Frequently Asked Question
SmartBoards, Smart Drivers, and Smart Ink: what can they do, and what can't they do?
Last Updated 6 years ago
Because we've had a number of questions about SmartBoard functionality, it seemed sensible to put together some documentation on what their capabilities are.
First off, for long-time users of Smart equipment, their software has gotten to be a bit strange about how and when the pens and pen colors work, compared to how they used to work. A lot of their new boards don't even have multiple pen colors, so they seem to be dropping the "pick up a pen, get a color" feature, in favor of picking pens/colors from the little Smart Ink overlay (looks like a grey circle about 3-4 inches across when projected on the screen; it "floats", which means it appears over other windows) may only appear when a pen is picked up, or it may be set to always visible, depending on your individual settings.
You can also draw with the pens in a Chrome window, I discovered. You can save these drawings by tapping on the little grey pen icon that shows up in the upper right corner of the website after you draw. Your drawings won't scroll with the site, however.
The pen colors do not work in the Microsoft Whiteboard or Snip & Sketch applications, but you can still use the pen as a stylus, just for comfort, since they are easier to draw and write with. I would suggest putting a marker or something else in the slot in the tray that you take the pen from. This will trick the sensor into thinking the pen is still there, avoiding any possible weirdness.
The colored pens do work in PowerPoint during slideshows, for some reason. However, they don't work outside of slideshow mode.
First off, for long-time users of Smart equipment, their software has gotten to be a bit strange about how and when the pens and pen colors work, compared to how they used to work. A lot of their new boards don't even have multiple pen colors, so they seem to be dropping the "pick up a pen, get a color" feature, in favor of picking pens/colors from the little Smart Ink overlay (looks like a grey circle about 3-4 inches across when projected on the screen; it "floats", which means it appears over other windows) may only appear when a pen is picked up, or it may be set to always visible, depending on your individual settings.
General use
There are some applications where the pen colors do still work. If you're just on the desktop, not in any particular application, and you pick up a pen, it should light the light by the pen in the tray. If you start drawing, it should automatically pop up a floating window for you to draw in. While I was testing it out again recently, just to make sure I had my facts straight, I did notice that the board I was on seemed to be reluctant to notice the pen was gone sometimes. I would pick one up, and it wouldn't light the corresponding light in the tray. When I swiped my finger firmly over the sensor, this seemed to correct this behavior. Perhaps the sensor was dusty or perhaps it just needed a push to "see" that the pen was gone. (It is some kind of optical sensor. I think it might just work by getting the light blocked when a pen is there, but I'm not 100% certain.)You can also draw with the pens in a Chrome window, I discovered. You can save these drawings by tapping on the little grey pen icon that shows up in the upper right corner of the website after you draw. Your drawings won't scroll with the site, however.
The pen colors do not work in the Microsoft Whiteboard or Snip & Sketch applications, but you can still use the pen as a stylus, just for comfort, since they are easier to draw and write with. I would suggest putting a marker or something else in the slot in the tray that you take the pen from. This will trick the sensor into thinking the pen is still there, avoiding any possible weirdness.
Microsoft Office
You cannot use the pens in most of the Microsoft Office programs. They do not work right in Word or Excel. If you have the board plugged in when you open the MS Office application, an extra tab will show up in the ribbon called Draw. This tab has pen tools, highlighters, and some other drawing tools. However, you must manually pick a pen from the interface; picking up a pen from the tray won't trigger it. Also, if you try to draw using one of the pens from the board, your annotations and drawings will hop a few inches down each time you lift the pen. You can use the same trick of putting a placeholder in the pen tray, allowing you to use the pen for ease/comfort while still avoiding the issues where your markings jump down.The colored pens do work in PowerPoint during slideshows, for some reason. However, they don't work outside of slideshow mode.