iPad RPG App Review – iAnnotate PDF
iAnnotate is fast becoming my most-used in-game iPad RPG app. It not only reads PDFs, but it lets you edit them too. And this is where it becomes a killer GMing app for me, which I will soon explain.
Thanks to Tom Ganz for pointing this app out in his comment on good gaming apps for the iPad.
Features
iAnnotate is available on the iTunes App Store for $10 at the time of writing. Here is a rough feature list:
- Make annotations: Text Notes, Highlight, Underline, Free-Form Drawing, Stamps, Bookmarks. You can edit and move annotations around.
- Full-featured PDF reader: supports standard scroll and zoom gestures, supports portrait and landscape modes, also offers full screen mode.
- Easy transfer of files: I use Dropbox, which is free. You can also use email, iTunes sync, file URL or Aji’s free desktop transfer software.
- Tabbed PDF Reading: This was a big factor for me. I want rules, adventures, notes and other files open, all at the same time. There is a 6 file open limit, which I hope they increase.
- Customizable Toolbars: Reposition, resize and customize all the toolbars.
- PDF support: Copy and paste text, view existing PDF annotations, support for internal and URL links, and PDF outline/bookmarks support. Fully integrates annotations directly into the PDF, which means if you send files to other people, they will see the annotations you’ve made via iAnnotate. Those other people can use the PDF reader of their choice. I have only tested this with PDF reader on a different machine, but it worked well.
- Document and library search: Search the files you have imported into the app. You can also filter by new, recent, unread, and annotated documents, or browse using folders. I find the GUI a bit confusing. I wish there was just a button that says Open File. Most other functions are intuitive, though.
- VGA output: Another potentially awesome feature. I’m hoping I see a VGA adapter under the Christmas tree this year to test this out. :) According to the Aji site: “Use the iPad VGA dock connector to display your documents onto an external projector or monitor. Your document view, along with all annotations and popup displays, is mirrored as you navigate and annotate the document. You can also reference documents in other tabs on your iPad, without affecting the presented display.” Sounds like a win to me.
For RPG use
Those are the app’s features, so how can we take advantage of them in-game? I would love to hear your ideas and experiences. Here are mine.
Mapping nirvana
I created an abstract map of Riddleport for my campaign because I wanted to change some buildings on Paizo’s map. I traced their map in Illustrator and PDF’d it. However, you can use any map embedded in a PDF for glorious mapping.
I use my city map to record building identities. While every building is sketched out on the map, I have not figured out what every building is being used for, who owns it, who lives there and other details. To make things tricky, in my version of Riddleport the average building height is three storeys, thanks to magically aided stone construction over the years. So I have potentially three storeys-worth of notes to make on each building!
I find it easier to just make up locations as I plan specific encounters or play the game. That means I can use iAnnotate to label buildings and make notes as I go. This has solved a huge problem for me. Where have the PCs visited? What was at the location they visited? Who was at each visited location? I just note these on the PDF as I GM now.
As a bonus, I can search my annotations, so finding buildings previously visited is a snap.
Ultimately, this tool finally marries content with function. I have my map and I can make make notes on it, but with all the benefits of computing: infinite note space, editing, searching and easy filing. Woohoo!
In my screenshot you can see the annotations I have made on my Riddleport map so far. Those black dots are from Illustrator, so ignore those. When I first made the map I was going to update it in Illustrator and re-export each session. Then Tom told me about iAnnotate and I immediately switched, but forgot to remove the black dot labels in Illustrator.
For any map that needs annotation now, I am using this app on my iPad. My next dungeon map? Yup, I am making all my notes on locations and encounters on the map itself after I put it into PDF format. My next pre-designed building layout? Yup. The world map? Yup.
House rules
I GM Pathfinder and the Sord product is an awesome rule summary reference. You can get it at RPGNow for $5.
However, when I use it with iAnnotate, all kinds of possibilities open up.
I bookmark frequently used rules. This reduces searching during encounters and speeds up combat, not only because I have an awesome rules summary in Sord, but because I can get around the PDF fast with bookmarks.
You can create bookmarks quick. So do not skimp on temporary ones. If you plan an encounter where monsters have certain abilities or certain tricky rules will come up, bookmark those rules in Sord and delete them after.
Further, you can pass your iPad around. Let a player figure it out while you do something else.
You can see in the screenshot how I have also made a note about house rules. It is the electronic equivalent of using Post-It Notes in your rulebooks. Have a comment, note or house rule? Put it right there in the exact place you need in the PDF version of your rulebook. Links, too.
