Touch Pad Tutorial Synaptics v7

Recent computers are being manufactured with of course, with a touch pad that allows manipulating the mouse cursor. The cursor is an important part of today's computing as without it, normal computer users would not be able to use the computer past the log in. I am a HP user and will therefore will base this minor tutorial on a HP touchpad version with Synaptics Pointing software/driver.

1. Moving the cursor: This concurrent with older TouchPads so I will not waste time, bore or waste valuable bandwidth in showing you how to do so.

2. Pinch-Zooming: This is the process of increasing the view of an image document. Here is how:

i.  Use only two of your fingers, use the index finger and the thumb to do so.
ii. To zoom in, place the two fingers together at a single point and spread them outwards thereby pinching out.
iii.To zoom out, place the two fingers apart and bring them closer together thereby pinching in.

For the best zooming experience, use the tips of your fingers.
Enough with the yap-yap here is how you do it. Watch the video.



3. Three Finger press: With new TouchPads a lot of functions have been added and the touchpad is not only a pointing device but is also an application launcher. The three finger allows a user to launch any application that he or she wants. I recommend that the program you choose be the one you use frequently. To configure this,


i. Go to the system tray at the bottom of the screen with small icons, move over the small icons and choose the icon with the tooltip that is showing 'Synaptics Pointing Device'.
ii. Right -click the icon and choose 'Pointing Device Properties' that appears. On the window that has appeared choose the tab on the extreme right showing 'Device Properties'.
iii. Go to 'Application Gestures' then 'Three Finger Press'. On the right side of the window, click the 'Configure' Button.
iv. Click 'Add' and choose the program that you would like to be launched by the three finger press. v. Choose 'OK' and you are good to go. See how to launch it:
just hold three fingers on the touchpad for about 3 seconds.



4. Three-Finger Flick: The Three-Finger-Flick gesture enhances navigation for a variety of applications. You can use the Three-Finger-Flick gesture for browsing the Internet or scrolling through photos in a photo viewer window. You can also use the Three-Finger-Flick gesture to enter or exit slideshow mode. To enable this feature, select the Enable Three-Finger Flick check box. To use the Three-Finger-Flick gesture for navigation:

i. Place three fingers, slightly separated, down on the TouchPad surface.
ii. Flick your fingers in a linear, continuous motion in the desired direction, moving from one side of the TouchPad to the opposite side.
iii. Horizontal finger motion, sliding your fingers to the right or left will page forwards or backwards in a photo viewer or an Internet browser window.

To use the Three-Finger-Flick gesture for slideshow mode, slide your fingers vertically. Slide your fingers upwards to launch slideshow mode. Slide your fingers downwards to exit slideshow mode.



5. Momentum: The TouchPad and mouse are the main devices that have facilitated the Graphical User Interface that has contributed to the ease of use of computers. The TouchPad, however is small since it has to fit on a confined space on a laptop. To decrease the number of times you need to move a the cursor from one point to another there is a feature called momentum that you need to enable.


Follow steps from number 3 to get to 'Enable Momentum'

Select the 'Enable Momentum' check box to use this feature.

The Momentum™ feature delivers smooth, fast, trackball-like mouse movement. One quick flick of the finger on the TouchPad surface can move the cursor across the entire computer screen. Momentum reduces the repetitive motion and fatigue associated with moving the cursor long distances, while providing a smooth and natural feel similar to using a trackball. Momentum is ideal for Real Time Strategy (RTS) games, First Person Shooter (FPS) games, and Role Playing Games (RPG).

The Pointing settings pages enable you to specify how the cursor responds to your pointing and selection actions.



5. Turning the TouchPad/clickpad on and off: There comes a time when the touchpad is just too hard and you have to use a mouse and you switch off the touchpad. This is a piece of cake and here is how you do it. Just watch:

 
Notice: In some cases, you need to double tap on the indicator. Just as double-clicking on a mouse.


6. Scrolling: This is a big and really area so I will do minimal explaining, I am certain the videos will make you understand better than my writing. No scroll wheel on the touchpad so what next? Still wondering you can watch this.



Two finger scrolling:

Advanced one finger scrolling: Pay attention at the starting point before the user starts moving his rotating his finger. This is both for vertical and horizontal scrolling known as chiral.


This feature can be used to rotate images when viewing a photograph in most photo viewers. As shown below:



I hope this helps. Check this videos out on YouTube . Please rate and comment. Ask questions through comments and I will be happy to answer. Check synaptics.com for further details. Thanks for reading.