I'd love to be able to use it as a markup tool in Keynote and Numbers presentations, or in an open Pages or iBooks document. Any idea if that is possible?
I would hope so, since Microsoft demoed Office with Pencil on stage at Apple's own event.
Well, my worry is that there is nothing about iWork having similar capabilities that I've heard of, yet. For instance, has there been an app update after the introduction of the iPad Pro that adds these features?
The fact that no one here in the forums has been yet able to answer this question is also a bit surprising.
I've been finding it annoying, over the past few years, that Apple has largely abandoned iWork. It seems that they've been dumbing down a lot of their apps, in the quest to make them easier to use, and integrating them between OS X and iOS. They did this years ago with iMovie.
it seems to me that when they came out with all of these apps, they were worried about Microsoft and Adobe, among others, abandoning them, and so decided to have somewhat credible replacements available. Once it became clear that, with their rising sales, they weren't about to be abandoned, they turned away from them as serious tools, and moved to simplify them under the concept of "ease of use".
It's also possible that they were concerned that if they did add to them, Adobe and Microsoft would slow, or stop, their upgrades for Apple's hardware. It might be a legit concern, though I don't think it would happen.
if Apple upgraded iWork the way many of us wished they would have, then it's entirely possible that Office wouldn't have been welcomed so much when it finally did make it over. After all, hundreds of millions of people, including at least tens of millions in business and government were used to using Apple software on iOS. If Apple upgraded it to where it would have contended well with office, Microsoft might have had a difficult time to get these people to fork over $69 to $99 a year for 365. If free is competitive with paid, free will often win out. Not always, we can see that from Open Office, but it it looks good, and works easily, then it can.
the same thing is true for Apple's online iWork suite. It got great reviews, but Apple has been slow to upgrade it.
But so far, Apple has blown it, though it's not too late.
Keynote supports the iPad Pro as a remote controller for Keynote running on a Mac. The pencil can be used as a stylus for annotation or as a pointer. There doesn't appear to be any support of the special Pencil capabilities.
The other iWork apps do not appear to have similar Pencil as a Stylus support.
To be honest, I no-longer do any presos -- so I'm not familiar with using iWork apps for this purpose.
I am not sure I am following the finer points (no pun intended!) of your post. First, I don't see much, if any, use for the iPad Pro as a remote controller -- I could do that with even just my Watch.
Second, what do you mean when you say it "can be used as a stylus for annotation or as a pointer"? Can I for instance, underline or circle a word, or draw a box and arrow (say) on a blank KN page, or write down a number in a blank space in the page?
Third, by "special pencil capabilities" do you mean its ability to use pressure and tilt? Those would not be important for my needs in a presentation setting, so would matter less.
It would be quite disappointing if I can use "pencil as stylus" on MS Word (and MSFT has promised) and not in Pages -- wouldn't you agree?
Too bad the flip side isn't an eraser. I don't mean to defend MS by saying this, but their pen input device is much more "natural" in that regard. For 100 bucks, I should be able to flip it and erase. It really is that simple.
I am so tired of hearing this. The only pencils that normally have erasers built-in are writing instruments, you know, typical yellow pencils.
AIR, the only things that the erasers on yellow pencils are good for: -- making a mess (smudge) on the paper -- chewing
Then there's this -- even aborigine pencils don't have erasers:
Keynote supports the iPad Pro as a remote controller for Keynote running on a Mac. The pencil can be used as a stylus for annotation or as a pointer. There doesn't appear to be any support of the special Pencil capabilities.
The other iWork apps do not appear to have similar Pencil as a Stylus support.
To be honest, I no-longer do any presos -- so I'm not familiar with using iWork apps for this purpose.
I am not sure I am following the finer points (no pun intended!) of your post. First, I don't see much, if any, use for the iPad Pro as a remote controller -- I could do that with even just my Watch.
Second, what do you mean when you say it "can be used as a stylus for annotation or as a pointer"? Can I for instance, underline or circle a word, or draw a box and arrow (say) on a blank KN page, or write down a number in a blank space in the page?
Third, by "special pencil capabilities" do you mean its ability to use pressure and tilt? Those would not be important for my needs in a presentation setting, so would matter less.
