CorelDraw X8 on a Surface Pro 4 Part 3
Continued from CorelDraw X8 on a Surface Pro 4 Part 2
The Surface Pen and the CorelDraw X8 Graphics Suite
I freely admit Ive always been horrible with the old-school Wacom Pen tablets, but I did use the accessory a few times over the years with applications such as InDesign, FrameMaker, Corel PaintShop Pro, and Corel Designer. When I purchased the Surface Pro 4, I fully expected to use the Surface Pen extensively with CorelDraw X8 and Corel Photo-Paint X8. As it turned out, I found using the Surface Pen even more awkward than the Bamboo tablets. Note that devoted Surface Pen users will probably fair much better than me and my bruised and misshapen unskilled hands.
As mentioned in the previous section, users should not expect Corel Photo-Paint to be optimized for the Surface Pen. The CorelDraw X8 Graphics Suite Reviewers Guide has a short section devoted to the "New" Real-Time Stylus (RTS) support, but its clear the developers never focused on it as a selling point. In fact, compared with Microsofts free Fresh Paint app, Corel Photo-Paint X8 is a bit embarrassing in terms of pen accuracy. Even if you crank up the Surface Pens sensitivity settings and set the Pen Settings in Corel as best as you can, Photo-Paint X8 (and CorelDraw X8) cant mimic the performance of free drawing and painting apps from the Microsoft Store.
Note: Based on the configuration settings and performance on the SP4, it seems like X8 seems to be still using Windows 8s stylus support, rather than the newer and better engine found with Windows 10, which was designed for devices such as the Surface Pro series.
There were moments while using Corel Photo-Paint X8 that I felt the Surface Pen worked well, but for the most part, the pen skipped terribly and the user experience was nowhere as smooth as when working with dedicated painting and drawing mobile apps. In addition, the palm block feature of Windows, which works well with OneNote and Microsoft mobile apps, was inconsistent on Corel Draw and Photo-Paint. There were times when marks would suddenly appear on the document as I attempted to scribble on the workspace with the Surface Pen.
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| The palm block feature for SP4 was inconsistent on CorelDraw X8, making vector editing with the Surface Pen extremely awkward at times. |
There is every possibility Corel fans can paint and draw with Photo-Paint X8 with the Surface Pen accurately with practice, but for my part, I think Im sticking to traditional pen and paper, or create initial sketches using Fresh Paint and then import it over to Corel Draw or Photo-Paint. Starting a project from scratch with Photo-Paint X8 with the Surface Pen seemed impractical and frustrating.
Using the Surface Pen with CorelDraw is slightly better, especially for basic design tasks. However, as mentioned in Part 1 and 2 of this series, the screen real estate of the SP4 doesnt make it the best environment for using the Surface Pen to tap and drag nodes, and zoom in and out of the work area. As I adjusted angles and smoothened objects on my .cdr file, I found myself repeatedly tapping the Surface Pen on the screen several times when the application wouldnt take. It was clear the Surface Pen doesnt perform as well in Corels applications as it does in apps such as OneNote, Fresh Paint, or even Word.
Note: I often read incredibly uneducated comments online about comparisons between the Apple Pencil and the Surface Pen. Many mainstream users dont realize the software - the app where youre using the input tool - affects the overall performance and user experience. In short, if you use the Apple Pencil with a crappy iOS app, then obviously the user experience would be awful. When you go to an Apple Store and test the iPad Pros Apple Pencil, Apple ensures the apps installed on the display models were tested rigorously with the Apple Pencil. If you used it with a quality iOS app, theres the illusion of Apple Pencils infallibility. The Surface Pen works in the same way, though its not as obvious because ignorant users seem to think that the Windows 10 desktop should work like an Android tablet UI (big screen elements and massive idiot-proof buttons) or iOS. However, more experienced (and more intelligent) users can scribble along on OneNote and draw amazing illustrations using the Surface Pen with ease using Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, or stylus-optimized mobile and desktop applications.
Finally, although in time Ill probably improve with the right-click button on the Surface Pen, I fumbled with pressing it while working with a CorelDraw or Corel Photo-Paint project. It wasnt long before I found myself returning the Surface Pen to the magnetized area on the SP4s bezel and picking up my Microsoft mouse.
Concluded in CorelDraw X8 on a Surface Pro 4 Part 4
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