.FLYINGHEAD MAXIMIZE YOUR GRAFFITI
.TITLE Tips to improve your Graffiti recognition
.AUTHOR Calvin O. Parker
.SUMMARY Our most popular article last month was about Graffiti shortcuts. Since this topic is so popular and universal, Contributing Editor Calvin O. Parker has put together a wonderful set of tips that will help you write even the toughest characters.
Although Graffiti is fairly easy to learn, it also seems to be everyone’s biggest "hurdle" when first starting to use the PalmPilot. While most people pick up the basics within a few days of starting to use Graffiti, there are some letters and characters that for some reason are hard for most people to form or remember. And for some, there are letters that give them problems months after first using the PalmPilot.
In this article I will try to help you change all of that. By pointing out some of the common mistakes made when doing Graffiti and showing you some easy to learn and remember tips, I hope to be able to improve your Graffiti recognition significantly, as well as allow you to retain and perform some of those harder to remember letters and symbols.
.H1 Common mistakes
One of the most common mistakes when performing Graffiti strokes is the way that you’re holding the PalmPilot. Most folks when they first start using the device, tend to hold it in the same manner as they would a small notebook, with a slight lean to one side or the other. This is something that is easily adjusted when actually writing with a pen, normally just by following the lines on the pad. However, without these lines on the Graffiti area of the PalmPilot, it is easy to draw you characters without this adjustment, in other words with a slight "slant" to them. Try to keep this in mind, and either adjust your hand or the PalmPilot to try to get the writing angle to 90 degrees.
Another common error normally occurs for folks that have been using their PalmPilot for awhile, and that is to form the letters smaller than they should be. With Graffiti strokes, the larger the stroke the better. Try to take up the entire input area when you’re forming your letters, of course without moving your pen outside of this area.
Actually, these two go hand in hand. You can form the strokes as small as you like, but forming them larger tends to make it easier to keep them at a 90 degree angle. While it is possible to form every letter of the alphabet in a teeny little spot in the middle of the input area, you’ll find it will improve things quite a bit if you use the entire entry area.
.H1 TealEcho
A good tool to use when trying to diagnose graffiti problems is TealEcho. This wonderful utility from TealPoint shows each stroke you do, as you’re doing it. One of the problems that I was originally having is that I was overshooting the input area, a problem very obvious when looking at my strokes using TealEcho.
.H1 Difficult characters
For some reason, some characters are just more difficult to do than others. You’ll try for a "C" and get an "L", or perhaps a "B" and get an "E". In Figure A through Figure G, I’ll over these characters and give you some ideas on how to improve your strokes so they no longer give you a problem.
"L" is the letter that most seems to give folks a problem. The best advice for forming this letter is to make sure you’re making a nice, long line on both the side and bottom of your stroke. Try to keep your pen as close to the edge of the input area, and make sure you’re doing a nice 90 degree turn, as shown in Figure A.
.FIG A To write an "L", make sure you’re making a nice, long line on both the side and bottom of your stroke. Try to keep your pen as close to the edge of the input area, and make sure you’re doing a nice 90 degree turn.
There are two tricks for writing a "D". As shown in Figure B, make a backwards Shortcut stroke, that is a backwards lower case "L".
.FIG B To write a "D", make a backwards Shortcut stroke, that is a backwards lower case "L".
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You can also write a "D" by drawing a large, clockwise "O", starting at the bottom of the Graffiti area, as shown in Figure C.
.FIG C You can also write a "D" by making a large clockwise "O", starting at the bottom of the area.
A trick for writing a "G" is to draw the numeral "6" on the alphabetical side of the writing area, as you can see in Figure D.
.FIG D To make a "G", draw the numeral "6" on the alphabetical side of the writing area.
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Figure E shows how to write a "Y". This alternative stroke for the letter "Y" is listed in your manual, but some folks don’t think to look there. Do an inverted shortcut stroke.
.FIG E This alternative stroke for the letter "Y" is listed in your manual, but some folks don’t think to look there. Do an inverted shortcut stroke.
Writing a "K" is the same as writing a "Y", but turned on its side, as you can see in Figure F. This is the stroke shown when you use the Graffiti font.
.FIG F Writing a "K" is the same as writing a "Y", but turned on its side. This is the stroke shown when you use the Graffiti font.
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For some reason, "P" gives people problems every now and then. The best way I’ve found to do a "P" is to keep the loop at the top very small, as shown in Figure G.
.FIG G To write a "P", keep the loop at the top very small.
As you can see in Figure H, writing the letter "V" is easy if you do it "backwards", starting on the right side of the letter.
.FIG H "V" is easy if you do it "backwards", starting on the right side of the letter.
These are just a few of the harder to form characters. For another good page on Graffiti tips, see http://www.antioch.com.sg/edgar/graffiti.html
.H1 It may not be your fault
Another reason that your graffiti recognition might not be up to par, especially if you’ve had your PalmPilot for awhile is that something might be wrong with the unit. Some people have reported that a scratched input area will sometimes lead to a degradation of Graffiti recognition.
.H1 Learn your punctuation
After just a few days of using the PalmPilot and Graffiti, everyone should know that a period is Dot Dot. Some folks will even have gotten up the courage to learn how to form a comma, and maybe even an exclamation point! Punctuation marks one of of the few areas of Graffiti that everyone seems to have the most problems remembering. The best advice that I can get you here is that when you want to do a punctuation mark and don’t remember it, use one of the Graffiti references (listed below) to look it up, and then do the command. Don’t just bring up the on-screen keyboard and enter the punctuation that way! You’ll quickly discover that as time goes on, you’ll be referring to your reference less and less when it comes to those pesky punctuation marks.
For those really difficult to remember symbols, I’d recommend an application called SymbolHack. When installed, this application will pop up a box when you tap on the keyboard dot (PalmOS 2.x) or activate the keyboard. But, instead of displaying a keyboard it shows a grid of available symbols, giving you the option to tap on one of them to have it inserted into your text. The standard keyboard is still available, and the list of symbols is completely configurable.
.H1 Graffiti references
In addition to the card that you receive with your PalmPilot, there are a few other resources available to you when you need to find the right stroke for a particular character. One, new to PalmOS 2.x is the built-in Graffiti Help screen. This screen, accessible from all the built in applications in the Edit menu or by doing either a Command Stroke "G", gives you a list of all the letters, numbers and punctuation marks. If you are running OS 1.x, then you’ll want to download and install Bill Kirby’s excellent freeware application, Graffiti Help. Shown in Figure I, Graffiti Help is much nicer than the built-in help just mentioned, providing you with a little more information and a slightly easier to use interface.
.FIG I Bill Kirby’s Graffiti Help is a good Graffiti reference, and the only one available to folks using PalmOS 1.x.
.H1 Conclusion
While perfect Graffiti recognition is something that I don’t think anyone can obtain, there are things you can do to improve. While this article hopefully pointed out a good many of them, there are many different ways to improve your Graffiti recognition that I may not have covered. And, some methods work for some folks and don’t for others. In addition to the tips mentioned in this article, the best advice that I can give you is to practice. Before you know it, you’ll be doing Graffiti like it was second nature!
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability
SymbolHack, $6, Florent Pillet, http://w3.teaser.fr/~fpillet/pilot/
TealEcho, $11.95, TealPoint Software, http://www.tealpoint.com
Graffiti Help, Freeware, Bill Kirby, http://www.electronhut.com/pilot/
Graffiti Aid by Chris Crawford, http://www.enteract.com/~crawford/grafaid.html
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
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