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7P Drawing tablets

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Welcome

Overview

Drawing tablets allow us to intuitively use a digital pen. On this site, I collected all my notes about drawing tablets over the years. If you are looking to buy a tablet, wanting to get help with a problem with your tablet, or just want to understand the technology, then I think you'll find the information you need here.

This site is a personal project and has no affiliation or relationship with any tablet manufacturer. The site also has: no ads, no cookies, no user behavior tracking, no affiliate links, no store.

Popular topics

  • - If you are not familiar with drawing tablets, then start here.

  • - a comprehensive guide to purchasing a tablet.

  • - Recommendations for different budgets and types of tablets

Connect with the community

Consider joining the .

Contact

If you have questions or comments contact me at .

Troubleshooting guides - For when you need help
  • Getting started - First steps for unboxing, connecting, and customizing the table for your needs.

  • Beginner's guide
    Buying a drawing tablet
    Recommendations
    Drawing Tablet discord server
    [email protected]

    About TheSevenPens

    I love creative tech. I've been using drawing tablets for a long time and wanted share what I learn.

    • My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thesevenpens

    • My notes on drawing tablets: https://docs.thesevenpens.com/drawtab/

    • I tweet occasionally: https://twitter.com/TheSevenPens

    • I moderate Reddit's and

    • I keep my code on GitHub:

    Why "TheSevenPens"?

    When I started my YouTube channel I had seven pens from my drawing tablets.

    Now I have more than seven pens.

    Tablets I own

    You can see a complete list of .

    My tablet setups

    I have multiple desks with a combination of PCs and laptops for trying out different tablets. More here:

    Key resources

    • My general take on

    Relationship to tablet manufacturers

    • I don't have any relationship with tablet manufacturers such as Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen, etc. I'm just an enthusiast.

    • I do not receive tablets from manufacturers. Every tablet I have is a personal purchase.

    • I do attend public demo events either online or in person if I can.

    /r/drawingtablet
    /r/huion
    https://github.com/TheSevenPens
    the tablets I currently own
    My tablet setups
    Drawing tablet brands
    Buying guide
    Drawing tablet recommendations

    Overview of pen displays

    Pen displays

    Pen displays are drawing tablets that have an embedded display panel. They are also called: "screen tablets", "display tablets".

    Key attributes:

    • They DO have an embedded display

    • They REQUIRE A COMPUTER to be used.

    A pen display may look like a laptop or an iPad which are standalone devices. However unlike those devices:

    • A pen display will always have to have at least one cord coming from it that is connected to a computer.

    • A pen display does not contain a battery. It must always get power through a cable attached to a power supply or from the computer directly.

    Pen displays cost between $300 to $3500.

    Use cases

    Overview of pen enabled 2-in-1 laptops

    Pen enabled 2-in-1 laptops

    These are laptops that have some support for pens to enable drawing. They may or may not have an attached keyboard.

    Examples:

    • Microsoft Surface Pro

    Learning to use a drawing tablet

    • Oct 4, 2022

    • Sep 11, 2022

    2024 22" pen displays compared

    This content has been replaced by:

    Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360

    Brad Colbow to Use a Drawing Tablet
    Aaron Rutten - How to Use a DRAWING TABLET for Beginners (2022)
    Large pen display recommendations

    Pen display recommendations

    Buying "PRO" tablets

    Overview

    At any point in the market for drawing tablets you'll see tablets designated as “pro”. Often these are paired with non pro versions that are being sold at the same time.

    You cannot rely on the Pro designation to mean anything significant.

    You cannot rely on the Pro designation to mean “better”.

    “Pro” has no standard meaning either across the different drawing tablet brands, or within the models within a drawing tablet brand.

    If confronted with a choice between 2 tablets with the same name if one has pro in its name and one doesn't - then do not automatically assume that the pro version is better. Instead take a look at other aspects of the drawing tablets that you're considering.

    Example: Huion Kamvas 13

    Consider these two tablets from Huion:

    • Huion Kanvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333)

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 13 (GT-133)

    I highly recommend between these two choices that you go with the Huion Kamvas 13 GEN33 and not the Kamvas 13 Pro version. This is because when you look deeply at the tablets you will discover that the Kamvas 13 GEN 3 is superior in some important ways.

    Specifically, the Kamvas 13 GEN3 is a much more recent tablet and has a better screen and uses a much pen that has much better pressure handling.

