Implement all drawing features from powerpoint in OneNote

B

bobteixeira

Allow us to use all of the drawing features - like shapes, shading, straight
lines - the same as the drawing tool bar in Powerpoint.

I would like to be able to create shaded boxes, tables with lines, flow
charts and the like in OneNote rather than going to powerpoint or some other
program and creating the information.
 
P

PJ

I take the other view on this. I don't want lots of drawing features,
perhaps a box might be useful but nothing more.
 
B

bobteixeira

PJ - I'm in charge of process improvement efforts at my company - this
requires a significant amount of capturing process flows and other graphical
representations of items - all as part of a meeting. The OneNote tool
becomes less useful if I have to use 3 different programs to do this.

I'm working with a Laptop, and even if I were working with a Tablet, I'm not
a good enough artist to capture the flows correctly.

In addition, I use the shading options in the drawings to mean something ,
not just for color's sake. So without the shading options, the tool is less
useful.

Maybe in your role you wouldn't use these tools, but they are vital for me.

Bob.
 
A

alainr

I share the same desire.

Any tools that would provide means of jotting down ideas, processes,
concepts and sketch quick drawings is a must for OneNote. These could then
be transfered to more powerful tools afterwards for refinement, if need be,
instead of doing twice the work each time, in the current condition due to a
disconnect between OneNote and the rest of Office applications.
 
A

alanwilkerson

If you had office installed aren't the tools such as "drawing" shared
across progams? (with the exception of Publisher that is like a poor
cousin) If so it would seem natural to make the same things available
that are there in Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.
Alan
 
C

Chris H.

Not in OneNote's case, Alan. If Publisher is a poor cousin, then OneNote is
only currently a distant relative of the Office family. :cool: It doesn't
participate in a lot of the Office outings, including family picnics.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
 
D

Dan

Well then we need to all encourage this outcast to join the family! After
all, Microsoft's marketing implies as much.

I would certianly like to see basic shapes as I have indicated elsewhere.
For me just the ones that help me jot notes. The free form pen is very crude
for some things. I know there is stationery with basic shapes but none that
I found that provide a vertical line. And this is cumbersome to need to add
a stationery page so you can copy and past a shape.

Let's get the family together or get to more truth in marketing.
 
R

Richard

Gosh we all want the same thing for sure.... but here is a silly work around
I just figured out, go to app with drawing.... then screen clip the shapes
you want, and there you have it.
Copy past etc, or create a sheet with shapes you use as a library!!!
 
C

Chris Pratley (MS)

Thanks for the suggestion. We hear this one quite alot. But I am interested in more details.

OneNote is intended for information capture more than for producing great looking output. The drawing tools in the other Office apps are designed to produce nice output, but it is hard to quickly capture a diagram drawn on a whiteboard using those tools.

So what are people really asking for here?
A) Quick tools that are not fancy, maybe just a few shapes and lines that you can maybe even draw with a mouse and onenote "cleans up" for you. Quick, but not snazzy. Optimized for speed of capture.
B) Complete drawing tools to produce any diagram, with colors, fills, border types, etc. With this interface, you would not be able to quickly capture a diagram in real-time, as you can with a pen since you'd be selecting from a lot of shapes, dragging, positioning, filling etc while the speaker got way ahead of you.

Please remember this is a question about priority, so you can't just say "both".

Thanks!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

<bobteixeira> wrote:


Allow us to use all of the drawing features - like shapes, shading, straight
lines - the same as the drawing tool bar in Powerpoint.

I would like to be able to create shaded boxes, tables with lines, flow
charts and the like in OneNote rather than going to powerpoint or some other
program and creating the information.
 
R

Richard

For my money its A, and output is not the point its making what one looks at
more visualy pleasing and organing it etc. so its all just not a bunch of
floating text boxes. Come on selecting: Tools, Drawing and writing tools,
and what do you get, scribbles. Need some enhancments in addition to lines
cirlces boxes different line types, dashed etc. you should have som line
ballon note shaps to use as mark-ups. Plus make it easier to format text
with like fly out menus and such.

Stop, you didnt ask about that.... thanks. I now have sreen clips of all
sorts of things that I had not thought about using it for.
 
K

Kathy J

Hi Chris,
Hope I'm not too late to chime in on this. I need the ability to add shapes
to note pages to allow better brainstorming and design. I like the idea of
A, but it needs to be more than just circles, squares, arrows. I need to be
able to connect things so that if one piece moves, the other does too. I
need to be able to pick the colors, so that when I am designing PPT
presentations or web sites, I can make sure the colors work together.

