Office 365 is getting its own creativity updates with enhanced pen support

With all of the exciting new developments from today’s Microsoft Event in NYC, Office 365 is getting its own updates for the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update coming in 2017. Office 365 will be updated with enhanced pen support as well as support for the Surface Studio and Surface Dial. In a blog post, Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president for the Office team, details the new updates coming to Office 365.

Inking in Office 365

Microsoft has already released various inking capabilities for Office 365 with instant inking (January 2016), shape conversion(June 2016), and learning with ink (August 2016) with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

• Ink Editor—Originally shown by the Windows team at //build, we are now launching Ink Editor. This makes your pen a more powerful document editing tool than ever. Strike through words to delete them, circle text to select it and automatically snap highlighter ink to text. And this is just the beginning. We’re planning to add even more Ink Editor capabilities and extend the feature to other Office apps in the future. Get started with Ink Editor in a few easy steps. Ink Editor is available today in Word on Windows desktops for Office 365 subscribers in the Office Insider program.
• Ink Replay control with Surface Dial—In August, we introduced Ink Replay, which lets you rewind and replay ink you see in your document. Today, we announced tight integration with Surface Dial and Windows 10, making ink playback as natural to control as a spin of the device. This helps you effortlessly set the pace at which you review step-by-step instructions, reveal lesson ideas and more.
  Ink Replay is available today in Word, Excel and PowerPoint on Windows desktops, and OneNote for Windows 10, for Office 365 subscribers. Integration with Surface Dial works automatically (devices sold separately).
• Digital ruler—Also originally shown by the Windows team at //build, you’ll soon be able to draw straight lines and align objects with the help of a built-in digital ruler in PowerPoint. Only with Windows 10 technology can you use pen and touch simultaneously, allowing you to position the built-in software ruler with one hand while using your pen to draw with the other. We’ll add the built-in ruler to more apps, like Word, Excel and OneNote, in the future. The built-in digital ruler in PowerPoint on Windows desktops is coming in early 2017 for Office 365 subscribers.
• Segment Eraser in PowerPoint—Create precise ink shapes easily with the help of this new eraser that intelligently removes excess bits of ink, right up to the nearest line. It’s easy to drag the Segment Eraser over multiple bits of excess ink to remove them all at once. We’ll extend this capability to more apps, like Word and Excel, in the future. You really need to see Segment Eraser in action to understand what it can do—check out the video above! Segment Eraser in PowerPoint on Windows desktops is coming with the November Office 365 updates, for Office 365 subscribers.

Koenigsbauer is also happy to announce new Inking capabilities coming in 2017 for Office 365 subscribers with the upcoming Surface Studio and Surface Dial. Available in the Windows 10 Creators Update, Office 365 subscribers will get new features and capabilities will include:

• New large-screen page view in Word
• Additional Office integrations with Surface Dial
• 3D model support in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the Windows 10 Creators Update
• Icon library and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)* in Office apps

SVG support is now available for Office 365 subscribers in the Office Insider program. Office Mobile apps on Windows 10 and Android will be included in the Office 365 November 2016 updates, as will the icon library on Windows 10 desktops. No word yet on if any of these features or capabilities will be available on iOS.

If you an Office 365 Home or Personal customer, you can sign up here for the Office Insider program. Stay tuned for more Office 365 announcements from Microsoft’s special Office event in New York City on November 2, 2016.