    Technology evolution over the years

    One of the challenges in picking tablets is retail sites like Amazon list both tablets side by side but these tablets can be made in different years and as a result they belong to different generations of technology. For example over the years the pens have gotten better and so have the displays. So modern pen displays might work much better in some ways than pro tablets from a few years ago.

    For example, laminated displays used to be something that only pro tablets had. And now we're starting to see that in non pro tablets.

    In addition pen technology has evolved quite a bit for some tablets.

    A great example is the Huion PW600L pen. This is a pen that rivals some of the professional pens from Wacom based on my testing. And that same testing reveals that these older pens aren't bad but really are not as good as the PW600L pen is at handling pressure.

    Practical tips

    • pay attention to when the tablet was released into the market

    • pay attention to the included pen - some tablets released very recently might still be pens with older tech

    • pay attention to the tablet's model number. Some tablets have very similar names but are veyr different. For example: Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) vs Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331).

    Pen tablet recommendations

    Note-taking recommendations

    I don't use these devices myself. Here are some popular ones.

    • Onyx Boox Note Air3

    • Remarkable 2

    • Amazon Kindle Scribe

    Comparisons

    Core features

    Scenarios

    Basics

    Drawing Tablet discord server

    I run a small discord server for drawing tablets. This is where I can sometimes be found chatting about drawing tablets.

    Invite link: https://discord.gg/Rr2MXeM7Ny

    https://discord.gg/Rr2MXeM7Ny

    Contacting support

    Wacom

    https://support.wacom.com/ -

    Wacom community forums: https://support.wacom.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/360003085353-Welcome-General-Discussion

    To file a support ticket: You can file a support ticket with Wacom at this link: https://support.wacom.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=1500000134982

    Huion

    -

    Go to the bottom of the page to find links to contact Huion support

    XP-Pen

    Support page:

    Gaomon

    [email protected]

    Pen-enabled 2-in-1 laptop recommendations

    Overview

    These aren't really drawing tablets. They're laptops that you can use for drawing also. The drawing experience with these devices is not as good as a dedicated drawing tablet but they may be enough for what you need.

    • Operating system: currently all run Windows

    • Scenario: General purpose

    • Pen tech: varies. MPP, EMR

    These kinds of devices are really for general purpose use. So if what you want is a full operating system where you can use things like Microsoft Office, or the full version of Photoshop, etcetera. Then these suitable choices for a standalone tablet.

    Samsung Galaxy Book 4/5 360

    This is a 2-in-1 laptop that folds over. The drawing experience is good - not super great but good.

    Pen information:

    • Tech: Wacom EMR (specifically UD EMR)

    • Comes with this pen: ()

    • Pen compatibility: These devices also works with the the Wacom CP-913 pen. And many people choose to use the Wacom CP-913 instead of the S Pen.

    Recent models:

    • Samsung Galaxy Book5 360

    • Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360

    Microsoft Surface Pro

    This is a 2-in-1 laptop that can be used with detachable keyboard. This drawing experience is OK. It's better suited in my opinion for notetaking or whiteboarding rather than drawing.

    Pen information

    • Tech: MPP (similar to AES)

    • Comes with pen: NO. You have to buy The Surface Slim Pen 2 separately.

    • (starting at $900)

    • (starting at $900)

    My tablet setups

    I have several setups ready for testing and trying out drawing tablets. It varies over time and what I am doing. Below is my latest setup as of 2023/08/03.

    #1 Primary desktop

    • Computer: Minisforum Neptune HX99G

    • My notes on the Minisforum HX99G

    • RAM: 64GB

    • Storage: 1TB

    • Tablets

      • Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860)

      • Wacom Cintiq Pro 22 (DTH227)

      • Both tablets are connected at the same time

    #2 Drawing desktop

    • Computer: Microsoft Surface Pro 8

    • RAM: 32GB

    • Storage: 1TB

    • XP-Pen Deco Pro XLW 2nd Gen (MT1592B)

    #3 Testing desktop

    • Computers:

      • Microsoft Surface Pro 8 - Primarily for testing with Open Tablet Driver

      • M3 MacBook pro - for testing manufacturer drivers

    • Tablets: various

    Buying a drawing tablet for osu!

    Many people use drawing tablets to play osu. More here: Gaming with a drawing tablet

    If you are interested in playing osu with a drawing tablet, then do not rely on recommendations from drawing tablet reviewers. They focus on the needs of the creative users. Don't rely on my recommendations for the same reason.

    Instead, the definitive resource to consult is Kuuube's tablet buying guide.

    If you do want a quick answer now though, these two tablets are excellent for osu.

