Auxiliary inputs

Buttons, sliders, dials, touch strips on tablets

Overview

The primary way you provide input via the tablet is via the pen. However, some drawing tablets have other built-in ways of providing input.

Buttons (both physical and capacitive)
Dials
Touch-sensitive strips and wheels

Terminology: ExpressKeys

ExpressKeys is a Wacom-specific term for buttons on Wacom tablets. However, many people have adopted it as a term to describe use to describe buttons on tablets from all brands.

Huion calls buttons "Press Keys"

Disabling auxiliary inputs

Some people love using these kind of inputs, but some people do not like them because either they

take up space on the tablet
are accidentally triggered
or their workflow just doesn't benefit from them

For these cases, you should be aware that these inputs can often be configured in the tablet driver to "do nothing".

Binding inputs to actions

You can bind the buttons to take a variety of actions. Broadly the categories are

Mouse-related actions - right click, left-click, double click
System navigation - scroll left, scroll right, zoom in/out, pan, switch applications
System tasks - run application, open a file
Keyboard - Press a key, hold down a modifier key