No pressure and tilt recognized -- Pencil acts like a dumb stylus.
It would be quite disappointing if I can use "pencil as stylus" on MS Word (and MSFT has promised) and not in Pages -- wouldn't you agree?
I agree ... but I expect we'll see the Pencil supported in all Apple apps.
BTW, you can use the Pencil to select and highlight in iBooks.
Too bad the flip side isn't an eraser. I don't mean to defend MS by saying this, but their pen input device is much more "natural" in that regard. For 100 bucks, I should be able to flip it and erase. It really is that simple.
I am so tired of hearing this. The only pencils that normally have erasers built-in are writing instruments, you know, typical yellow pencils.
AIR, the only things that the erasers on yellow pencils are good for: -- making a mess (smudge) on the paper -- chewing
Then there's this -- even aborigine pencils don't have erasers:
Heh. Some of that isn't my post. But I agree with it anyway.
A few comments about the pencil. In hand, it feels very much like a real pencil. So much so I have to resist the temptation to chew on the end. ;-) It feels nicely balanced.
Application support is spotty, but this is early adoption time. The pencil does work as a finger replacement in all apps, some seem more or less sensitive. It does eliminate finger prints on the screen, which show very readily on my black/ space gray pro. The price for that is noticeable tapping sounds.
My biggest gripe so far is there seems to have been zero consideration for storage. Either the pencil with the iPad Pro or all the tiny piece parts of the pencil itself. You have the tiny end cap that must be removed for charging. VERY easy to lose. Same way for the female lightning adapter you use to charge directly from a cable instead of inserting into the Pro. And forget about the tiny replacement tip. Good luck finding that when the time comes. Neither is there a spot for any of this on the keyboard cover. There's not even a clip for us nerds to mount it in our pocket protectors. A good storage solution is needed. Either Apple or third party.
My biggest gripe so far is there seems to have been zero consideration for storage. Either the pencil with the iPad Pro or all the tiny piece parts of the pencil itself. You have the tiny end cap that must be removed for charging. VERY easy to lose. Same way for the female lightning adapter you use to charge directly from a cable instead of inserting into the Pro. And forget about the tiny replacement tip. Good luck finding that when the time comes. Neither is there a spot for any of this on the keyboard cover. There's not even a clip for us nerds to mount it in our pocket protectors. A good storage solution is needed. Either Apple or third party.
I don't think they should adjust the cover for the pencil because people will buy a cover and never own a pencil. Even having expanding elastic loops on the cover would be a bit much. What they or 3rd parties can do though is have an elastic band that goes around the cover like so:
That way the cover can still fold into the shape when it's propping up the iPad and the ends of the pencil would be protected inside from catching on things when putting it in a bag. The cap can be attached with a small piece of nylon/string:
This would just be long enough to allow the cap to move past the connector. In future, I imagine that they'll be able to charge these kind of devices wirelessly. They can send out a small charge over wifi from the iPad and the connector can be removed.
What I did previously for a stylus, for my 6+, was to add a place for a stylus inside my 6+ belt case. That cheap stylus also has a pen at the other end, so I figured it was a useful thing to do, and as I've always got my phone with me, it's always there.
Too bad the inside dia is a bit too large for the Pencil, as I made it a bit big in case I got a different stylus that had a bigger dia. But that stylus has a clip, so it's not a problem.
But there are a lot of cheap pens with slide on clips. I suggest buying one and using it for the Pencil. I'm deciding on which one to use with it now, and then I'll put in my phone case instead of the other stylus. I can also carry a pen in my pocket as I used to.
the image is bigger than I expected. The new forum software, while much better, doesn't offer an easy way to size images as the old software does. Hopefully, that will be coming.
Really? I assume you mean on the back-end. Which is fine, of course; if moderator features are easier to work with than in Huddler, more power to that, but…
Really? I assume you mean on the back-end. Which is fine, of course; if moderator features are easier to work with than in Huddler, more power to that, but…
I mean that it just works better on the public end. With all my devices, scrolling through posts resulted in terrible jerkiness and white blank spaces. It would take a couple of seconds, or more to catch up. That's even true on my ipad Pro and Mac Pro. But now, it's smooth as silk.
