Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
Last updated
Last updated
If you are new to drawing tablets, after reading this guide you'll understand how these devices work and be prepared to use one or to purchase one.
There are different kinds of drawing tablets. The two key ways to categorize them are:
Do they work standalone or not? Standalone means you can use them without being attached (wirelessly or with a wire) to a computer.
Do they have an embedded display (screen) or not? All standalone tablets have a screen.
These two things affect how the device is used, their cost, and how well they work for certain scenarios.
Before you continue, be sure to read this thoroughly: . Once you understand the different types of tablets then continue.
Position tracking
A drawing tablet lets you use a digital pen (also called a stylus) as an input device. As you move the pen on the tablet, your computer's "mouse pointer" mirrors the motion of the pen. This is first key feature of a drawing tablet - the accurate tracking of the pen's position.
If a drawing tablet does not have a screen, then the pointer will move on one of you monitors.
If a drawing tablet has a screen, then the pointer will move on the tablet's screen.
Clicking
Every time you touch the pen to the tablet, your computer will interpret the contact as pressing a mouse button. If you tap quickly, it is interpreted as a mouse click. If you press down and move the pen it is just like you are holding down a mouse button and moving the mouse.
Hover
The tablet tracks the pens position up to about 10mm from the surface of the tablet and will move the pointer even if the pen is not touching the tablet. This is called hover and is very important because it lets you reposition the pointer without drawing or clicking.
Pressure sensitivity
A drawing tablet knows how hard you are pressing down on with the tip of the pen. This is called pressure sensitivity. Pressure is very important for creative applications. For example, a painting application a can change the size of your brush strokes based on the pressure. So small amounts of pressure result in thin strokes and pressing down harder will make the strokes thicker.
Pen tilt
Most drawing tablets also detect how the pen is tilted relative to the surface of the tablet. This pen tilt detection is also useful for creative applications. For example, it can also be used to alter the size of stroke such that increased tilt results in an thicker stroke.
Drawing - Of course, many people use drawing tablets for drawing, sketching, painting, photo-editing etc. All the fundamental creative tasks.
Whiteboarding - especially with so many online meetings and remote learning. Many people use a drawing tablet with virtual whiteboard software.
Educational videos - They are popular for creating videos in the same style as "Khan Academy".
Document markup and review - They are useful for going through documents and annotating them with other notes and corrections.
Pen power - Drawing tablet pens get their power by being near the tablet itself. They don't even contain batteies. Usually the pen has to be withing abou 10mm for it to get power from the tablet.
All pen tablets can be connected with a single USB cable. Many pen tablets (but not all) can be connected wirelessly - for example via Bluetooth.
Gaming - Drawing tablets are popular for some games. More here:
Mouse replacement - Using a drawing tablet as a simple mouse replacement. Some people find a pen more comfortable to hold than a mouse. More here:
Note taking - Especially with pen computers, students for example, take them to their classes and write down their notes digitally. More here:
Wacom is THE UNDISPUTED LEADER of drawing tablets and have been for 40 years. They are the best and also the most expensive. But there are many other brands out there. You should familiarize yourself with them before you buy a drawing tablet. Learn more here:
Tracking pen position - any modern drawing tablet does a good job with this. Learn more here:
Hover - Tablets detect the position of the pen even when the pen does not touch the surface of the tablet - usually up to a distance of 10 mm. All drawing tablets support hover. More here:
Pen pressure - The pen detects how hard you are pressing on its tip. All modern pens detect about 8192 levels of pressure. But even 2048 would be enough for any creative use. Learn more here: .
Pen tilt - Pen tilt is useful if you work with a creative application with brushes respond to tilt. Learn more here: .
Pen buttons - Pens usually feature two buttons. By default these buttons will act as a left mouse click and a right mouse click. You can configure the buttons to perform other actions. More here:
ExpressKeys - These are buttons or dials on the tablet. Not all tablets have them, but many do. You can configure express keys to perform actions like undo, change brush size, change zoom, etc. More here:
Touch - A small number of tablets support touch. How well touch works and which OS it works depends on a lot of factors. More here:
The active area is the region on the tablet that your draw on. More here: .
When we talk about the "size" of a drawing tablet - we are referring to the size of the active area. Different people have different needs for size. To learn how to find the right size, look here:
When you connect a tablet to your computer, the computer needs to know how to use that tablet with a special app called a "tablet driver". If you do not install the driver, then the tablet will not work correctly. Installing the tablet driver requires administrator permissions on your computer. More here: .
Pen displays do NOT have any wireless options. There is always at least one cable used with a pen display. Pen displays are more varied than pen tablets in how the cabling works. In truth, connecting a pen display can be very complicated. It's very important you understand how a pen display will connect to your computer before you purchase a pen display. More here:
Any application on your computer, will treat the pen just as if you have a mouse. So, broadly speaking, all applications are compatible with drawing tablet. If the tablet driver is installed, then Pen-aware applications take advantage of special features of the pen such as pressure, tilt, etc. Great examples of pen-aware applications are Krita and Clip Studio Paint, which are popular drawing applications. More here:
At the end of the pen that touches the tablet is a little replaceable nib. Mostly these nibs are plastic and sometimes felt. Nibs wear down over time. Fast fast it wears down depends on a lot of factors. If it wears down too much, it might scratch the tablets. So, before it wears down too much you should replace your nib with a fresh one. More here:
A drawing tablet uses absolute positioning and a mouse uses relative positioning. They behave very differently. More here: . Using the tablet driver, you can make the tablet and pen work more like a mouse by using .