You can now write on Web pages in Windows 10

Build 10049 of the Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview just dropped, and with it comes Microsoft’s sexy, speedy new browser: Project Spartan.

The next-gen browser has several new features to try out, including a distraction-free reading view and a fast, secure rendering engine (which was available as an experimental feature in Build 9926). But the coolest new feature is inking — the ability to draw, write on, and generally mark up Web pages from directly within the browser. You can share your marked-up creations via email or through social networks, or you can save them to OneNote.

Start inking

When you see a Web page you want to “ink,” click the small icon that looks like a pen and paper in the upper right corner of the browser window. There are only about five icons total, so this shouldn’t be too difficult to find.

The Web page will refresh and the inking toolbar will appear over the regular toolbar. On the left side of the inking toolbar, you’ll see five icons: Pen, highlighter, eraser, text, and clip. The pen tool is selected by default, so you can just start scribbling away if you’d like (in medium thickness, light blue ink). If you want to change the color of your pen, click the pen icon to choose from 12 colors and three sizes.

To use a highlighter, which will let you highlight text and images instead of drawing over them, click the highlighter button. Click the highlighter button a second time to select your highlighter color and shape (six colors, three shapes).

Type some comments

If you prefer typing to writing or drawing, you can use the text tool to make comments on the webpage. The text tool is a little different from the pen and highlighter tools: Instead of letting you put text wherever you want on the page, this tool lets you drop a comment pin and type text in a corresponding text box on the right side of the page. You can minimize the text box (the pin will remain visible) for less clutter.

When you select the text tool, your pointer will turn into a cross-hair. Click anywhere on the page to drop a comment pin. The pin will appear where you click, and a thin line will connect it to a corresponding text box on the right side of the page.

Click inside the text box to type your comment. To minimize the box, you can either click the minus sign in the upper right corner of the box, or you can click the corresponding comment pin. To delete both the comment pin and the text box, click the trash can icon in the lower right corner of the text box.

The clipping tool will also turn your cursor into a cross-hair, so you can clip out a section of the page. It works similar to the Snipping Tool — click the clipping tool icon, and the page will fade out until you select a section of it. Once you have a section selected, you’ll see a small copy icon in the lower right corner; click this to copy your clip (you can paste it into another program, such as Microsoft Paint, if you want to save it).

Don’t make any mistakes

As of right now, the eraser tool doesn’t do much. If you click on it, nothing happens. If you click on it again, a “Clear All” box appears, which you can click to clear the Web page of annotations.

I assume the eraser tool will be fixed before Project Spartan goes public, because right now there’s no way to fix an annotation mistake without clearing the entire page and starting over.

Share or save your masterpiece

On the right side of the inking toolbar, you’ll see a save icon and a share icon. To save your newly-annotated webpage, click the save icon.

Right now, Project Spartan will let you save your marked-up page as an HTML file – that is, you can add it to your Favorites or your reading list. In the future, you’ll also be able to save your projects in OneNote.

To share your work, click the share icon to open up Windows 10‘s sharing sidebar. Because this is such a new build, Project Spartan’s sharing capabilities don’t appear to be turned on – but when they are, you’ll be able to share your creation with any app that supports Windows’ sharing sidebar.