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All About Planners

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May 9, 2017

Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner

I’ve accumulated quite a few planners over the years – the first thing I always do when I get a new planner is pen testing! 🙂

I thought it would be helpful to include a pen test for 4 of the most popular planners in the one post so here we go…

Paper Comparison

The paper used by these 4 popular planners is slightly different. Here they are in my order of preference:

  1. Happy Planner – the paper feels thicker than the other planners so pens are less prone to bleed through
  2. Plum Paper – as always, good quality and a good price! Paper is smooth to write on but can be prone to ghosting
  3. Limelife Planner – feels the most luxious and smoothest of the 4 planners – it’s my favorite planner paper to write on however it is prone to ghosting
  4. Erin Condren – For all the hype about their ‘upgraded’ Mohawk paper, it’s still very prone to ghosting

Before I show the pen test photos I just want to make a note about different types of pens.

Whenever I do a pen test I use a variety of ballpoint, gel, dual tip (marker and fine tip), fine tip, erasable pens plus stamps and highlighters. Most of the time ballpoint pens will have no ghosting, gel pens do occasionally and marker pens almost always have bad ghosting or bleed through.

Gel pens write really smoothly and are less prone to ‘skipping’ (leaving small white gaps in the pen ink), but can be prone to smudging. They’re also usually the most expensive type of pen.

Ballpoint pens write well on any type of paper. They’re cheap, readily available and usually come in lots of colors. So if you’re not sure what planner pens to buy or you want to buy pens that will work with any planner paper without worrying about ghosting and bleed through, then I recommend choosing ballpoint pens.

Fine tip pens are somewhere in between ballpoint and gel – if the pen tip is fat enough it can be prone to ghosting. I sometimes use these but not as often, because the tip tends to be needle point and will rip white out tape when you write over the top if you want to cover up a mistake. However the colors on fine tip pens tend to be the best (most vibrant, no ink skipping).

If I had to choose favorites, it would be the Frixion Erasable and PaperMate Inkjoy Gel 0.7mm.

Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 

Happy Planner Pen Testing

The Happy Planner has one of the thickest (best) papers I’ve come across. There is really only ghosting (and a little bit of bleed through) for the marker pens.

Pen test in 2019

No bleed through and only minor ghosting of the highlighters.

happy planner pen testing mambi happy notes dot grid gel ballpoint highlighters stamps frixion erasable ghosting bleed through

happy planner pen testing mambi happy notes dot grid gel ballpoint highlighters stamps frixion erasable ghosting bleed through thick paper

Related: MAMBI Happy Planner Happy Notes Review

Erin Condren Life Planner Testing

The pen test in the 2016 version resulted in some feathering of the pen ink – particularly marker pens.

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erin condren pen testing ghosting bleed through pros and cons fine tip gel ballpoint paper quality ec life planner

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For all the hype surrounding the new and ‘improved’ Mohawk paper they introduced around 2017 / 2018 (I cannot remember exactly when it was), the paper is still prone to ghosting.

Erin Condren Personalised Notebook pen test (2020)

erin condren personalised notebook pen testing highlighters bleed through ghosting pen swatches paper quality honest review

erin condren personalised notebook pen testing highlighters bleed through ghosting pen swatches paper quality honest review by all about planners

Erin Condren softbound dot grid notebook (2020)

erin condren softbound notebook pen testing highlighters ghosting bleed through

erin condren softbound notebook for bullet journaling review pen testing paper quality bright white paper gel ballpoint fine tip

Plum Paper Planner Pen Testing

Pen test in 2018

plum paper planner pen testing staedtler papermate gel pen ballpoint marker sharpie pilot frixion uniball signo pentel stabilo favorite best pens for planning
plum paper planner pen testing review papermate stabilo staedtler pentel fine tip ink gel ballpoint rollerball no bleed ghosting best planner pens

Less bleed through on the Staedtler Triplus 1.0mm than the Erin Condren and most of the pens had some ghosting.

plum paper planner pen testing bleed ghost check planner supplies favorite gel pens ballpoint color coding pens

Pen test in 2019

plum paper pen test paper quality bleed through ghosting pros and cons

Still some ghosting for most pens with heavy ghosting for marker pens.

plum paper pen test paper quality bleed through ghosting pros and cons highlighter fine tip gel

Limelife Planner Pen Testing

Pen test in 2018

limelife planner pen testing inkjoy papermate pilot frixion erasable favorite best planner pens no bleed ghosting fine tip marker uniball stabilo staedtler

I forgot to take a picture but it’s the same story – a bit of bleed through on the sharpie, otherwise no bleed on all the other pens but there was some ghosting.

Pen test in 2020limelife planners bullet journal custom notebook bright white paper pen testing paper quality personalised bujo smooth paper cute pretty medium page size_07

Not much ghosting for ballpoint and gel pens, a little bit for the fine tip and a lot of ghosting for marker pens.

limelife planners bullet journal custom notebook bright white paper pen testing paper quality personalised bujo smooth paper cute pretty medium page size_08

Pen Reviews

And if you want more details, here’s a quick review of the pens I tend to use when I do pen tests:

1. Staedtler Triplus color 1.0mm

These pens are a bit too thick for everyday planning – I like using these for headings such as to do lists – the thick tip of the pen is bold and makes the title stand out. They’re not quite as fat as Sharpie Fine Points and don’t bleed through the page as much (they are prone to heavy ghosting though).

triplus color pen review best pens for color coding gel ink fine tipe planner pen supplies no bleed no smudge washi tape erin condren

These pens are ideal for color coding in the 0.3mm very fine tip pen style as they come in bigger packs with lots of different colors!