    • One by Wacom Small (CTL-472)

    • One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672)

    You could also buy one of these tablets below, which are also great for osu, but they are very expensive and are not any better for osu than the ones listed above.

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Small (PTH-460)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860)

    Wacom guidance (with caution)

    Wacom lists recommended tablets for osu here: . However, they list some tablets that are NOT recombed for osu. So, I recommend you disregard their list andpick from the models listed above or the one Kuuube recommends.

    Whiteboarding recommendedatinos

    Scenario

    When I "whiteboarding" i include any scenario where you are drawing something for the sake of communicating visually.

    Example:

    • Online teaching

    • Zoom call

    • Recording Khan-Academy style videos

    If you are new to drawing tablets, read this first: . This buying guide builds on the beginner's guide. If you also just want to quickly get to some beginner recommendations then go here: .

    Also:

    Good news

    You don't need a fancy tablet for white boarding

    • For pen tablets (screenless tablets) - Any medium size beginner pen tablet will work. See: See:

    • For pen displays (screen tablets) -

    Pen tablet vs Pen display

    Both work, but if you are drawing things live for these scenarios, I do encourage you to look into a pen display (screen tablet).

    For his Khan Academy videos, the last time I checked, Sal Khan used an Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660).

    Whiteboarding with drawing tablets

    Type of drawing tablet

    Any type of drawing tablet works for whiteboarding.

    However those drawing tablets with screens (pen displays and standalone devices) do work better in my experience. This is because it just feels more natural to see what your whiteboarding on the screen as you draw.

    Applications

    • Visio -

    • Excalidraw -

    • Draw.io -

    • Microsoft whiteboard (windows, iOS, web) -

    2024 Drawing tablet tier list

    This is an updated tier list from the original livestream: https://youtube.com/live/CKki6AEzdzA

    To see the next year's tier list: 2025 Drawing tablet tier list

    The updated tier has a couple of changes I implemented after talking to some tablet enthusiasts:

    • Added Huion Kamvas 16 GEN3 to A tier

    • XP-Pen Deco Pro GEN2 moved from S tier to A tier

    • Wacom One M and Wacom One S moved to new F tier

    • Some cards in the same tier merged for a brand

    Beginner recommendations

    Overview

    These are highly-curated recommendations for people who are just beginning to get into drawing tablets.

    • All these tablets deliver the basic experiences and a reasonable price

    • Some of these tablets are missing so-called "pro" features.

    Before you purchase:

    • Read

    • Review these

    Which kind of drawing tablet

    The first thing you need to understand is the type of drawing tablet you want to buy. So, read this document first before you continue: .

    PEN TABLETS
    PEN DISPLAYS
    STANDOLONE

    Some thoughts

    • Get a pen tablet (no screen) unless you are absolutely sure that you MUST have a pen display (has a screen). More here:

    • If you really need a standalone, get an iPad or Wacom MovinkPad, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet.

    Beginner standalone tablets

    Top choices

    • Wacom MovinkPad 11 (my notes) - Best drawing experience. Optimized for getting your sketches captured when the inspiration strikes. Performance is mid.

    • Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE ( ) - this has a decent drawing experience, and also works well as an iPad-like device. Good all around Android tablet with decent performance for its cost.

    • Apple iPad - Any Apple iPad that works with the Apple Pencil 2 () . You will have the buy the Apple Pencil 2 separately. It does NOT come with the iPad.

    Super Low Budget Option

    • Samsung S6 LITE 2024 edition - not powerful but decent drawing experience. Good starter tablet for a child.

    Resources

    Avoid

    • Huion Kamvas Slate 13 - Poor drawing experience

    • Huion Kamvas Slate 11 - Poor drawing experience

    Active area aspect ratio

    Introduction

    The aspect ratio of your drawing tablet's active area, can have a big impact on how good it feels to draw on them.

    Basics

    Any rectangular area has an aspect ratio. Which is the relationship between the width and height. Usually we will express the AR as a ratio like 16:9 or 16x9.

    Displays (monitors) tend to have aspect ratios like 16x9 and 16x10. 16x9 is the most common aspect ratio.

    Aspect ratio mismatches with pen tablets (IMPORTANT)

    If you are using a pen tablet, it mostly likely does not match the aspect ratio of your monitor and you will see some distortion when you draw.

    This will make give you a weird and unpleasant feeling while drawing. You can fix this by forcing the aspect ratios to match. More here: .

    Pen displays and aspect ratios

    The active area of a pen display and their display panel inside the pen display are equivalent. So they always match.

