Image insertion now on reMarkable

ReMarkable continue to update their digital paper tablets, with new features arriving every month or so. The latest update adds the ability to take an image and insert it into a notebook on the device. Once it's in, you can scale, rotate and copy the image as you wish, and annotate it to your heart's delight.

You can only add an image from the desktop app at the moment, but hopefully they'll find a way to make the web app and iOS / Android companion apps capable of doing it soon.

Edit: You can do this on iOS/iPadOS by copying and pasting from Photos into a notebook in the reMarkable companion app.

I tried it with some of my notes for the Blue Planet Recontact scenario I ran at North Star, and it worked without a fuss.

As far as I can see, this works with all their devices, even the rM1. However, you do need to have a Connect subscription to use it.

Lovely how this just keeps getting better.

16 May 2026

Impressions after a month with the reMarkable Paper Pro Move

When reMarkable released their third generation Paper Pro notebook last year, my initial reaction was that it was a lovely device but I had absolutely no reason to upgrade from my reMarkable 2. The colour screen was nice, but there was no compelling reason to upgrade, especially at the price point. One of my close colleagues at work got themselves one, and that just confirmed my decision. Lovely but no need to change- the rM2 was enough for me.

When reMarkable followed up the Paper Pro a year later with a new smaller device with the same colour screen technology, it caught my attention again. My existing device meets most of my needs really well, but it's never felt properly portable. It is thin, light, and - like all e-Ink screens - vulnerable to cracking if you don't look after it. It's beautiful, well made and very light and thin, but it doesn't feel robust. Bizarrely, my son's rM1 first generation device which is made of plastic always feels less susceptible to damage than its successor does. I've always treated my rM2 like it's a fragile device which cost nearly five hundred pounds, having it in a Book Folio, and then a laptop/tablet sleeve when I travel. That's not let me down in nearly five years of use. 

 

The rM2 always felt a bit too big to be truly portable. In fact, all of the previous devices are like large notebooks which you keep on a desk, or put in your bag, rather than putting it in a pocket. The new Paper Pro Move addresses some of those gaps. It is smaller (more like a reporter's note book than a Moleskine), feels more robust, and has the bonus of a colour screen.

In honesty, just being smaller and more robust would have peaked my interest and the colour is just a bonus.

I ordered one, and it took about 10 days to arrive.

Physically, it feels robust and very well made. There is nothing cheap or badly made about it. I got the "basalt" colour book folio (which is a recycled polyester colour weave that seems to be reasonably dirt resistant). The small form factor and thickness make it feel like something that you can put in a pocket.

The pen is the new active type, the same as the one used on the Paper Pro. It secures to the side of the device magnetically and charges by induction. Because of the different screen technology used on the colour devices, while the black ink setting is really responsive, the colour ink setting has a flicker as it is drawn and the screen refreshes around it. The initial line is always there just as fast as with the black, but it redraws as you move on, setting the colour. This is a bit quirky, but not really an issue for me as I mostly write in black. There are some good reviews on the technology online, especially on the My Deep Guide YouTube channel if you want to get a feel for it visually.

The feel of the pen remains good and there is a variance in the feel when you change pen types, but it does feel a bit more "clicky" when you are writing and lift the pen from the screen than the rM2. However, that soon became unnoticeable, especially as I adjusted how I wrote on the screen to minimise it naturally.

Battery life seems fine, but I'm using the same disciplines I do as on my reMarkable 2 (i.e. WiFi mostly off, and minimal use of the backlight). Speaking of which, the backlight is nice for exactly the same reason as I like it on my Kindle Paperwhite - you can put it on low and easily use the device without disturbing others, something that works just fine for a quick note if you remember or think of something in bed.

The colours on screen are what I expected - muted but distinctive. They do add something, but I'd have happily had this device with rM2 level screen technology.

Over the last month, I've been using the rM Move as a companion device. It doesn't replace the rM2, it supplements it. My original device has become like a desk notebook, larger and used for meetings and more extensive notes. The rM Move comes with me pretty much everywhere. Its form factor feels less formal, and I find myself using it to take notes when I'm reading books. I used it extensively across two gaming conventions for notes during sessions (although I did most of my prep for games I ran on the rM2).

