OmniOutliner Pro App Reviews

I still cant easily synch with the iPad version. Such a waste for an otherwise great idea.

Used to use OmniOutliner back when it was included with the Mac when you bought it. That’s why when I needed an outliner for a project I chose this app vs. others. I know OmniGroup makes good products. Two complaints to explain the 3 star rating: 1) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. That’s called “markup” where I’m from. 2) Export options are limited, given the price of this app. If you’ve got the $ to spend, then I recommend it. It is a *very* flexible outliner and can be used for a lot of needs.

This is easily the best outlining software period -- on any platform. Powerful and feature-rich, but the well-designed interface makes it very approachable. OmniOutliner has been an indispensible part of my workflow for years and I was happy to buy another copy here. You should buy a copy too!

Outliner can be a confusing term. I use this app to collect and organize information. In fact I have considered "Bento for Mac" first (Bento is a lightweight version of FileMaker or something like that). I wanted to be able to collect seemingly unrelated pieces of information in one place. For example, stock research notes with links, copies of analyst reports and my own thoughts. Any easy database is still an overkill. Wordprocessor is not a good container for other documents and there is no easy structured entry. Outliner on the other hand by default copies any document you paste into it. That helps to organize all of the related information in one file, which is what I was looking for. It is my 2nd exposure to Outliner. Several years ago my PowerBook came with Omni Outliner preinstalled. I used it for taking all kinds of random notes. It worked. I used it a lot. I then had to move away to windows (that was a bummer) and I have failed to find any app on Windows that even comes close. You can think of it as being similar to OneNote, because it is all about collecting information, but with providing you ways to easily organize information into tree like structures, add columns, create checkmarks and notes. Omni Focus todo application is basically a specialized Omni Outliner. Both are equally good products. Rest assured, it is easy to export information into commonly used formats. HTML, Word 2007, RTF, Keynote are some of the included formats. FYI: OmniGroup sells Family license directly on their website. Family license is a better deal compared to 2 licenses bought from iTunes App store.

Definitely well worth it! I saw this program on a Mac previously and I couldnt find it anywhere. Thank you for putting it on the Mac App Store!!

OmniOutliner Pro is great for law school students. It allows you to quickly and easily organize your thoughts in outline format. Hint: Set up a template to jump start your case briefs. There are a few downsides, the app doesnt provide nearly as many pre-installed templates as the iPad version, some of the formatting and printing options are in odd locations, and the default template always opens when you click the icon and no windows are open. Overall though, these are really minor complaints. I highly reccomend the application. Well done OmniGroup.

My biggest complaint for this app is the lack of a zoom capability. For example in Pages (or Word or Acrobater Reader or …) you can zoom rather than needing to set your font larger. As some of us move to display and screens (I have a 13" MBA) the fonts are too small to easily see. Ill need to set them all larger but then when I move to a large display those fonts are in appropriate. What I would like to see is a zoom capability. Preferably with buttons to quickly zoom to a certain width and most definitely a zoom capability that uses the gestures that now exist in the OSX environment. I will return to using other tools until this one catches up.

PROS: • "Folding" and "hoisting" lets you focus on whats important and not get overwhelmed. • Clean design. • Very customizable. You can set up an outline to organize just about anything. • In-line attachments • Can create multiple columns. CONS: • Cant apply a template to an existing document. You have to make a new document from a template, then copy and paste your content from your existing document into the new one. • Included templates are not that great. Be prepared to take some time and make your own. • Also, template folder is hidden by default, so good luck deleting a saved template unless you want to look up a terminal command. SUMMARY: OmniOutliner is a fantastic tool. Im very happy with my purchase. My only major complaint is that theres no way to easily switch styles. We need to be able to easily apply a template to an existing document. Also, it would be nice to have a wider selection of included templates, or--even better--in-app access to templates submitted by the OmniOutliner community.

I have used this program for more than a year now. I am in law school and take an amazing amounts of notes. This is the best program for notes, lists, spreadsheets, etc. I am not kidding when I say that I use this program more than I use any other software. It is easy to learn, use, and export files. I can convert my work in this program to PDF easily. I love it!

Really fine program with lots of features. A bit expensive, but worth the price. One trouble I have had is that it will not export to enough useable file types, and the RTF it generates look terrible in standard RTF readers (Bean, MS Word, TextEdit), and has strange carriage return anomalies all over it..bugs. Maybe RTF format is such an old, tottery standard that it will never produce fabulous looking documents. Another problem is that exporting directly to MS Word format creates a document that you can see as an outline ONLY in Outline View in MS Word. And a big issue there is that only the first column of the original OO document shows up. I cant think of anything more useless. Somebody needs to show me how to use that feature in OO. However, the best way I have found to export an OmniOutliner Pro document is to print it to a PDF using Acrobat 11, and then Save As Other in Acrobat to an MS Word Document. All the original document is there and editable, even though doing so is quite difficult and clumsy. My take is that if you want an printable outline, dont export. Simply use OmniOutliner and its extensive style formatting features to do a really good job, then dump it from there to a PDF for general publication. Another really fine feature of OmniOutliner is that it can be used realtime in a meeting to take notes with no trouble at all, which is why I bought it. The user interface is simple enough to bring up a template for a predicted meeting and go to town with no fumbling around. The multiple column feature is also a plus over other notetaking programs such as Notetaker. Strongly recommend.