They do need to massage some features, which I hope will happen sooner rather than later, but overall, it's much better.
the image is bigger than I expected. The new forum software, while much better, doesn't offer an easy way to size images as the old software does. Hopefully, that will be coming.
The way to do it for now is to click on the bracket icon (HTML view) in the editor header and where you see an image tag (img), just add width or height values after alt="" e.g width="500" or height="500". When you click the bracket icon again, the image will have shrunk down. It could use an interface to set the sizes though.
the image is bigger than I expected. The new forum software, while much better, doesn't offer an easy way to size images as the old software does. Hopefully, that will be coming.
The way to do it for now is to click on the bracket icon (HTML view) in the editor header and where you see an image tag (img), just add width or height values after alt="" e.g width="500" or height="500". When you click the bracket icon again, the image will have shrunk down. It could use an interface to set the sizes though.
Not exactly all that discoverable. They need to have an article about the new software, and all of the features, including how to use them.
My biggest gripe so far is there seems to have been zero consideration for storage. Either the pencil with the iPad Pro or all the tiny piece parts of the pencil itself. You have the tiny end cap that must be removed for charging. VERY easy to lose. Same way for the female lightning adapter you use to charge directly from a cable instead of inserting into the Pro. And forget about the tiny replacement tip. Good luck finding that when the time comes. Neither is there a spot for any of this on the keyboard cover. There's not even a clip for us nerds to mount it in our pocket protectors. A good storage solution is needed. Either Apple or third party.
The tiny end cap could easily be replaced with a mechanism where you twist the pencil to make the lightning connector appear/disappear. This is reminiscent of my ink pen, I twist it to lower the tip to write.
I was one of the many who emailed Tim Cook for years to please give us a stylus for the iPad. Like many out there, I wanted to replace my Wacom Cintiq with an iPad. After initial EXCITEMENT AND MONEY IN HAND for the iPad Pro, and after trying Apple Pro and Pencil repeatedly in store, with the 3 drawing apps loaded on the demo units. Sadly at the moment its not looking like a replacement for my Cintiq.
Adobe Draw - was decent, but the line work had very little variation and not crisp, regardless of setting changes. Paper and Zen Brush I absolutely hated both interfaces and the programs.
I really like using Sketchbook Pro with my Cintiq, but haven't tried it with Apple Pencil and I've heard they made some bad updates and messed with the program.
I know theres other drawing apps out there, but after reading reviews of many like Tayasui Sketches, etc. It doesn't look good. I'm going to make one last ditch effort and see if the store can load the top free illustration and photoshop alternative type apps and I will try them all at once.
I would really prefer a full version of Illustrator and Photoshop running on the iPad Pro, but thats not looking like that will be happening any time soon, if ever. My 2 cents, future sales of iPad Pro are going to be poor to the people who are truly going to embrace it... the professionals! Those who use Photoshop and Illustrator and don't want to substitute for some wonky kmart design app. Hopefully Apple Pro and Pencil won't remain a HOBBY for long.
y'all are so silly... using the butt for a charger is silly too - it should have used kinetic charging like those flashlights at Walgreens - so you could hold your pencil in your hand and shake it in an up and down motion. The Apple Hand Jive.... could have been huge, but alas.
Having used the offerings from Microsoft, Adonis, Wacom, and FiftyThree - Microsoft and FiftyThree provided the best experience due to the multiple activities that can be performed by one device without having to readjust your hand or open menus or click buttons. I have only used the Apple Pencil briefly - and do want one form Santa, but I think it could have benefited from an option button or some sort of feature using the other end. Seems a wasted opportunity. Though the simplicity is commendable. For a hundred bucks - I get a stick that draws (REALLY well) in a few apps that I have to carry, charge, and keep up with a cap. When they get a wood version (FiftyThree) then that will be the bombdiggity. But it would still be a one trick pony (that does the one trick really well in limited places).
