Microsoft pushes Office inking, Insider, and Morph tools to iOS and Mac Many of the improvements are geared toward inking with the Apple Pencil, or just your finger. Microsoft has made inking a key part of its feature arsenal, and at least on Windows 10, such capabilities have been pushed rather aggressively by the company in the latest feature updates.
Inking has been a feature in Office as far back as version 2002 but rarely used. Now with more tablet-type devices like Surface, it’s worth checking out.
Microsoft Inking On Mac Free
Inking has been a part of the Microsoft Office as far back as version 2002. In Word 2016, inking is fast, smooth, and powerful. Here’s how to get started with this handy feature.
Many years ago, I scanned my signature for use in digital documents, but I always wanted to be able just to sign a document on the fly. The capability existed for many years, I just never saw the value of owning a tablet just to enter my signature. In late 2015 I became the owner of a Microsoft Surface Pro; little did I know how much I would underestimate the Surface Pen as part of the user experience.
Using Inking in Word 2016
To enable inking, hover the Surface Pen or similar stylus anywhere in the tab region a document. The inking context tab will open and provide various tools you can use to accomplish a variety of tasks.
The Pens group provides a collection of colors, styles, and functions to choose from.
After selecting a color and size, just starting writing anywhere in the document as you normally would on a physical sheet of paper.
If you want to erase a mistake, activate the Eraser then rub out any markings in the document.
Microsoft Inking On Mac Free
The Surface Pen supports the selection of objects, too. After selecting one, you can use to resize and modify items in your document.
Inking in Word also supports entering mathematical formulas. If you prefer writing instead of typing, you can activate the touch keyboard and enter text using the pen. If you annotate documents a lot, the inking tools in Word makes it easy to highlight text. When you are done using Ink, select the Stop Inking button on the Ribbon.
Word 2016 and the Surface Pro Pen provides a powerful experience when preparing documents. When combined with capabilities such as saving as PDF, there is less of a need to print and sign documents anymore. If you are considering a Surface Pro or any convertible tablet device running Windows 10, this is a key feature that will make your daily workflow easier.
What’s your take? Do you have a Surface or other touchscreen device and used the inking feature? Let us know in the comment section below.
Microsoft today launched a slew of Microsoft Office improvements as part of its monthly update for the productivity suite. January brings the launch of the Office Insider program for Mac, new inking tools for iPad and iPad Pro, and new PowerPoint features to iOS.
InNovember 2015, Microsoft launched Office Insider , an ongoing preview program for Office 365 subscribers looking to test new features and improvements coming to the suite’s apps. Office Insider was limited to just Office 2016 for Windows , but at the time Microsoft said a Mac version “is coming soon.” Now it has delivered.
If you’re an Office 365 user with a Mac, you can join by heading to office.com/insider . There you’ll be able to opt-in to get Office Insider builds directly from the Microsoft Auto Update tool for OS X.
Next up, Microsoft is releasing new inking tools in its Office for iPad and iPad Pro apps. The goal is to make it easy to use your finger or Apple Pencil when working with Office documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and notes.
Linking Verb
Here’s what you can expect:
Microsoft Inking On Mac Pro
Inker
Draw tab: To make inking tools as easy to find as possible, a new Draw tab has been added to the Office ribbon.
Instant inking: The Office apps on iOS now sense the approach of an active pen so that you can start to ink instantly, without needing to select a feature or control.
Ink to shape: You can easily transform hand-drawn shapes to perfect looking shapes for simple creation of highly customizable diagrams and process flows. Sketch two quick circles for an easy Venn diagram or draw a process flow of squares and arrows in just a matter of moments.
To use these new features, download the latest versions of Word , Excel , PowerPoint , and OneNote on your iPad and iPad Pro. For more details, check out this guide: Draw and annotate with ink in Office for iPad .
Microsoft Inking On Mac Download
Next up, Microsoft has brought real-time co-authoring to PowerPoint Mobile for Windows tablets. Unfortunately, PowerPoint 2016 for Windows desktop has only gained “real-time presence,” so you can see who else is working in the document and where, but you can’t edit at the same time.
Speaking of PowerPoint, the new Morph smart animation feature that also arrived in November for Windows desktop and Windows Mobile has now trickled down to iOS. You can grab the new PowerPoint update, which also adds 3D Touch support and font downloading, directly from Apple’s App Store .