(This is a guest post by Brian Draghi. You can follow Brian on Twitter @Sketchscape)
Thanks to Brad and Jetpens for sending over this sample highlighter to review. I have used several different highlighters over the years but I have never used an erasable highlighter before. I was quite interested to see how well this type of highlighter erased its own highlighted areas. Unfortunately the Uni-ball Propus Blue Highlighter was a complete disappointment on several levels with an erasing ability that was less than ideal.
I really wanted to like this highlighter from Uni-ball but there are several brands of highlighters that aren't even erasable that are better than this particular one. The first strike against this highlighter is the horrible erasing ability where the highlighted area is still present after erasing. Using copy paper shows the best results but leaves a faded streak of highlight after erased. Marks on card stock can't even be erased without much difference to the original highlighted area. Trying to erase an area immediately after highlighting just smears the ink across the page. Anything written down is slightly faded in the process; highlighted ballpoint pens and pencils react the worst to erasing. Erasing any type of highlighted text in books is quite pointless since it nearly rubs out and destroys the words in the process.
The second issue is the very muted color that is produced from this highlighter. I prefer to have my highlighted areas to be bold and bright so that it stands out, instead a very dull line is produced. The final issue revolves around the rather slow drying time for any highlighted area. When it does dry, it seems to have a consistency of watercolor where you can see gaps of white space left over. It's even worse when you press down the highlighter too hard because it can tend to really saturate the space. Forget using this highlighter on any type of glossy surface such as magazines and glossy card stock since there will just be a nice pool of ink on the surface that will never seem to dry.
Overall
There's not many positive things I can say about the Propus. It has a nice compact style with a decent clip but there are too many issues with this highlighter to use on a regular basis. I could even set the lack of erasing aside if the highlighted color wasn't so muted and distorted in consistency. I can't say anything about the other colors available in this line but the blue is definitely the one that needs to be avoided. There are better highlighters available that outperform the Uni-ball Propus highlighter and choosing another erasable alternative would be ideal. For the non-erasable highlighter choice I would recommend the Sharpie Accent Liquid Highlighter.
Rating
1 out for 5
Cons
- Horrible erasing ability
- Doesn't work on glossy or card stock materials
- Erases highlighted book text
- Very muted color
- Dries very slowly
Pros
-Compact style
-Works decent on pigment ink pens