I found OO to be a big disappointment. I didnt try the software first; which was a huge mistake on my part, I just assumed it would be awesome since I already use and am addicted to OmniGraffle. OmniOutliner completely fails at keyboard operation. I wanted to be able to use my keyboard as the primary interface instead mousing around. That is absolutely not an option. You cannot change columns, values or move entries vertically without the mouse. I found myself fighting with the interface all the time to make basic edits. There was just no intuitiveness in the operations of the app at all. So lets say thats not a deal breaker for you, exporting your data is a wreck. Word export is just lines of text, zero formatting, no columns no anything its just the lines. I was horrified that all that formatting was unavailable. This is also the case for any wordprocessor export. Its just the text. It was exceptionally frustrating to know that Id done all this formatting work and the only place I can use it is in OO. Saving as PDF was ok, but really thats your only option for exports. I guess I was expecting the ability to toss this into Pages, or Numbers or something with presevered formatting, but you loose everything when you export, very frustrating. So - for $70 - DOWNLOAD THE APP DEMO BEFORE YOU BUY. I wish I had.

Maybe its because I am only one year into the Mac universe, but I would think the 30 years in the PC world would have given me at least a leg up on using this app. I invested in the Mac and IOs versions, and found it to be impractical for creating business plans, which from the description from Omni Group, it appeared to be ideally suited for. Wish I would have headed the try before buying advise of some of the reviewers, and assured I had the time to do so prior to uptting out the money. Then maybe I would have the money to purchase OmniPlan or other product that appears much more suited to my need. Move forward cautiously. Just because it costs more, doesnt mean it will meet your needs. I have learned this the hard way.

I stared to do my writing with this app since I owned my first MacBook Pro. It is great helpful. The new version has a better interface and some effective templates. I have used the booklist template for a long time since the test version. It is really amazing!

Use it everyday in College for taking notes, making reviews and for projects. Definetly worth the money.

The title says it all. This is a far better tool than is Word (and please don’t tell me that they are for different purposes—I understand that). But if it’s not interchangable through a docx format, its utility for me is limited. 1 star until then, 5 stars once I can actually use it to advantage.

Have had this program for several years. Now using new Pro version as a “stack" of virtual note cards in columns that can be sorted almost any way needed. Sketch a numbered research outline; add columns for topics, numbers, URL, Citation, Book/Author, and Section. Display discussion of topic at the bottom of the note in the “Note” section. Topics are numbered according to place in outline as they are added. Notes are re-numbered as they are moved in the outline. No need to set up key words, use the search function. Can do the same thing for bibliography, but it cannot be exported to Word or similar software.

What a great app! Does what it says it is going to do quickly, while looking great in the process. The only thing I could ask for is better formatting when exporting to a Word or PDF document. Other than that, perfect!

I own them all - and I always go to OmniOutliner Pro. It’s the most flexible and stable. Simple to use and packed with features for the most complicated outlines.

Just a really solid outlining program. Works exactly like it is supposed to and very stable. Powerful in all the ways it needs to be an simple it all the ways it should be. Recommend highly for anything doing brainstorming, note taking, and outlining.

If you are a lawyer who takes notes on every aspect of the case in prep for eventual settlement or trial, you need to compare this Mac and iPad app with anything else that is out there. You know you want an outliner that is— — Collapsible: so huge data is easy to manage; — Searchable: Ability to search the full outline; — Compatible with iPad; and — wait for it — — Column supportable: Ability to utilize multiple columns so your main outline becomes a database and an essential strategy tool (columns for Timeline of dates, Legal Issues, Fact Issues, EV#, Witness names, etc.) Compare: CaseMap ($$$, the large-firm industry leader, wonderful, but with no real dropbox support and no iPad app), FileManager ($$, excellent substitute for CaseMap but you have to build your own database and has read-only iPad support), Pages or Word outlining (non collapsible outlining in iPad, no columns); WordPerfect outlining (possible read-only iPad support when file downloaded through Dropbox but only for Windows); Numbers or Excel Spreadsheets (Partial iPad support but no collapsible outlining); All the simple iPad outlines with minimal MAC support and no columns. As a 25-year lawyer, running a busy 3-partner law office with multiple staff, IMO, if you take your own file notes, this is the best outliner, database manager out there. ((If you have multiple people in the same database at the same time, you will still need to seek out CaseMap or FileManager.))