Frequently Asked Questions

A Livescribe Pencast is a digital version of your notes and audio come to life as an interactive document called a pencast.

Pencasts allow you to hear, see and relive notes exactly as they were captured. With Livescribe Connect for the smartpens, business professionals, educators and students can easily send their handwritten notes and recorded audio, as an interactive pencast, to the people and online applications of their choice - all from paper. Whether action items from a meeting or the highlights of a college lecture, you can quickly send pencasts from paper to applications such email, Google™ Docs, Facebook, Evernote^®, a myLivescribe account, Livescribe’s online community or even to your mobile device, including Apple^® iPad^® and iPhone^®.

See pencast and Pencast PDF examples at www.livescribe.com/pencast.

If your Livescribe smartpen isn't being recognised by your computer you may need to update the firmware on the pen. You will need to do one or both of the following steps:

1. Dock your Smartpen and go through the process of checking for software updates. If an update is available you will need to accept the update so that Livescribe Desktop can update your pen
2. If no updates are required and the pen still isn't recognised - please browse to this link and then search for knowledge base article 29100. This will take him to a page that describes the manual update process (If you are a MAC user you will see a link to a related article for MAC users). There is an option to download the manual app called LivescribeFWUpdater. Follow the instructions and it will do a manual update of the pen.

Livescribe Connect for the Echo and Pulse Smartpens, is a breakthrough software solution, which makes it simple for business professionals, educators and students to send their handwritten notes and recorded audio, as an interactive pencast, to the people and online applications of their choice - all from paper.

Whether action items from a meeting or the highlights of a college lecture, you can quickly send pencasts from paper to applications such email, Google™Docs, Facebook, Evernote^®, a MyLivescribe account, Livescribe’s online community or even to your mobile device, including Apple^® iPad^® and iPhone^®.

The simplest way to send a pencast from paper is to use Launch Line, a shortcut command to launch an application.

To use Launch Line, simply draw a half-inch line there and back. Your smartpen will prompt you to enter a command by displaying “Command?” on the OLED display. Then write the name of the connector where you want to send a pencast, like “Facebook” or “email” directly above the line.

Then tap the pages or circle the sections that you want to share and double tap when you’re finished. The next time you dock your smartpen the pencast will automatically be sent.

Below are the names of the connectors you can write when prompted for a command:

• For Email, write “Email”
• For Google Docs, write “Google Docs” or “Google”
• For Facebook, write “Facebook”
• For Evernote, write “Evernote”
• For Mobile/iPad, write “Mobile” or “iPad” or “iPhone”
• For MyLivescribe, write “MyLivescribe”
• For Computer, write “Computer” or “PDF” or “Me”

Installing Livescribe Connect

Livescribe Connect is installed as part of Livescribe Desktop version 2.7 or higher. To download and install Livescribe Desktop with Livescribe Connect for your Echo or Pulse smartpen, please visit Livescribe Install

Once Livescribe Connect is installed on your computer, from with Livescribe Desktop, click on any of the “connectors” or applications displayed on the left hand side of Livescribe Desktop to launch the Connect software. You will see three tabs across the top of the application – Connectors, Shortcuts andHistory. Select “Connectors” to begin setup.

Google™ Docs Connector: Enter your Google username/password. You can choose a specific default collection or folder where you want to share your pencasts; otherwise pencasts will be hosted in the “Home” section of your Google Docs account. Remember to click “Test Connection” to make sure the connector is setup properly. If the light turns green, the connection has been established.

Email Connector: Select an email account from which to send pencasts to colleagues, friends and family. If using Exchange as your email service, you may need to ask your IT department for server and port information, like you would when setting up a smartphone.

You can hit “Send Test Email” to quickly check that your email account is successfully set-up. If the light turns green, the connection has been established.To add email addresses to your Address Book, click on “Address Book” and enter email addresses one at a time or import your contact list via a CSV file.

Facebook Connector: Click the Sign in to Facebook button using your Facebook username/password. Note that you can also adjust the default messages that will accompany the pencasts that you post to your wall.

Evernote^® Connector: Enter your Evernote username/password to setup this connector. Click “Test Connection” to make sure the connector is setup properly. If the light turns green, the connection has been established.

MyLivescribe Account and Mobile Connector: Enter your Livescribe account username/password –this is also the same log-in information that you use to register your smartpen. Click “Test Connection” to make sure the connector is setup properly. If the light turns green, the connection has been established.

This connector allows you to easily upload and store pencasts to your free online MyLivescribe account [500 MB of free storage]. You can also easily access any pencast stored in your MyLivescribe account on a mobile device, including the Apple iPad and iPhone using the Pencast Player App. Note: All pencasts are uploaded as private by default, to make a pencast public, you will need to select that option on the left hand menu bar.

Computer Connector: An easy way to save and organize Pencast PDFs and other supported formats right on your computer – you can even designate the specific folder or shared server location where pencasts should be sent.

**Important Note: Once you’ve set up a connector, change a setting or create a shortcut, make sure your smartpen is docked to your computer and click the “Sync Now” button to activate these changes

Livescribe connectors allows you to share an interactive pencast to specific online applications, services and mobile devices.

Livescribe currently supports the following connectors:

• Email Connector: Handwritten notes and audio recordings from meetings or lectures are emailed using Microsoft^® Exchange, Gmail™, Hotmail^®, Yahoo!^® Mail Plus, POP3 and IMAP, and AOL.
• Google Docs Connector: Just by drawing a line and writing “Google Docs” on paper, anyone working on a collaborative project can quickly share a pencast with his or her team.
• Facebook Connector: Now the 500 million people using Facebook have a new way to share their latest thoughts –as interactive written and spoken status updates.
• Evernote Connector: Send pencasts to Evernote to play back, store and search the information along with other important digital files.
• Mobile/iPad Connector: Send pencasts right from paper to mobile devices, including the Apple iPad and iPhone. Play back important information on-the-go with the tap of a finger.
• MyLivescribe Connector: All registered customers receive 500MB of free online storage for their pencasts.  With the MyLivescribe connector, customers can easily upload and store pencasts for convenient access from mobile devices.
• Computer Connector: An easy way to save and organize Pencast PDFs and other supported formats right on a computer – even designate the specific folder or shared server location where pencasts should be sent.

