Surface Pro 3 Pen Button Customization

Anonymous
2014-06-21T18:20:54+00:00

I am a previous owner of a Surface Pro 2, and loved the capability it provided of customizing the button commands per program through the Wacom drivers. As a new owner of the surface Pro 3, I a very disappointed to discover that the same functionality is not available in the N-trig driver options. As an artist, the primary use of my surface is for drawing inside of programs like Adobe Photoshop. Not being able to customize the button functions on the new pen is detrimental to my efficiency as a digital artist. Without the ease of having quick access to specific commands through the pen buttons, I am forced to either dig through the menus and submenus of the program to execute a simple command, or connect a keyboard to use hotkeys. One of the greatest features of the surface is the ability to draw inside of photoshop as if it were a paper notebook, freeing me from my desktop work space and removing the requirement of the mouse and keyboard. Without the customization of these pen buttons, I lose that freedom.

I spoke to a Microsoft support tech this morning who informed me that "hopefully" in the next month or two, this feature will be added to the pen drivers. While this is a new product, and I understand that some features are still in development, this feature is crucial in the workflow of any artist using this device. I already own a desktop computer and a laptop; so again, the primary function of the Surface Pro 3 for me is drawing inside of programs like Photoshop without the need for a mouse and keyboard. 

I don't know if any Microsoft representatives read these discussions, but if there is a way I could be included in any sort of pre-release developmental versions of drivers that introduce this capability, I would love to be a part of it and am happy to provide feedback from an artist's perspective. 

Thanks for reading.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-11-28T01:16:49+00:00

    I wonder if the SP3 pen is a new model that Ntrig haven't supplied for other devices, and perhaps it needs a new driver.

    Anyway, I'm not concerned by who exactly is the hold up, what I'd really like is for someone at Microsoft to at least acknowledge if this is being worked on and if so, what's the likely release date.

    I run a game development studio and I'd like to get Surface Pro 3's for my artists to use with Mudbox and Photoshop, but I'm holding off on that investment until I can be sure the pens will work properly, the same way their current wacom tablet pens do.

    Please, Define work properly. To me my pen work properly.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-11-28T01:04:09+00:00

    I wonder if the SP3 pen is a new model that Ntrig haven't supplied for other devices, and perhaps it needs a new driver.

    Anyway, I'm not concerned by who exactly is the hold up, what I'd really like is for someone at Microsoft to at least acknowledge if this is being worked on and if so, what's the likely release date.

    I run a game development studio and I'd like to get Surface Pro 3's for my artists to use with Mudbox and Photoshop, but I'm holding off on that investment until I can be sure the pens will work properly, the same way their current wacom tablet pens do.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-11-27T17:32:35+00:00

    N-trig "will" or already have?

    Exactly.

    For other OEMS I see an Ntrig Control Panel applet that's not present  in the Surface and it's part of the Ntrig Driver Installation. On another hand, Ntrig allows you to disable the eraser button but no to assign it to another task. Does all it does.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-11-27T17:17:25+00:00

    N-trig "will" or already have?

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-11-27T16:32:51+00:00

    According to N-trig, Microsoft has to do the job:

    "Does N-trig offer customization of the side pen buttons so they can be mapped to various commands or keys, different for each application, like Wacom does?

    For example, in Photoshop, the lower side button set to pan, top side button to right click,  and another combination for Illustrator, Painter, 3dsmax etc?

    If not yet, when is this expected to be  implemented, and is there any workaround through other utilities like autohotkey etc?

    Actually it’s not N-trig’s call.

    We will provide pen API to ODM/OEM like Dell, Acre or SONY, it’s up to them if developing such application.

     Regards,

    N-trig E-support.."

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