Get More From Your Tablet PC: Annotating Documents
While the Microsoft Packs and browsing tips I previously highlighted are certainly useful, the most commonly employed (and perhaps beneficial) feature of the Tablet PC is the ability to annotate documents. Any file that can be printed can be inked, and today we’ll examine four tools that make the process simple and easy: Windows Journal, OneNote, Microsoft Office, and PDF Annotator.
Windows Journal
Created specifically for the Tablet PC, Windows Journal is a free, basic note-taking application that includes a “printing” option for sending files to Journal (Print –> Journal Note Writer). Once “printed”, the file’s contents can be searched, annotated with ink and text, and then exported as either a web archive (.mhtml) or image file (.tiff). Frequent users may prefer to save annotated work as a PDF using Acrobat Professional (included on our Tablets) or a free PDF creator such as Primo PFD. Although Windows Journal may seem simple in form and function, it is ideal for dealing with non-Office or non-Acrobat documents (notice the Stella model shown below) that do not need to be archived by the user.
OneNote 2007
Although OneNote is a Microsoft Office application, it is available as a stand-alone product and thus I will address it separately from the “typical” Office suite of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Like Windows Journal, OneNote 2007 has a “print” driver (Print –> Send to OneNote 2007) that will send any open file to the application. The two major differences between the programs (besides price) are (1) OneNote has more export/sharing options and (2) files sent to OneNote will automatically be saved into a OneNote notebook. This feature can be quite handy provided you want to save a copy of the annotated file (i.e. sometimes documents do not need to be saved long-term). For example, a meeting agenda sent via email might be a good candidate for OneNote; a student’s concept map that you want to grade and return could be handled in Windows Journal.
Office 2007
Anyone who has tried to use the reviewing tools in previous versions of Office knows the tedium of working with stickies and comments. Fortunately, Office 2007, with its improved “ribbons” and inking features, makes annotating Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files a breeze. All three applications utilize the same tools and process (Review –> Start Inking). There is a wide variety of colors and weights, and as long as the file is saved in a compatible format, even Mac and non-Tablet users will be able to read the annotations. Note that with the Lenovo X61 the eraser tool isn’t necessary; simply flip the stylus around and start erasing!
PDF Annotator
Adobe Acrobat files (.pdf) have long been the “de facto” standard for electronic document exchange. And while the Professional version of Acrobat does allow for inserting comments, this process, much like that in Word, can be quite cumbersome. PDF Annotator allows users to easily add ink, text, and even images to Acrobat documents. A great number of professional papers are available in .pdf form and being able to highlight/annotate, save, and redistribute these resources electronically is truly convenient.
Start Experimenting
As with most things, there is no “one best tool” for annotating; each has its place and purpose. Windows Journal is well-suited to what I like to call “transient” documents and its versatility cannot be beat. OneNote is more powerful but saving every document into a notebook may not always be necessary or desirable. Office 2007 is clearly the choice for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, and PDF Annotator makes easy work of marking up Acrobat files. Learning to use all four will help you get more from your Tablet PC, so choose an application, open a file, and start experimenting!
