Gestures

Gestures are TOTAL Sketch's way of enhancing your experience while sketching with a pen by simplifying some of the common tasks you do while sketching. In specific, TOTAL Sketch's gesture recognition allows you to adjust line direction, adjust small lines and angle measurements, and place labels much more naturally than with traditional means. Here's how to use gestures to speed up sketching in the field.

• Call Outs — At times you may have to adjust a line length or angle measurement that proves too difficult to adjust simply because the measurement is so small that you can't write in your adjusted measurement over top of the existing measurement label. For this reason, TOTAL Sketch allows you to draw "call outs" from any measurement so that you can write in your adjustment without having to try to squeeze it into a small space on your sketch or adjust the zoom of your sketch. To write in an adjustment using the call out gesture:
  1. In a sketch, click the arrow beside the Draw button in the toolbar.
  2. Put the tip of your pen on the label for the measurement you wish to change.
  3. Draw a line from the label away from your sketch (or simply to an open area of sketch "paper").
  4. Write in the adjusted measurement at the end of line you've drawn. After a moment, TOTAL Sketch interprets the call out line and adjusts your measurement accordingly.

     

• Line Directions — Sometimes it's easier to adjust a line's direction by simply writing in the direction you wish for the line to go instead of attempting to drag the end point to adjust the line. To account for this, TOTAL Sketch supports the use of compass directions (N, NW, W, E, SE, etc) when adjusting a line. To adjust a line's direction using compass directions:
  1. In a sketch, click the arrow beside the Draw button in the toolbar.
  2. Write the desired direction abbreviation (N, S, E, W, NW, NE, SE, SW) for the line exactly over top of the line's length label. TOTAL Sketch interprets your handwriting and alters the line's direction.

     

• Shorthand Labels — TOTAL Sketch also recognizes any labels that you write onto your sketch. The only requirement for this is that you have the label in your Labels list prior to trying to use the label. Whether you've added a custom label or are using TOTAL Sketch's stock labels, all you need to do is write directly onto the screen in the area where you wish to place your label. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you're writing labels onto your sketch.
  • You can either write the full label or a shorthand version of the label and TOTAL Sketch will recognize it.
  • Make sure the label exists in your Labels list before attempting to write it onto your sketch. If it's not a part of your labels list, TOTAL Sketch will not be able to match your handwriting against the correct label.
  • If you're writing a shorthand label, you must write out at least three letters of the first word in the label. If there are multiple words, you must write out at least one letter of each extra word. For instance, to write a shorthand label for "Master Bedroom" you would write no less than "Mas B" (three letters of "Master" and one letter of "Bedroom").

    

Windows–based mobile PCs can progressively improve their understanding of your handwriting. For Windows 7 and Vista, click here for instructions to enable Handwriting Recognition and Automatic Learning. For Windows 8 and 10, click here. If you're using Windows XP, it cannot improve its understanding of your handwriting. Instead, see this article for tips on how to write in a way that it can understand better.