Anyone used shorthand on a “drawing tablet”?

Hi all,

I’m looking at getting a “drawing tablet” for inputting shorthand! Anyone have experience with this? What tablets work better? I’m thinking about starting off with a $70 Wacom Intuos, but was wondering if anyone had suggestions.

My main use-case that I have planned is grabbing free childrens’ books, and adding Gregg, probably in a long bar at the bottom of the page. I’m thinking to get the book set up as a bunch of jpegs, then add extra blank space at the bottom of each image, and write the shorthand in there with something like Pinta. (Linux program like MS Paint)

Although, I do also “have a dream” of making a reverse dictionary, Gregg->English for Anniversary! (But maybe I’ll make that a separate post.)

Cheers,
-Steven


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6 comments Add yours
  1. What a cool idea! I sometimes just use the mobile version of Evernote, which has a "handwriting" option that lets you write your note by writing directly on the screen with your finger or stylus (I use it on the Kindle). But it's probably not as exacting as the one you have linked to. I'd be curious to know if anyone has used a product like this with shorthand (has anyone used Livescribe or Jot Script? How about a Boogie Board?)

  2. I use an app on my IPad Pro called Notepad+ to practice shorthand, along with the Apple Pencil. It's novel and fun, helpful when traveling and I don't want to carry more than is necessary. However, the IPad Pro is expensive and I'd only recommend if you already have one, not to purchase just for the purpose of electronically writing shorthand.

    1. How well does Notepad+ capture your hand movements for shorthand? Also, is the software pretty responsive? I haven't found anything electronic that can accurately reproduce my writing. And their promotional video just hows drawing, not writing.

      The good thing is that Notepad+ comes also in Android flavor, so I may try it.

  3. I bought a Wacom Intuos 9 x 12 tablet a while back to use for shorthand input, but I couldn't get used to "writing blinded", so-to-speak, because you are watching a screen while writing and not the pen itself. It became a little awkward, so I didn't try writing on it anymore. I may pick it up again sometime, but nowadays if I want to publish something, it is much easier (and faster) to write on regular paper and make a scan.

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