Apple Pencil and PowerPoint

Question

Level 1

9 points

Apple Pencil and PowerPoint

Apple Pencil works with PowerPoint in slide design mode, but in presentation mode it works the same way as a simple stylus or your finger. In particular, if you touch the screen with another part of your hand, the line jumps to that area, making it almost impossible to write clearly.

I bought the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil specifically for writing notes directly on PowerPoint slides during presentations (like a blackboard) but it disappointingly doesn't seem to work like that. Does anyone have a workaround, or know if Microsoft will make the Apple Pencil compatible with presentation mode? Tx

iPad Pro Wi-Fi, iOS 9.2.1, Apple Pencil

Posted on Feb 9, 2016 8:00 AM

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Answer 1

aloy1293

Level 1

4 points

Jan 17, 2017 6:17 AM in response to Jezza210

Hello, sorry this is totally unrelated to your question, however can I check if I need to purchase another app to use the apple pencil onto powerpoint slides and PDF files? I am considering on purchasing an iPad and an apple pencil to write notes on the lecturer's powerpoint slides during classes. (:

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Answer 2

Oct 17, 2017 4:25 AM in response to Jezza210

Yes, it’s so sad that there is not good teaching-presentation tools in iPad Pro. For note taking, it’s already super nice, we can use like notability and so on. So far, for presentation purpose, I prefer to use GoodNotes. Not really comfortable, but so far is the best I can find, even though GoodNotes originally is for note taking.

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Answer 3

rccharles

Level 6

12,941 points

Feb 9, 2016 12:13 PM in response to Jezza210

Wear gloves? There are special gloves for working in the cold .. so use non-special gloves 😉.

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Answer 4

Feb 16, 2016 5:24 AM in response to Jezza210

I suggest using Keynote instead, the pencil is very responsive in presentation mode. Sadly, though the pencil capabilities in Keynote are quite underwhelming; a few colours, no eraser (just undo), and no facility to change line size. Irrespective, it does work.

I too am having problems with PPT in presentation mode, specifically I find the the pencil is very slow in presentation mode, and unless I write with character sizes of >2 cm they may nor be recognised. Maybe not a big deal, but I am projecting onto a very large projector screen, so my handwriting is then about 3 ft tall!

Maybe there is a problem with the apple pencil, as palm rejection (I find that phase odd😊) should kick in. You are not resting your other hand on screen, by any chance?

I am hoping for updates on both softwares to increase the pencil functionality in presentation mode. Good luck!

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Answer 5

Jezza210 Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 16, 2016 5:34 AM in response to tententwenty

Yes 101020, in presentation mode in PowerPoint, the pencil delays or jumps (especially if any other part of your hand is resting on the screen, which is normal when writing). It's frustrating because it seems to work very well in slide design mode (it is specifically recognized as a pencil) but not in presentation mode where it is just a dumb line which you can sometimes make to look like childish writing — not good for a university lecture!

Since my entire library of class lectures is in PowerPoint I'm not keen to convert everything to Keynote — I'm hoping Microsoft will fix this for PowerPoint, or I'll just go back to non-interactive PowerPoint lectures. I was hoping technology would liven them up, but not so far.

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Answer 6

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,663 points

Feb 16, 2016 5:45 AM in response to Jezza210

For stuff relating to MS products like Powerpoint, best use their own forums:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_mobile-powerpoint-os_devi ce_ipadpro

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