One interesting change is that I use the unlimited paper scroll option on the rM Move but still detest it on my larger device, preferring to stick with full pages. Somehow, this reminds me of a spiral bound reporter-style note book when I use it and scroll up and down.

Access to larger pages is fine - you can turn the rM Move to switch to landscape mode if you're struggling to add details. I've not had any problems with file synchronisation but I don't tend to open the same notebook file on both devices at once.

Having used the rM Move for over a month now, I don't think that I will be returning it when the 100-day trial is up. I can't see it replacing my rM2, but it is a fantastic addition and I will definitely be using it as my 'always with me' notepad, just like my iPhone is my 'always with me' computer.

Recommended, but your use cases will vary. If you're intrigued, reMarkable offer a generous 100-day trial period if you aren't sure.

26 October 2025

New reMarkable Paper Pro

 

The new Paper Pro

I really like the look of the new reMarkable Paper Pro device. This is an 11.8" e-Ink colour display that was announced this week. I love the way that reMarkable are so focused on the design of the device so it does what they want it to. They've tailored the screen, the pen and have moved a unibody design. This is a colour writing tablet unlike any other. It's a little bit bigger than my reMarkable 2, and it has the kind of performance jumps that you'd expect from four years of development. It doesn't replace the rM2, but I won't be surprised if they eventually do an rM3 in the future as a lower end device.

My Deep Guide initial impressions

The initial view on My Deep Guide definitely shows the care that's been put into the device. However, it's expensive. From a personal note, the cost is enough that I'm happy to stay with my rM2 for the foreseeable future. However, in the event that circumstances change, for example my existing device fails, I do reserve the right to change my mind1

8 September 2024

#RPGsDay2024 - 28 - Great Gamer Gadget

This year's RPGaDay (full text list here)

Q. Great Gamer Gadget?

A.  My reMarkable 2.

I've owned a reMarkable paper table since November 2020 and I wouldn't be without it. It helps me avoid reams of paper and has allowed me to keep everything together in one simple package. I use it for preparation, for character sheets and for notes.

My reMarkable being used for preparation work

I've even used it for art when the moment has taken me, for example my Yellow King notes which are all on one page on multiple layers. Each layer is readable on its own but reality warps when you show it normally.

Exported page from my Yellow King notes

You can also easily annotate PDFs in it. I often export maps and mark them up as preparation. It was very useful for Curse of Strahd.

So that's my great gamer gadget. I see more and more of them at conventions too.

28 August 2024

[reMarkable 2] 3 Years On…

Well used reMarkable 2

I’ve been using my reMarkable 2 since November 2020 (Batch 5 preorder).  It’s worked solidly since then, used multiple times daily at work and for home activities. I know at least five people who’ve bought one having tried mine (plus one who got a Kindle Scribe and another who got a Boox). I bought my eldest a second hand rM1 for college which he loves (I do like the robustness of that version). 

I keep it in the tablet sleeve you can see behind it when I’m not using it. I finished the first lot of nibs about 3 months ago. I have the marker plus and it’s still working fine. I did clean the folio last year following advice from here. The edges are a little frayed and you can see the use, but it looks smart still. 

The battery life is good (but I mainly work in airport mode). 

I’ve tried the Lamy, the Norris Jumbo and the HP pens and each of them are great for the right mood but I keep coming back to the marker plus. 

I love using it outside in the summer; sometimes I’ll step away from the teams calls and just use the phone. 

It’s been updated at least 20 times as the software has got much better (the only bit I’m not so hot on is the way OCR works now). I’ve never gone beta as this is a work tool for me. 

I scanned my old Leuchterm and Moleskine notebooks to PDF and added them in as a reference. 

It just works. 

I do treat it like a £500 device (which it was with the accessories) and look after it. I’d replace it in an instant if it broke. 

I’m posting this because all too often all we see are the stories when something has gone wrong. After three years, this still delights me everyday.

First Impressions - Lamy Al-Star EMR pen for use with reMarkable

Pen down at the end of the review...

