A couple of months ago, I made a choice and purchased a package called FlySketch, from the company that brought us the innovative VoodooPad notepad. Late last year, I started to notice how many such tools were coming to the Mac OS X market, and I started gathering them up and trying them out. These are just a couple of the ways in which I’ve started to use a class of software I simply call “screen annotation” or “desktop annotation” tools. So, now I’ve resorted to paper to get the job done, but suppose I then want to share my research with someone? Blechhh! It’s not likely I’ll be able to easily capture my work digitally and email it off.īut what if I could quickly take a couple of screenshots and merge them together into one document, which I could then mark up with a digital pen, highlight markers, arrows, checkmarks, and other annotations that I would normally use on real paper? Not only have I saved the printing part, but I end up with a single digital document I can send to someone else! Or, suppose I want to compare the specifications of two types of televisions? Again, other than simply eyeballing two separate web sites, the easiest thing would be to just print the pages out and go over the specs with a pencil… crossing out comparable items, checking items off, or using some other method of noting differences. Or I can print it out and mark it up, then stick it in interoffice mail… or simply walk it over to my colleague.īut what if I could simply mark up a few comments right on my computer screen and then transmit a snapshot of that? Wouldn’t that be easier all around, and save paper as well? I can take a screenshot and somehow include that in an email or word processing document and send it along. ![]() ![]() I can forward the URL in an email, but then it’s hard to focus attention on the particular passage I want to comment on. If I see a web article or some other electronic document and want to pass it along to a colleague with a few comments, my digital options aren’t great. One small area where little progress seems to have been made in eliminating paper involves marking up comments and other notes on paper documents. I simply prefer to read in a more relaxed position than one can muster at a desktop PC, and I also like reading in places where even laptops are uncomfortable to use. My preference for reading paper has more to do with portability than readability nowadays. My desk is littered with web articles I’ve printed out to read later, although I do take steps to minimize the amount of paper required… by printing duplex (those new Pixma printers from Canon finally make duplex practical in an affordable desktop printer), and by even sometimes printing two pages up, thereby fitting four pages on one sheet of paper. For example, I still much prefer to read paper documents instead of trying to read onscreen. However, despite the growing sophistication of personal computers over the years, people seem to cling to paper methods no matter what great digital idea comes along. I’ve had an interest in the “paperless office for years, ever since Adobe Acrobat came out and was pitched as a possible solution. Note: This article was updated on 12/5/06 to add information about Magic Pen.
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