Windows XP Tablet PC edition. Using Onenote on the tablet pc. I tend to
like the most recent notes at the top of a page so I insert extra space a
lot. The problem is, as I recently discovered, while the text on the page
moves down when I insert space, the handwriting annotations do not. Thus,
all my handwritting notes become out of place. Is there a way to fix this?
Thanks,
Jim
If I read this correctly, you have some typed lines of text and you also
have some handwritten notes that you wrote over the typed text. Then you
place the cursor before a line of text and press enter a few times to
give you some space as is common for many people who are used to using a
standard text editor or word processor. Am I correct so far?
You state that your problem is when you insert those blank lines the text
moves down but the handwritten notes do not, correct?
Well, there is no real fix for that so far. The handwritten notes are
actually separate objects on the page and are not actually associated
with the typed text at all. I know Microsoft's demos of OneNote make it
look as if you should be able to do this but you can't. Most of the
things implied in the Microsoft demos aren't actually practical in real
life.
What would need to be done for OneNote to behave as you are expecting
would be for it to automatically associate handwriting written over other
things on the page to the word or thing you are writing over. Naturally
this would be incredibly difficult because it would be hard to tell
exactly what part of the text you intended the handwritten note to be
associated with. Perhaps some new kind of gesture like circling the
target word or drawing an arrow could be used.
I have tried several workarounds, like using the Insert Space Tool but it
doesn't work for this problem. I have noticed that it only seems to have
an effect on either the Drawing/Writing guide (also known as 'Ink
Groups' or 'Note Containers' depending on where you look) that the cursor
is in when you click and drag down, or if the cursor is in empty space,
then it only effects the Drawing/Writing guides that are entirely below
the line when you click and drag down. This means if you try to use the
Insert Space Tool it will only work on either the main text in the
writing guide or the notes you have made over that text but not both.
I just thought of one thing you could try: Use the Insert Space Tool to
insert space in your main text noting exactly where you click and how far
you drag down. Then use the Insert Space Tool again placing it exactly
even with where you first used it but outside of that writing guide. Drag
it down exactly the same amount (made much easier if you have snap to
grid turned on) to move down everything else on the page.
Unfortunately this will not work quite right if you have yet another
writing guide that vertically spans the point where you first click to
use the Insert Space Tool. In that case you would have to use the tool
yet again, placing the cursor at the same vertical position as before but
this time within that second writing guide.
Notes:
If you don't have the Writing Guides turned on, you should. This is the
only way to know how OneNote is grouping together your text, handwriting,
or drawing. {View / Show Ink Groups} and {Tools / Options ; Display ; [x]
Show note containers on pages} plus {Tools / Options ; Display ; Adjust
the darkness ... [v] = Medium (or whatever displays best on your screen)}
(Options are for SP-1 RC-1.)
Anytime you write handwriting over existing text (or even handwriting)
OneNote will create a new Writing Guide which will be entirely separate
and independent from the text beneath it. It is also much more likely to
get confused and treat separate words or the crosses of 't's as yet more
separate marks with their own writing or drawing guides. It looks fine as
long as you don't move anything but is a mess if you do move anything.
In doing some experiments while writing this post I have noticed an odd
behaviour of the Insert Space Tool. It only works on either the
Drawing/Writing Guide it is entirely within or all the Guides that are
entirely below it. Perhaps it is by design but the difference isn't
emphasized in anything I have read. You can tell which it is going to do
by the width of the line it draws when you hover over an area of the
page. If the line only goes across part of the page then it is only going
to work within THAT Guide. If it goes ALL the way across the page then it
is going to work on all the Guides that are entirely below it. In this
case you will also see all those guides be highlighted just as you click
down with the Insert Space Tool.
Finally, none of this does you any good if you actually edit the text and
cause the text to scroll down simply because you inserted more text. You
also have to make sure you never change the font or the width of the
Writing Guide. This is because the particular words you had intended the
handwritten annotations to be associated with will be moved horizontally
and, depending on where the text word wrapped, different parts will end
up with different horizontal displacement. You would just have to select
and move each of your annotations one at a time. This is why I just gave
up on making handwritten annotations after about the first day of
experimenting with OneNote. Sure they show it in the demo's but it is
only doable if you never expect to actually make the edits specified in
the annotations. (Maybe if you always start at the bottom and work your
way up. Then the edited parts wouldn't affect the alignment of the
annotations above them.)
