Take notes in style on Linux with Paper

Paper is a beautiful note-taking application for the Gnome desktop and other GTK-based Linux desktop environments. This guide will show you how to set up Paper and use it too.

Installing Paper on Linux

The Paper app is available for Linux users via the Flatpak universal package system. Additionally, users can install the app via the Arch Linux AUR or by building the source code from scratch.

In this guide, we’ll go over how to set up Paper in each way. However, we highly suggest following the Flatpak instructions as they work the best on all distributions.

To start installing the Paper app on your Linux PC, begin by launching a terminal window. You can launch a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Or, search for “Terminal” in the app menu.

With the terminal window open and ready to use, the installation of Paper can begin. Follow the instructions outlined below that correspond with the Linux install method you prefer.

Flatpak

To get the Paper app working as a Flatpak on your Linux PC, you’ll need to set up the Flatpak runtime. The runtime is easy to install. Set up the “flatpak” package on your computer, and you will be able to set up Flatpak packages on your system.

Unsure about how to set up the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC? We can help! Follow along with our in-depth Flatpak setup guide to get the runtime working on your Linux computer.

With the Flatpak runtime set up on your Linux PC, you’ll be able to install the Paper app using the two flatpak commands below in a terminal window.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak install flathub io.posidon.Paper

Arch Linux AUR

If you’re an Arch Linux, Manjaro, Garuda, or EndevourOS user, you’ll be able to install the Paper application directly from the Arch Linux AUR. But, you’ll need to set up the Trizen AUR helper to get the app working.

Why install Trizen? Trizen is an AUR helper, which means t07hat it can automate the installation of AUR packages like Trizen. It also provides easy-to-install updates. You can set up the Trizen AUR app with the following terminal commands.

sudo pacman -S git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git
cd trizen/

makepkg -sri

With the Trizen AUR helper tool set up on your Arch (or Arch-based) system, setting up Paper is as easy as running the trizen -S command below.

trizen -S paper-note

Source code

The source code for the Paper note-taking app is available. However, no dependencies are listed on the page. However, the dependencies can be found by checking the AUR Paper page.

Note: the dependencies listed on the AUR Paper page are not the same on Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. However, you can use them as a reference to discover what you need to install to build the code successfully.

Once you’ve got all of the dependencies, grab the code from the Posidon Gitlab and build it.

Using Paper

To use the Paper application, open up the Gnome app menu by pressing Win on the keyboard. Then, search for “Paper” and launch it. Alternatively, you can launch the app with the following flatpak run command.

flatpak run flathub io.posidon.Paper

With the Paper app open, find the “New Notebook” button and click on it. Selecting this button will allow you to create a new note that holds all of your various notes.

A pop-up window will appear after selecting the “New Notebook” button. Select the “Notebook Name” box and write in the name of your notebook. Then, select the “Create Notebook” button.

After creating a new notebook in Paper, click on it with the mouse. Then, select the “New Note” button. When you choose the button, a pop-up window will appear. In this pop-up window, name your new note.

Upon naming your note, you’ll see it in your notebook. You can then edit your notes in the editor. The editor will take plain text and convert it into the Markdown syntax.

Backing up created notes

All notes are markdown, so all notes are saved as “.md” files. If you wish to back them up, do the following. First, find a note in your notebook in the Paper application. Right-click on the note and select the “Open containing folder” option.