How to Import Digital Planners and Stickers into GoodNotes 5

So you’ve just purchased a fantastic digital planner with some sticky notes and are ready to get started using them the popular app GoodNotes 5 on you iPad.

GoodNotes is a pretty powerful app with lots of functionality, and it’s also pretty easy to use, so let’s get started!

Note: If your planner/notebook/stickers downloaded in .zip form and you need to know how to first get them unzipped into individual files, check out my handy tutorial on how to do just that using only the iPad here.

Finding The File You Want To Import

In the GoodNotes 5 app, digital planners, notebooks, bullet journals, flash cards and the like are imported using the “+” tab in the left-hand side of the screen.

Once the menu drops down, select “Import”.

Select The Appropriate File Storage Location

After selecting “Import”, a menu will open where you can choose the location where you saved the digital files during the downloading process. 

Once the file is located, click to import, and you should see your new planner/notebook in the list.

The Pen Option

The pen option is located in the upper right corner.  It can toggle between the option where the links are clickable and opening a menu of import and writing options. 

Importing Stickers

Once the planner is in place, importing stickers and other embellishments are one of the best ways to personalize your new digital notebook. 

Make sure the “no pen” option is selected and add stickers from the import menu from where you saved them (Photos or “Insert From” for file storage).

Edit the Stickers

Now is the time to let your personality shine though!

One of the best improvements to GoodNotes 5 is that you can adjust the height and width independently, instead of sticking to strict ratios that only allow for increase or decrease in size. This won’t work for every sticker or embellishment, but does open up a lot of variety. 

Editing and Moving Stickers

If you would like to copy and paste the stickers around to different places, select the lasso tool in the “no pen” menu. Draw a rough line in or around the sticker you’d like to move, and then press and hold for the edit menu to appear. Select copy and then move to where you want to paste the sticker (you have to select the “pen” option to use the clickable tabs). 

Going back to the “no pen” option when you are at the location you want the sticker copied, press and hold again to bring up the “paste” option.  

Now start layering stickers and tabs to create custom looks that are both functional and pretty….In GoodNotes, the most recent sticker added to the page is positioned on the top of all other layers, so some planning may be necessary to achieve a desired look.

I’ve seen some super creative digital planner spreads that incorporate a variety of images, as well as some with just a few that still make the page stand out.

I’m a fan of somewhere in the middle. I love a good amount of color, but I don’t want to have such an over-the-top spread that I lose the whole purpose of having the planner in the first place. There are many ways to maintain a minimalist approach while still adding a pop of color or texture here and there…the possibilities are endless.

I hope helps you import those digital planners and stickers into a GoodNotes 5 with ease. 

Happy Digiplanning!

Be sure to check out some other digital file resources I have available here