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Either Pen-mode broken in OneNote 2013

mmo

Member
OneNote 2013 has two modes how to handle the pen (choosable via File - Options - Advanced - Pen section):

The text of the checkbox ("Automatically switch between inking, selecting, typing and panning") sounds promising, but neither mode is really efficient and user friendly!

- If ticked OFF, then the pen acts like a mouse. In that mode one has to switch between "typing" (i.e. placing a text cursor), inking, erasing, and selecting using clicks of toolbar icons. The pen's buttons are more or less useless in that mode. This is mode is not very attractive with the pen and it is practically unusable when using ON in "full-screen mode", i.e. where the entire screen is writing area and all menus, toolbars etc. are hidden. One then always first has to call up the toolbar using the "..." at the screen top and only then one can choose a different tool from the toolbar. This is much too complicated and tedious!

- If the checkbox is ON, then one can switch between ink, erase and select using the two pen buttons. This is in principle very nice but, and - alas - that's a BIG BUT, in that mode the pen ALWAYS inks, even if one clicks into text fields (like the page title) or hits an objects that should react to mouse clicks (like the check-boxes used for To do tags). It is totally impossible to place a text cursor, select text from a string or check a to-do tag in this mode. Instead one always inks over that object, which is definitely NOT what one typically intends to do!

There needs to be some short and intuitive gesture (e.g. double tapping with the pen) to switch between inking and making the pen into a text(-selection) tool. The current implementation is not usable!

So, even though we have a wonderful machine and a terrific OS at hand, these supposedly tiny usability issues are preventing really efficient and intuitive use!

M.
 
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