BUG: Pen moving canvas instead drawing

[turbodt]

Have you searched for existing issues (including closed ones)?

• Yes, I have searched the existing issues.

Does this bug persist in a new vault with only Excalidraw installed?

• Yes, I have verified the issue persists.

Your environment

Android - Samsung Tab 9 Ultra with s-pen.

System info:

 Operating system: android 14 (samsung SM-X910)
 Obsidian version: 1.7.7 (171)
 API version: v1.7.7
 Login status: not logged in
 Language: en
 Live preview: on
 Base theme: adapt to system
 Community theme: none
 Snippets enabled: 0
 Restricted mode: off
 Plugins installed: 1
 Plugins enabled: 1
  1: Excalidraw v2.7.5

Describe the bug

When coming back to pen mode after any other mode, sometimes the s-pen moves the canvas instead of drawing on it.

It does not happens every time, but often enough so I definitively cannot write two minutes in a row without this happening.

I did not found any related bug, so it may be specific for the device.

Attaching video.

document_6046284303078267010.mp4

Steps to reproduce

1. Open new excalidraw file
2. Write something.
3. Switch to eraser or any other thing. Change the zoom.
4. Continue writing.
5. If nothing happens, repeat.

Expected behavior

On switching back to pen mode, the s-pen should write instead of moving the canvas around.

Additional context

No response

[sametcodes]

This occurs on MacOS as well. I'm using a drawing tablet. The same issue doesn't occur on excalidraw.com

I'm able to re-produce this issue on excalidraw.com. It occurs whenever user clicks on the page with mouse, the pen gets disabled and moving the canvas.

Related: excalidraw/excalidraw#8476

[turbodt]

I couldn't reproduce this issue on excalidraw.com with my tablet.
It may be something related to touch handling is different in browser and in the Android app.
Or this issue is unrelated to the touch/click handling system.

[zsviczian]

Please also include Obsidian Debug Info as requested on the Issue form.

I tested this scenario on my S23Ultra with s-pen. I was not yet able to reproduce the issue.

[turbodt]

System info added.

[cdiak]

Have a similar problem using a Wacom CTL-6100 pen and tablet on MacOS. Otherwise a great plugin, but I do routinely deal with this. Reloading the plugin resolves the issue.

[zsviczian]

unfortunately until I am able to reproduce the issue there is no chance of fixing it. Please help me be creating a robust repeatable approach for getting Excalidraw into this state.

[mochsner]

Have a similar problem using a Wacom CTL-6100 pen and tablet on MacOS. Otherwise a great plugin, but I do routinely deal with this. Reloading the plugin resolves the issue.

What do you mean by "reloading"...? Just refreshing all community plugins?

Edit: closing the tab and re-opening seemed to fix for me this time, but didn't when I originally wrote this. Maybe possible that all excalidraw tabs weren't closed last time when it didn't work, but not sure.

[mochsner]

unfortunately until I am able to reproduce the issue there is no chance of fixing it. Please help me be creating a robust repeatable approach for getting Excalidraw into this state.

With a wacom cintiq pro 16 on ubuntu 20.14, I am able to reliably reproduce this:

1. Go into pen mode and write (using actual pen)
2. Take a screenshot, paste screenshot into obsidian/excalidraw (still in pen mode) -- in desktop case, using Ctrl+V
3. Clicking 1 to switch to grab mode
4. Grab mode moves the whole notebook, instead of any objects (the bug)

The bug does NOT seem to occur for me if any ONE of these below conditions are true:

1. Wacom is disabled (usb data link unplugged for touchscreen), and used simply as an external monitor
2. I switch to selection tool before pasting (via "1" keyboard shortcut)
3. I am using excalidraw.com (possibly because it has a separate "selection" and "hand panning" tool)

Would love confirmation from other OS's that this replicates for you as well (or not)...

myself - Wacom Cintiq pro 16 on Ubuntu 20.14
@sametcodes - unknown tablet/pen on macOs
@turbodt - Samsung s-pen on Android 14

[Raifa21]

@zsviczian
With a Wacom One with MacOS Sonoma 14.5, I am also able to reliably reproduce this:

1. Go into pen mode and write (using actual pen)
2. Lift the pen up
3. Tap the touchpad(on the macbook)
4. Writing on the wacom grabs and scrolls the page

These are the conditions where it also randomly happens:

• Lifting the pen and moving it away from the wacom then trying to write again
• switching tabs
• left clicking while writing

It sometimes lets me back into writing after clicking, sometimes I have to restart Obsidian to be able to write again

[mochsner]

Wacom users with a pen that has a button, I've just discovered I'm able to "workaround" being stuck in panning mode by using the pen's bottom button ("grab") and moving around, instead of trying to resolve or fix things with mouse... Ubuntu 20.04 and Wacom Cintiq 16 Pro.

Unfortunately, it does not fix things with for the mouse being stuck in panning mode, and will stay in a "broken" (stuck in pen mode? also ctrl+1 goes to tab 1 instead of excalidraw shortcut in this mode) state, but it's more manageable to just use the pen as the mouse to do everything sometimes, instead of restarting the tab multiple every time it enters this stuck state ( e.g. after every time I paste a screenshot from a lecture that I'm taking notes on).

[cdiak]

Have a similar problem using a Wacom CTL-6100 pen and tablet on MacOS. Otherwise a great plugin, but I do routinely deal with this. Reloading the plugin resolves the issue.

What do you mean by "reloading"...? Just refreshing all community plugins?

Edit: closing the tab and re-opening seemed to fix for me this time, but didn't when I originally wrote this. Maybe possible that all excalidraw tabs weren't closed last time when it didn't work, but not sure.

Yes, I meant refreshing all community plugins. Sorry for the delay getting back on this. Happened again just the other night, I'll see if I can figure out a trigger for it...

[nowell-morris]

I am also having this problem. I am using a Samsung Tab S10+. I will happily gather logs and whatnot to show this if I know what I need to provide. I can also make a temporary vault with only the excalidraw plugin active and nothing else. What would I need to gather to help here?

[zsviczian]

try playing with these settings under Excalidraw appearance and behavior:

[SoulLess-Frog]

Hi, I think I found the issue. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+.

After experimenting with the settings, as suggested, I discovered that the problem is caused by the "Enable single-finger panning in pen mode" option. Here's how the bug happens:

1. Move the canvas using your finger.
2. While still touching the screen, bring the pen close enough to trigger hover detection.
3. The app seems to confuse the hovering pen for the finger input.
4. At this point, you can lift your finger, and the canvas will continue to move as if you're still dragging—just because the pen is still hovering.
5. If the pen actually touches the screen, the canvas stops moving and it starts drawing at that moment.

This is a very reliable way to reproduce the issue, almost 100% of the time.

When I turn off this setting, everything works normally—no unexpected canvas movement. However, I lose the ability to pan with one finger, which is a useful feature.

Can this be fixed so that the app correctly distinguishes between finger and pen hovering input, even when this setting is enabled?

Thanks!