If you use a mouse, track pad, or other non ink-aware device, inking will not occur. These devices automatically work in the "Edit" mode, allowing you to select and drag objects around. (See the "Ink Modes" section.)
Using your pen on your tablet, simply write on the lined paper. When you pause from writing, your text will be recognized and attached to your ink. Hold the space bar and you will see the recognized text appear in a bubble above each word.
If you tap the pen on the tablet and do not drag the pen across the tablet, inking will not occur. Instead, a click in the "Edit" mode is issued. This makes it easy to select objects without having to set inkBook to the "Edit" mode. Also, if you touch the pen to the tablet and hold it there for a moment before dragging, the "Edit" mode will temporarily be turned on while you drag until you take the pen off the tablet. This allows you to perform a drag selection, or to drag selected ink objects.
If you pause after making a single stroke, InkWell will often recognize that as a gesture. When InkWell recognizes a gesture, the ink you just wrote disappears, and inkBook performs the command. If InkWell does not recognize your stroke as a gesture, it will try to recognize it as a character.
By default, inkBook lets InkWell recognize gestures when in inking mode, but not when in sketching mode. You can change this in inkBook's preferences.
inkBook recognizes the following gestures:
To switch to a different brush simply click on the name of the brush in the list. There are a group of controls that will appear under the list for the selected brush. You can use these controls to change the settings of the selected brush.
Pencil: This is the default brush. The harder you press the pen to the tablet the darker the mark on the paper will be. You can change the type of "lead" in the pencil from soft to medium to hard. The harder the type of lead used, the harder you have to press to make the darkest line possible. Likewise, if you use a softer type of lead, you need less pressure to make a dark line, however, it may be difficult to draw a light line. You can also change the width of the pencil tip from a very fine point to a large point. Finally, click on the color well to change the color of the lead in the pencil. (Note: If the color palette is already open when you switch to this brush, you will need to click on the color well for this brush to change the color used by this brush.)
Paint Brush: Unlike the pencil, the paint brush always paints the same shade of color. By varying the pressure of the pen on the tablet, you can change the size of the paint brush stroke between the minimum size and the maximum size you set with the slider controls. You can also change the color on the paint brush by clicking on the color well. (Note: If the color palette is already open when you switch to this brush, you will need to click on the color well for this brush to change the color used by this brush.)
Calligraphy Pen: The calligraphy pen is very similar to the paint brush. However, while the the paint brush has a round tip, the calligraphy brush has a flat tip set at a 45¡ angle. You can use this to draw very pretty letters and words. However, the more ornate the letters of your words are, the less likely that InkWell will recognize it. Like the paint brush, you can set the minimum and maximum size of the tip of the calligraphy pen, and the amount of pressure you apply to the tablet will determine the size of the brush tip, within these boundaries, as you ink. To mimic a true calligraphy pen, and get best results, it is recommended that you keep the minimum and maximum size of the brush tip fairly close together. If you have a tablet that supports tilt, the angle of the calligraphy pen tip is determined by the angle you hold your pen. (Wacom's Intous and Intous2 line of tablets support tilt.) You can also change the color on the calligraphy pen by clicking on the color well. (Note: If the color palette is already open when you switch to this brush, you will need to click on the color well for this brush to change the color used by this brush.)
Highlighter: The highlighter brush works very similarly to a real highlighter. The highlighter has either a wide horizontal tip, or a wide vertical tip. You can set the width of the tip and its direction, however, the highlighter is not pressure sensitive. You can also change the color on the highlighter by clicking on the color well. (Note: If the color palette is already open when you switch to this brush, you will need to click on the color well for this brush to change the color used by this brush.) In addition to the color of the highlighter, you can also set the amount of transparency in the highlighter ink. That is, you can set how "see through" the color is. The highlighter automatically turns off gesture recognition and temporarily puts inkBook into "Sketch" mode. That means that neither inkBook, nor inkWell, will ever try to recognize your highlighter ink as a gesture, or as text immediately after you write it.
Eraser: The eraser is used to delete ink objects. inkBook is not a "painting" application, so you can not erase part of a line. You must erase a complete object at a time. The eraser actually works like the "Clear" or "Delete" gestures. That is, all objects under the eraser markings will get deleted. Often it is quicker and easier to use the clear or delete gesture to remove any unwanted objects. However, if you are using a mode or a tool that does not support gestures, or you have gesture recognition turned off in the preferences, the eraser brush can be very useful. Best of all, you can tell inkBook to temporarily use the eraser brush by simply flipping your pen over. Then, when you flip you pen back to the tip, inkBook will switch back to the last brush you where using. (Note: Your tablet must support recognizing when the pen is flipped. It must also properly report this in the proximity event. Some tablets do not do this correctly. All Wacom tablets support this feature. However, some Wacom transducers will not worked when flipped over. You can set a side switch to "Auto Erase" in the Wacom control panel for such transducers to mimic flipping the pen. inkBook will not notice the difference.)