Using a drawing tablet as a mouse replacement

If your are a creative, then it's pretty obvious why there's a benefit to using a drawing tablet instead of a mouse when you are drawing.

But some people, simply want to use the drawing tablet as a mouse replacement in general.

My personal experience

I did this for about 10 years. Although I always had a mouse connected, 99.9% of the time I used a drawing tablet.

Size

I used a MEDIUM sized tablet - something the size of a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium.

For a few years I a SMALL sized tablet - something the size of a Wacom Intuos Pro small. When I was using the small tablet, I was in a non-artistic phase so I was not drawing with it much.

Ergonomics

One of the reasons I avoided using the mouse was that it was causing wrist pain.

The pen was helpful in reducing the pain. However, if I do draw a lot over a month or so, I can develop wrist pain.

Holding the pen while typing

To make it easier to switch between typing and using the pen I ALWAYS held the pen in my hand even when typing.

When drawing I held it like you would normally hold a pen, but when I switched to typing, as I extended out my fingers the pen I would rotate the pen so the tip is pointing up and to the side.

Other experiences

Here's a detailed write up of someone's experience: (https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/136u00y/replacing_your_mouse_with_a_drawing_tabletpen/)

Tablets that would work well as a mouse replacement

Lots of them would work. The easy choices are:

  • One for Wacom Small CTL-472

  • One for Wacom Medium CTL-672

  • Wacom Intuos Small CTL-4100

  • Wacom Intuos Medium CTL-6100

Generally, I would suggest a medium size, though small can work also.

Videos

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