January 2012
1 post
"No App Is An Island"
As a tool for productivity, Penultimate aspires to be a critical part of your creative and note-taking workflow. Penultimate 3.3 is a huge update that adds high-quality integration with popular services Dropbox and Evernote, as well as new features to help you move your data around your iPad more easily.
Dropbox is a popular free service that facilitates the sharing, syncing, and backup of files...
October 2011
3 posts
Colorful Power: Penultimate 3.2
Penultimate 3.2 is out today, and boy is it a doozy. We’ve taken a huge bunch of time-saving functionality and rolled it all into one power productivity update. Without further ado:
We have a very cool new scissors tool. Use it to move/cut/copy/paste ink around pages and between pages and notebooks. Just drag around the ink you want to move— it’s very intuitive and not...
iOS 5 Multitasking Gestures Warning
** Critical for Stylus and Wrist Protection Users **
Apple’s new iOS 5 operating system will launch on October 12 for all iPad owners, bringing with it a host of valuable improvements, including simple iCloud (internet) backup of all app data files.
You should be aware of one new feature, however, that will cause problems with Penultimate and other handwriting apps. “Multitasking...
September 2011
3 posts
Picture Perfect Captain of the Hook
We’ve been hard at work for months and today I’m very excited to announce Penultimate 3.1, an update with two big enhancements that really expand the potential uses significantly as well as shore up up the technical power of the app.
First, we’ve added photo and image import. This has long been a user request, and we wanted to get it right. You can drop any image from your...
Penultimate's classroom potential
Apple.com calls Penultimate one of their “favorite apps for learning.”
(OK, I doctored the screenshot a little bit in the interest of compactness. But we’re easy to find on the page.)
As always, very proud when the folks in Cupertino help us spread the word about the clean, uncluttered professionalism of Penultimate.
You can get Penultimate here.
Can I Borrow Your 3-Hole Punch?
[Penultimate is currently on sale for Back-To-School. Get it here.]
Hey kids,
Gather round the glowing iPad and set a spell. I want to tell you about a land before time, and a time before the internet. It was the 1980s. The man who would grow up to make iPods was probably wearing a Walkman when trying to get kids to play Oregon Trail on his Apple IIe computers. And we wrote notes the...
July 2011
1 post
New & Improved Support
Just a quick note to let you know that we’re transitioning to a new support solution. We’ve now got a system in place that lets us easily keep up with FAQs, publish how-to articles, and provide faster-turnaround, personalized support for anything that’s not covered.
Check it out here!
You can also, as always, email support@cocoabox.com, or feedback@cocoabox.com to share your...
June 2011
2 posts
How To Get What You Want
Yesterday I wrote about the very cool work that Stu Maschwitz has done with Penultimate in film storyboarding. His post was also quoted by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who observed that going beyond a specific need to a broader problem is a “good way to think about making feature requests.”
I’ve thought about this for some time, and I’d like to say a little more about...
"Filmmaking software that isn't just for...
At Cocoa Box, we love hearing the wide variety of uses people find for Penultimate. So we were thrilled to read this very cool post by filmmaker, visual effects guy, and writer Stu Maschwitz. He talks about what he does, how he uses Penultimate, and best of all, he created and posted a whole series of downloadable storyboard papers that anyone can use!
As I detailed in The DV Rebel’s...
May 2011
4 posts
Apple recommends Penultimate for grads
We were honored to see Penultimate called out as a suggested app in the Apple marketing email that turned up in our inboxes over the weekend:
Thanks to the thoughtful folks down in Cupertino for another shout out. And hey, if you do know a new grad with a ‘pad, you can gift them a copy of the app. :) Meanwhile, this email has been printed out and posted on our refrigerator (really).
Minor update: Writing collection is free, etc.
As promised in my post last week, a new point release of Penultimate (v3.0.1) is now live on the app store. The most visible change is that the “writing” paper collection in the paper shop is now free. Other price reductions went into effect several days ago.
For users who are interested in the convenience of the add on papers, I hope the new pricing structure is more palatable than...
Paper Shop Followup
Hi everyone,
There’s been some confusion, causing unhappiness, since the release of Penultimate 3.0 and its inclusion of an in-app Paper Shop. I don’t like seeing that, because it means that I haven’t done a very good job of something along the way. Many users perceive that I am strong-arming them into buying virtual paper from the Paper Shop, or suckering them out of their...
Papers, papers, papers
Ahoy Penultimate users! Today is a huge day, because I get to share Penultimate version 3.0 with you. This update has been in progress for a long time, and I think you’re going to like it— a whole new dimension of uses has opened up for the app.
You can now import any image to use as a template in creating a paper to use in your notebooks. Practicing your Chinese characters?...
