Solved Sp3 Pressure Fix - And my thoughts/fixes so far

[DirtyCanuck]

Hey everyone,
Posting here as a last resort to a problem that may either be software or hardware based. The pen takes far to much pressure to make solid lines. I know Microsoft is "working" on a pressure control panel tab, but at the moment the tablet feels either defective or unusable as I cannot make clean lines even pressing hard enough to "warp" the LCD below.
I have installed the wintab drivers and the problem is persistent in: Photoshop Cs6 Photoshop CC and the bundled paint program.
The pen goes through it's degrees of pressure smoothly, it just too much pressure to make solid/thick lines.

For a machine that cost close to $2500 and was bought solely for drawing, I am disappointed I might have to return it

I have scoured forums and played with the brush pressure settings within photoshop but I can't get the to feel lighter.

Is this common? I have read the pressure seems "hard" in some reviews.

Can I modify these settings anywhere? I am very very capable in windows and have no problem modifying the registry etc to make needed adjustments.



Thoughts:

I have a sp3 i7 with the 512 ssd and type cover.
I have the Rat M mouse which pairs using the tablets bluetooth perfectly

Problems so far included manual installation of Intel HD 5000 drivers to avoid issues with photoshop and the Graphic Finder destroying CPU usage.

I am happy with the device and it's performance. Runs games and Maya and Z Brush without hiccups, except of course I can't properly use any of these programs until I have sorted the pen issue.

If anybody can help in anyway I would appreciate it. I have searched for a week now and this is a last resort.

 

[malberttoo]

Hi Dirty, welcome.

I would try to get my hands on another unit, maybe the display models at a store, and see if you have the same experience. If not, then your digitizer may be faulty.

I do not have to use an unreasonable amount of pressure on mine to get good lines.

 

[DirtyCanuck]

Thanks for the quick response.

I read your comment and it was something I had taking into consideration, I figured I would make 100% sure it wasn't my foolery before driving the long distance back to the store to test and replace. So much work has been done installing programs etc and the unit runs cool and doesn't have dead pixels so I thought I lucked out.

But then I started playing with it some more. I assume the pressure tech is built into the glass and not the pen. And that the angle of the pen didn't matter.

Ya totally wrong. The pen works just fine @ a totally upright angle. Getting very clean lines, phew. When I tilt the pen it makes things much lighter.

Is this a feature of the "ink". Does pen angle affect flow and is it adjustable?

 

[malberttoo]

When I write, the pen is at a standard angle that you might see when people are writing with a pen in their hand. So as long as the pointy part of the tip of the pen is making good contact, you shouldn't have any issues as long as the angle of the pen isn't too severe.

 

[DirtyCanuck]

Does the pen support tilt? I know some of the Wacom tablets do and I see the settings in Photoshop.

 

[Knuck]

N-trig has their own drivers for the Surface 3 here http://www.ntrig.com/Content.aspx?Page=Downloads_Drivers That might help.

 

[DirtyCanuck]

Yes in the original post I mentioned I installed the wintab drivers. Unfortunately they didn't offer and extra settings, just increased compatibility.

I really just need to adjust the pressure sensitivity and the device will meet my needs. It tracks the pen very well, and definitely smoothing transfers through pressures. The i7 runs everything I've thrown it's way so far.

Serious missing link though, and "waiting a few months" for the Microsoft update that allows pressure change is not really useful for somebody who bought the device for true work out of the box.

Hopefully these issues get ironed out as the device is in it's infancy (gen 3 at least)

I also recommend installing the HD 5000 drivers directly from Intel. Until Microsoft addresses those issues as well.

Hopefully some clever folks figure out a band aid hack to allow pressure changes before Microsoft releases their toolset.

 

[hughlle]

I've never used a stylus before other than one of these cheap things with an android tablet, so when i used it in pcworld the other day for writing i did find i had to use a much heavier hand than i was happy with for writing, however the gf opened up freshpaint and didn't have an issue drawing fluent lines. (wheras my handwriting, which on paper is rather good, made chicken scratch seem like something to aspire towards). but i've seen various pictures and videos that show that the pen nib is bent to almost 45 degrees when drawing and with screen distortion. Does seem like a heck of a lot of pressure.

 

[DirtyCanuck]

When I use non pressure apps the pen tracks flawlessly. But it feels way to heavy to draw even just thick consistent lines without tons of pressure, or having the pen completely upright.

Super disappointed this fundamental functionality has no out of the box fine tuning.

At least they say sometime it will get solved, rather then not acknowledging it.

 

[Jorge Sanchez]

Yeah; I also bought it for drawing; but so far I've barely used it because the pressure sensitivity is wonky, so I keep using my Surface Pro 1, heh.

Too bad I realized the sensitivity sucked after the return period was over... so I'll just have to suck it up and wait for it to be "fixed"...

 

[GreyFox7]

I had nothing but trouble after installing the Intel Drivers.

 

[bluegrass]

I hate to say it but it really sounds like you need to wait for Adobe to catch up with the Surface as for as Photoshop goes. I don't see how it is a Surface problem if the pen responds OK to other paint programs such as FreshPaint. I'm not sure which app to try and use that detects pen pressure. I will do some experimenting but please give other apps a test to make sure it is the pen and not just Photoshop.