Google Introduces Handwriting Input For Gmail and Google Docs

A couple of days ago Google introduced handwriting input with wide language support as another feature in its Input Tools bucket. Google says: "In some cases using the keyboard is less than ideal. Whether you're a student trying to include a foreign phrase in your paper or an international consultant hoping to begin your message with a friendly local greeting, now you'll be able to use your own handwriting to input words directly into Gmail and Google Docs with your mouse or trackpad."

To use this feature you need to enable it first. How to get it working:

1. Start Gmail and click the gear in the top right.
2. Select "Settings".
3. Under the "Language" section at the top of the "General" tab, click "Show all languages" (if hidden) and check the box for "Enable input tools". If you've already checked it then click on "Edit tools". The Input Tools dialog box will be shown as in the following:
   
   
   
   
4. Either double-click to select a language option or click the right arrow button after selecting it. Also, you can reorder your input tools by selecting one of your input tools and clicking the up and down arrows.
5. Click "OK" and then click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.

Okay, now you've added the handwriting input successfully, you can enable and disable while editing using the button next to the Gear icon in the upper-right corner.



After you set it on, click the "Pencil" tool. You get a nice input tool like the following, you can click the grabber in the upper-left corner and move it around to anywhere on the screen .



As you start drawing using the Pencil tool, suggestions will begin to be shown. Here you can see that in the following image. You can draw multiple characters on the panel at the same time and they will be shown at the bottom. See the image below:



You can now either select the black "x" button in left to clean up the drawing board or blue "Enter" button to insert the text into the editor. You can easily switch to another selected language using the drop-down button on the input tool as in the following:



That's all of how to use it. At the present, handwriting input is available in Google Docs for over 20 languages and in Gmail for over 50 languages. It allows people worldwide to use the internet more easily and enables them to break the barrier between languages.