I've had my pencil for only 24 hours or so but I already find it indispensable in all of the apps I've used it in. I have hand and wrist problems and have used a Wacom stylus as an input and point and click device for years and, like someone said above, I don't use the eraser on it. It just isn't natural. Most artists who draw all the time don't use pencils with erasers either because we don't use regular pencils! We are using either draughting pencils and separate erasers which match the substrate you're working with and/or an eclectic eraser. So, it would only be for note taking and things like that where anyone would even want to use the flip end as an eraser. I see the point that was made about it being called a pencil so why not an eraser - the thing is, for most people's workflow these days (who already use touch phones and tablets), it's totally natural to use the undo function or just switch to eraser mode.
As for music notation, I am also a composer and I am looking forward to trying Notion and other notation software with the pencil. It could get me back into longhand composition! I've been inputting the music I'm creating with a keyboard (piano keyboard, not the computer's regular keyboard!) for a long time now, using virtual instruments and my own sense of timing (and skill) to input the notes using programs like Finale. I don't like the Finale interface for inputting notes on the staves so I play the parts using the keyboard input tool. With the Apple pencil I could possibly get back to writing directly on the staves exactly what I want to put there and avoid the learning curve concerning all of the unusual time signatures, key changes, etc., on the fly. My piano skills are decent but not as precise as my writing!
Too bad the flip side isn't an eraser. I don't mean to defend MS by saying this, but their pen input device is much more "natural" in that regard. For 100 bucks, I should be able to flip it and erase. It really is that simple.
Knowing Apple (and this is no jab intended) they'll come out with an eraser that plugs right into the Lightning port on the other end in a few months once they get ahead of these back orders for the Pencil. They were probably unsure of demand and any other capabilities would be an afterthought or rolled into the next version.
Comments
it seems to me that when they came out with all of these apps, they were worried about Microsoft and Adobe, among others, abandoning them, and so decided to have somewhat credible replacements available. Once it became clear that, with their rising sales, they weren't about to be abandoned, they turned away from them as serious tools, and moved to simplify them under the concept of "ease of use".
It's also possible that they were concerned that if they did add to them, Adobe and Microsoft would slow, or stop, their upgrades for Apple's hardware. It might be a legit concern, though I don't think it would happen.
if Apple upgraded iWork the way many of us wished they would have, then it's entirely possible that Office wouldn't have been welcomed so much when it finally did make it over. After all, hundreds of millions of people, including at least tens of millions in business and government were used to using Apple software on iOS. If Apple upgraded it to where it would have contended well with office, Microsoft might have had a difficult time to get these people to fork over $69 to $99 a year for 365. If free is competitive with paid, free will often win out. Not always, we can see that from Open Office, but it it looks good, and works easily, then it can.
the same thing is true for Apple's online iWork suite. It got great reviews, but Apple has been slow to upgrade it.
But so far, Apple has blown it, though it's not too late.
Second, what do you mean when you say it "can be used as a stylus for annotation or as a pointer"? Can I for instance, underline or circle a word, or draw a box and arrow (say) on a blank KN page, or write down a number in a blank space in the page?
Third, by "special pencil capabilities" do you mean its ability to use pressure and tilt? Those would not be important for my needs in a presentation setting, so would matter less.
It would be quite disappointing if I can use "pencil as stylus" on MS Word (and MSFT has promised) and not in Pages -- wouldn't you agree?
anantksundaram said:
Second, what do you mean when you say it "can be used as a stylus for annotation or as a pointer"? Can I for instance, underline or circle a word, or draw a box and arrow (say) on a blank KN page, or write down a number in a blank space in the page?
Like this:
No pressure and tilt recognized -- Pencil acts like a dumb stylus.
It would be quite disappointing if I can use "pencil as stylus" on MS Word (and MSFT has promised) and not in Pages -- wouldn't you agree?
I agree ... but I expect we'll see the Pencil supported in all Apple apps.
BTW, you can use the Pencil to select and highlight in iBooks.
Application support is spotty, but this is early adoption time.
The pencil does work as a finger replacement in all apps, some seem more or less sensitive. It does eliminate finger prints on the screen, which show very readily on my black/ space gray pro. The price for that is noticeable tapping sounds.
