Apple Pencil

On iPad, Apple Pencil works in the two places you draw in Paperwise: Sign (drawing your signature) and Annotate (the pen and highlighter). Paperwise keeps a resting hand from leaving marks.

What it is

Before the Pencil touches the page, your finger draws, as on iPhone.
The first Pencil stroke turns finger drawing off for that session. From then on the Pencil always draws, and a finger or a palm resting on the screen doesn’t.
A Finger button then appears in the toolbar. Turn it on to draw with a finger again; the Pencil keeps drawing either way.
Strokes keep one width. Paperwise ignores pressure and tilt, so a signature looks the same however hard you press.

When to use it

Signing a contract or a form you scanned.
Underlining, circling or highlighting parts of a page before you share it.
Saving a clean signature once, to place on any page later.

Step by step

Draw your signature with the Pencil

Open a document and tap Markup → Sign.
Tap New in the row of signatures at the bottom.
Tap Draw. The “Draw your signature” sheet opens.
Sign with the Pencil. Tap Clear to start over.
Tap Save. Paperwise says “Signature saved” and places it on the page.
Drag the signature where you want it, resize it, then tap Done.

Next time, tap a saved signature in that row to place it again.

Your saved signatures are also in Account → Scanning → Signatures, where you can draw a new one or delete one.

Annotate a page with the Pencil

Open a document and tap Markup → Annotate.
Pick Pen or Highlighter, and a colour and width.
Draw with the Pencil. Use Undo and Redo as you go.
To type instead, pick Text. To remove an annotation, pick Eraser and tap it.
Tap Done to save.

Draw with a finger again

After you’ve used the Pencil, a Finger button shows in the toolbar (in Annotate, while Pen or Highlighter is picked). Tap it to let your finger draw too. Tap it again to go back to Pencil only.

Free and Pro

Sign, Annotate and Apple Pencil support are free.

Privacy

Everything happens on the iPad. Signatures are saved as transparent images, encrypted with Paperwise’s own key on this device, and in your encrypted sync and backup if they’re on. Annotations are saved with the document’s pages, encrypted the same way.

Tips

Draw the signature you’ll reuse slowly and large; you can resize it once it’s on the page.
Rest your hand on the screen freely once the Pencil has made its first mark.
On iPhone, or in Annotate before the Pencil is used, your finger draws as usual.

What if…

What if my palm left a mark?

A palm that touches the page before the Pencil’s very first stroke in a session can still draw, because finger drawing is still on at that point. Tap Undo in Annotate, or Clear in the signature sheet, then carry on with the Pencil.

What if my finger doesn’t draw any more?

You’ve used the Pencil in this session, so finger drawing is off. Tap Finger in the toolbar to turn it back on.

What if pressing harder doesn’t make thicker lines?

That’s by design: Paperwise keeps one width so signatures stay consistent. Change the width in Annotate’s options instead.

What if Paperwise ignores the “Only Draw with Apple Pencil” setting in iPadOS?

Paperwise doesn’t read that setting. It switches to Pencil-only by itself after the first Pencil stroke.