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Inspiring
December 24, 2016
Released

P: Surface Dial support

  • December 24, 2016
  • 35 replies
  • 859 views

I recently acquired a Surface Studio with the Dial and there is quite a bit of potential in this new input device. Here's hoping you are already well under way integrating the device and these ideas are old-hat.


One of the great uses of the Dial is for controlling the Undo/Redo stack. Suggest tying History to the dial for a quick way to scrub through your actions.


Brush Size, Flow, Opacity are also natural properties that would work naturally with the Dial.


One of the nicest surprises with the Dial is in Microsoft Ink Workspace - there is a virtual Ruler that can be placed and oriented with the dial that also locks your stroke. This is such a great feature for perspective drawings and would love to see something similar for placing guides.


Scrubbing through Brush presets is also a welcome feature in Microsoft Ink Workspace - it only supports the 3 built-in brush types, but if Photoshop could allow for selection of a few favorited brushes through the dial, it would be very nice.


Thanks for reading.

    35 replies

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    gadgetgeek2000
    Known Participant
    June 29, 2017
    Open Settings, Devices, Wheel.  At the bottom of the screen, there is an App tools section. Click + to add an app, find Adobe Lightroom, and then click OK. Then highlight the app and click Customize.

    Playing around with some simple customizations yesterday, I added 3 custom tools for Lightroom:
    1. Slider adjustment. In the develop module, it adjusts the adjustment slider that you have currently highlighted. Pressing the dial moves to the next slider.
    2. Navigate and pick. In the Library module this will move to the next photo. Pressing the dial will mark the selected photo as Pick.
    3. Module. Switch between modules - Library Loupe mode, Library Grid mode, and Develop module.

    This could be so much better with Adobe writing specific functionality. Like the Module switcher could probably just show a list of all the modules and you could click and select the module on-screen. The Slider adjustment could show a list of all the adjustments to pick from.

    I had some issues with the Slider adjustment. The adjustments are large jumps using the + and - keys. The shortcut key documents I found say to use the up arrow/down arrow for smaller increments, but those keys don't respond. I discovered I could hold [ALT] when scrolling the wheel, which makes micro adjustments, but also has an annoying feature of ringing the system bell.

    I hope this helps! I'd be really interested to see what others have added.
    D
    damons54390907
    Participating Frequently
    June 29, 2017
    Yes, that's what I'm looking for.  Where is that setting at?  I can't find it.  I'm pressing the window's button and going into the settings in the start menu.  Then going to the wheel settings.  Please explain where to find those settings.  Thanks! 
    U
    UncleZeiv
    Participating Frequently
    June 29, 2017
    Regarding square brackets, I meant this:
    Am I misunderstanding the issue?
    M
    musky4
    Participant
    June 29, 2017
    of coarse adobe  will make touch/use better. MacOS will dwindle and iOS will became more powerful touch is it. love my studio!
    G
    gadgetgeek2000
    Known Participant
    June 28, 2017
    Native support looks like it will be so much better than setting up the keyboard shortcut custom tools, but I've got a couple of tools setup for Lightroom and am loving it already. Can't wait to see what's in store!
    D
    damons54390907
    Participating Frequently
    June 28, 2017
    That is a matter of work flow.  Just because you can get a few things to work does not make it fully compatible or even useful.  If you are coming from a Wacom workflow where you can customize everything, then this is frustrating.  I don't see the ability to add the bracket keys to the dial to adjust my brush size as someone stated.  I want to like it.  Hell, I purchased it.  If someone can show or tell me what I'm doing wrong, I will retract my statement.
    M
    musky4
    Participant
    June 28, 2017
    Totally Disagree....premiere work fine with it......and the undo is good for now . adobe made the CC apps touch compatible just for this equipment.....disagree!
    D
    damons54390907
    Participating Frequently
    June 28, 2017
    This is a major fumble of the football on Microsoft's part.  How can you even think about making a dent in the creative community and not support Adobe products?  This is worth taking the machine back.  Showing it work with the Microsoft program is totally misleading.  No one wants to learn a new software just to use a pen tool and a wheel.  It's not worth it and you might as well buy a Wacom Cintiq Companion.  Come on Microsoft!  The President of the Surface Division should be fired twice for ignoring the fundamental bait to lure users over to your tool.  Major fail.
    U
    UncleZeiv
    Participating Frequently
    June 19, 2017
    Seconded and upvoted accordingly. I hope the Adobe guys can come up with a convenient way to switch between functions though. It would be cool to have some degree of contextual behaviour (e.g. brush size when using a brush, or zoom in/out when using the Hand Tool). On the other hand there should be some way to access undo quickly from all modes! A tough one, for sure. But if they nail it down it would really be added value. Good luck!
    U
    UncleZeiv
    Participating Frequently
    June 19, 2017
    I think they must have updated it in the meanwhile because I tried it today and there was definitely support for "[" and "]". (Having said that it's still a far cry from native support!)
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