Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

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sifu
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Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by sifu »

I must say, I absolutely LOVE this software. Everything is superior to the other alternatives except one thing..the Pencil tool.

I'm using a bamboo tablet on a windows 7 PC with the intent on writing cursive notes and sketching. I don't know if "rosterize" is the appropriate word, but xchange changes the shapes of the text/doodles each time I lift my pen. I've searched and I can not believe somebody else hasn't mentioned having an issue with this.


Is there a way to make the pencil tool more fluid by either turning off the modifications that X-Change makes as I write, or maybe even installing a 3rd party plug in? I'd like to be able to use the pen as it is in microsoft ink/one note.


Thanks kindly for the suggestions!
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi sifu,

Thanks for the post - from the description, it sounds like you're experiencing the smoothing of the Pencil Tool. While I'm not 100% sure, I believe that this is dictated by the PDF Specification. I'll pass this along to the Dev. Team, when they're in on Monday, to see what (if anything) we are able to do.

Cheers,
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Willy Van Nuffel
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Willy Van Nuffel »

I do not know if it will help, but maybe it would be good to verify the "properties" of the Pencil Tool, by activating the "Properties Pane", via the View-menu > Other Panes.

The "Border" should be "Solid" (not dashed), the "Opacity" should be "100%", and the "Blend mode" should be "Normal".

If this does not help, then it would be interesting if you could post here an example PDF (in form of an attached ZIP-file).
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Thanks for the thoughts Willy :)
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sifu
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by sifu »

http://postimg.org/image/8gemtnqhl/


Image

Microsoft onenote is in RED
Xchange is in black.


On first glance you guys might think I'm crazy, and that they all look equally sloppy. Sorry about this. To me there is a clear difference, especially when zoomed in. Also sorry about not importing them between programs properly so the first 2 xchange writings are blurred.


2. I noticed that I often write and draw smaller sizes in the margins, which it seems xchange struggles most with, especially the o's and a's.


Thanks for looking into it!
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi sifu,

Thanks for that, however, it would be better for us to spot the differences if we had a PDF, rather than the image. I seems that some is Vector, while parts are raster, which makes it very difficult to zoom in an observe the differences. Is it possible to get a PDF that displays the issue?

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Willy Van Nuffel
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Willy Van Nuffel »

After re-reading this topic, I began thinking about the "smooth line art"-setting.
Maybe it is not activated in your PDF-XChange Editor.

You can find this setting/parameter via the Edit-menu > Preferences... > Page Display > Rendering... (button).

Activate the "Smooth line art"-checkbox, and click OK and OK.

Does this make a difference ?
sifu
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by sifu »

I will absolutely do that tonight as I take notes!

I did check those settings and they are as you said they should be.


again, thanks for your insight. PDF soon to come.
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Patrick-Tracker Supp »

Hello sifu,

During your note taking, please try to turn off Smooth line art to see if that improves the quality.

We are looking forward to that PDF.

Cheers!
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sifu
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by sifu »

I tried to be fair with writing out both note sets (first 2 pages on Xchange, last 2 pages on onenote).

I had to spend more time writing slower and frequently needed to erase and correct in xchange. I suppose it's workable if it's big, but I don't think large writing is particularly useful when adding notes in the margin. I'm a fan of digital annotations in other programs, and the pencil just does not feel sensitive/natural enough for me to use.


As an aside, I switched to Xchange viewer to Onenote (for drawing tools) some time ago, but Onenote is just so bulky and poorly laid out compared to xchange. I'd really love to be able to switch back to the new(to me) and excellent xchange editor!

thanks for your consideration.
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Willy Van Nuffel
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Willy Van Nuffel »

Sorry to interfere again, but I was totally on the wrong track.

While drawing/writing your text by using the Pencil, all goes well, but at the moment that you lift the pen the result changes.

I just detected the problem by zooming in at the possible maximum in Microsoft OneNote 2010, i.e. 500%, and then drawing/writing a text. OneNote leaves it unchanged.

When I do the same thing, writing on a PDF, be it in PDF-XChange Editor or in Adobe Reader XI, when I lift the pen (not pressing the mousebutton anymore) the text changes to a more "smooth" version.

Probably, it is like Will said, something "dictated by the PDF specification".
Let us wait what the 'devs' are saying.
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi guys,

That's correct, as I'm given to understand, this is dictated by Specification, so it may be that there is nothing that we can do, but I'll speak with the Dev. Team to see if there's anything we can offer.

**Edit**

I've taken a look and this is because of the smoothing. Please try lowering the size of the Pencil Tool's radius and it should work better. I'm afraid that there's nothing more we can really suggest, for now:
Smoothing.zip
(38.25 KiB) Downloaded 215 times
Cheers,
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Thank you.

Best regards

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sifu
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by sifu »

Yes, your last attachment is right.


Thanks for the insight. Hopefully this might be something to consider in the future.



Thanks again!
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

:)
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David.P
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by David.P »

Hi forum and Tracker Support team,

I was looking for a possibility to adjust the smoothing of the Pencil Tool, and found the below post by Will, in the present thread:
Will - Tracker Supp wrote:Please try lowering the size of the Pencil Tool's radius and it should work better.
Strangely, this seems to be the only mention of a "radius" adjustment possibility for the Pencil Tool on the entire Internets. Additionally, I can't seem to find where such radius can be adjusted, because it does not seem to be in the properties of the Pencil Tool also:

Image

So is there actually a way to adjust how much smoothing is applied to the Pencil Tool when drawing, and if yes, where is this adjustment possibility to be found?

Thank you,

Regards,
David.P
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi David,

By "Radius" I was referring to the 'width' of the Pencil Tool, which is just above the Opacity property, in the properties pane.

Cheers,
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Thank you.

Best regards

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David.P
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by David.P »

Thank you Will, I see -- so there is no smoothing adjustment possible, currently.

Cheers
David
:)
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi David,

I'm afraid not specifically, not. I'll ask the Dev. Team to see if one can be added.

Cheers,
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Thank you.

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David.P
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by David.P »

Thank you Will, that would of course be a pleasant addition to the pencil feature.
:)
Cheers
David
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

:)
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Mat3004
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Mat3004 »

Hello, first of all, PDF-XChange Editor is a great software.

I’m using this program with a lenovo thinkpad yoga and I have the same problem as sifu.
The developer of “Drawboard PDF” solved this problem as attached. Probably they insert the handwriting as a picture and not with the pencil-tool. In addition it is possible to write pressure sensitive (secound line of the picture, this option is not a must for me).

Image

Regards,
Mat
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hi Mat,

Just spoke with Will, and we will bring this up to the attention of our devs on our next weekly meeting (this Wednesday), and William will follow up with any extra info shortly after the meeting.

Regards,
Stefan
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by derforscher »

Dear Tracker team,

I would like to follow up on this issue and see if by now there is an option of disabling/adjusting the excessive smoothing of handwritten notes using the pencil tool in PDF-XChange Editor?

Thanks,

derforscher
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Re: Pencil tool to write notes/ draw is virtually unusable.

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello derforscher,

I linked you to this topic for the registry modification solution, but maybe a better one would have been this:
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=27912&p=117672#p113284

Cheers,
Stefan
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