Using Wacom Tablets for Class
Using Wacom TabletsFor ClassLast Update 2013.08.261.3.0Copyright
2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com1Wacom TabletsWacom
tablets come in two basic formsSingle ScreenSeparate
ScreenCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com2Single
ScreenWacom has a line of tablets that include their own screenThis
creates a more intuitive environment than the more common separate
screen and tablet approachThe problem with these is the high
costHere is an exampleCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com3Cintiq Single Screen Tablets
Copyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com4Separate
ScreenThe less expensive line of Wacom tablets uses an existing
monitor to display the underlying information and that added
through the tabletCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com5Intuos Separate Screen Tablets
Copyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com6Installing
the TabletInstallation of the tablet consists of connecting it to
the computer and installing the driversCopyright 2013 Kenneth M.
Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com7Connecting to the ComputerThe
connection to the computer is made using a USB cable or a wireless
moduleCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com8Installing the DriversThe drivers are available on
the included disc or downloaded from WacomCopyright 2013 Kenneth M.
Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com9Using the TabletThe tablet is just
another input deviceIt can be used as a substitute for or in
addition to other input devicesCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps
Ph.D. www.chipps.com10Uses of the TabletUses of the tablet for
class includeDrawing diagramsAnnotating slidesAnnotating
videosAnnotating live displaysCorrecting documentsCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com11Drawing DiagramsAny
suitable program can be used to draw freehand illustrationsAn
example is Sketchbook Express that can be downloaded from Wacom
after registering the Intuos tabletIt is easy to use and provides a
full screen sheet of paper to work onCopyright 2013 Kenneth M.
Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com12Drawing DiagramsPressing the T or Tab
button toggles all of the extra windows on or off so you can draw
and then let the students clearly see what was drawnCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com13Annotating Slides in
PowerPointIt is not at all obvious as to how to annotate slides
when they are running in full screen mode in PowerPointThe
procedure I discovered by consulting the source of all knowledge is
thisStart the slide show in PowerPointHover the pen just to the
right of the bottom left corner until a small slanted pen appearsIt
looks like thisCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com14Annotating Slides in PowerPointCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com15
Annotating Slides in PowerPointClick on this pen with the
tablets penA popup menu will appearCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps
Ph.D. www.chipps.com16Annotating Slides in PowerPointCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com17
Annotating Slides in PowerPointSelect the penBegin
writingCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com18Annotating VideosTo write on a video while it is
running or stopped an overlay program is requiredThe only one I
have found so far is Ink2GoTo use it you must move back and forth
between the mouse and the pen or program the pens slide switch to
do the navigation functions such as starting and stopping the
videoCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com19Annotating Live DisplaysThe only way I have found
to write on a web page or other running program that does not
directly support the tablet is to use an overlay programIn this
case Ink2Go as wellCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com20Ink2GoCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com21
Ink2GoThis does not appear to be an entirely stable program as
it functions fine, but reports an app crash each time it is
exitedCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com22Annotating Word DocumentsTo write directly on a
Word documentOpen the documentThe pen will not work at this
pointTouch the document with the pen tipThe Ink Tools Pen menu will
appear in the RibbonClick on the Pen menu in the RibbonNow you can
write on the documentCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com23Annotating Word DocumentsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M.
Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com24
Annotating Word DocumentsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com25
Annotating Word DocumentsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com26
Annotating Word DocumentsThe pen tool is used to write notesThe
different color highlighters can be used to mark common problems
without having to write a separate note each time the problem
occurs, such as yellow marks poorly phrased words, green marks
missing information, and so onCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps
Ph.D. www.chipps.com27Annotating Word DocumentsThis function of the
Wacom tablet can be used to grade lab reports and papers submitted
electronicallyTo do thisDownload the papers to a local device as
this will save each one with the students name as the file nameOpen
each fileWrite the comments directly on the pagesCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com28Annotating Word
DocumentsSave the fileAfter all of the files have been graded
return these to the students by selecting them one at a time in the
Inbox of the LMS, and then attaching their corrected fileIf the Ink
tab appears but the inking tools are grayed out, resave the file in
docx formatCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com29Annotating PDF DocumentsPDF documents can be
directly annotated in Adobe Acrobat using the Pen tool in the
Comments sectionThis procedure is not very useful as the response
is quite slowCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com30Annotating PDF DocumentsA plugin maker for Acrobat
says the reason is thisThe Acrobat's standard "Pencil" tool is
designed for a mouse input and does not utilize a pen support that
comes with latest operating systemsAs the result, AutoInk provides
a much better user experienceCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com31Annotating PDF DocumentsTo set this up in Acrobat
using their built-in tool selectViewCommentAnnotationsCopyright
2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com32Annotating PDF
DocumentsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com33
Annotating PDF DocumentsIn the window that appears on the right
side of the screen right click on the pen and the eraserFor each
select Add to Quick ToolsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com34Annotating PDF DocumentsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M.
Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com35
Annotating PDF DocumentsWith the PDF opened click on the Pen
tool and begin writingThe better method is to install the AutoInk
plug-in for AcrobatIt works much better than the Adobe toolsOnce
installed it appears in the standard Acrobat tool barExpand the
menu and select the toolCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com36Annotating PDF DocumentsCopyright 2013 Kenneth M.
Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com37
Using the Mouse and PenThe pen by itself with some practice can
take the place of the mouseOr the pen and mouse can both be used,
but not at the same timeTo enable the mouse move the pen more than
10mm off the tablet surfaceCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com38Windows 7 Tablet Driver IssuesThe support for
tablets and pens that Windows 7 has built in to the operating
system does not always play well with othersTo work around this
problem you can do one of two thingsRemove the Windows 7 tablet
supportAdjust the Windows 7 tablet settings to remove the
annoyances as best you canCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com39Removing Tablet SupportThe problem with just
removing the tablet support is that some functions disappear from
one program while they remain in another programFor example, the
pen erase tool that is part of the inking tool in Office 2010
remains available in PowerPoint but disappears in WordCopyright
2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com40Adjust Tablet
SupportThe second option is to adjust the tablet support that is
part of Windows 7The common annoyances includeA small input box on
the edge of the screenRipples when the pen is pressed to the
screenCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com41Removing the Small Input BoxWindows tablet support
places a small rectangular box on the left edge of the
screenCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com42Removing the Small Input BoxTo turn this offClick
Tools, and then click Exit, if it's availableThe Exit option might
not appear if you have an external digitizer or a touchscreen
connected to a laptop or desktop PC, and never appears if you have
a Tablet PCCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com43Removing the Small Input BoxIf you don't see the
Exit option, do the followingTap Tools, and then tap OptionsTap the
Opening tab, clear the For tablet pen input, show the icon next to
the text box and Use the Input Panel tab check boxes, and then tap
OkCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com44Removing
the RipplesAs described in a posting on the source of all
knowledgeIf you draw or paint with a Wacom tablet, you know what
I'm talking about those horrible little circles that hound your
cursor and hamper your ability to draw smoothlyFrom what I gather,
they're actually designed for touch-screen monitors, so it's
frustrating that Microsoft forces them onto Wacom users where they
don't belongCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com45Ripple OneThe author says I found it surprisingly
hard to find the solution to this issue onlinePart of the problem
is that there are two separate circles, each with a separate
solutionAnother part is that one of the solutions I frequently came
across doesn't work on Windows 7 Home Premium EditionCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com46Ripple OneFirst is the
circle that appears not when you click but when you hold or drag
your penit momentarily pauses your cursor, making smooth
brushstrokes all but impossibleThis is the circle that quickly
forms itself in a clockwise motion as you hold the pen down, and
sometimes goes bright blue when you release itCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com47Ripple OneTo get rid of
itPress the windows keyType "pen and touch" and press enterIn the
window that appears, left-click the entry "Press and hold" and
click "settingsUncheck "Enable press and hold for
right-clicking"Click OK on both windows to close themCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com48Ripple TwoSecond is the
little ripple-like circle that appears whenever you click your
penIt doesn't hinder your drawing/painting as severely as the other
circle does, but it's still distractingTo get rid of itPress the
windows keyType "computer management" and press enterCopyright 2013
Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com49Ripple TwoIn the window
that opens, Double click "Services and Applications" in the center
columnDouble click "Services" in the center columnScroll down and
double click "Tablet PC Input Service"Find the "Startup type:"
dropdown box and change it to "Disabled"Click OK, then close the
Computer Management windowCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com50Ripple TwoRestart your PCAfter your PC loads up
again, one of two things should happen: either your tablet works
happily and circle-free, or it doesn't work at allIf it doesn't
work at all, you now need to download and install the proper driver
for it to replace the Microsoft one that you just disabledOf course
doing this will cause the no eraser problem in Word discussed
aboveCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com51HoweverThe author then says if either of these
methods didn't work for you possibly due to a different edition of
Windows try thisClick Start, type in gpedit.msc and hit enterClick
through User Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows
Components -Tablet PC - CursorsDouble click on "Turn off pen
feedback" and select Enabled to enable the filter that turns off
the rippleCopyright 2013 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.
www.chipps.com52
