Hello Friends,

You know the old saying, “Necessity is the Mother of invention.”  As I said in the video, it was true for me with this topic.  Well, I didn’t invent anything, but I figure out how to use Wacom’s On-Screen Controls, previously known as Radial Menu, with multiple applications.  I really, really like the on-screen controls and have set mine up to use almost every command possible in Painter.  Since I use Painter most, I didn’t feel the need to set up the on-screen controls for multiple applications.  Asked if it was possible to use on-screen controls (OSC, I’m tired of writing that out) with multiple applications, I always said no.  Why?  Because the Wacom Tablet Properties grays out Applications when setting up the OSC.  So, I stupidly just stopped my investigation.

I use LightRoom and Photoshop a lot more lately and wished I could have OSC work in those applications, too.  Necessity kicked in and I looked at the problem with fresh eyes.  I couldn’t believe it; the solution was so simple and not different from what I had done all along.  My apologies to anyone I told it couldn’t be done.

At this point, I probably should say that OSC isn’t for everyone.  If you find that you never use shortcut keys, and you don’t mind using the menu system and having lots of panels open, then OSC is probably not for you.  If you do use shortcut keys, but haven’t tried OSC, then you may want to explore the possibilities.  This post isn’t going to tell you much about setting up your Wacom Tablet for Painter, but I have posted about it before.  Check out How I set up my Wacom for Painter.

If you already know a lot about OSC, then skip the first video.  If you are curious about how I use OSC, then watch the first video.  I introduce you to the concept of OSC; it is quite powerful.  I show Painter with a very clean UI and how to use it with OSC.  The image showing is a work in progress and is mainly there for a backdrop.  I don’t paint in the videos.

In the second video, I explain the structure of the OSC.  There is a specific hierarchy followed and that is what makes working with multiple applications possible.  Again, if you are very familiar with OSC, then skip to the last video.

Finally, I actually explain how to use OSC with multiple applications in the last video.

Enjoy,

Skip