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Posted by Katblu42 on 07-02-2020 at 03:54:

New Toy - seeking app advice

Hi all!

I recently purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro 7. The idea was to update from my old laptop (which is at least 7 or 8 years old now, I think), and have the option of using it as a tablet (which I've never owned before).

I was hoping to be able to use the pen to handwrite directly onto the surface, like I would on a paper notebook. For all intents and purposes, I know I can do this - I'm fairly happy with the way my handwriting turns out with the pen.

What I would ideally like to be able to do is handwrite my first drafts, save them in the handwritten form, then convert them to typed text as a complete document (or page).

Does anyone know if there is any application out there that will let me do something like this?

In Word or One Note I can handwrite directly on the page, but this is treated as drawing, and there is no way to convert to text later. Or I can write into a smaller dialogue box which will allow me to write a few words and automatically convert them to text - this way is frustrating because I constantly have to stop and wait for the full box to clear so I have more room to continue writing, and I can't save the handwritten look.

I suspect there won't be anything out there that will do what I'd like. If anyone has any advice or suggestions I'd very much appreciate your input.

Cheers!

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Posted by Becky Rock on 08-02-2020 at 01:59:

That's such a great question! I just bought a Microsoft Surface Pro 7 last weekend to replace my old laptop. I got the keyboard attachment because I hate touching the screen to do stuff (that includes on my iPhone). My problem now is it won't sync up to my printer or wifi.

About 10 or so years ago, their was a system you could buy to do just that. It was a computer pen. You used it to write on special paper and them you could download the pen to your computer and the system would change your writing to text. At least that was the theory. I could never get it to work correctly. I usually ended up with Charlie Brown teacher talk - wah wah wah...wah wah wah wah.

I also tried Dragon a few years ago. According to it, I wasn't speaking English or any other language it recognized. I guess my West Virginia twang was too much for it.

What you're describing would be wonderful.

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