Customizing Tablet PC Input Panel

In the Opening tab of the Options dialog box, you can choose whether to show the Input Panel tab and icons.

To open Input Panel, you can point to (rather than tap) the Input Panel icon next to the text entry area or the Input Panel tab on the edge of the screen. To make this change, tap the Opening tab in the Options dialog box, and then select Point to the Input Panel icon or the tab to open Input Panel.

Besides choosing whether to show the Input Panel tab, you can customize it by changing the following default settings on the Opening tab in the Options dialog box:

• Show the Input Panel tab when the pen is out of range.  Clear this check box if you want to see the Input Panel tab only when your tablet pen is near the screen.

• Show Input Panel sliding open from the tab.  Clear this check box if it takes too long to open Input Panel, or if you don't like the way Input Panel slides open from the edge of the screen.

You can choose whether the Input Panel tab appears on the left edge or the right edge of the screen. If you're left-handed, you may find it useful to move the Input Panel tab from the left edge of the screen to the right edge. You can move the tab either by dragging it across the screen or changing this setting on the Opening tab in the Options dialog box.

For more information about how to open and move Input Panel, see Opening and moving Tablet PC Input Panel.

By default, the Insert button appears on the right side of the writing area after you start to write. To change where the button appears, tap the Settings tab in the Options dialog box, and then select Left side of the writing area.

By default, you must tap the Insert button to insert text. You can choose to point at the Insert button instead of tapping. To make this change, tap the Settings tab in the Options dialog box, and then select Pointing to the Insert button inserts text.

You can change the appearance of the ink that you use to write in both the writing pad and the character pad.

• To change ink thickness for the writing pad, tap the Writing Pad tab in the Options dialog box, and in the Ink thickness list, select the thickness that you want.

• To change ink thickness for the character pad, tap the Character Pad tab in the Options dialog box, and in the Ink thickness list, select the thickness that you want.

By default, your handwriting is not recognized as text in the character pad until you move your tablet pen away from the screen or move it to a different space. If you want Input Panel to recognize characters before you move your tablet pen, you can set it to automatically convert each character that you write to text before you move your pen. You can also control the length of time before the character is recognized as text. You can adjust these settings on the Character Pad tab in the Options dialog box.

Input Panel provides settings to help you protect your password.

The Input Panel password security settings are arranged into five password security levels. To adjust the password security levels in Input Panel, tap the Advanced tab in the Options dialog box, and then drag the slider to the level that you want.

By default, the password security level for Input Panel is set to Medium-High, so when you enter a password by using Input Panel, it automatically switches to the on-screen keyboard and doesn't show the cursor or which keys you tap on the on-screen keyboard.

Warning

If you disable password security settings, people who can see your screen may be able to see your password.

For more information about password security settings, see Password security with Tablet PC Input Panel.

To restore the original Input Panel settings, tap the Settings tab in the Options dialog box, and then tap Restore.