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 realize you want back. Today we want to talk to you about a couple simple things you can do to be prepared in case one of these events occurs.

iTunes Sync

All your notebooks are backed up automatically by iTunes every time you sync your iPad. You won’t have access to individual notebooks or data, but in case of catastrophic loss (losing or breaking the iPad), iTunes will restore all your data, including Penultimate notebooks, when you “Restore”. This generally applies to all of your apps, by the way. If you keep serious data on your iPad, it’s a good idea to sync it periodically for the backup.

Penultimate Notebook Export

Based on many users’ requests, we added full Notebook export in Penultimate 2.2. This lets you export your notebooks as a set of individual files that you can keep on your computer or elsewhere for safekeeping. You can re-import all of the notebooks very simply, too, should you find yourself wanting or needing to restore everything in one shot. This process uses iTunes File Sharing, which is powerful, but can be a little tricky to get the hang of. 

The iTunes File Sharing space provides an area for file transfer between the app and your computer. Penultimate is able to export files into that area, and import from it. Using iTunes, you are able to both copy files out of it, and put files in for Penultimate to import.

Here’s how to do a full backup.

1. Tap the “folder” icon in the Penultimate toolbar, and select “Send all to iTunes”.

2. You’ll get a notification telling you what will happen, like this:

A “PENULTIMATE” folder will be created inside the “file transfer area”, which you’ll move out with your computer. Say OK. (At this point, if you’ve exported all your notebooks in the past, you’ll get another alert message saying that you’ll be overwriting a previous export. If you don’t need those older copies in the file transfer area anymore, it’s fine to say “Replace”.)

3. Now, plug your iPad into your computer if it’s not already. Open iTunes, and select your iPad from the left hand list. Then click the “Apps” tab at the top of the screen:

4. Scroll down as far as you need to get to the “File Sharing” area. Select “Penultimate”. Notice that the “PENULTIMATE” folder you exported from the app is there. Use the “Save to…” button to copy it somewhere safe. (Pro tip: Although there’s no button for it, you can delete files from the sharing area by highlighting them and pressing Backspace on your keyboard.)

And that’s it!

Let’s say you want to restore your notebooks. You can essentially do the same thing in reverse. Drag all the files inside that folder back into the file sharing area. Then inside Penultimate, go back to the folder menu and choose “Copy from iTunes”. You’ll be able to pick individual files from the list if you like, or use the “Copy All” button to import everything in the list. You should be back up and running.

Thanks for reading! Let us know at contact@cocoabox.com what else you’d like tips on.