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
    2015-06-08T19:05:05+00:00

    What you guys said. 

    I need programmable buttons for working in Photoshop.

    The functionality to set specific actions is clearly already there (eg. One Note). How hard can it be?

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-06-05T13:56:56+00:00

    See the link http://ahkscript.org/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7589 for an AutoHotkey script that allows the state of the two barrel buttons to be detected when the pen is tapped against the Surface. This allows the barrel buttons be programmed to suit, within limits. (Windows still, by default traps a long press with the bottom button pressed and turns it into a right click. but this can be turned off in the touch or mouse settings somewhere.) Likely, though, only experienced AutoHotkey programmers should work with this script.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-06-05T12:27:44+00:00

    So if there is no functionality or customization for the pen's side buttons why does the stylus have them in the first place?

    I really find it hard to believe this is a difficult issue to resolve.

    MS has been offering customized hardware buttons for mice and keyboard remapping for ages.

    It is sad that even the slightest resources haven't been devoted on this issue.

    Perhaps it is kept for the next version, but even that is just not fair.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-06-05T09:55:31+00:00

    You guys will probably be disappointed if you are looking for a software upgrade for the pen in compatibility.  The digitizer is built into the pen and the touchscreen controller is also the controller for the pen.  So, there will be no work-a-round for that.

    As for tips for the pen?  Contact Customer Service for those.

    The pen is more of an electronic stylus with these tablets and won't be much more.  Probably not desired but you can attach a Wacom digitizer tablet to the Pro 3 and use that instead.  It would not be portable except for the smaller Wacom models.

    So basically its not possible? Then how does Radial menu do it?

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-06-05T09:45:48+00:00

    I don't know about you you but radial menu crashes on me all the time

    Myself as well, but it the only option. It is quite buggy.

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