Question: [Is there a plan/schedule for adding InkCanvas into WinUI desktop?]

[ranbims]

This document says that InkCanvas is not supported in WinUI 3. Just want to know is there a plan for supporting this feature?

[castorix]

A workaround is with the InkPicture control
But I had to use a Win32 Region to make it appear :

[DanielGlick]

Can you give direction on how this is done? We are trying to move from UWP to WinUI 3 and there is currently no way to use inking features in WinUI 3

[castorix]

Can you give direction on how this is done? We are trying to move from UWP to WinUI 3 and there is currently no way to use inking features in WinUI 3

I used ATL, like the test sample with MSRDP (WinUI3_ActiveX_MSRDP)
but with "msinkaut.InkPicture.1" (3rd parameter for CreateWindowEx), which is the ProgID for the InkPicture control

[DanielGlick]

Got it. We ended up using another workaround by drawing lines on a grid based on pen/touch input

[kmgallahan]

WinUI roadmap: https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/blob/main/docs/roadmap.md

InkCanvas on the product board: https://portal.productboard.com/winappsdk/1-windows-app-sdk/c/31-inking-controls?utm_medium=social&utm_source=portal_share

[ranbims]

A workaround is with the InkPicture control But I had to use a Win32 Region to make it appear :

Thank you @castorix. I am wondering if I can use some workaround to show the UWP or WPF InkCanvas here.

[ranbims]

WinUI roadmap: https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/blob/main/docs/roadmap.md

InkCanvas on the product board: https://portal.productboard.com/winappsdk/1-windows-app-sdk/c/31-inking-controls?utm_medium=social&utm_source=portal_share

Thanks, @kmgallahan . Glad to see the InkCanvas is planned for future updates. I am curious if there is a specific or an estimated date when the feature will be released. We are planning a migration for a current UWP application. And it might be a ship blocker if we can't enable the Ink related features.

[soroshsabz]

ITNOA

I think it is good to add feature proposal for this

https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/blob/main/docs/feature_proposal_process.md

[StephenLPeters]

@ryandemopoulos FYI

[DilanBoskan]

Please add this. My whole team solely requires the InkCanvas control to move to the Windows App SDK.

[nikolayvpavlov]

InkCanvas is a must. Our company are to develop an app for onsite inspections, and taking notes is an important feature.

InkPicture is not suitable for text recognition. Perhaps it can still be used if I connect to Stroke event and record all strokes myself, but that is not nice.

I managed to get it running by letting the user draw on a canvas and I convert the lines to strokes, and then use InkAnalysis to convert them to text. However, performance is slow, and stokes look ugly on the screen, even though I simulate the pen pressure effect.

[castorix]

InkPicture is not suitable for text recognition.

MS samples seem to work correctly, like :

or

[jdluzen]

Are there any updates on this? I am currently awaiting Ink support for InfiniteCanvas in WinUI3. CommunityToolkit/WindowsCommunityToolkit#4105 (comment)

[SID9-HoneyBee]

Using InkCanvas
There is a clear difference between developing with WPF and developing with UWP. (The lines are much smoother and there is no distortion.)

Any idea when will InkCanvas be introduced in WinUI3?

Looking forward to it very much.

[SID9-HoneyBee]

@TheAjaykrishnanR I think it's a good approach. Is it possible to adjust the tension for Bezier curve processing?

[TheAjaykrishnanR]

@SID9-HoneyBee I am not sure about a "tension", but maybe you can achieve that affect specifying the number of points to build the geometry, reducing those points might just do that, this is the example I used :
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.windows.media.polybeziersegment?view=windowsdesktop-8.0

[DilanBoskan]

This just isn't as performant as the native InkCanvas though. The native InkCanvas uses a BackgroundThread to capture the inputs and as far as I am concerned a more sophisticated rendering technique.
In addition, the features of the native InkCanvas, of which I make use of thoroughly, are also not included.

[TheAjaykrishnanR]

@DilanBoskan true ! it has a very high latency, and if you observe correctly the endpoints dont even have rounded caps, i had to add ellipses to make it look rounded. had to revert back to uwp

[SID9-HoneyBee]

@DilanBoskan @TheAjaykrishnanR

I agree with you.
The InkCanvas of WPF and UWP are clearly different. UWP is much smoother for the same lines.
What do you think?
I would like to achieve the same result in WPF. I'd also like to include the ability to fine-tune the FitToCurve property, but it's really not that easy.

[Neme12]

Is it not possible to use XAML Islands to embed the UWP InkCanvas control in a WinUI 3 desktop app?

[DarranRowe]

Well, I thought I implied it already. But

Not without the support of WinUI 3 itself.

and

WinUI 3 would have to handle this in the same way as controls like web view,

would mean that it would be the WinUI 3 window handling the pointer inputs and dispatching them correctly. To be explicit, I am not saying that someone could just add the UWP ink control in a HWND to any WinUI 3 window now. I am saying that, I believe that to get the UWP version inside an Xaml Island working properly with WinUI 3, then WinUI 3 would have to take on the burden of handling things in the same way as Web View 2.

[TheAjaykrishnanR]

it would be the WinUI 3 window handling the pointer inputs and dispatching them correctly.

But I dont think thats how InkCanvas works, i.e. it is not utilizing the window's pointer event handling thread to capture its inputs. Rather it is using its own low latency background thread to capture it thereby making it faster and snappier.

[DarranRowe]

Yes, but even then it would have to get the input from somewhere.
The normal way of doing that would be through the thread's message handling. So Xaml Islands would use IDesktopWindowXamlSourceNative2:PreTranslateMessage to notify the Xaml Islands window of the various events happening on the thread. This would have to be in the message pump, and for a WinUI 3 application, this is started as part of Application.Start. So either way, WinUI 3 would need to handle the Xaml Island window properly.
If it is using some other means of monitoring the input, then there is no reason why that wouldn't work anyway making that whole point moot. Remember, because of the interoperation going on, the CoreWindow has to exist on the thread.

--Edit--
The reason that I am pretty confident in this is due to the documentation for Xaml Islands and the requirements for C++ applications. The only real requirement for InkCanvas and InkToolbar is a fully working DesktopWindowXamlSource. The only documented limitation to ink input is that HandwritingView isn't supported.

[Neme12]

I dont think so, XAML Islands are for WPF, Win32 apps etc, not for WinUI https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/desktop/modernize/xaml-islands

But WinUI 3 apps are Win32 apps. It should be possible to do. It just won't be as easy as adding a pre-built XAML wrapper control.

[TheAjaykrishnanR]

I dont think so, XAML Islands are for WPF, Win32 apps etc, not for WinUI https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/desktop/modernize/xaml-islands

But WinUI 3 apps are Win32 apps. It should be possible to do. It just won't be as easy as adding a pre-built XAML wrapper control.

So apparently, you can, but i have no expertise in C++/WinRT