Some examples: I want to be able to add shapes around pieces of text or
pictures. I want to be able to show information flow. I want to show
connectivity between pieces of information. I want to use OneNote to do
mind-mapping, brainstorming, and other information processes.

What would really be great is a toolbar with the basic shapes where I can
click on a shape and a color, and drag it to where I want. This would allow
me to create what I need at the size and color I need. (One reason I need
more shapes: I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. Ask for a more
complicated shape like a square, a triangle, an arrow, etc. and it doesn't
look any thing like what it should.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Co-Author of Power OneNote: Unleashing the Power of OneNote from Holy Macro!
Books
Get OneNote answers at http://www.onenoteanswers.com
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
Want to learn OneNote? Check out
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/newclasses.htm#onenote

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
J

johnboi

With the convenient way to capture a screen and have it paste right into
OneNote, a good set of drawing and annotation tools would be a big, big
plus. Snagit has the best annotating features of any screen capture program
going and some of it's features would make OneNote so much better. Like for
drawing a red box around part of the capture, drawing and arrow to it and
adding text for comments. Then, you could email this to someone. I use this
all day while doing tech support for major software company.
 
O

Out of Hiding

Hi Chris,

I just posted my own query on "straight lines" and then realized if I posted
less of my question I would have found this discussion exactly one month
prior.

My comment to this point has been that because I use a wacom tablet with pen
for my handwriting/drawing, not directly on the screen, my hand/eye
coordination plus the fact the pen acts more like a mouse than a precision
instrument causes the boxes to come out shaky. I used the plastic ruler
method to draw one long line but even though the ruler didn't move the screen
position of the pointer did.

To answer your question:
A) Quick tools that are not fancy, maybe just a few shapes and lines that you can maybe even draw with a mouse and onenote "cleans up" for you. Quick, but not snazzy. Optimized for speed of capture.
Click to expand...

I would add to this the ability to select hand-drawn images once put on
paper and be able to move and resize them independently of the text. For some
reason, on the specific implementation on my laptop (11.6360.6360) SP1 the
diagrams will only move with the text. The only option I have to modify the
graphic is to erase it.

I'm sure the current version of OneNote works really well with TabletPC.
It's just when we start moving into laptop/desktop territory the wish list
grows!

Even something straightforward like allowing us to apply borders to the text
box would be a great improvement.

My present dilemma is that I'm brainstorming a simple relational database
model and want to link the related fields with straight lines. Then I got
clever and thought I'd like to box the field names.

But I also see the paste and mark up screen shot scenario described by
another user in this thread.

-Tony
 
O

Out of Hiding

More weirdness when drawing boxes: even when I have the felt tip pen
selected, when I try to draw a box too close to the top of a text box the
program thinks I want to move the text box, and automatically switches to the
text/selection tool. Is that intentional?

Also, could OneNote be configured to take advantage of Wacom's double ended
stylus, switching between pen and eraser?

-Tony
 
L

LeMel

I am a graphic artsit.

Much of my weekly routine consist of gathering information from people
regarding projects I am working on - taking notes and making sketches
alongside the notes.

While I understand and agree that OneNote should not attempt to provide
'finish' that is better done in professional design apps (nor would I switch
if it did). For sketching I expect my TabletPC to function *at the very
least* like a piece of paper and a fistful of color pens.

Right now with OneNote there is a limit on the number and type of pens you
can define, and quickly defining a new one (color picking, changing
thickness, changing transparency) is cumbersome.

If I could have a floating pallete with a small color picker, a weight
picker/slider and a transparency slider, I would be king of all. The ability
to define and name as many pens as I like would complete my domain.

OneNote already supports all of this, the UI just doesn't support the
taskflow of meeting-sketching.

Thanks for a great tool.

PS: I really like Corel Grafigo - the way it recognizes shapes you sketch
and intelligently snaps them into vectors but still allows free sketching -
but I have a feeling that this might be asking too much from Microsoft. I
would (and did) use that app for meetings, but now I can't stand switching
away from OneNote and its wonderful recording and search features, etc. while
in a meeting taking notes.
 
B

binamig

I'm a student and a teacher (of math). You are correct about the need for
speed when taking notes but I lecture from OneNote, and I could use the extra
time it takes to draw in word, then captur to OneNote.

Please give us all us all the tools.
 
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