Connect Basic is available for free to all Pulse and 2GB Echo customers. Connect Basic allows pencasts to be easily sent to a computer, Evernote, Facebook, MyLivescribe account and mobile devices. 

Connect Premium is available for free for all 4GB, 8GB and 8GB Echo Pro Pack Customers. Connect Premium includes all Connect Basic connectors as well as connectors for email and Google Docs.

To access Livescribe Connect, simply upgrade your currently installed version of Livescribe Desktop (Mac or PC).

Livescribe Connect introduces a new pencast format-the Pencast PDF. The Pencast PDF leverages Adobe’s ubiquitous, business-standard PDF format- now anyone with the free Adobe Reader® 10 or higher can easily hear, see and share an interactive Pencast PDF.

To download the latest version of the free Adobe Reader, click here.

Livescribe smartpens work in conjunction with Livescribe paper, which is plain paper printed with an almost invisible grid of micro-dots. The smartpen’s high‐speed infrared camera reads the dot pattern, which enables a wide range of paper‐based applications. The camera does not see ink written, nor does it see artwork on a page. Rather, the smartpen tracks and remembers where ink is written and knows the coordinates of items such as application buttons.

Livescribe has two smartpen product lines – Echo and Pulse.

Smartpens capture everything consumers hear and write and provide quick and accurate access to important information by simply tapping directly on the written notes either on Livescribe paper, on a computer or a mobile device.  

The Livescribe smartpen is a multi-modal computer, which includes an ARM-9 processor, an OLED display, micro-USB connector, audio jack, microphone and the ability to add additional java-based applications.  

This information has been obtained from the vendor of MyScript for Livescribe and will be updated periodically

Compatible OS and system requirements

OS: Windows XP, XP Tablet PC, Windows Vista or Windows 7 (32 or 64-bits) / Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or 10.6 Snow Leopard (Intel Processor Only)

CPU: 1 GHz or higher

Recommended RAM: 512 Mb

Hard disk space: 37 Mb

Screen resolution: 1024*768 minimum

Grab the tip of the ink cartridge with your fingers and pull it out. Once the ink cartridge is removed, slide in a new one.

For further information, please consult your Livescribe Smartpen User Guide. You can access the guide by opening Livescribe Desktop and selecting the top menu "Help" option.

The Echo Smartpen is the latest addition to Livescribe's range of Smartpen's. The Echo Smartpen comes in a 4GB and 8GB model.

MyScript can be purchased as a stand alone product (if you already have a Smartpen) or bundled with a Pulse or Echo Smartpen. Once you purchase MyScript you will receive an email from Smartpen containing the following:

1. Download links for both the Mac and PC version of the software
2. An activation code

This process may take up to an hour to complete depending on time of day.

With a full charge (2.5 hours in the charging cradle):

• You can capture text for approximately 13 hours.
• You can record audio for approximately 6.5 hours.
• You can record audio and text for approximately 5.5 hours.
• You can play back recorded audio from the Smartpen speaker at full volume for approximately 1.5 hours.

NOTE: If you turn your smartpen on but don’t use it to record or take notes it will turn itself off after one hour in order to conserve battery power.

The Livescribe Echo™ and Pulse™ smartpens are functionally the same. 

You can use the same applications and features currently available on the smartpens and in the software for either smartpen. You can use the same notebooks and paper products as well.

There are lots of new changes with Echo™ though. 

• There is an option for more storage if you purchase the 8 GB memory model. 
• Echo™ has a new sleek design, comfortable ergonomic shape, a rubber grip, a flat underside to help prevent rolling, and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
• It comes with two pen caps and a new universal Micro USB cable for transferring data and charging the smartpen. 
• The ink cartridge is also very easy to remove when it is time to replace it.  Just pull it out of the smartpen tip with your fingers.

Please Note:

A number of existing Premium accessories are not compatible with the Echo Smartpen. These include:

• Pro Charging Cradle
• Premium Leather Case range

A large number of platform-wide (Echo™ and Pulse™) enhancements were released as well on 18 July 2010.  

The Pulse Smartpen is about the size of a Mont-Blanc pen. It weighs close to 36 grams, is 6.1 inches in length, 16 millimetres wide at the top and 14 millimetres wide at the bottom.

It depends on the pen memory and quality level you record at.
1.Do you have a 1 GB or 2 GB pen?
2.Are you recording with the pen microphone (mono) or with the headset ear buds (stereo)?
3.Are you recording audio quality at LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH?
NOTE: If you want to change this setting, on the inside cover of your notebook go to “SETTINGS - ADVANCED AUDIO - audio quality” and using the Smartpen tap one of the three options listed above.
Total Approximate Hours of Recording Time:
Quality Levels
High, Med, Low
1GB Mono: 40, 60, 100+ Hours
2GB Mono: 85, 130, 200+ Hours

Livescribe’s Smartpen combines all four modes of communication - reading, writing, speaking and listening - in a low cost, convenient, simple format of pen and paper.
In the case of taking notes during a discussion or lecture, the Smartpen can record the conversation and digitize the handwriting, automatically synching the ink and audio.
Later you can tap the ink on your Livescribe notepad and the Smartpen replays the conversation from the exact moment the note was written.
Notes and audio can also be uploaded to a PC where they can be replayed, saved, searched and sent.