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How do I Choose the Best Handwriting Recognition Tool?

Jo Dunaway
Jo Dunaway

To choose the best handwriting recognition tool, you will need to consider the device with which you will use the tool, the features that you want it to have and the amount of money that you want to spend. A handwriting recognition tool might employ a digital pen or might be used with a smartphone or electronic tablet or pad. A program that can take a scanned sheet of paper and convert handwritten words into text also might be considered a handwriting recognition tool. Some of these tools are for use only with certain devices or operating systems, but open-source handwriting recognition tools also are available.

There are several digital pens and pads on the market that can meet the needs of those who need a handwriting recognition tool. Students, journalists, lawyers, business employees, doctors and engineers all need not only the note-taking ability provided by these tools but also the ability to organize the notes, place them in folders and email copies to colleagues and staff members. The ability to easily export these notes via wireless, serial port or universal serial bus (USB) hookups to desktop computers is a feature once only dreamed of by many people who tired of having to type up their handwritten notes from meetings, lectures and office visits in each evening’s document retrieval/storage device.

Handwriting recognition tools can be used during business meetings.
Handwriting recognition tools can be used during business meetings.

A visit to an electronics store or a quick Internet search can help you learn what products are available for your devices or computer system. If you want a handwriting recognition tool for your smartphone, electronic tablet or other device, you might try searching through the applications that are available for your particular model. Some will provide trial versions that can be downloaded and allow you to determine how well the tool works or suits your needs. Be sure to read any customer reviews that you can find for any tool that you are considering, because people who have used it can be a great resource for information about its ease of use, its benefits and any drawbacks as well as whether it is worth the price you will have to pay.

Many tablets come with handwriting recognition software.
Many tablets come with handwriting recognition software.

There are many features available and a wide range of ways to use a handwriting recognition tool. A student might find it particularly useful because he or she can take handwritten notes during lectures and, by using a digital pen placed on a portion of the notes, have the notes converted into an audio file that will play back so the student can hear what the professor said all over again. The capabilities of some of the software programs in conjunction with these tools can help create a digital notebook that replaces the bulky notebooks for each subject that students used to have to carry around. This also is a capability that those who are in a business meeting might be eager to make use of as figures quoted quickly can be retrieved and played back from the audio recording made by the digital pen. You can use them to make your own personal notes and then convert them and share with others in what are known as “pencasts.”

A doctor may benefit from a handwriting recognition tool.
A doctor may benefit from a handwriting recognition tool.

Some of the software used on these handwriting recognition tools can generate assignments to staff members or can easily search digital folders filled with notes, diagrams and equations. Many have built-in dictionaries that are capable of learning new terms to translate. Some of the electronic pad mediums and their software programs allow incorporation of diagrams and photo images from photo albums that can then be emailed to print. Business template forms can be uploaded and filled in and then emailed to company servers for printing and/or saving to client files when away from the office.

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    • Handwriting recognition tools can be used during business meetings.
      By: contrastwerkstatt
      Handwriting recognition tools can be used during business meetings.
    • Many tablets come with handwriting recognition software.
      By: sepy
      Many tablets come with handwriting recognition software.
    • A doctor may benefit from a handwriting recognition tool.
      By: Tyler Olson
      A doctor may benefit from a handwriting recognition tool.
    • There are several digital pens that can meet the needs of people who need a handwriting recognition tool.
      By: Igor Mojzes
      There are several digital pens that can meet the needs of people who need a handwriting recognition tool.