Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

judyg951

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
427
239
sunny So. Ca.
I had a few gift cards so ordered a pencil along with my new IPP. I'm just wondering if I really need it though. What are some apps that you can use it with? I'm hoping it will work well with PS when the iPad version is released.
 
As far as photoshop is concerned I’m sure it will be incorporated. It would be silly not too. From other use cases I’ve seen you can obviously use it to sketch, alter photos already, and even fine tune and cut clips in iMovie.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mackilroy
I know of a couple of people that use the pencil to write notes, one in college and one in I guess what could be called a diary. They both just prefer writing vs typing.

I have one of the original ones I got with my 2015 pro. I didn't use it as much as others probably did, but I did order #2 to go with this year's pro. I mostly use it for marking up PDFs and signing documents. Yes, you can use your finger, but using the pencil feels a lot better.

I keep telling myself I'm going to start drawing too, but that hasn't happened yet. ;)
 
I had a few gift cards so ordered a pencil along with my new IPP. I'm just wondering if I really need it though. What are some apps that you can use it with? I'm hoping it will work well with PS when the iPad version is released.
I don't need one myself but my school kids do. They are given iPads instead of books to use but still have to show their work. So the apps they use have them writing on "paper" to show how they completed the math calculations. They do markups for typed documents, highlight reading for later reference. They draw for art. Things like that. I myself am not an artist and rarely find myself wanting to write on my iPad even for notes. I might find a use if I had one given to me but at the moment have no use for one that costs.
 
I had a few gift cards so ordered a pencil along with my new IPP. I'm just wondering if I really need it though. What are some apps that you can use it with? I'm hoping it will work well with PS when the iPad version is released.
Adobe demoed some gestures during the keynote with the new Pencil. So yes it will work with Photoshop when it releases. I’ve seen some apps are already updating today with functionality with the new Pencil. Notability updated today with Pencil gestures.
 
The apple pencil is more useful for art apps. I use it for photography because it gives me more control over every pixel that I want to replace. I also use it on Google Streetview, when I have to place the exactly location of a photo or when I have to connect different photos.
If you don't work with it, just return it before putting on eBay to sell it for $65.
 
I use it a lot for all sorts of things, except art. I have no talent for drawing. I do like to use Concepts to sketch out ideas and to take notes. I use PDF Expert to sign PDFs, work crossword puzzles and to add comments to documents. Sometimes in Safari the Pencil is helpful when you need to click a really small widget. I also annotate pictures I send to my family.
 
Not an artist...
Apps I use the Pencil with on a regular basis (in no particular order):
OneNote
Word
GoodNotes 5
LiquidText
Pixelmator Photo
Notes
Google Keep
 
I love using the Apple Pencil for writing notes, drawing and editing photos in Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo.
 
Teacher here. I use the pencil for grading student essays. They submit them electronically as PDF files in our school's course management system. I download them en bulk to my iPad via dropbox, then organize the files with Readdle and then handwrite commentary and editing marks on their research essays.

I then email the marked papers back to students with the corrections and annotation, which I prefer doing by hand rather than via Microsoft Word's "Insert Comments," since it lets me use the standard editing marks common in the field.

I also use the pencil in class for lecture. Often, I snap a photo using the iPad, taking the image directly of a section of poetry or literature. I then project it onto a smart board, and I can then use the pencil to mark the material in front of the whole class, using different colors to indicate meter or underline/circle various elements of the poem in a color-coded way. I can also switch the pencil to highlighter rather than pen-mode an highlight passages in various colors I want to talk about.
 
I use the Pencil for taking notes during meetings mostly in a Franklin Covey style planner in Notability. I worked for a company for many years where in meetings, laptops were not allowed unless you were the presenter. So I took my notes with a pad and pen until the Pencil came along. Now all my notes are in one place and easily found - Notability also synced on my iPhone.
 
I take notes with mine all the time

This ^^^^^

I have not used pen, paper or pencil since November.

I use it in calendar apps to make appointments, Goodnotes/Notability/others to replace all the physical writing I would normally. It sounds mundane and boring but I use Goodnotes to make a constantly updated grocery shopping list, which gets printed out on shopping day.

No more bits n bobs of paper all over my house.

Tom
 
No. He failed at ‘gets printed out’ ;):)

True I print out my handwritten grocery list - but that's one piece of paper every 3-4 weeks.

How about this as an example of paper overload; in May/2017 I took medical retirement and destroyed 20 years worth of handwritten lab notes. An entire 4 level filing cabinet filled up 4 large garbage bags. Ah....my handwriting was so messy and incoherent that noone else in the lab could have read it (and I wasn't going to transcribe those notes on to the computers available at work).

Prior to having iPads w/pencils I had a compulsive need to print out everything I wrote (at home). I'm more than happy to let my writing sit in digital form as along as I back everything up.

Tom
 
True I print out my handwritten grocery list - but that's one piece of paper every 3-4 weeks.

How about this as an example of paper overload; in May/2017 I took medical retirement and destroyed 20 years worth of handwritten lab notes. An entire 4 level filing cabinet filled up 4 large garbage bags. Ah....my handwriting was so messy and incoherent that noone else in the lab could have read it (and I wasn't going to transcribe those notes on to the computers available at work).

Prior to having iPads w/pencils I had a compulsive need to print out everything I wrote (at home). I'm more than happy to let my writing sit in digital form as along as I back everything up.

Tom

Joking aside, I do the same with my iPad Pro, MacBook Pro or PC, and have the list on my phone when in the store. Yesterday, I snapped two handwritten shopping lists (made by someone else) into Notes and then crossed out the items as I shopped.

The 'paperless office' is now a reality for me. Delivery notes would be the only paper that I've had for many years.

I have a Pencil waiting to be unboxed and looking forward to using it :)
 
I had a few gift cards so ordered a pencil along with my new IPP. I'm just wondering if I really need it though. What are some apps that you can use it with? I'm hoping it will work well with PS when the iPad version is released.

I use mine for writing notes, sketching diagrams, etc.

I use my ipad pro as a notebook (like... the paper kind) that i can't lose as it is all cloud synched. I also use it for other stuff, but that's what the pencil is for.

That, and drawing - if you are artistically inclined.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mackilroy
Impressive! :eek:

I'm in a similar situation to the dude who hasn't used a pen or physical paper since November, except for me it's an academic/teaching setting. I haven't had students turn in physical papers for homework in over a year, and I've done all my grading and editing using an apple pencil instead, emailing students back their drafts.

Naysayers may point out that one could do the same thing with Microsoft Office and embedded comments in the files, but I couldn't use traditional editing marks or draw little charts and cartoons in the margins so rapidly in Office.

Now, I'm beginning the process of converting years of hardcopy teaching notes and lecture notes into iPad friendly drawings, and the clutter of file cabinets in my office is slowly being whittled away.... It's a teacher's paradise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: throAU
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.