April 2011
2 posts
Win a colored Griffin stylus
The folks over at Griffin have started a great promotion where they’re giving away one of their snazzy new colored styluses (along with a free copy of Penultimate) every day for 10 days. Don’t have a stylus yet? You should, and now you might get one gratis. It’s cool that Griffin has picked a ballsy bunch of colors that don’t look like the Apple standard palette.
Head over...
Czech Books
Found these lower-school exercise books from the Czech Republic in a little shop stateside. Lots of pages of blue-lined graph paper inside.
I’ve always had a hard time with the original Moleskines and their knockoffs. They’re alluring, but in practice nothing I write or sketch feels important enough for a hardbound notebook. That’s why I always preferred softcover notebooks...
March 2011
3 posts
"Half the pressure, twice the speed"
This may be the most lyrical slogan ever printed on a lowly pencil. In this case, it graces the side of the legendary Blackwing 602, a pencil beloved by artists and writers for its beautiful line, but discontinued and unavailable since 1998.
I love both the act and the tools of handwriting, so I was honored recently to meet Charles Berolzheimer of the California Cedar Company. They’re...
Designing A Software Atelier
When I was a kid, I didn’t want to be an astronaut or a fireman. The first place I remember wanting to work was a software company called Sierra On-Line. I was a young programmer, writing in BASIC on my Apple II. I also played games: Space Quest and King’s Quest were some early ones, and both were made by Sierra. The adventures were great, crafted with care and depth. But there was...
Contest: All Winners Posted!
Our 5-week contest has come to a spectacular conclusion. We’ve received TONS of awesome entries showing how people use the app at work, at play, and more. Lots of people have won Pogo Sketch styluses, and we’ve announced Grand Prize and Runner-Up winners on our Facebook page.
Check out the winning entries here.
Congratulations to Belkiss, Jean-Pierre, Kati, and Alex, and Joshua! Your...
February 2011
1 post
How to: Email multiple pages at once
Welcome back to the Cocoa Box Genius Bar! Brand new in Penultimate 2.3 is the ability to take action on multiple pages within a notebook. You can choose any set of pages to email, print, or delete all at once. Here’s how you do it:
1. Go into the page browser screen by tapping or dragging the small “grip” to the left of the “previous page” touch area:
2. Tap the...
January 2011
1 post
Contest!
Lots of you have written, tweeted, and emailed us to tell us the awesome and varied things you do with Penultimate. We want the proof! We’re announcing a contest, starting today, that will run over the next several weeks (till the end of February).
Send us an email (to contest@cocoabox.com) with a photo, video, screenshot, or anything else showing you, your iPad, and Penultimate, at work,...
December 2010
7 posts
Show Us Your New Year's Resolutions!
Today is the second-to-last (!) day of 2010, and as we roll on into the New Year, we thought it would be fun to use Penultimate to share New Year’s resolutions.
All you need to do is write, draw, scribble, or doodle something (or things!) you’re planning to do in the next year, and email them to us at resolutions@cocoabox.com.
We’ll post what we get to the Flickr photo set...
Last minute gift idea!
If you’re anything like us (ahem), you might still be looking for stocking stuffers. If you know someone getting a new iPad tomorrow, you can be both thoughtful and hip by helping them stock up on essentials like Penultimate, currently on holiday sale! You can “gift” an app to friends and loved ones using iTunes, like this:
Click here to open the Penultimate web page.
Click the...
How to: Back up all your notebooks
Welcome to the Cocoa Box “Genius” Bar! We’re going to talk about backups today.
We know your notes, sketches and designs represent hours of your time, which is why keeping your data safe is among our highest priorities here at Cocoa Box. But just like you could lose a real-world Moleskine notebook, it is possible to lose or break your iPad, or delete notebooks that you later...
We mean business.
Penultimate appears as a recommended application in Apple’s “iPad for Business” page, which shows how you can take your work to the next level with third-party apps.
Thanks, Apple!
Check out our version 2.2, hot off the presses, which introduces some even-better-for-business features: flexible file management and backup, full page management in notebooks.
Get Penultimate...
Wrangle Yer Pages, Export Yer Notebooks.
Penultimate is not only beautiful and easy to use, but is also a serious tool. We’re proud to announce the availability of version 2.2, which introduces a handful of key features that really make the app more flexible for serious users:
Page browse & management. (Yes.) Using a seriously fun drag/swipe gesture, which is basically our new favorite pastime, you can reveal the hidden...
Penultimate causes zombie co-workers?
Happy Monday from Cocoa Box! This is one of more entertaining reviews on iTunes for Penultimate that we’ve seen yet:
Makes my co-workers drool like zombies ★★★★★
by Falconer - Version 2.1.1 - Nov 18, 2010
I love this app. I take it to staff meetings to take notes on and my co-workers are all like “Dubya tee eff?” and I’m all like “You know it” and then when...
Wanted: Mobile (Android/iOS) Software Developer
We’re looking for an awesome developer to join the Cocoa Box team based in San Francisco. There’s a lot going on around here. Penultimate is a critically-acclaimed iPad application that’s consistently among the top sellers on the platform around the world. We have droves of loyal users and lots of potential new ones on Apple’s and other platforms.
