Computer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) -- TabletPC: Write Anywhere

Write Anywhere is a feature of Tablet PC Input Panel that creates a transparent writing surface over most of the Tablet PC screen. This lets you write over a much larger area than the one- or two-line Input Panel and is great for entering multiple paragraphs with the pen or for creating large drawings.

If Write Anywhere is not enabled by default on your Tablet PC, you can easily turn on this feature. To activate Write Anywhere:

Open Input Panel.
Tap the Write Anywhere button on the title bar.

Figure 1

If the Write Anywhere button is not visible:

Tap the Tools menu on Input Panel.
Tap Options, and on the Write Anywhere tab, select the Show the turn on Write Anywhere button on the title bar check box.
Tap OK.

When you tap the Write Anywhere button, the Write Anywhere boundaries appear on the screen as shown in the figure below where Write Anywhere is open on top of a new message in Microsoft Outlook Express.

Figure 2

There are a three important items to note in this figure.

The writing area does not extend to the edges of the screen. Only handwriting drawn within the bounded area is translated to text. Pen actions outside the area are interpreted as mouse commands. This division keeps menus, the taskbar, and open and close boxes free of the writing area for easy access. You can still control the mouse under the transparent writing area, but it's a bit trickier.
Input Panel is docked and hidden at the bottom of the screen. This is not required, but if the writing pad of Input Panel is visible under the Write Anywhere transparency and you write over the actual Input Panel writing pad, the writing pad overrides Write Anywhere. The result can be confusing and is best avoided until you get comfortable with Write Anywhere. Either hiding or docking Input Panel will avoid the problem.
The cursor is in the To box for e-mail. It does not matter where on the writing area you write, the text will be inserted at the cursor in the order you wrote it. To place the cursor in a different position, tap that point on the screen. If you're placing the cursor somewhere under the writing area transparency, it should be a firm tap you hold for a moment so that the system knows you intended a tap (mouse action) and not a period (handwriting).

Write Anywhere on the Screen

After the cursor is in place and the writing area transparency is open, you can begin writing. Wherever you start writing, a black line appears to help you write horizontally across the screen, as shown in figure 2 under the e-mail address I wrote in Outlook Express.

You don't need to write on the line, but recognition is better if your handwriting doesn't wander all over the screen. All the techniques for better handwriting recognition that apply with Input Panel also apply in Write Anywhere.

Write Anywhere strings all your text together no matter how you organize it on the screen, so you must specify each Enter, extra Space, and Tab. Figure 3 below shows how I might write my message to Bob. The second figure shows how it was interpreted and how I could draw the gesture for "Enter" to add a line break.

It's a bit difficult to see, but the cursor in figure 4 is positioned after the comma in "Bob," which is where I want to insert the Enter. If you use a gesture in Write Anywhere, the entire Write Anywhere transparency must be clear of ink. Write Anywhere also understands the scratch-out gesture to remove ink before it is converted to text.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Because the ink tends to persist longer in Write Anywhere, gestures aren't always convenient. Another method is to open the quick keys pad from the Input Panel title bar while Write Anywhere is still open. You can tap Enter, Tab, or other keys on the quick keys pad without waiting for the ink to disappear from the Write Anywhere transparency. However, as soon as you tap a key all the ink currently in the writing area is immediately converted to text. Be careful not to write on top of the quick keys pad, because the keys will respond and interrupt your writing.

When you reach the bottom of the writing area, you may continue writing at the top in the empty space. The text will enter your document in the same order you wrote it, regardless of where you wrote it or what appears below the Write Anywhere transparency. The handwriting at the top of figure 5 was written last and will appear at the end of the sentence.

Figure 5

Select Text

Selecting text with Write Anywhere open is easy if you can start the selection on the edge of the screen, outside the writing area.

To select entire paragraphs under the Write Anywhere transparency:

Press down with the pen at the beginning of the selection outside the border of the transparency.
Drag the pen over the text you want selected.
Lift the pen.

To select a short string text underneath the transparency:

Press-and-hold a point in your document under the writing transparency. The transparency temporarily vanishes and remains absent as long as you keep holding.
Without lifting the pen, drag the pen over the text you want selected.
Lift the pen. The transparency reappears, but the text remains selected.

Depending on how your Press and Hold settings are configured in the Tablet and Pen Settings dialog box, you may open a shortcut menu instead of a selection when you try this. To select a small string of text under the Write Anywhere transparency, it's usually easier to close Write Anywhere for a moment, select the text you want, open Write Anywhere again, and continue. Because the writing transparency opens and closes instantly, this doesn't disturb your work.

Note that closing the Write Anywhere transparency will immediately convert the ink into text and send it to the cursor, similar to the Send button on the writing pad. Also note that switching to a different program while there is still ink on the Write Anywhere transparency will cause that text to appear in the new program or be lost entirely.

At first glance, Write Anywhere could be confused with the Ink Drawing and Writing Area available with the Office XP Pack for Tablet PC. They are very different. Ink Drawing and Writing Areas keep your writing as ink and are only used in Microsoft Office documents. See my earlier column, Using Ink in Microsoft Word, for more information.

Write Anywhere Options

Settings for the delay for text recognition and pen width and ink color for Write Anywhere appear on the Write Anywhere tab in the Options dialog box for Input Panel. These options can be set differently for Write Anywhere and the Input Panel Writing Pad. Experiment with longer delays for text conversion in Write Anywhere than you use for the Input Panel Writing Pad. Since you have more room to write, you have the luxury of more time to correct your writing before it converts to text.

Try setting the ink color to something not commonly used by Windows XP that is visible over both light and dark backgrounds. This lets you see the ink on the writing transparency regardless of what color lies beneath it. I use a darkish magenta.

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