Tips & Tricks

Using a Nokia Digital Pen with Lifeblog

Posted on by charlie

I use the Nokia Digital Pen to doodle, take notes, and
sometimes make something to post. One problem is that the pen
saves images in “.gif” format and not the “.jpg” that Lifeblog is looking for.
So, I trawled the net for an app that would help out. Would you believe that
there are no imaging apps that do the conversion? I guess it’s not a major use
case here.

Well, the funny thing is that I found an app buried in Forum
Nokia. The app is part of a tutorial on graphics formats, so it’s really just a
programming example (hence the generic icon). But, hey, it serves the purpose
here.

Here is the file: ImageConverter.SIS (don’t know if I’m allowed to distribute this, though)

How to get your digital pen drawings into Lifeblog on the
phone:

0) Transfer the drawing to your phone and save it where you
can find it. Remember the file name!
1) Open the Image converter app
2) Find the file to be converted: Options->Open then
browse to find the file.
3) To convert it: Options->Save As. This opens a list of
formats to save to. Select JPEG. Press OK!
4) Select where you want to save it to.
5) Give it a name and end the name with ".jpg".
You need the extension for Lifeblog to pick it up.
6) Once you’ve saves the JPEG with the extension, Lifeblog
will automatically pick it up. Hooray!

Now, wouldn’t it be easier if Lifeblog just supported GIFs?
I’ve been asking for almost a year now. Guess I haven’t convinced them yet.

Sigh.

Have fun.

charlie

6 Comments

  1. I just wanted to be a wiseass and mention that you can just eMail it to flickr, but they don’t except .gif either. You can directly moblog (via eMail) it to TypePad though, but it will not go over Lifeblog then of course, which would be a pitty and disrupting the process a bit.
    I just tried and it worked via TypePad directly (http://moblog.thylmann.net/2005/02/testing.html)
    The pity is that you need the special paper for the Nokia digital pen (unless you know something I don’t ;)) which I just wouldn’t carry around so much.
    That’s actually why I think the 7710 will be a kicker because you can just write stuff on the screen and moblog it 🙂

  2. Oliver,
    You gadget freak, you.
    Yeah, I used to just email it directly to TypePad. Funny that Flickr doesn’t take .gifs!
    But, emailing to a blog does not have all the control that you have with a nice client like Lifeblog.
    As for the special paper, yes, it’s a pain, but I just ask the admin assistant and it just appears on my desk. Alas, I received the pen as a hand-me-down. I saw a new box once and saw that there was a plastic card that you could write on (it also has a virtual keyboard! though I don’t know how that works). Also, I heard there was a .pdf file you could print out. I need to look for it again and try it out. It would make it more economical for more throw away applications where you don’t need to keep the paper after you use it. I mean, that is the point of the whole thing.
    Enjoy!
    Tchau,
    Charlie

  4. Lifeblog: Using a Nokia Digital Pen with Lifeblog

    Link: Lifeblog: Using a Nokia Digital Pen with Lifeblog. They’re hard to convince.

  6. Just a quick note to let you know I got my Nokia phone this week and updated the pens ROM and the desktop software with the most up to date versions on the nokia web site.
    I notice that in the software these is an option to choose JPEG and the default image format.
    I am keen to get my hands on any PDF file or similar document that you can print yourself on a laser or inkjet with the digital pattern on the paper. If anyone can help please let me know.
    Regards,
    Hamish

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