We need a senior...
November 2010
2 posts
One-Day "Cyber Monday" Sale!
Give the Gift Of Penultimate! As the holidays fast approach, we’re having a one-day extravaganza— Penultimate will be available all day today only (11/29)* at a lower price than it’s ever been sold for. Tell your friends to get the best handwriting on iPad and get it while they can.
More importantly, you can gift Penultimate using iTunes! Just click here in the App Store:
...
Inside the Cocoa Box
With this post I’d like to start sharing a little more of the behind-the-scenes about who we are and what we’re up to here at Cocoa Box Design. I’m the primary person behind the business. You will see the pronoun “we” frequently here, because I have an awesome part-time employee managing customers and community, and assistance for some design. Small though we are...
October 2010
2 posts
Special Ink Update
I’ve just come from Cocoa Box Labs, where our crack team of scientists have been doing round the clock shifts. They wear impeccably white lab coats, and are surrounded by bubbling flasks of green liquid, both of which are just for show. But they also collect enough really awesome ink pens to put a Japanese stationery shop to shame— and there are piles of notebooks filled with writing...
Penultimate 2.0
We’ve had a lot brewing here at Cocoa Box HQ for the last few months, and we’re proud to share the beginning of that now. Penultimate 2.0 is out today, featuring many often-requested improvements:
A great grid list view, for quickly accessing lots of notebooks. You can even sort by title or most recent!
Improved, faster “classic” notebooks view, with notebook titles...
September 2010
1 post
Left-Handed Wrist Protection and You
**UPDATE: Penultimate has since been updated with significant advancements for Left-Handed users. Our blog post referring to this is here. **
Do you have vivid memories of your schooldays, picking up your pen from the paper you were writing on to discover the side of your hand covered in smudged ink? If so, you’re probably left-handed, and this post is for you— and I know there are...
August 2010
1 post
Classic Pocket Notebooks →
Doctors, Architects, Boy Scouts, Salesmen, Farmers: Check out this great article talking about classic uses of pocket notebooks. Or what about the 21st century notebook users: Designers, Artists, Programmers, Landscape Designers, Roofing Contractors?
(If you’re iPad equipped and love this stuff too, we made Penultimate for you.)
(Image from Field Notes, makers of very excellent...
July 2010
1 post
Omit Needless Interface
I want to take a couple minutes to talk about software design in the context of our latest update, Penultimate 1.2. There’s a lot to like in this update (colors, languages, to say nothing of bug fixes), but my personal favorite feature is the “magic” eraser.
We get a LOT of email from passionate users. One thing that we’d heard often was “Give me choices for the...
June 2010
1 post
Henry Ford Loosens His Tie; Travels the World
Everyone needs a splash of color sometimes. A new Penultimate update is out, and today you can use colored ink in your notes, as well as change the thickness of the pen. Just hold down the pen tool icon to see the new options. Note takers get their most critical palette: sharp red, blue and green inks. Sketchers get grey tones for shading. Make the line smaller to accommodate precise handwriting,...
May 2010
2 posts
A handy update!
We’re pleased to announce availability of version 1.1 of Penultimate, which features the result of recent work we’ve done on “wrist protection”, or trying to understand the difference between when a touch on the surface should be used for ink, and when it’s just your wrist or knuckles or palm touching or resting on the glass.
It’s taken us a little while to...
What's next?
Hi everyone out there in Internet land! I’m Ben, and I wanted to take a moment to say hello as the founder of Cocoa Box Design and the primary developer of Penultimate.
Your response to Penultimate over the course of just the last couple weeks has been incredible. The idea of a beautiful app dedicated to taking easy, attractive notes by hand on the iPad is clearly resonating with a lot of...
April 2010
4 posts
Hand-drawn maps →
Check out this neat article from slate.com about homebrew wayfinding: http://www.slate.com/id/2252161
The one below is our favorite. Made your own great maps with Penultimate? Send them to us, and we’ll post the best ones!
(For an example of our own cartographic prowess, see our locations guide at http://www.cocoabox.com/about.)
Penultimate+Stylus=Win!
We’ve got a ton of feedback from you all telling us how much you like the idea of using Penultimate with a stylus. (A stylus is a pen-like device that is designed for detail work on a touchscreen.) We hear you, and have teamed up with the fine folks at Ten One Design, makers of Pogo styluses, to offer our users a 20% (!) discount on the well-suited Pogo Sketch. (Thanks guys!)
Click here to...
Penultimate is the most popular app for iPad!
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the Cocoa Box Design blog! We’re just kicking off our web presence, but I wanted to say hello and thank you to all of the users who have already downloaded Penultimate, our notes app built especially for iPad. We’re very happy with the initial version, and have lots of great stuff planned for upcoming updates.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can...