Hey, everyone! I hope y’all are doing well! I have a question. I’ve seen recently that some of you have mentioned your digital Book of Shadows / Grimoire, and I was wondering if any of you have any advice or recommendations for me. I’m looking to go digital with my BoS, or at least have a digital backup for on the go. Do you have any recommendations for apps/word processors/etc. that you enjoy using?
For the sake of brevity, that was my main question, but these are some of the things that I’m looking for in a digital version of my BoS (if you’re interested in reading and think it may help guide any recommendations you have):
Use it across multiple platforms (iPhone, Mac, PC, web browser, and maybe even iPad if I decide to buy one like I’m planning to)
Ability to easily re-arrange pages (drag and drop)
Ability to link to other parts of the document for quick cross-referencing
Ability to link to webpages, insert images, and insert PDFs into the document
Ability to type text or insert handwritten content (on iPad, for example)
Ability to print single pages, a range of pages, or the entire document onto various paper sizes
I’ve been experimenting with OneNote, but it just feels to awkward and clunky for me even though it has pretty much all the features I’m looking for.
I’ve attempted to make a Word document, but Word is always too sassy to me and just makes me angry and I give up on trying to use it.
I agree with you on OneNote. I have used that one and Google Drive but the interfaces don’t feel cozy enough. It’s really clunky.
There are lots of apps and journaling software that can be used as a Grimoire. I would be careful when choosing any smaller apps because with small startups it is possible that the app doesn’t get updated anymore and you risk losing all your work!
That’s why for very important stuff I would first suggest the giants like OneNote, Google Docs, or Evernote. Also, they are cross-platform. However you should try other options as well. Other suggestions:
GoodNotes and Notability (iPad, Mac, and iPhone) are perfect for taking notes and drawing doodles on your iPad. I think you’ll like them. They are very similar but the interfaces are slightly different. Try them both!
DayOne is good for personal journaling on your phone whenever you are on the go. (iPhone, iPad, and Mac)
Bear is a beautiful app with a focus on text (iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch). Here’s a nice video review.
Most of these apps have the capability of linking to other pages and printing everything. With the arranging of pages and controls, you should try all of them to see which one you prefer. It’s mostly personal taste.
There are also reviews on Youtube to give you an idea of how they work:
Thank you for all this information! I’ve been looking into GoodNotes and Notability, but Bear and DayOne are appealing too! I think I may try DayOne out as a Book of Mirrors platform Bear looks really useful too – I really like the minimalist, straight-forward, no-frills approach it takes
As someone who primarily uses Word for everything (along with a real labyrinth of desktop folders lol) this made me laugh- I’d never thought of it like that, but Word definitely is sassy!
When I need to access things on multiple devices, Google Drive has been my go-to because it’s free and linked to my gmail account (easy to access). But like Francisco pointed out, it is clunky and doesn’t always work the best.
My partner uses Evernote and loves it- it seems to work well on a phone and for taking notes on the go. I’m not sure how well you can organize something massive like a BoS/Grimoire.
Then there’s always making your own blog using something like WordPress. com or Wix (both have free basic plans and are good for beginners), or the more in-depth WordPress. org. You could make the blog private so only you can access it, but since it is hosted on the internet it would be easy for you to access anywhere
Looks like there are lots of options out there! I hope you can find something perfect for you, Wade Good luck!
This is a really good point, or at the very least that there’s an “export” button to press if you need to abandon ship
MediaWiki looks promising to me this far. It’s open, it’s extensible and the pages are reasonably easy and intuitive to make and link together. It’s what Wikipedia uses too, so I’m pretty confident it’s not going anywhere soon. The wiki format with its links and categories appealed to me because I think it works well with correspondences.
Oh! I use Notion I really like the way you can arrange it. It’s kind of like Evernote but less clunky. I actually show how I use it in one of my videos (I’ll pop the video here) but it’s super easy to use. You can link from one entry to another, too, and create a sort of index, table of contents, etc. It has the ability to export single pages in the free version. If you get the paid version, I believe you can then export everything all at once.
Great video!! Thanks for sharing that app, it looks good I agree that keeping a grimoire is something very personal and there is no universal solution that would work for everyone.
Another solution I found was converting your handwriting into a font (for example with this software) so that you can type the information and then print it with your own handwriting. That software even lets you add random variations of each letter so that it looks more natural.
I have the Rocketbook mentioned in that article and I LOVE it! It’s great for taking notes and easily converting it to a PDF – I can’t believe I didn’t think about using it for digitizing my BoS until just now! lol
I’ll also DEFINITELY have to look into the font creation software!! That’s such a cool idea! Thank you for all the amazing suggestions and inspiration!
GoodNotes is wonderful, but it is an app. You can access it in the cloud across platforms, but you can’t reLlt work on it on pc that I’m aware of. I don’t know about Mac…
I know this post is a little old, but maybe this will be useful to someone. I use Squarespace for my Book of Lights (Shadows). It’s a blog style website and the best part is, there’s an archive right in the navigation panel which lists all the sections of the grimoire. I could even add another archive of tags if I wanted. I have another archive there where it’s all listed by month. The site is wiccanmamabear dot com if you want to see for yourself. There’s nothing to buy there or anything like that, it’s just my Book of Lights for me, my children, and future generations. I even have a second blog at the same website that is hidden and available only to me - it’s my Book of Mirrors. Squarespace is by far the simplest and most beautiful way to set this up, but it is $26/month or $400+ a year (I’m not an affiliate and I don’t have a link to their pricing). You could also use Wix or Wordpress but the functionality is far slower, less beautiful, and overall less appealling. A blog is a perfect setup for a Book of Shadows simply because of the Categories and Tags. It’s not for everyone, but it’s amazing for me. I also intend to have each month’s archive professionally printed into a book at the end of the year. If you found this useful, I’d appreciate you letting me know here in the comments.
whenever you are on the go. (iPhone, iPad, and Mac)
I’ve been looking into GoodNotes and Notability, but Bear and DayOne are appealing too! I think I may try DayOne out as a Book of Mirrors platform 
Bear looks really useful too – I really like the minimalist, straight-forward, no-frills approach it takes 
Good luck!
I really like the way you can arrange it. It’s kind of like Evernote but less clunky. I actually show how I use it in one of my videos (I’ll pop the video here) but it’s super easy to use. You can link from one entry to another, too, and create a sort of index, table of contents, etc. It has the ability to export single pages in the free version. If you get the paid version, I believe you can then export everything all at once.
I agree that keeping a grimoire is something very personal and there is no universal solution that would work for everyone.
and your files backed up at the same time.
lol
Thank you for all the amazing suggestions and inspiration! 
Thanks for sharing it!
but it’s definitely a good idea!