Microsoft OneNote 2010 : Collecting and Researching Information - Inserting Documents and Files (part 2) - Inserting a File Printout on a Page

Inserting a File Printout on a Page

An alternate way to import content from a file on your computer into OneNote is to make it appear on your notes page like a printout on paper. This ensures that there’s no confusion between an imported copy of a file and its original version on your hard drive, because the imported copy appears as a static image that cannot be edited.

Although this might seem limiting compared with importing an actual copy of a file, this option has two benefits. First, the layout and appearance of the original file is preserved perfectly, much like a PDF document would appear on your screen. Second, the images of the printout can be annotated with typed or handwritten text or with drawings, offering a much more flexible way to review and annotate content, especially when reviewing it together with other people.

To insert a file as a printout, follow these steps:

1.	On your notes page, click to activate the cursor where you want the file printout to begin.
2.	On the ribbon, click the Insert tab.
3.	In the Files group, click File Printout.
4.	In the Choose Document to Insert dialog box that opens, navigate to the folder containing the file you want to print to OneNote.
5.	Click to select the file and then click OK. Depending on the size of the file and the processing speed of your computer, a progress indicator might briefly appear. When it reaches 100%, one or more static images resembling the page (or pages) of your “printed” file appears on your notes page (see Figure 2). Figure 2. Using the File Printout command, you can send the contents of a selected file or document to OneNote as one or a series of images. This makes it easy to read, review, and annotate its information in context with your other notes.

File printouts can be easily annotated by setting their images as the page background and then clicking over the image to create a notes container that holds your text annotations and other notes about the file’s content. This is especially useful when reviewing visual content, such as the slides in a PowerPoint presentation deck.

Another convenient imaging feature to remember for file printouts is the Copy Text from Picture command that’s available whenever you right-click an inserted picture. In the case of file printouts, the images offer two slightly different commands on the right-click menu—one for copying text from just the selected image (or page) of the printout, and another for copying all text from all of the images (pages) in a file printout. Just like with regular images, this lets you copy the file’s text and paste it into an editable annotation where you can then revise it with your proposed changes.