Surface Pen App Coming From Microsoft Soon!
Surface Pen that came with my Surface Pro 3 is awesome!
With it I can…
- Wake my Surface Pro 3
- Open OneNote
- Take notes in meetings
- Draw (ok, I’m not that good at drawing)
You get the idea. The technology behind the Surface Pen is amazing, see post Surface Pro 2 Pen vs. Surface Pro 3 Pen.
However some digital artists have been requesting additional features for the pen, like the ability to adjust the pressure sensitivity or program the buttons.
Here is the good news: Microsoft has been listening and some of the requested improvements are already coming.
In a couple of weeks, Microsoft will be releasing a new control panel app – reportedly via the Windows Apps Store – that will provide the Surface Pen with an improved control of its pressure sensitivity. This as you might expect, has some of the artists excited.
There was already a firmware update rolled out earlier this month that prepped the Surface Pro 3 for this soon-expected, Surface Pen Control Panel app.
According to Surface Pro Artist the app will allow you to:
“set the tip’s activation force, edit the pens pressure curve and map the cap button to either the desktop or Modern flavor of OneNote”.
Cool, eh?
There are also rumors circulating that imply that the coveted programmability of the Surface Pen buttons is coming later this year as well – now that feature, I would really like!
In fact, recently, one of our readers asked whether the Surface Pen can be easily disabled/enabled at will, and currently it can not. But, if we had the ability to program the buttons, we could maybe set one to be on/off, wouldn’t that be cool?
While this is all great news for Surface Pro 3 users, unfortunately there are no plans for Surface Pro 2 Pen improvements.
Anyway, more on this topic to come soon, as the pressure sensitivity control app is to be released later this month. When it is available, be sure to check back for our review.
Cheers!
Joanna-