Here's Moleskine's summation of what their Adobe-optimized smart notebook (they also have one for Evernote) can do:
Draw on any page in the notebook and capture your image using the companion app powered by the Adobe Creative SDK. The special page markings help to optimize and process the image as a jpg file before converting it into an svg file. With your Adobe Creative Cloud membership, you can then sync your files to the Creative Cloud and immediately open your image in Adobe Photoshop CC or Adobe Illustrator CC for refinement.
Okay, I have to admit that I'm one of those people who is obsessed with notebooks. I have a filing cabinet in my office full of colorful spiral notebooks (even one featuring Shawn Kemp from 5th grade), your standard composition notebooks, fancy leather-bound notebooks, even notebooks with pages made from recycled paper and infused with flowers. Hell, I even own a handful of classic Moleskine notebooks. So, of course when I first saw Moleskine's "smart" notebook my interest was immediately piqued.
By being able to take what's on a page and convert it into a jpg, then into an svg, then be able to open it in whichever Adobe program you use to edit, the time you'd spend scanning, uploading, and downloading files is seriously reduced. Not to mention the fact that scanning pages in a notebook with a scanner or phone is a pain. Your images often come out distorted, cut off, or looking gritty (depending on what kind of DPI settings your scanner has). Having a smart notebook that works with Adobe streamlines this entire process.
However, I'm not so sure that I'd call the notebook itself "smart", but rather the companion app. See, the pages contain small markings that help you line up and process your image, but I'm wondering what's stopping people from simply drawing similar markings on whichever piece of paper they're working on themselves? The Adobe app is free after all, so if you could pull that off, you wouldn't need the $33 notebook, right? But you have to keep in mind that these special alignment indicators work with the app -- accurately scaling, aligning, and keeping your sketches from turning into a distorted mess.
In any case, if you already storyboard by hand and want to streamline the process of turning these pages into fully workable digital files, this might be an effective way to do it, especially if you're always on the go. Moleskine's smart notebook probably isn't going to convince many creatives to switch the way they storyboard, but for those who already sketch in notebooks, as opposed to using a Bamboo tablet or something similar, it's certainly worth checking out.
Source: Moleskine
