Enable gestures

Enable gestures

You can change the default gesture input and trigger methods in Motion Preferences. When gestures are enabled, you can use a modifier key (the Control key) or a button on the pen to trigger gesturing. Before you can use gestures, Handwriting Recognition must be enabled in OS X Ink Preferences. You can open Ink Preferences from the Gestures pane of Motion Preferences.

Important: To use gestures, make sure that your Wacom tablet is connected to your Mac and that its current drivers are correctly installed. For more information, see your tablet’s documentation.

Set up Motion gesture preferences

  1. In Motion, choose Motion > Preferences (or press Command-Comma).

  2. Click Gestures.

    The Gestures pane in Motion Preferences opens.

    Motion preferences window showing Gestures pane

    Important: Gestures in Motion use the Inkwell technology in OS X. To use gestures, you must enable handwriting recognition in Motion Preferences. If you cannot turn gestures on at this point, or perform the following steps, follow the instructions in the following task, “Set up OS X Ink preferences,” then complete the following steps.

  3. For “Gestures are,” ensure that On is selected.

  4. To select a gesture input method, click the Trigger pop-up menu, then choose an option:

    • Pen Button 1: Choose this option to trigger gestures by pressing the first button (the button closest to the tip) on the pen.

    • Pen Button 2: Choose this option to trigger gestures by pressing the second button on the pen.

      Note: Pen buttons may conflict with the Wacom Tablet preferences. To customize pen settings for Motion, see Set Wacom tablet preferences.

    • Modifier (Ctrl): Choose this option to trigger gestures by pressing Control.

    Note: Select the “Allow gestures in the air” checkbox to use gestures by swiping just above the tablet, without the tip of the pen touching the tablet. To use gestures in the air, you must set a pen button as the gesture trigger input method, as well as set pen button 1 to Disabled in the Pen pane of the Wacom Tablet application. For more information, see Set Wacom tablet preferences.

Set up OS X Ink preferences

The Ink pane in the OS X System Preferences window contains additional settings that you should adjust to better facilitate using gestures in Motion.

Note: The Ink pane is accessible only if you have a tablet connected to your Mac.

  1. In the Gestures pane of Motion Preferences, click Open Ink Preferences.

    The OS X System Preferences window appears, with the Ink pane active.

  2. For “Handwriting recognition is,” select On.

    Ink Preferences window

    By default, a “whoosh” sound is played when gestures are drawn. To disable the sound, click the Options button and deselect the “Play sound while writing” checkbox.