TouchPad Handwriting

Input methods keep getting better and better, with even more types being developed and tested. The laptop comes with a touchpad to provide mouse support. What’s more, dedicated software components like TouchPad Handwriting make it possible to use the touchpad in order to insert different types of characters by drawing them.

Works with most Synaptics API touchpads

One major advantage is that the application saves you the effort and time required to go through a setup process, which means it can easily be carried around on a thumb drive if you want to use it on other laptops. Registry entries remain unaffected during the process. Note that the application is of no use on regular computers because it only accepts input from a touchpad.
The configuration window shows up on launch so you can define general behavior options. It’s a good idea to make sure the latest touchpad drivers are already on your laptop, and that it’s properly calibrated. The application works with most touchpads relying on the Synaptics API.

Customize hotkeys and stroke feedback

Recognition of characters is done through Windows built-in systems, which might be default features of modern Windows iterations for laptops. Insertion of characters can be automatically done after a specific amount of seconds to make writing fluent. Sadly, input only consists of a character at a time.
The dedicated writing pad needs to be enabled to be able to write this way, thus letting you use it as a mouse whenever needed. You can customize the stroke size and color, but this only affects preview. When enabled, a small preview area shows up on screen, with real time updating feedback of input.

A few last words

Taking everything into consideration, we can state that TouchPad Handwriting is a pretty useful tool to have around, dedicated to laptops. Although there’s only one input method, character recognition is neat, letting you write one character at a time with a finger and not relying on the keyboard at all.