How to Use Keynote With Wacom Tablets

You can edit Keynote documents with a Wacom tablet and pen.

If you are using a Wacom tablet to create and edit images on your Mac with a graphics application to use in a presentation with Keynote, you might prefer to also use the tablet when you switch to work in Keynote. Wacom’s pressure-sensitive tablet comes with a pen that has a clicker switch on the side that you click as you would click a mouse. Keynote is an application for making slideshow presentations, and is part of Apple’s iWork suite of applications.

Instructions

1. Connect your Wacom tablet to a USB drive on your Mac with the Wacom tablet’s USB cable.

2. Insert the Wacom CD into the optical drive of your Mac. Double-click the Wacom tablet software installer and install the Wacom software on your Mac according to the manufacturer’s instructions for your particular Wacom tablet.

3. Click the Apple logo on the upper left of the Mac’s screen, and then click “System Preferences.” Click the “Wacom Tablet” icon.

4. Click the “Pen” tab. Pick up the Wacom tablet’s pen and use it to click the “Current Pressure” settings under “Tip Feel” if you want to adjust the settings for the tablet and pen’s pressure. Click the pull-down menus for configuring the double-click and right-click settings of the Wacom tablet’s pen if you want to change the default settings. By default, the end of the clicker switch that’s closest to the pen tip is set to right-click, and the opposite end of the clicker switch that is closer to the end of the pen is set to double-click.

5. Click the red circle in the upper left corner of the System Settings window to close it when you are finished adjusting the settings.

6. Press the Wacom pen against the Wacom tablet to make a mouse click. Click the “Applications” folder on the Dock of the Mac, then click “iWork,” and then click “Keynote” to launch Keynote. The Theme Chooser window appears, with thumbnail images of various presentation themes, such as Formal, Showcase and Graph Paper.

7. Click a theme’s thumbnail image to select it, and then click “Choose.” A new document based on the template opens.

8. Press the pen-tip end of the clicker switch on the Wacom pen once to double-click the “Double Click to Edit” text in the document when you want to type your own text on a slide.

9. Press the pen against the tablet once to click the “Text Box” button at the top of the Keynote application window when you want to create a new text box. Click the “Shapes” button, and then click a shape from the drop-down menu to create a shape such as an arrow or a box to place a picture. Use the Wacom tablet and pen to add text boxes, shapes and adjust fonts and other settings in your Keynote presentation in the same way that you would use the Mac’s mouse.

References

• Apple: iWork
• Apple: Keynote
• Apple: Keynote User Guide
• Wacom: Tablets and Pen Displays for Creative Professionals

Resources

• Apple: iWork – Keynote Tutorials
• Apple: Support - Keynote
• Wacom: Customer Care