Fine Mouse Movement Control Software

[mjdl]

Just a recommendation for fine mouse movement control software (freeware) that I've been using recently that works very well when using PWP on a notebook: JKLMouse. From that page:

Do you ever want to move something on the screen by exactly one pixel? Or two? Or three? Or line up a window or object precisely where you want it? That's hard to do with any pointing device, but it's easy with a keyboard mouse.
[...]
After you install JKLmouse, simply press the mouse button as you normally would to start dragging something. You can still use the TrackPoint or touchpad, and you can also use any of these keys:

The arrow keys
The numeric keypad (if you have one)
The home row keys for left and right hand: SDF and JKL, and the keys above and below them
[...]
Want to move the mouse without pressing a mouse button? Hold down the Caps Lock key and the JKLmouse keys all work as long as Caps Lock is down. (Don't worry, this won't turn on the Caps Lock mode.)

I wrote JKLmouse to use on my ThinkPads, where I can use both the TrackPoint and JKLmouse without moving my hands from the home row. It works fine with touchpads too. I don't recommend using it with a desktop keyboard and mouse, since you'd be likely to move the mouse while holding the button down - which would defeat the fine pixel control that JKLmouse provides.

It installs just for the current Windows user account unobtrusively in the AppData folder and is added to the automatic start items for that current user.

[den]

Neat... ...and useful. Will save some zooms when Composite-Blending differing image areas for preferential registration manually.

Your posting is much appreciated and thank you...

...den..

[doug]

The text in the original posting by mjdl contained a warning about its inapplicability for a desktop computer with keyboard and mouse. Since I do all my editing on a desktop computer and color calibrated monitor, do you agree that I should ignore this thread?

Doug

[tomczak]

JKLMouse author recommends turning on native Windows Accessibility function: MouseKeys for keyboards with numeric pad, which should have similar functionality to JKLMouse.

[doug]

I assume you were responding to my post, Maciej.
I was at first baffled by what you wrote because of my advanced age (71) and limited sophistication with respect to "modern" computers (computers in a museum are a different matter. 48 years ago I wrote a simple machine language program -- zeros & ones -- in graduate school).
But I did a little exploration in the "Control Panel" section of Windows 7 and located a category labeled "Ease of Access". And beneath this was a sub-category titled "Change how your keyboard works". Within that, was a choice that said "Turn on Mouse Keys -- Use the numeric keypad to move the mouse around the screen."
Is that what you were referring to?

Doug

[tomczak]

Hi Doug,

I'm sorry for a confusingly over-concise post. Yes, I believe that you found the Windows function that the JKLmouse author referred to. Another way of finding it (that's how I did it), is to go to Win7 Start, then type 'mousekeys' in the search window at the bottom.

I don't know if the technique is useful or not, I don't have a numeric pad.

Cheers!

[mjdl]

The text in the original posting by mjdl contained a warning about its inapplicability for a desktop computer with keyboard and mouse. Since I do all my editing on a desktop computer and color calibrated monitor, do you agree that I should ignore this thread?

Doug

(I've been off-line for a couple of days.)

No, the warning is about the possible difficulty of actuating a mouse's *button* without changing the starting position of the mouse pointer, not a restriction on the use on desktop computers! Unless you have extreme manual dexterity & control (and a high quality mouse), the pointer may budge a pixel or two while depressing the button. Where the mouse buttons are entirely separated from the mouse pointer movement control--as is the case with a notebook computer--this issue is not present.

The author of JKLMouse provides a neat alternative to depressing a mouse button (and I find it's really the most ergonomic usage in any case):

Want to move the mouse without pressing a mouse button? Hold down the Caps Lock key and the JKLmouse keys all work as long as Caps Lock is down. (Don't worry, this won't turn on the Caps Lock mode.)

So *yes*, there's no reason not to use this utility with a desktop computer keyboard.

[tomczak]

I'm aware of one difference between holding CapsLock and Left Mouse Button when using the keys to move the mouse pointer: CapsLock moves the mouse pointer, but LeftMouse Button can drag an object using a mouse pointer.

[mjdl]

I'm aware of one difference between holding CapsLock and Left Mouse Button when using the keys to move the mouse pointer: CapsLock moves the mouse pointer, but LeftMouse Button can drag an object using a mouse pointer.

Quite right! I really should not post on forums when tired... Of course dragging an object requires use of the button, Caps Lock won't do it.