Paper First, Digital Archive: Why I Built NoteScan

Contents

• Introduction
• The Problem
• So I Built NoteScan
• My Workflow
• The Stack
• Try It

Introduction

This year I went back to a paper notebook. Last year I tried it for 7 months but then suddenly stopped. Looking back I regret not continuing. Writing down what you do and think allows you to slow down, and stop living your life on autopilot.

It also creates a physical archive of your thoughts, ideas, and progress. Something you can flip through years later and remember who you were. I had so much fun reading my notes the first half of 2025.

The Problem

The approach I'm using is a customized bullet journal rapid logging system. Every day I write tasks, notes, ideas, and reflections in my notebook. At the end of the week, I review what I've written.

I often write notes about a book I'm reading, or a technical insight I had while working. These are things I want to keep digitally, make them searchable and instantly accessible.

Not everything from paper needs to go digital. Most of it stays in the notebook. But sometimes I want to transfer a few key points to my digital system in Obsidian.

So I Built NoteScan

NoteScan does one thing: It scans your handwriting and allows you to copy it.

No document management and no bloat. Just quick capture of handwritten notes.

It's not meant to be a backup for your notebook. It's a bridge between analog and digital.

In the last update I've added support for Markdown, Latex and Mermaid. So you can scan complex math equations, diagrams and flowcharts directly into your notes.

NoteScan also helps you get your paper notes into a digital format that AI can understand and work with.

Here is a quick demo:

My Workflow

Here's how it fits into my hybrid system:

1. Daily: Write in paper notebook. Plans, logs, quick thoughts.
2. Weekly: Review notebook. Most stays on paper.
3. When something's worth keeping: Open NoteScan → point at the page → tap copy → paste into Obsidian.

NoteScan removed the friction of retyping, so I actually do it now.

If you are curious about the details of my analog workflow, it's simillar to a workflow described in this video: A notebook to save you from infinite scrolling.

As far as paper notebooks go, I'm currently using a hardcover Moleskine dotted notebook. I used Leuchtturm1917 before, but I didn't like it that much. It's up to personal preference though.

The Stack

Going back to the app itself, NoteScan is built with Expo and a mix of Gemini 3 Flash and GPT 4o mini. I found Gemini to be exceptionally good at handwriting recognition, especially for messy notes. GPT 4o mini handles formatting the output.

Try It

As I mentioned the app uses AI to achieve excellent results so it's an app with monthly subscription. However, first 5 scans are free, you can check it out here.

What's your analog workflow? Find me on X.