inpath.io

Project 02

Safn

[ˈsapn̥] · say “SAHP-n”
Icelandic for “a collection”

In development

A pen-first, infinite-canvas notebook for the KDE Plasma desktop.

Free and open source, under the GNU GPL version 3 or later. The source code will be published with the first release.

Fig. 1 · The shimmer-flip

At a glance

Platform
Linux with KDE Plasma 6
Runs on
Arch Linux and CachyOS (built with makepkg), and other distributions through an AppImage: Ubuntu 24.04 and later, Linux Mint 22, Debian 13, Fedora 40, openSUSE
Built with
C++, Rust, Qt 6 and KDE Frameworks 6
Languages
English, Icelandic (best attempt)
Status
In development
License
GNU GPL version 3 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later)
Source code
To be announced
Download
To be announced

Screenshots

Select a screenshot to see it full size.

  • Safn: Handwriting and typing together
    Handwriting and typing together Handwritten notes with highlights and an underline, typed boxes, an arrow and a quick sketch, all on one page.
  • Safn: Pen colours and thickness
    Pen colours and thickness Pick a colour and thickness from the toolbar. Automatic ink is black on light pages and white on dark ones.
  • Safn: One page, no edges
    One page, no edges A single page zoomed out to a third: a mind map, a two-page PDF handout and a typed trip plan side by side.
  • Safn: Text boxes
    Text boxes Headings, a checklist, a numbered list, a highlight and a link, with the formatting bar open on the box being edited.
  • Safn: Code
    Code Rust and Python code blocks with highlighting and line numbers, among notes and a bordered box of reminders.
  • Safn: Mind maps
    Mind maps Boxes with coloured borders joined by solid, dashed and dotted arrows that follow them when they move.
  • Safn: Shapes
    Shapes Pick a shape, outline colour, thickness, line style and fill from the toolbar.
  • Safn: Editing a selection
    Editing a selection Lasso anything to move, resize, rotate, recolour or restack it.
  • Safn: PDF printouts
    PDF printouts A PDF handout to write on, joined by an arrow to typed notes and a checklist. Its own words can be searched and copied.
  • Safn: Annotating a handout
    Annotating a handout Highlight and circle on the handout, then explain it in your own hand beside it.
  • Safn: Adjusting a picture
    Adjusting a picture A whiteboard photo turned greyscale with more contrast. Only how it is shown changes; the picture itself stays as it came.
  • Safn: Text in pictures
    Text in pictures Search finds “meltwater” in a photo of a whiteboard. The text is read on your own computer.
  • Safn: Reading in the background
    Reading in the background New pictures are read while you carry on, with a quiet note saying how many are left.
  • Safn: In Icelandic
    In Icelandic Safn in Icelandic, from the menus to the notebook. (Sorry for any errors...)

For people who think with a pen

Safn is for students, teachers and anyone who takes notes by hand, on 2-in-1 laptops and pen tablets. It sits alongside comparable notebook apps, but it is its own design: fast, light on memory, and at home on the Linux desktop.

Handwriting, typed notes, shapes, pictures and PDF printouts all sit together on the same page, so a lecture handout, your annotations, a photo of the whiteboard and a quick mind map can live side by side.

Your notebooks are files on your own computer. Even the text in your pictures is read on the computer itself, and nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to.

What makes it different

  • Pen first

    Pressure-sensitive ink that uses every sample the pen sends and always touches the tip, with palm rejection and pen buttons you set yourself.

  • Pages without edges

    Every page grows as far as you write. Only what is on screen, and just around it, is loaded and drawn, so a huge page takes no more memory than a small one. Notebooks of over 3 GB run on a 2019 laptop.

  • The shimmer-flip

    Parts of a page still being drawn show as small tiles with a slow shimmer in your accent colour, then flip over to reveal it. An ordinary page simply appears.

  • Truly native

    Breeze styling, KDE file dialogs, and your system's colours, light and dark mode and animation speed.

  • Yours, on your computer

    One file per notebook, saved as you go, with a password if you want one. Text in pictures is read on the machine, not in the cloud.

  • Careful with what you open

    PDFs, pictures and text recognition are each handled by a small, locked-down helper that can't see your files, write anything or use the network.

Features today

  • Ink

    Pen, highlighter that always lies under your ink, and an eraser for whole strokes or just the part you rub out. A stabilizer from Off to Strong, and a hovering pen shows where it would draw.

  • Colour

    Automatic ink (black on light pages, white on dark ones), five swatches, any colour from a wheel, and favourites. Dark ink on a dark page is shown lighter so it stays readable.

  • Editing

    Lasso a selection, then move, resize, rotate, recolour, change thickness, restack or delete it. Everything can be undone.

  • Hold to snap

    Draw a rough line or shape and hold the pen still: it straightens into a clean line, rectangle, ellipse, triangle or diamond.

  • Moving around

    Zoom from 12.5% to 800% with a pinch or the keyboard; pan with a finger fling, two fingers, the wheel or the mouse. Each page opens where you left it.

  • Notebooks

    Section groups, sections, pages and subpages, rearranged by dragging with pen, mouse or finger. Duplicate any of them, and give them colours and icons.

  • Text boxes

    Headings, character styles, five sizes, lists, checkboxes that tick with a tap, links, borders and spell checking. The pen writes over text like anything else.

  • Code blocks

    Syntax highlighting for every language KDE's highlighting knows (the same as Kate's), with line numbers and wrapping, following light and dark pages.

  • Shapes and connectors

    Lines, arrows and shapes with solid, dashed or dotted outlines, fills and line ends. Connectors stay attached to boxes as they move: good for mind maps and flowcharts.

  • Pictures

    Paste, drag in, insert, or send from the Share menu in KDE apps. Location and camera details are removed as they come in. Crop (and widen again), set as the background, or adjust greyscale, brightness, contrast and more.

  • Text in pictures

    Photos, screenshots and scans are read in the background by Tesseract, on your computer. The words can be searched, selected and copied, sideways and small text included.

  • PDF printouts

    PDFs of up to 500 pages come in at their real size, ready to write on, laid out stacked, side by side or as an open book. Their words are kept to select, copy and search.

  • Search

    Search the whole notebook: titles, text boxes, PDF pages and the text in pictures. Case and accents don't matter, and parts of words match.

  • Export

    A page, section or whole notebook as a PDF, sharp at any size and black on white, or a page or selection as a PNG.

  • Page history

    Look back at any earlier moment of a page on a timeline, restore it or copy it as a new page, and name versions worth keeping.

  • Password protection

    Encrypt a whole notebook, titles included. Optionally open it without the password on your own computer, using your desktop's wallet, and lock it when the screen locks.

  • Split view

    Two pages at once, or two places on one page, side by side or one above the other. Automatic follows a tablet as it turns.

  • Your layout

    Side panels that pin or tuck away, swapped for left-handed use, and a full screen with only the page and the tools.

  • Safety net

    Daily backups, a damage check, and Compact Notebook to give back space. Prepare for Distribution writes a clean copy to share, without deleted content or exact times.

  • Look and languages

    Dotted, lined, grid or blank paper for each page. Light or dark, following the system. English and Icelandic (best attempt).

  • Feedback

    Report a Bug and Suggest an Idea open the feedback page with Safn's version filled in. Nothing is sent until you choose to.

Coming next

  • Working together: several people editing one notebook live, through a small server you can host yourself.
  • Passwords for a single section, section group or page.
  • Tables in text boxes.
  • Being considered: printing to Safn from other apps, pasting formatted text, PDF export onto Letter or A4 sheets, and a bird's-eye overview at the furthest zoom.