I've tried a number of pens for the reMarkable to try and give a bit of variety to the feel of my writing. I noticed the Lamy Al-Star pen on offer as part of Amazon's Black Friday promos, and decided to order one once I'd ascertained that it was a genuine reduction.

The Al-Star has the same design ethos as many of Lamy's pens and feels nicely robust to use. It is made of plastic, but there's a solidity to it. It feels lighter than the Marker+ which came with my reMarkable.

One of the great things about the Lamy is that it happily takes reMarkable nibs. These feel better than those that come with it.

The downside is that - unlike the other EMR styli that I own - it doesn't have a working eraser. There is a button that could be used to trigger an erase action but you need to have a hack installed to do that. I'm prepared to side load templates, but hacking the underlying LINUX is going further than l'm willing to go. I hadn't realised quite how often I used the eraser until I started writing this piece. Not a deal breaker, just a little frustrating.

The feel of the pen is much more like a traditional fountain pen. I'm finding it less controlled than my usual Marker+, but that may just be the new nib l'm using. I certainly feel that my handwriting is looser with it.

Overall, this feels quality and seems to write well. The only downside is the lack of an eraser, but you can always use "undo" or the software eraser. A nice extra.


22nd November 2022

[rM] Release 2.10

Latest Release Notes

Release 2.10 landed on my reMarkable on Friday while I was away with work this week; had that moment where I considered waiting until the weekend so I could reload the custom screens and templates, but I plunged on as there was nothing from those that I needed right then.

The update adds basic integration to Google Drive and Dropbox; it allows you to download PDF files directly into the reMarkable and export notebooks back out (as PDF, as you have to export the whole notebook). Upload seems to be to the root directory, but that should be fine if you're from Gen Z or a millennial! This is quite useful; I'll be able to pull down gaming PDFs without going via the desktop app or my phone. I'll also be able to export notes directly rather than going by email and onto a file service.

I love the way that each update - which seem to be arriving 6-8 weeks apart - pushes the envelope of what the reMarkable can do a little; the device I have now has moved a long way on from the device that arrived last November.

2 October 2021

 

[rM] A reMarkable thing, ten months on.

Taking notes on the reMarkable as I read a roleplaying game.

A couple of people have asked me to post about my reMarkable writing tablet, so here are my thoughts on the device after ten months of heavy use. This is not a detailed review of the device, but a talk through of what it is and why I like it. If you want detailed techy details, I suggest a look at My Deep Guide on YouTube as the channel owner loves the platform, produces comprehensive reviews on the updates, and isn't afraid of criticising aspects of the platform.

I'd eyed up the original reMarkable when it first came out but decided against it. It was a lot of money and I wasn't entirely certain that it would fit my workflows. Although an e-Ink writing tablet seemed a great idea, I wasn't sure if it would end up with the same fate as the iPad mini had, being used in a very small number of situations. I was massively encouraged by one of my fellow Travellers, Timothy Collinson, who had given a glowing review of his experience of using a work provided reMarkable 1.

When the reMarkable 2 was announced, the advertising was all over Facebook, and I had changed jobs. I was using several Leuchterm notebooks a year using a nice fountain pen, but the challenge of finding things and the bulk of carrying them as references was a pain. I love the feel of writing with a proper pen, the scratching noise that it makes on paper and the satisfaction that looking back through notes gave me. It looked much more tempting; what swung my decision was the payment for a writing project, which enabled me to pre-order without any real loss. I first checked back in with Timothy, who told me that he hadn't changed his mind and was getting one for his own use.

Using a storyboard template to plan a presentation for work

What is a reMarkable?
A reMarkable is a 10" ARM-powered tablet that uses an e-Ink display, and an EMR stylus to allow you to write directly on the screen. It runs bespoke software under Linux (and you can hack it if you want). It is designed by a company based in Norway and manufactured - as most technology seems to be - in China. It is extremely thin and quite light. The e-Ink display means that it's fully readable in daylight and has lower power consumption, but it is black & white and the update is slower than the LCDs and OLED displays used by Android tablets and iPads. It isn't backlit, so relies on the ambient light in the same way that a book does. It isn't backlit like modern Kindles (which use similar, smaller displays). 

