Sketching on iPad: moving the canvas and zooming at the same time

[msvana 0]

When using the sketching tool on my iPad (basic non-pro model, 2018 version, Apple Pencil v1) I often need to move the canvas. To do so, I need to use 2 fingers and drag the canvas. But 2 fingers are used to zoom as well, so I often end up moving the canvas and zooming at the same time. Would it be possible to better separate these two gestures, e.g., move the canvas with one or three fingers?

[PinkElephant 8,105]

These are iOS gestures - ask Apple to change them …

[gewappnet 79]

On 6/5/2022 at 10:08 AM, PinkElephant said:

These are iOS gestures - ask Apple to change them …

Not really. Of course the app can implement whatever gestures and functionalities. There is absolutely no reason why moving the canvas around should be done with two fingers. Actually there is no iOS system app at all that uses this gesture to move around. In iOS apps moving around is normally done with one finger. Evernote could do this as well if only they would support Apple Pencil and turn off drawing with the finger when using the Apple Pencil.

I totally agree that this stupid implementation by Evernote to use two fingers for completely different functionalities (zooming AND moving) is one of the many reasons why the drawing/handwriting functionality is currently useless. If only the functionality "reset zoom" in the menu would actually do what it says, but it just does exactly the same as "fit to screen".

[PinkElephant 8,105]

It is not out of the common to move things with a 2-finger-gesture. Some apps use it, especially those made for drawing with your finger. There out of obvious reasons moving with one finger would not work.

Want an example ?

Apples own Photos app moves in pictures with one finger - but if you activate the markup tools, it automatically switches to the 2-finger-mode for moving.

To avoid zooming just takes a little muscle control - simply don’t pinch in or out while moving.

Not so stupid after all …

[gewappnet 79]

1 minute ago, PinkElephant said:

To avoid zooming just takes a little muscle control - simply don’t pinch in or out while moving.

Not so stupid after all …

I am pretty sure if I would give you the task to move/scroll the canvas in a given way e. g. a full screen length in one direction without changing the zoom at all you would fail in 9 of 10 trials. Scrolling a screen/page down or left is probably the most common use case and if this does not work as expected then, yes, I call it a stupid implementation. Especially as ALL other note taking apps incl. Evernote's own very old Penultimate app manage to implement it better.

[PinkElephant 8,105]

Just gave it a try: 10 Tries, none of them ending with an unintended zoom. Just set 2 fingers side by side on the screen, and start dragging.

After each line, I moved the canvas. You see there is no size deviation. Maybe there was a jitter, but visually no Zoom took place. It is called Sketch, remember, not Nanometer-Precission-Drawing-Tool.

About the apps: Every one looks for its own way to find the best user interface. GoodNotes 5 (which is one of the top ranking handwritten note taking apps in the AppStore) even has a manual switch for 1 or 2 finger mode, which switches with Pencil into 1-finger-mode, but only if activated. Standard is 2-finger-move and zoom.

You can continue to call the EN devs stupid - a proper research shows they are pretty much sailing in the main stream with the set of gestures.

 

[gewappnet 79]

1 minute ago, PinkElephant said:

Just gave it a try: 10 Tries, none of them ending with an unintended zoom. Just set 2 fingers side by side on the screen, and start dragging.

After each line, I moved the canvas. You see there is no size deviation. Maybe there was a jitter, but visually no Zoom took place. It is called Sketch, remember, not Nanometer-Precission-Drawing-Tool.

So to be clear: Of course it is called Sketch but it is the handwriting functionality of Evernote. The use case is - like in GoodNotes, Noteshelf, Penultimate, etc. - to take notes e. g. in a meeting and when coming to the end of the screen/page to scroll down to continue with taking notes. This works in all other notes apps without any problem, but not in Evernote. That's all and that is stupid.