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Left-handed planner for e-ink tablets: why tab placement matters

By Graphite Planner · Last updated 8 October 2026

Most planners put the month tabs on the right edge of the page, where a paper planner has its tabs. On an e-ink tablet that choice meets two things a paper planner doesn't have: a toolbar that opens along one side of the screen, and buttons that respond to a touch. For a left-handed writer, a right-handed layout gets both wrong. Here is why, and what a left-handed file changes.

The toolbar moves with your hand

Pen tablets put their tools along one side of the screen, so that the writing hand doesn't cover them. reMarkable's help describes a left-hand mode that you choose during setup or later in the settings, and its Toolbar article explains how to move the toolbar. Supernote lets you place the toolbar on either side, and the Boox handwriting toolbar can be docked on one side.

A right-handed setup puts the toolbar on the left. A planner drawn for it keeps the left strip of every page free and puts its tabs on the right. When a left-handed writer switches the tablet to left-hand mode, the toolbar moves to the right and opens on top of those tabs. Opening the toolbar to change pen then hides the very buttons you use to move around, and a tap meant for a tab can land on a tool instead.

Reaching the tabs

The second reason is reach. On a tablet you move around with a fingertip, and most people tap with the hand that already holds the pen: the pen tucked against the palm, the index finger free. With the tabs on the same side as your writing hand, that is a short move. With the tabs on the opposite edge, you either reach across the page with the pen hand, covering what you just wrote, or put the pen down and use the other hand.

That is why a right-handed layout feels natural to right-handed writers, and a mirrored layout gives left-handed writers the same comfort.

What a left-handed file changes

In a mirrored planner the layout swaps sides, while the text still reads normally from left to right. In the Graphite files:

• The month tabs move from the right edge to the left edge.
• The strip kept free of links, about 7 percent of the page width, moves from the left to the right, where the toolbar now opens.
• Every link keeps the same size: at least 3.5 mm, and navigation buttons at least 6 mm.
• In the Kindle Scribe edition, the tabs stay at least 10 mm in from the left edge, just as the right-handed tabs stay 10 mm from the right.

Both hands come with every file and every layout, in the same download and at no extra cost: the file names end in _right or _left. Every link in both versions is checked by script, including the rule that nothing tappable sits in the toolbar strip.

One problem that disappears

Left-handed writers know the smudge: the hand drags across fresh ink as it moves along the line. On e-ink there is no wet ink, and palm rejection ignores a resting hand while the pen is in use. Whether you write with the hand below the line or hooked above it, nothing smears. What is left to get right is where things sit on the page, which is what the mirrored file is for.

Matching the file to your tablet

On every tablet the rule is the same: tabs on the side of your writing hand, tools on the other side, and nothing to tap under the tools. The tablet comparison lists which layout each tablet uses, and the setup guides cover the steps for each brand.

Test it in one minute

1. Set your tablet to the hand you write with, or move the toolbar to the side you prefer.
2. Copy a sample of the planner to the tablet and open it.
3. Open the toolbar and check that it covers no tab and no button.
4. Write a line across the full width of a page, then tap three tabs with the hand that holds the pen.

If the toolbar covers buttons, or reaching the tabs means crossing the page, the layout was drawn for the other hand. Hyperlinked PDF planners explained adds a three-tap test for the links themselves.

Troubleshooting

The toolbar covers the month tabs.

The file and the toolbar are on the same side. Use the _left file with the toolbar on the right, or the _right file with the toolbar on the left.

The sample has its tabs on the right.

The tiny samples are right-handed. The _left files in the download are their exact mirror, with the tabs on the left.

I write with my left hand but prefer tabs on the right.

That works too. Keep the toolbar on the left and use the _right file: the only rule is that the tabs and the toolbar sit on opposite sides.