SETUP · AND · HELP

Setting up your journal

Everything you need to download your journal and start writing on it — in about five minutes. Watch the video, or read the steps for your app below.

Step by step, for your app

Pick the app you use. If you are not sure, GoodNotes is the most popular on iPad, and Xodo is free on Android.

Do this on the tablet you are going to write on — not on your laptop.

  1. Right after you pay, tap Download on the thank-you page. The same link is emailed to you, so you can come back to it any time.
  2. If the email is not in your inbox after a few minutes, check Promotions and Spam.
  3. On iPad: tap the link, then Save to Files → On My iPad → Downloads.
  4. On Android: it saves to your Downloads folder automatically.
  5. Give it a moment to finish — it is a big file with a lot of pages in it.

GOOD TO KNOWKeep the file on the tablet itself rather than in Google Drive or iCloud Drive. Some note-taking apps cannot follow the links inside a file that lives in the cloud.

The most popular choice on iPad, and the one we would recommend first.

  1. Open GoodNotes and tap the plus in the top corner.
  2. Choose Import, find the journal in Downloads, and tap it. It becomes a notebook you can write in.
  3. Press and hold the cover to rename it — the season you are in, or the month you started.
  4. Tap the pen and write with your Apple Pencil. Pinch to zoom in if the lines feel small; your handwriting stays the size you wrote it.
  5. To jump between sections, tap the coloured tabs. If a tap leaves a pen mark instead, switch to read-only mode at the top right.
  6. Need more room in a week? Open the page thumbnails, hold the page, and choose Duplicate.

THIS TRIPS UP ALMOST EVERYONETabs that draw a line instead of jumping mean you are still in writing mode. Read-only mode makes every link work — and you switch straight back to write.

Works just as well — it only handles links slightly differently.

  1. Open Notability, tap the plus, and choose Import.
  2. Pick the journal out of Downloads. It opens as a note you can write straight onto.
  3. Tap a coloured tab. A small preview appears with a page number — tap that number and you are there. Nothing is broken; Notability just asks you to confirm.
  4. Before writing on a weekly page, copy it and keep the blank one — then you always have a fresh page waiting.

GOOD TO KNOWYour handwriting is saved inside Notability, not inside the PDF — so you can always re-import the original file to start a fresh season.

Lovely to write on with the S Pen. There is one setting you have to know about.

  1. Open Samsung Notes, choose Import, and pick the journal from Downloads.
  2. To use the tabs, tap the book icon to turn on reading mode — links only jump in reading mode.
  3. Tap the book icon again to go back to writing. Reading to navigate, writing to write.
  4. If the links still will not jump, open the same file in Xodo instead (next tab). Nothing is wrong with your journal.

BEING STRAIGHT WITH YOUOn a long journal, Samsung Notes sometimes will not follow the links at all. It is a limitation of the app, not of your file — and Xodo fixes it for free.

The most reliable option on an Android tablet, and it costs nothing.

  1. Install Xodo from the Play Store.
  2. Open it and choose the journal from your Downloads folder.
  3. Tap any coloured tab — every link works, with no mode to switch.
  4. Use the pen tool to write with your S Pen or stylus.

GOOD TO KNOWYou can keep using Samsung Notes for everyday notes and Xodo just for your journal. The same file opens in both.

Prefer paper? Print all of it, or just the pages you need.

  1. Open the PDF on a computer or tablet and choose Print.
  2. To print only part of it, set a page range — this week's pages, or one section.
  3. Choose Fit to page so nothing is cut off at the edges.
  4. Plain paper is fine. Slightly heavier paper feels better if you write with ink.

GOOD TO KNOWPlenty of people write digitally and print the reflection pages to keep. The file does not expire — print as many times as you like.

If something goes wrong

The links do not jump when I tap them

Nothing is wrong with your file — this is almost always the app being in writing mode. In GoodNotes, switch to read-only at the top right. In Notability, tap the tab and then tap the small page number that appears. On a Samsung tablet, tap the book icon to turn on reading mode.

If you are on Android and they still will not jump, open the same file in Xodo — it is free, and every link works there.

I lost my download link

No problem at all — send us a note through the form below and we will send it again. Your link does not expire, so once you have saved the file to your tablet it is yours for good.

Can I print just some of the pages?

Yes. Open the PDF, choose Print, and set a page range so you only print the pages you want — this week's pages, for example. You can print as many times as you like.

Can I use it on more than one device?

Yes — it is yours. Put it on your iPad and your phone, or on a tablet and a computer. Your handwriting is saved by your note-taking app, so what you write appears wherever that app syncs.

How do I make sure my writing is backed up?

Your writing lives inside your note-taking app rather than inside the PDF, so backup is handled there. Open your app's settings and check that backup or sync is switched on — iCloud for GoodNotes and Notability, Samsung Cloud for Samsung Notes.

Can I start over with a fresh copy?

Yes, and this is one of the quiet joys of a digital journal. Keep the original file, and when a new season starts, import it again as a brand-new notebook. Your old season stays exactly as you left it.

What am I allowed to do with my copy?

Almost anything, for yourself. Print it as often as you like the whole season or a single page. Keep it on every device you own. Start a fresh copy whenever a new season begins; the original file never expires and you can download it again any time.

The one thing we ask is that it stays yours. Please don't send the file on, post it anywhere, or resell it. If someone you know wants to work a season, send them to us or buy it for them as a gift, which we love.

Still stuck? We will help you.

Fill in the short form and tell us what is happening — you do not need to write an email from scratch.

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Or email us at info@theseasonstudios.com

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