NPCs
I recently received a reviewer copy of the Rite NPC Deck. Now I am trying something new: using NPC images plus iAnnotate.
The product comes in a series of JPG files, which I imported into a single PDF. Then I opened the PDF in iAnnotate and used the bookmark feature to note what NPC pictures I am using for my campaign. I named the bookmark by the NPC name for fast reference.
Next, on the NPC’s page in the PDF, I started making notes about the NPC. Like maps, this now gives me the best of both worlds. Image + data, all-in-one. A single tap on the screen puts the PDF in full-screen mode, which hides the menus and all my annotations for a player-friendly show-and-tell of the NPC when they meet!
Next up, I will experiment with Hero Lab, as I make Pathfinder NPCs using that softwar and it supports PDF export.
Just for reading
I also use the app just to read PDFs. The tabs let me flip between files quick when researching and preparing for a session. I keep an annotation open to record ideas as they hit me, and drag the annotation around so it follows me as I go.
What would you do?
If you could add notes, bookmarks, highlights and lines to a PDF for RPG use, what would you do with those features? Got any ideas how we can take iAnnotate further to help us GM better?
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November 8th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Great review, thanks for posting this. I’ve been using GoodReader as my PDF reader and it seems to have a lot of the same features, though the tabbed browsing in iAnnotate looks very compelling.
Question about the tabs, can each tab be a different PDF file or is essentially a bookmark inside the same document?
November 8th, 2010 at 10:52 am
The tabs are for different files. I did not think about using tabs with bookmarks, which is a great idea, but not possible afaik in the app.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:48 am
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by JohnnFour and Reality Blurs, RPG Bloggers Network. RPG Bloggers Network said: iPad RPG App Review – iAnnotate PDF from Campaign Mastery http://goo.gl/fb/XfNY5 #RPG […]
November 8th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I’ve used both iAnnotate and GoodReader. I prefer iAnnotate. It’s much faster than GoodReader when moving form one page to another.
One tip: Not all PDFs display well in iPad PDF Readers (which all use the same basic PDF rendering engine that comes built-in to the iPad). If you have Acrobat, you can convert any troublesome PDFs to PDF/A format. This has eliminated any problems I encountered.
November 8th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Great tip, Rob, but Acrobat isn’t cheap. Does anyone know of a freeware alternative?
November 8th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
I’ve been using GoodReader since Day 1 with the iPad, and it’s been immensely useful for gaming, though I’m always willing to try something new. Thanks for the review, Johnn. I’ll be checking this one out.
Adding these two things to my iPadified MediaWiki campaign web site as well as TWMobile for reading iPad-based TiddlyWikis (for DM-only stuff) makes for my ideal gaming setup. I can’t even begin to gush about how few books I need to take with me on game day, now. I’ve got quite a digital library and it really helps a lot!
November 9th, 2010 at 8:45 am
[…] I wish they offered a free digital version to customers, as well. I can use digital NPC pics on my iPad for RPG and laptop. I can always print out a physical version, and prefer having the digital version to […]
November 9th, 2010 at 9:11 am
Thanks for using the Rite Npc Deck.
Steve Russell
Rite Publishing
November 9th, 2010 at 9:53 am
A question not related to iAnnotate but to the iPad, do you use any apps to manage combat? I have DM’s Tracker & DM Tools but haven’t had the opportunity to use them yet (not DM’ing the current game I’m in).
November 9th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Because I use a laptop at the game table I do not need the iPad for combat management. I will blog about it someday.
November 9th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
[…] I wish they offered a free digital version to customers, as well. I can use digital NPC pics on my iPad for RPG and laptop. I can always print out a physical version, and prefer having the digital version to […]
November 12th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Hey, glad you like it!
You have some awseome ideas there. Thanx for showing possibilities!
November 17th, 2010 at 8:37 am
One more APP you might probably like…
search for or “PFRD”. If you don’t find it, search for Paizo, it will be shown, with a d20 as icon.
All the rules in a nice hyperlinked and searchable app.
Especially nice, if you need a spell in a second!
November 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am
@Tom – agreed. One of the first apps I picked up.
November 19th, 2010 at 10:32 am
One of the main reasons I bought an iPad was for the ability to use it at gaming sessions and have all my books on one easy to carry device. I have found it useful, but I haven’t even unlocked it’s potential. I realized that after reading this article. I’m going to buy this app as soon as I get home!
Thanks Johnn!
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