I’ve had the best experience with 8.5×11” loose sheets of paper in a stiff folder (or on top of another firm surface), because they’re easy to draw on and scan. Scanning introduces several additional steps. I have a hard time finding pens that will give me a consistent fine line. Since I don’t have layers, I can’t change my mind about colours. On paper, though, I can’t erase ink or move images around as quickly as I can on the tablet or tablet PC. I don’t have to worry about digitization errors when I’m writing small text, and I don’t have to swipe or scroll in order to see the rest of my drawing. Lightweight, large-scale, and no worries about battery life or device drivers – hard to argue with paper’s advantages. Here’s a quick comparison of how and what I draw on paper, tablet, and my Lenovo X220 tablet PC, and what works out better when. I also scan in sketches that I do on paper.

Tl dr summary: I use Krita on Ubuntu Linux on a Lenovo X220 tablet PC to do my sketchnotes. Update : Updated to reflect current ScanSnap workflow and link to resources for sketchnoting with Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

Autodesk sketchbook pro 2010 review