Expert Q&A: Writing and drawing with tablets
Q Typing on a tablet’s on-screen keyboard is a pain. Can I write instead?
Handwriting-recognition software has got so good that it is now possible to write on a tablet and see your words appear in perfect typescript on the screen instantly. It even learns your writing style, so the more you write, the better it gets.
Q Do I have to write like at school or will a scrawl do?
A good round hand gets the best results – if you can’t read your own writing, it is unfair to expect the tablet to understand it. You may have to change the way you form certain letters – for example, the way I write an ‘x’ always fools the system, so I have to use a cross instead.
Q Do you need a special stylus?
No, you can write with your finger, but a stylus feels more like proper writing. I’m writing this on my iPad Pro (from £619, apple.com) using the Apple Pencil, £89, a smart stylus with a pressure sensor so you can vary line thickness by pressing harder. It communicates with the tablet via Bluetooth, which means it can distinguish between the nib and your hand, so resting your wrist on the screen will not cause unwanted marks. Other tablets, such as Microsoft’s Surface, also have their own smart stylus.
Q What about software?
If your device comes with its own stylus, it will have handwriting recognition built in. If not, you will need an app. One of the best is MyScript, a system that uses artificial intelligence to recognise patterns and search for the best word match, so it produces very good (but not completely infallible) results. MyScript’s Stylus app replaces the on-screen keyboard with a writing pad in any app, including your browser, email and word processor. MyScript Stylus can be downloaded free from the App Store and Google Play. Other MyScript apps include Calculator, which enables you to write mathematical formulae on the screen and see them transformed into printable form in a really brilliant way. Nebo is a note-taking app that enables you to store writing and drawings. For Android devices, Google Handwriting Input is a good alternative.
Q Could it help the kids practise their handwriting?
Children need lots of practice forming their letters, so using handwriting recognition rather than typing should help them develop this vital skill. The software won’t let them get too sloppy either. Another benefit is that writing something, rather than typing it, helps fix the information in the brain.
Q I like to create art on my tablet but the stylus is awful. Is there anything better?
Most styluses either slip over the screen in a way that gives little control, or are so sticky that they are impossible to draw with, a problem the designers of the new reMarkable tablet wanted to address. They took an E Ink screen like that used in Kindles, and added a stylus that is matched to the screen to provide the exact feel of a pencil or pen on paper. It really is much more controllable and responsive than a glassscreened tablet. Varying the pressure on the nib varies the width of the stroke, and a selection of pen, pencil and highlighter effects are available. The screen is black and white only but is completely legible in direct sunlight, so it is an ideal electronic sketchbook for capturing great landscapes. The reMarkable costs £479 at remarkable.com.
Q Can I use a stylus with a smartphone?
Only one phone does it properly – Samsung’s Galaxy Note8. Its own stylus, the S Pen, is housed in the body of the phone, and works with most of the built-in apps to recognise your handwriting and create art. Adding humorous effects to selfies is easy with the S Pen. The downside is the cost – sim-free, the Galaxy
Note8 is £799 at samsung.com.