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I love the new SP4 pen, but I've noticed the pen pressure is not consistent. The biggest problem is that paint brush strokes in Photoshop don't taper smoothly when drawing. I tired using the SP4 pen on my Surface Pro 3 and it doesn't have any problem. Here is a screen capture of what I'm talking about.
Since the pen isn't the problem I'm assuming it's a calibration issue with the Surface Pro 4. I downloaded new Wintab drivers to see if that would solve the problem (got the idea from this thread about pen problems).
It's not just Photoshop. The actual Surface pen pressure app has the same problem. It's harder to see because the brush strokes are thinner, but there is a much faster tapering happening than there is on the Surface Pro 3. Here is a screen cap:
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hey Everyone!
Thanks for all the feedback!
As some of you have already noticed, on July 14th, 2016, we released an update to the Surface Touch Driver that should significantly improve the pen tapering and pressure experience that this thread talks about.
For more information on the 7/14 update, you can go here.
If you experience any difficulty downloading or installing updates, please check the Troubles installing Surface and Windows updates article for assistance.
Thanks!
Zachary
I think that's a great idea. Do you mind if I use your story in a video blog post I'm working on Daisy?
I really hope they are not relying on the new Wacom pen that is supposed to be released at the end of this year, to solve the problem (http://surfaceproartist.com/blog/2016/3/30/microsoft-wacom-developing-universal-windows-pen) .
Surely this is the last time that I buy Microsoft hardware.
@Brad
Try Installing the Wacom Drivers
The Win Tab Drivers and It Solved the problem to an extent.
Best
:)
Hey all,
So I contacted Microsoft on Friday and this is essentially what happened:
Contacted Microsoft -> spoke to a NON-TECH representative -> told them what happened -> without sending me to a tech person, they decided the problem was pen related due to what I explained -> decided the solution was to send me a new pen -> apparently I'm getting a new pen.
So, the pen is on it's way, and I also ordered some of the interchangeable SP4 pen tips. I've also tried the SP3 pen and I'll let you all know now that it does NOT do any better (pretty annoyed that a Microsoft representative specifically said that he personally tested the SP3 pen on an SP4 and he saw absolutely no taper whatsoever. I have a log of the chat as proof). Basically, since it really doesn't look like the issue is going to be solved with a new pen, I'm just going to wait to get it, test it out, see that it (inevitably) fails, and contact Microsoft again about this issue. What I'm hoping is that they can send me to a tech person that can give me some kind of legitimate feedback about the current state of the pen issue fix.
However, I should point out something important-- the first time I contacted Microsoft about the taper issue (which was like 3 weeks ago) the tech helping me was acting as if he had absolutely no idea that this was even an issue. When I told him about the black screen issue, he knew exactly right away what I was talking about and could tell me everything Microsoft development team was doing to fix it. What this seems to say is that the taper issue is NOT high on their list of things that need to be fixed. So, I would really suggest that people start making more noise about this. Even if you've already said something on this forum, post more, or even see if you can open more threads about it. If an issue that is clearly affecting a lot of people is so obscure to their TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM I have a feeling that it's very low on their list of concerns. We all paid a lot of money for this device, and I'm not expecting perfection, but I'm expecting d*mn well near it. So we need to make sure that this issue becomes more of a priority in Microsoft's eyes.
Once again, I'll update everyone after my next contact with Microsoft (after I receive the new pen).
