Caring for your drawing tablet
Introduction
With a little care and light maintenance your tablet will keep working for a long time. Here are some basic tips.
Do not drop your pen!
Pens are the most sensitive component because they have some small parts and some moving parts. A fall onto a floor - especially if it hits the nib directly - can completely break the internals of your pen. The impact can make the pen completely non-functional or make it stop working in specific ways.
Dop not place excessive pressure on your pen tip!
Normal drawing is fine. But don't *mash* it or hit it on a surface. You can damage the pressure sensor or you might break the nib. Use it for drawing on your tablet and nothing else.
Do not let your tablet drop to the floor!
A pen tablet, has fewer moving parts and most of the time nothing bad will happen to it.
However, If you drop a pen display, you almost certainly will cause significant damage that cannot be repaired. For example, any of these things can happen:
The pen displays will not turn on again
The screen will crack
The display panel will break and not show a full screen or will show random color patterns
The ports can get damaged, preventing it from getting a display signal
Do not get your tablet or pen wet
Keep water away from your tablet and pen. If you get them wet, consult this guide on dealing with potential damage: Dealing with water damage.
Cleaning your tablet
Periodically, clean your tablet. Some people recommend lightly cleaning your pen displays before you start drawing. More here: Cleaning a drawing tablet.
Storing pen safely
Store your pens so that the nib is not experiencing constant pressure. Some tablet users suggest that if the nib has a constant pressure applied to it, over time the pressure could damage the pressure sensor.
Surface wear
The surface of your tablet will be in contact with your pen, that contact and the friction that comes from it will cause some wear. It's good for you to understand what this wear will look like and how you can control it. Read the two documents below.
There are options to protect the surface from damage. See: protective sheets.
Maintain your nibs
Monitor your nibs and replace then when they are getting too worn down. Nibs that are worn down to flat surface may be scratching up your tablet. See more here: Nib wear
To remove a nib see this guide: Removing nibs
Don't void your warranty
Avoid doing any of these things:
Disassembling the tablet
Disassembling the pen
Using metal nibs with the pen
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