Inker

Inker in action

The Power of the Pen

The Tablet PC has been around for several years, yet outside of domain specific industry verticals it has failed to succeed. Why is that? Just about anyone who has tried to use a slate or their tablet without using the keyboard can tell you. It's the pen! On Windows XP Tablet an even Vista, the pen does not really act like a pen and paper for text input. Instead, the pen is treated as an "add on" that simulates keyboard input.

To ultimately fix this, Windows and all applications would need to be redesigned for the pen. And there are a very few applications designed for the pen, like OneNote. In the short term this is not possible. Yet certainly we could get a bit closer than the Tablet Input Panel (TIP) that comes with Windows? That is what Inker is designed to do. Make the pen experience more natural, and make tablets truly usable with a pen.

What is Inker?

Inker is a replacement for the Windows pen input system. Inker is more efficient to use and more customizable than TIP.

Inker includes all of the functionality of TIP and more, however Inker and TIP can run side by side. Installing and using Inker does not disable or remove TIP, however we suggest you turn off the automatic pop up features of TIP.

Inker uses the same writing recognition engine as TIP does, however Inker focuses on reducing pen clicks for input and corrections through a streamlined user interface. Inker is written in C# and WPF.

Distinctive features

• Text Tap Activation - No need to hunt around for the TIP icon that appears in random places, simply tap the text field with a pen and Inker activates. This functionality works in most applications, but for those that it does not, simply tap the Inker icon in the system tray.
  
• Text Corrections - Need to correct existing text? Just select it with the pen when Inker is empty and it will load the text and allow you to correct it. (Note, current build has an issue which this does not always work in Office, we are working on a fix)
  
• No Tabbing - Handwriting and corrections are performed in a single place and handwriting is replaced while you write with recognized text. No need to move around through different modes or screens.
  
• Improved Recognition - Inker is more accurate than TIP. While it uses the same recognition engine, Inker does more analysis of the input and uses this information to better choose when the recognition results return many candidates..
  
• Copy / Cut / Paste - Inker has buttons for quick copy/cut/paste. No need to wait for right click functionality, and thus no interference with text selections.
  
• Correction Gestures - Using simple up/down gestures you can change the case of a word or a letter, using left/right gesture you can insert new letters.
• Advanced Eraser Support - Tap words or letters with the eraser to delete.
  
• Sizable Input Area - Inker can be zoomed in and out to adjust for your screen size and resolution and achieve best balance between readability and space usage.
• See Through - Inker makes effort to not stay in your way - it becomes translucent and positions automatically on the screen when appropriate so you can see behind it, yet access it again quickly.
  
• History - Inker keeps texts you have inserted so you can easily reinsert again when needed.
  
• Favorite Words - You can define custom words or phrases that you can quickly insert in the writing area.
  
• Input Navigation - Inker allows you to easily fill forms by inserting the text and move to the next or previous form field through specialized insert buttons.
  
• Specialized Characters - Inker includes several virtual keyboard layouts that can be combined allowing you to optimize the size of Inker window
  
• Keyboard Corrections - Unlike TIP, you can use the virtual keyboard to correct handwriting recognition.
  
• Leading Space - To add a leading space, simply write after the leading space marker. No need to use a gesture or the virtual keyboard.
  
• Quick Alternate Word Selection - Alternative words are conveniently situated in a circle so you can easily find the one that you meant to write. The circle configuration requires less movement of the pen and eye to select a word.
  

Windows TIP vs. Inker

Inker is more efficient than Widows Tablet Input Panel (TIP). Inker accomplishes this by reducing the number of taps required to input and correct handwriting.

Using Inker

Please read Inker Documentation before your first use.

Support

Please join the Inker Web Forum or the alternative Inker-Users yahoo group.

Download

• Download current Inker build.