reMarkable

Output to reMarkable paper tablet

Drawj2d can generate drawings in the reMarkable paper tablet's internal line drawing format. Thus using Drawj2d you can create an editable notebook page (not limited to annotations). Once transferred to your device, you can insert the page into an existing notebook using the move functionality of the reMarkable.

In case you just want to convert a pdf to a rM notebook

On the command line type (no scaling or scaled down)

echo image pageA5.pdf | drawj2d -Trmn
echo image pageA4.pdf 1  0 0  0.7 | drawj2d -Trmn      ;# reMarkable 2
echo image pageA4.pdf 1  0 0  0.8 | drawj2d -Trmdoc    ;# reMarkable Paper Pro

It writes a notebook file out.rmn or out.rmdoc. Then upload it using RCU or the reMarkable desktop app.

For multipage pdf have a look at pdf2rmnotebook (Linux) or rmn-combine (a Perl script to combine multiple page rmn files into a single notebook rmn file) or rmcat.

... or write text to a rM notebook

Have a look at the Drawj2d Examples for reMarkable tablet.

... or have shape library as a rM notebook

Download a Shape Library for reMarkable tablet.

HowTo

1. Create a drawing using a text editor (with UTF-8 encoding support).
   An example imput file thales.hcl is shown below.

   Preview on screen: drawj2d -Tscreen -W157 -H209 thales.hcl

   • reMarkable 2: device screen width ≅ 157 mm, height = 209 mm
   • reMarkable 2: monochrome display, drawj2d will map colours to black, grey or white
   • reMarkable Pro: device screen width ≅ 179 mm, height = 239 mm. Preview drawj2d -Tscreen -W168 -H239 thales.hcl
   • reMarkable Pro: colour display, pen colours black, grey or white, blue (inkblue), red (inkred), green, yellow, cyan, magenta and (highlighter colours) pink, lightgray, lightgreen and lightyellow.
     Drawj2d will map darkgray to black, darkgreen to green, orange to yellow, darkorange to red, brown to gray, violet and purple to magenta and any other colour to black, grey or white (depending on the brightness).
     Requires drawj2d 1.3.4.
   • a line font is implemented in drawj2d: font Lines, font Lines italic or font LinesMono. Truetype fonts will display the outlines only
   • images will be approximated with monochrome lines. Usable for b/w scans (drawings or text) but not pictures, avoid resolution ≫ 200 dpi.

2. Create the reMarkable page

   Drawj2d will generate a reMarkable notebook containing the line drawing. If you intend to transfer it to the device using a local cable or wlan connection choose the output type rmn (tar archive) . If you just need the raw page data (e.g. to replace a page in an existing notebook) choose the output type rm. The output type rmdoc (zip archive) can be used for a local transfer to the device using its USB web interface or for an upload to the cloud storage using the reMarkable desktop app.

   • RCU (tar of notebook) : drawj2d -Trmn thales.hcl → out-thales.rmn
   • raw page data (single page): drawj2d -Trm thales.hcl → out-thales.rm
   • rmdoc (zip of notebook): drawj2d -Trmdoc thales.hcl → out-thales.rmdoc

3. Transfer the notebook page to the paper tablet
   There are several options.
   ​

   Transfer the notebook to the device using RCU

   • RCU is an easy to use software. Upload the notebook file out-thales.rmn
   • The program costs a few dollars. It is worth its price. There are downloads for Windows, Linux, Mac and FreeBSD.

   Transfer the notebook to the device using its USB web interface or upload it to the cloud storage using the reMarkable desktop app

   • Transferring files using a USB cable and a browser (any OS). Upload the notebook file out-thales.rmdoc.
   • The reMarkable desktop app connects your Windows or Mac computer to the cloud storage. Upload the notebook file out-thales.rmdoc using drag-and-drop.

   Upload the page to the cloud storage using rMAPI

   • rmapi put out-thales.rm or rmapi put out-thales.rmdoc
   • There are downloads for Linux, Mac and Windows.
   • The first time rMAPI connects to the cloud storage you are prompted to enter a one-time code (log into your reMarkable account to get it).

The page created by drawj2d should now appear in the notebook thales on your reMarkable tablet. You can edit it like a page drawn directly on the device.

Input files

Embed a pdf page. In the most simple case the drawj2d input file (suffix .hcl) contains just one line.

image page.pdf

reMarkable 2:

Embed page 5 of an A4 sized (297mm x 210mm) pdf file, scale to fit the tablet height (297 * 0.7 = 208mm < 209mm), right justified (9 + 210 * 0.7 = 156mm < 157mm).

moveto 9 0
image article.pdf 5  0 0  0.7

reMarkable Pro:

Embed page 5 of an A4 sized (297mm x 210mm) pdf file, scale to fit the tablet height (297 * 0.8 = 238mm < 239mm), right justified (210*0.8 = 168mm <= 179mm - 11mm).

image article.pdf 5  0 0  0.8

For more options refer to the manual. Pdf files are interpreted, thus drawj2d redraws the vector data (instead of embedding a picture). Thus the rM notebook page will consist of lines that can be edited on the device. Fonts will render as outlines (limitation of the rM notebook file format).

More information
- Drawj2d web site
- Wiki Examples page
- Drawj2d Manual

Is the program useful for you? Consider supporting Drawj2d.

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Example drawj2d input file thales.hcl:

    font Lines

    moveto 15 10; label {Geometry} BL
    movetox 140;  label "[today]" BW

    font bold 6
    moveto 15 20
    text {Thales, Pythagoras}
    font plain 4
    text {using Drawj2d (https://drawj2d.sourceforge.io)}
    text {wiki https://sourceforge.net/p/drawj2d/wiki/reMarkable}

    moveto 15 50
    font italic
    label {Thales:}

    moveto 30 120
    block
        unitlength 1.0 cm
        set B {0 0}
        set C {8 0}
        set A {8 -6}
        dimline dots; font plain
        dimline $B $C; label C SE
        dimlineto $A;  label A NE
        dimlineto $B;  label B SW
        pen gray
        dimangle $B  $A $C
        dimangle $C  $B $A
        dimangle $A  $C $B
        dot [geom.online $A $B 0.5]
        circle [geom.dist $A]
    endblock

    pen black
    moveto 15 150
    font italic
    label {Angles:}
    moverel 25 0
    font plain
    label {α + β + γ = }

    moveto 15 160
    font italic
    label {Pythagoras:}
    moverel 25 7
    font plain
    label {a²+b² = }
    moverel 0 7
    label {c² = }