The EMR stylus uses the graphics tablet technology developed by Wacom and is pressure-sensitive. There are two types available; those with an eraser on top and those without. I have the eraser and wouldn't be without it. You can use alternative makes, such as Staedtler or Lamy. The reMarkable stylus comes with a consumable nib; I've used two in the ten months since I started using the device. The nib - when combined with the screen surface - gives the tactile feel of writing on paper.

But couldn't you do this with an iPad?
Absolutely. You could buy a 10" iPad (the kind that uses the Apple Pencil 2), add the Paperlike screen covering, and get somewhere near. You lose the ability to work outside in bright sunlight, and the feeling won't be the same. You also lose the advantage of the focus it delivers. One of the best things about the reMarkable is the way that it lets you use it as if a pad of paper. It feels like one, and behaves like one, in a way an iPad doesn't. Pads of paper don't flash you with notifications or tempt you to visit a social media site. The iPad is a jack-of-all-trades; the reMarkable has a laser focus on one thing.

What is it like?
The reMarkable 2 is incredibly thin, yet feels solid. It's a quality product. I have mine in the book folio (taking advantage of the large discount at launch) which is great for casual protection but isn't going to protect from impacts or drops especially well. I have an iPad sleeve I use when I'm carrying it around because I treat it like it's £500 of hardware. The Facebook groups are full of horror stories where people forget this and end up cracking the screen or damaging the power connector or button by dropping from a height and yet seeming to be surprised about the outcome. I love the design and feel of the device; it feels good in the hand and in use.

The screen has a slight grey colour, which is to be expected for e-Ink, and isn't backlit. This is partly about the design ethos (paper isn't backlit) and partly about battery life. The writing experience does feel very like a pen to paper, unlike the feel of writing on glass that an iPad gives you. The screen is very responsive - there's no perceptible lag - and accurate except at the very edge (common with other devices that use the Wacom technology). The end result is that my writing looks normal. The screen can show ghosting, but it's rarely noticeable, and a refresh clears it. 

Spare marker nibs - found in the pen box.

The pen magnetically attaches to the side, and there's one correct orientation to do this. It's secure enough for casual use but you can brush the pen off like any other magnetic device. The folio cover also attaches magnetically to the device. The screen can become temporarily unresponsive if you put it over a strong magnet (for example lean it on a laptop palm-rest). I've also managed to put my laptop to sleep by putting my reMarkable on top of the open-close magnetic sensor by mistake. The marker-plus pen with the eraser has some heft (in a good way) and feels great in the hand. I've used two nibs since I received the device in November 2020; if you press hard (which isn't necessary) you will use them up faster. I also have a Staedtler Norris Digital Jumbo pen to give me an option to have a different feel in my hand; this works great, but the (once again consumable) nibs have a more rubbery different texture in use.

There are multiple pen types set up in software; ballpoint, fineliner, pencil, mechanical pencil, marker, brush, calligraphy pen. You can change the weight and colour (between white, black and grey). Some of the pens respond to angle and pressure depending on the type they're mimicking. 

PDF and ePub rendering is fine, but it can be slow when the document is large and you first load it in. Colour is rendered in greyscale. You can write on the documents and export a copy PDF out for reference or printing. However, remember that this is like handwriting on a print-out rather than using Acrobat annotation tools.

The reMarkable comes with a wide selection of templates - lined, gridded, storyboards and more. You can use a different one on each page. Officially, you can't add your own but you can use PDF files (but they can't have extra pages added).

Thumbnail overview

The OS is Linux based and under regular development; the last update (2.9) added a favourites shelf accessible by a swipe and an alternative in document page preview/selector very much like the one on the Kindle. This is in addition to the page overview view which shows thumbnails. I've not had any stability issues with the device.