2. Pilot Frixion Erasable

My all time favorite erasable pen and the pen I almost exclusively use for bullet journaling. These pens also come in smaller sizes 0.38mm via Jet Pens if you prefer a thinner tip.

frixion erasable pens review favorite planning supplies gel ink medium tip 0.7mm rainbow-min

3. Papermate Flair

The colors of these pens are really nice and different to most (has mint, different shades of blue and pink than you would typically find). They are a bit pricey but they’re very smooth to write with. They’ve consistently proven that they don’t bleed through and don’t smear.

papermate flair candy pop colors review ultra fine medium buy australia rainbow favorite planner pens supplies best accessories rainbow

4. Uniball Signo Gel Grip 0.7

This pen writes very smoothly with no skipping. It feels like one of those pens that gets a bit inky after you use it for a bit though. I like how this pen writes and it does come in lots of colors, but these pens are a bit expensive and are hard to find in Australia.

uniball signo review pen tip size comparison mitsubishi favorite pens for planning no bleed smudge write on glossy label paper tips color coding fine tip

5. Papermate Inkjoy 100 1.0M

You can pretty much never go wrong with a Papermate pen (except the erasable Paper Mate premium replay – that pen isn’t that erasable). They write smoothly, all their pens come in plenty of colors including the main ones for color coding, plus they have a variety of sizes and are readily available.

These ballpoint pens are cheap (was only $4 for a pack of 10 or so) and great for everyday planning.

papermate inkjoy gel 100 ballpoint pens rainbow planner pen testing erin condren plum paper limelife happy planner no bleed ghosting

6. Paper Mate Inkjoy 300 RT 1.0M

Writes much the same as the Inkjoy 100 except it’s the clicker style retractable pen. It also comes in lots of colorss.

papermate inkjoy retractable ballpoint pen medium rainbow color coding affordable no bleed or ghosting 1.0mm-min

Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 

7. Staedtler Ball 432M

I used to like these tri grip pens but don’t really use them anymore. They’re very cheap (a few dollar more than the Papermate ballpoint pens), but the more I used them the more the ink started skipping (or maybe the pen just dries out quickly).

staedtler ball 432 m pen review best planner pens black planner addict newbie supplies rainbow color coding

8. Stabilo Point 88 Fine 0.4

If these pens came in a thicker tip they would be right up there at the top of my list of favorite pens. These pens never skip no matter what planner paper I write on and they come in tons of colors. Most office supply stores (especially online) will let you buy these individually for around $1.50. And if you’re super obsessed with them, they come in huge 20+ color packs.

stabilo point 88 fine 0.4 pens rainbow gel ink fine tip colorful best planner pens no bleed ghosting cheap european-min

Related: Color coding and planner decorating: 10 Pen brands that are available in a pack of 20 or more colors

10. Papermate Inkjoy Gel

If you’re a blog subscriber these pens need no introduction! The Paper Mate Inkjoy gel are my favorite pens for color coding.

how to color code your planner how to choose colors for color coding planning time plan with me challenge rainbow system effective bujo bullet journal-min

Pen reviews:

  • Favorite black pens for planner addicts
  • Planning 101: Need versus want versus wish list planner supplies
  • Planner Organization: How to color-code your planner (so you’ll actually use it effectively)
  • Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 
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Found this post helpful? Pin it!

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planner pen testing erin condren plum paper happy planner limelife gel ballpoint black papermate frixion kikki k pilot staedtler

plum paper pen testing planning planner review ballpoint gel papermate frixion erasable pilot staedtler pilot kikki k

limelife planner pen testing review ballpoint gel frixion erasable no bleed papermate staedtler rainbow ghosting cheap kikki k

erin condren planner pen testing review no bleed papermate inkjoy ballpoint best cheap planning stabilo fine tip color code

happy planner pen testing mambi review pilot frixion erasable papermate flair pentel inkjoy ballpoint no smudge stabilo kikki k

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Posted In: Happy Planner (MAMBI), Planner pens, Planning Tips & Inspiration · Tagged: best ballpoint pens, best no bleed planner pens, best pens for planners, best pens for writing on glossy label paper best glossy label paper pens, best planner pens, erin condren planner pen testing, favorite planner pens, limelife planner pen testing, pens for writing on planner stickers, planner pen testing, plum paper pen testing, plum paper planner pen testing

Comments

  1. Brittany says

    May 24, 2017 at 00:13

    This is so interesting! I love planners AND pens! My favorite is the fine point Pilot G2, but now I’m curious about several of these options! Thanks!

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Welcome to All About Planners! I’m Rachael, a 20-something Aussie addicted to graphic design and all things planning. On the blog you’ll find more than 1,000 posts about all things planning including planner reviews, tips, favorite supplies and some of my past weekly spreads.

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