical drawings.

The app now includes a ruler overlay and snapping functionality, enabling straight-line drawing and geometric accuracy. This improvement particularly benefits users with flowcharts, network diagrams, architectural sketches, or classroom diagrams.

Layer Support and Object Manipulation

One of the most requested features—layer management—has been introduced in this update. Users can now work across multiple layers, keeping different elements of a page separate and editable. It supports workflows that require non-destructive editing, such as creating templates, adding labels to diagrams, or layering notes on top of background graphics.

The layer panel allows users to rename, reorder, toggle visibility, and delete individual layers. With this capability, users gain a more professional-grade editing experience without the complexity often associated with full-scale illustration suites.

In addition to layers, the app now supports object selection, grouping, and transformation. These tools let users move, resize, rotate, and duplicate handwritten content or annotations after they’ve been drawn. For note-takers, this brings much-needed flexibility when rearranging layouts or editing previous material.

Improved Navigation and Page Management

The new version of Rnote enhances the overall navigation experience within documents. The updated canvas zoom system includes more intuitive pinch-to-zoom behavior, better scroll sensitivity, and smoother panning. Whether browsing a large mind map or zooming in on fine-grained handwriting, the interface feels more responsive and ergonomic.

Page management has also received a substantial upgrade. Users can now insert, duplicate, or delete pages from within a sidebar, making organizing notebooks and multi-page documents easier. It is a critical feature for academic users preparing lecture notes, project documentation, or research summaries across several pages.

Navigation bookmarks have been added to allow faster jumping between notebook sections, further boosting productivity and keeping users focused on content instead of interface mechanics.

UI and Performance Enhancements

This update also includes various interface refinements to improve usability and visual clarity. Icons, buttons, and toolbars have been redesigned to focus on modernity and space efficiency. The UI feels less cluttered, with more consistent sizing and improved visual contrast between elements.

Tooltips and inline prompts guide users through newly introduced functions, while gesture support ensures that stylus, touch, and keyboard inputs behave predictably. The dark mode theme has been refined to reduce eye strain and improve color differentiation, particularly during long note-taking or design sessions.

On the performance front, Rnote has received backend optimizations that reduce memory usage during large session handling. File loading and saving speeds have also improved, particularly with complex or multi-layer documents.

Import, Export, and File Interoperability

With this update, Rnote now offers improved import and export options. Users can export pages or entire notebooks to PDF, PNG, and SVG formats. Depending on the user’s need, export resolution can be customized for high-quality printing or screen presentation.

Import support has been expanded to include vector and raster formats, allowing users to bring in background templates, scan images, or external diagrams for annotation. This interoperability with other applications—such as design software or PDF viewers—makes Rnote a central part of a digital workflow.

The app also includes better autosave and recovery features, helping protect work from crashes or unexpected closures. These additions are beneficial for users managing longer sessions or collaborative note files.

Focus on Open-Source and Community Feedback

As an open-source project, Rnote continues to evolve based on community-driven development and transparency. This latest update incorporates many contributions and feedback from users across GitHub and various Linux forums. Feature requests and bug reports have directly shaped many of the improvements seen in this version.

The project remains fully auditable, free of telemetry, and respectful of user privacy. The codebase is actively maintained and written in Rust for developers and contributors, making it attractive for those seeking to extend or customize the application for specific use cases or institutional deployments.

Conclusion

The latest update to Rnote solidifies its position as one of the most capable open-source sketching and note-taking applications available for Linux. With a refreshed toolkit that includes layer support, object manipulation, improved pen tools, and enhanced navigation, Rnote now offers an experience that rivals proprietary alternatives, while remaining fully open and transparent.

By expanding its feature set without adding unnecessary complexity, Rnote stays true to its purpose: enabling users to think visually, organize creatively, and annotate freely within a secure, responsive interface.