The page selector added in update 2.9

The data on the reMarkable is backed up into Google's cloud infrastructure and the only access into it is through the device or through the companion apps (which use 2FA on set up with the devices). I have installed the iOS & Android apps and the macOS app. If you want to add PDFs or ePubs to the tablet, you use the app. It'd be nice to have an email address route like Kindles do but that doesn't exist at the moment. Cloud sync is pretty fast; obviously, it takes longer if you've been running for longer periods without Wifi. I'll quite often run with no Wifi if I'm away from home and only connect when I need to, using the flight mode to extend the battery life. I get around five to six days from the battery, but I don't use the PDF side too often.

The OCR function works quite well - this is one of this blog's entries.

You can export single pages or whole documents, and the device supports PDF, PNG and SVG. Usually, if I want a quick print, I'll print from one of the companion apps as the reMarkable doesn't do it directly. You can also OCR pages directly to text; this does require a WiFi connection, as the processing is handled off-device. Provided you're writing neatly and in portrait then the conversion seems very good. The Tombpunk review earlier in this blog was completely written on the device. You can edit the conversion before you email it. It's not blindly fast, but it seemed reasonable in use.

 

Multi-layer design example

The device uses layers, so you can build up an image; the only non-greyscale element is the highlighter (which is yellow on export) but it's grey in use. You can build quite intricate designs as a result. Sketching also works fine and I've seen some great pictures from people who are much more artistic than I am.

Sketch example exported as a PNG

How do you use it?
The most important thing I did before I started to use the device was to decide on a folder structure so I could find notebooks quickly. I've stuck with this since and rarely struggle to find documents. I tend to have separate notebooks for regular meetings with team members and stakeholders, and key meetings will also have their own separate notebooks. This means I can quickly review previous contacts and sessions and everything is together. With some meetings, I just send out a PDF of the relevant pages as notes.

I have a PDF diary I can make casual notes on, a page a day, with a table of content allowing interlinking so I can jump around.

I'll quite often take the reMarkable into the garden and use it on calls for notes. 

I have used OCR more recently (after the kids swiped my notebook when I was away) and have found it to be really good.

I do have some custom templates for meetings and some business tools, but they don't get used as much as the simple lined pages.

I use the storyboard template for more complicated presentation preparation and also send a PDF of presentations to use to reference.

The device is used throughout the day, and I also use it for roleplaying game preparation, both as a GM and a player. I've put maps on and annotated them, and filled in forms like character sheets. I've also sent forms that need filling in and signing back and forwards between the device.

I switch between the Staedtler Norris Digital Jumbo and the Marker plus. I probably use the Marker plus 75% of the time. The different feel is nice.

I have a passcode if the device is shutdown or sleeping.

Custom screen

What more?
You can hack the reMarkable. I've installed customised boot and sleeping screens. The image above is the first attempt; it now has my contact details on it. As it's e-Ink, it stays there even when it powers off. I use some macOS software from eInkpads to install these, but there are other tools out there and if you're competent at Linux you can do it through a terminal when connected by USB. I've also installed custom templates (often created from PDF originals) to allow more flexibility.

You lose all these when the device updates. It takes about a minute or two to reinstall if you're prepared. I have all the templates and screens ready in a folder.

You can hack it more and add apps. It's a grey area whether this damages your warrantee. ReMarkable have usually not had an issue with templates or boot screens (as they're just PNG files added in) but the other hacks can trash your OS if you don't know what you're doing.

Conclusion
The reMarkable has been a game-changer for me. It's helped with focus and also made information available easily. It works outside. I no longer have a bag full of notebooks. It feels like working with a pen and paper, just digital. I do miss the ritual of filling the fountain pen, but the flexibility wins.

Jill liked it enough that I took the hints and got her one. So we've two in the family. Aidan (our left-handed child) likes to use it because he doesn't smudge his work with a pen.

There are other tablets that do the same thing. Most are running Android, so lose the focus side I love with this. Every review I've seen has said that none of them matches the feel of the reMarkable. But they may work better for you. 

I'm delighted with my reMarkable, and thankful that Tim gave me enough insight that I was happy to chance getting one for myself. Although, it was never that much of a chance because they offer a 30-day no-quibble return if you don't like it.

5 September 2021

PS If you do fancy getting one, message me, as I have a discount code that I can share with you that takes 40 dollars/Euros/pounds off. All owners who keep their reMarkable get sent a link like this.