Surface Pen is a handy tool that lets you do cool things on your Surface PC. You can use it as a mouse and keyboard. By default, the pen acts like a mouse.
Surface Pen is one of the newest Microsoft features that adds a new level of productivity that you don’t have access to on a traditional desktop or laptop.
- Architects, designers and other creative industries use it for sketching and painting.
- Builders and engineers who are accustomed to walking with a pen or pencil behind their ear.
- Office workers, salespeople, entrepreneurs.
- Pretty much everything.
Who Benefits from Using Surface Pens?
- Used by architects, designers, and other creative industries for drawing and painting.
- Builders and engineers who used to walk around with a pen or pencil behind their ear.
- Office Professionals, Sales Representatives and Entrepreneurs.
- Basically, everyone.
Several features are built into the tool, including:
- Signing documents.
- Create notes.
- Form filling.
- Writing PowerPoint slides.
However, you can do much more with it. To extend the functionality of your pen, third-party developers have created innovative apps.
To get the most out of the Surface Pen, try the following free Surface Pen apps:
- Plumbago
- Autodesk SketchBook
- Bamboo Paper
- Paint 3D
- CollaBoard
- Fresh Paint
- Index Cards
- Journalist
- Xodo
- Zen
Blumbago
Plumbago is a Surface Pen digital notebook app that lets you use creative calligraphy styles, add annotated images, and organize your notebook.
With Plumbago, you can:
- Use elegant color palettes, useful paper and realistic inks.
- Enhance your drawings with calligraphy.
- Easy navigation of all pages of the notebook.
- Adjust the smoothness of your handwriting.
- Highlight, comment, and circle image files.
- Save the page as an image.
- Create notebooks in portrait orientation.
- Save your notebook as a PDF file to import into other applications, archive, or share with others.
- Synchronize your notebooks across all devices and store them in the cloud.
Autodesk SketchBook
Autodesk SketchBook is a sketching and painting application with a large selection of tools, surfaces and brushes that anyone can use.
Creative people use sketches to develop an idea. With Autodesk SketchBook, you can use powerful tools to turn a concept into a fully finished work of art.
Autodesk Sketchbook is a professional-grade drawing program built for designers and artists. Graphic professionals will have more control over their art projects.
Bamboo Paper
Turn your device into a paper notebook with Bamboo Paper Draw, draw and take notes anywhere, anytime with this app.
Some of the additional benefits of Bamboo Paper:
- Express your creativity with any color and create your own palette of 36 color swatches.
- Place more notes on pages and write or draw a thin line using the zoom feature.
- Add photos or images to your page and write over them.
- Express yourself naturally with the tilt function that determines the angle of the pen.
3D drawing
Bring your ideas to life and unleash your creativity with the Paint 3D Surface Pen app. Create and design 3D objects using the pen instead of 2D flat illustrations.
Even if you are not a designer or artist, you can have fun trying some of the features, for example:
- Create a 3D doodle drawing.
- Using Magic Select to create cutouts from your favorite images.
- Choose from lighting options, filters, and realistic textures such as soft grass and hardwood for your creation.
CollaBoard
CollaBoard is a digital whiteboard app where users can change the way they work by adding real-time capabilities to any Windows device.
With CollaBoard, you can perform the following functions:
- Conduct virtual meetings.
- Organization of collaboration and digital seminars.
- Coordinate projects with remote people anywhere, anytime, on any Windows 10 device.
- Using templates such as Design Thinking, Mind Mapping and Business Model Canvas “.
New Paint
If you want to explore the drawing capabilities of Windows 10, Fresh Paint is the Surface pen app that walks you through the process.
Turn photos into stunning paintings, create original artwork, or take advantage of the Activity Pack to get started quickly. Create anything with Fresh Paint features, including:
- Draw or paint with pen, watercolor, pencil, oil or pastel.
- Using the camera or importing photos and images for drawing.
- Instantly dry paint on canvas by clicking the fan button.
- Easily fix mistakes with the undo button or the eraser button.
Index Cards
Organize with double-sided index cards. Create an unlimited number of cards that you can mark with a pen.
There is a zoom function that allows you to include a lot of information on each card.
Take notes in ink and stack them like regular index cards. If you want advanced professional features like group folders, card shuffling, or advanced navigation, you can try the upgrade and get a 14-day free trial.
The upgrade is a one-time, $ 19.99 lifetime fee.
Journalist
Record your experience by writing with a journalist. Use a freeform canvas with multiple paper options, rulers, and 2D shapes to keep an electronic journal.
Take advantage of some robust features such as:
- Drag and drop files onto the journal pages.
- Copy, cut and paste elements into your pages.
- Export your magazine in various formats such as HTML pages, videos or images.
- Create horizontal parallax scrolling or vertical pages.
- Use the isometric drawing tool to create 3D drawings.
- Share many different content formats from other applications, including .png, .mp4, HTML and .gif.
Xodo
Edit, view and annotate PDF files in Xodo PDF Reader. Easily fill out forms, highlight anything, write in any PDF file and save it as a new file.
Some of Xodo‘s other features include:
- Clipping pages.
- Bookmarking pages for future use.
- Read PDF files in the dark with night mode
- Set the view to thumbnail, one-, two-page, or continuous scrolling.
- Search for text, zoom at high levels and turn pages.
Zain
Step out of the real world, leave your worries behind and relax with Zen: a digital coloring book for adults.
- Create beautiful art without buying art supplies.
- Choose from custom colors, different designs, textures and blending options.
- Print, save and share your work on social networks.
Zen is a free app for Surface Pen, but you can purchase additional books if you want to access more projects.
Try using some of the apps above. Which one is best will depend on your specific needs. From filling out forms to taking notes, using apps will get the most out of your Surface Pen.
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