My biggest gripe so far is there seems to have been zero consideration for storage. Either the pencil with the iPad Pro or all the tiny piece parts of the pencil itself. You have the tiny end cap that must be removed for charging. VERY easy to lose. Same way for the female lightning adapter you use to charge directly from a cable instead of inserting into the Pro. And forget about the tiny replacement tip. Good luck finding that when the time comes. Neither is there a spot for any of this on the keyboard cover. There's not even a clip for us nerds to mount it in our pocket protectors. A good storage solution is needed. Either Apple or third party.
I don't think they should adjust the cover for the pencil because people will buy a cover and never own a pencil. Even having expanding elastic loops on the cover would be a bit much. What they or 3rd parties can do though is have an elastic band that goes around the cover like so:
That way the cover can still fold into the shape when it's propping up the iPad and the ends of the pencil would be protected inside from catching on things when putting it in a bag. The cap can be attached with a small piece of nylon/string:
This would just be long enough to allow the cap to move past the connector. In future, I imagine that they'll be able to charge these kind of devices wirelessly. They can send out a small charge over wifi from the iPad and the connector can be removed.
Too bad the inside dia is a bit too large for the Pencil, as I made it a bit big in case I got a different stylus that had a bigger dia. But that stylus has a clip, so it's not a problem.
But there are a lot of cheap pens with slide on clips. I suggest buying one and using it for the Pencil. I'm deciding on which one to use with it now, and then I'll put in my phone case instead of the other stylus. I can also carry a pen in my pocket as I used to.
the image is bigger than I expected. The new forum software, while much better, doesn't offer an easy way to size images as the old software does. Hopefully, that will be coming.
Really? I assume you mean on the back-end. Which is fine, of course; if moderator features are easier to work with than in Huddler, more power to that, but…
They do need to massage some features, which I hope will happen sooner rather than later, but overall, it's much better.
The way to do it for now is to click on the bracket icon (HTML view) in the editor header and where you see an image tag (img), just add width or height values after alt="" e.g width="500" or height="500". When you click the bracket icon again, the image will have shrunk down. It could use an interface to set the sizes though.
Like many out there, I wanted to replace my Wacom Cintiq with an iPad.
After initial EXCITEMENT AND MONEY IN HAND for the iPad Pro, and after trying Apple Pro and Pencil repeatedly
in store, with the 3 drawing apps loaded on the demo units. Sadly at the moment its not looking like a
replacement for my Cintiq.
Adobe Draw - was decent, but the line work had very little variation and not crisp, regardless of setting changes.
Paper and Zen Brush I absolutely hated both interfaces and the programs.
I really like using Sketchbook Pro with my Cintiq, but haven't tried it with Apple Pencil and I've heard they made
some bad updates and messed with the program.
I know theres other drawing apps out there, but after reading reviews of many like Tayasui Sketches, etc. It doesn't
look good. I'm going to make one last ditch effort and see if the store can load the top free illustration and photoshop
alternative type apps and I will try them all at once.
I would really prefer a full version of Illustrator and Photoshop running on the iPad Pro, but thats not looking like
that will be happening any time soon, if ever. My 2 cents, future sales of iPad Pro are going to be poor to the people who
are truly going to embrace it... the professionals! Those who use Photoshop and Illustrator and don't want to substitute
for some wonky kmart design app. Hopefully Apple Pro and Pencil won't remain a HOBBY for long.
Having used the offerings from Microsoft, Adonis, Wacom, and FiftyThree - Microsoft and FiftyThree provided the best experience due to the multiple activities that can be performed by one device without having to readjust your hand or open menus or click buttons. I have only used the Apple Pencil briefly - and do want one form Santa, but I think it could have benefited from an option button or some sort of feature using the other end. Seems a wasted opportunity. Though the simplicity is commendable. For a hundred bucks - I get a stick that draws (REALLY well) in a few apps that I have to carry, charge, and keep up with a cap. When they get a wood version (FiftyThree) then that will be the bombdiggity. But it would still be a one trick pony (that does the one trick really well in limited places).
Apple really need to think more closely about product relationships. The more they can be toed together the greater their value and worth.