58 MACWORLD OCTOBER 2019
iOSCENTRAL WHY YOU SHOULD GET AN APPLE PENCILApple’s screenshot markup tool that’s now
built into both macOS and iOS. It substantially
simplifies actions like circling text or elements
in a photo or making arrows to point to
something. Just scribble on the screenshot as
though you’re writing on paper and you’ll be
ready to send it to someone.
EDIT PHOTOS IN ADOBE
LIGHTROOM (OR A
SIMILAR APP)
I suppose this technically still counts as
“art,” but I’m a big fan of how easy it is to
edit photos in Adobe Lightroom with an
Apple Pencil. It’s a simple enough task
with a MacBook and a mouse, but
somehow it always feels like work.
The experience is so much more
pleasant on the iPad when I’m using my
Apple Pencil. When I select a specific area
with the Pencil, it feels as though I’m
“painting” the image. It
allows me to be more
precise than I would
have been with my
fingers. Even adjusting
the various sliders with
the Pencil feels more
enjoyable, and I’ll go so
far as to say that it
inspires me to be more
creative than I would
have been if I’d just
used a mouse.
Considering that Lightroom feels this way, I
have a lot of hope that Photoshop will be
just as impressive when it finally drops
sometime this year.HAVE A LITTLE MORE ‘FUN’ IN
YOUR BROWSING EXPERIENCE
And that brings me to my last point. I
would never suggest that someone buy an
Apple Pencil for this reason, so let’s
consider it a complementary feature to the
stuff above.
When I’ve already got an Apple Pencil in
my hand from a task like taking handwritten
notes or marking up a document, I find I
enjoy little tasks such as clicking links or
highlighting text more enjoyable with the
Pencil than I do with my bare fingers. It feels
more precise. Sometimes it even feels
more responsive. Particularly when I’ve got
my iPad flat on a table. ■