    Reference

    A survey of aspect ratios of Wacom pen tablets

    As of 2023, NONE of Wacom's pen tablets have an exact 16:9 aspect ratio.

    Wacom One vs One by Wacom

    If you are new to Wacom, you should understand this issue because it is a constant source of confusion for people looking to buy a Wacom tablet, get help with a Wacom tablet, or buy a replacement pen for their Wacom tablet.

    The problem: Wacom makes two sweveraldifferent devices with confusingly similar names:

    "One by Wacom" refers to any of 2 pen tablets

    • One by Wacom Small (CTL-472) released in 2018

    • One by Wacom medium (CTL-672) released in 2018

    "Wacom One" can refer to any of 5 drawing tablets in two generations

    • Wacom One GEN1 (DTC-133) - a pen display released in 2019

    • Wacom One 12 GEN2 (DTC-121) - a pen display released in 2023

    • Wacom One 13 touch GEN2 (DTH-134) - a pen display released in 2023

    • Wacom One S GEN2 (CTC-4110WL) - a pen tablet released in 2023

    Alternatives to pen computers

    Overview

    Instead of pen computers, I recommend looking at the other kinds of standalone devices: pen-enabled mobile devices or pen-enabled laptops.

    • To understand why I don't recommend pen computers: The case against pen computers

    ALTERNATIVE #1: pen-enabled mobile devices

    • Apple iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil

    • Samsung Galaxy Tab S series tablets that use the Samsung S pen

    ALTERNATIVE #2: pen-enabled laptops

    • Microsoft Surface Pro

    • Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro

    More here:

    ALTERNATIVE #3: Laptops/MiniPCs + pen display

    Another alternative is to use a normal drawing tablet that is connected to a small mini-pc or laptop. This will allow you to draw in different locations even though dealing with the additional cabling may be cumbersome.

    Wacom tablet lists

    Overview

    Wacom has existed for over 40 years. In that time they've released many different drawing tablets.

    In this document I'll point you to different lists of tablets depending on what you're interested in.

    Wacom's official current tablet models

    You can see a list of all the tablets Wacom currently sells on their website (). However, this information does not cover the tablets they historically sold.

    Kuuube's Wacom tablet mastersheet

    Tablet expert Kuuube maintains a which as far as I know lists every Wacom drawing tablet ever made.

    Simulating tablet size with cardboard

    Steps

    • Find the dimensions of the device and the active area then

      • The dimensions will be published online

    • Cut out a piece of cardboard to the size of the tablet dimensions

    • Draw a rectangle to represent the active area

    • Then try drawing on it

    Example

    Things to test

    • In the active area, do you find enough space to draw

    • How will you place it relative to your keyboard

    • Does it fit your desk

    • Especially for pen displays, keep it about half an arms length away. How much does this prevent you from reacing other items on the desk

    App compatibility with drawing tablets

    Summary

    Once the tablet drivers are installed, All applications are compatible with drawing tablets. Pen-aware apps (such as Krita) can make use of features such as pressure and tilt.

    All apps

    All applications - even an app that is not "pen-aware" that app easily be used with a drawing tablet. These kinds of apps simply treat the drawing tablet as mouse. In fact they don't even know that a drawing tablet is being used.

    • Changing position - instead of moving the mouse -> you move the pen

    • Clicking - instead of pressing a mouse button -> you tap the pen on the tablet

    • Double clicking - instead of pressing a mouse button -> you tap the pen on the tablet in the same location rapidly

    • Dragging - instead of pressing a mouse button and then moving the mouse -> press down on the tablet with the pen (do not lift up) and then move the pen

    Apps that are pen-aware

    Some apps are pen aware. These apps are designed with the possibility (or even expectation) that a drawing tablet may be used. Typical examples are creative apps Krita, Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop, etc.

    These apps can take advantage of additional features of the drawing tablet such as pressure sensitivity and tilt sensitivity.

    Wacom consumer tablet landscape

    Disambiguation: Wacom One vs One by Wacom

    See: Wacom One vs One by Wacom

    Evolution of Wacom consumer line of pen tablets

    This diagram is my summary how their consumer line of tablets is evolving

    The drawing experience

    What it feels like to draw on a drawing tablet

    Overview

    The easiest way to understand what it feels like to draw on a drawing tablet is to compare it to drawing with pen and paper.

    A pen display works just like pen and paper in the sense that you can exactly see what you're drawing. More specifically your eyes are looking at what you're drawing.

    With a pen tablet things are very different - your hand is drawing in one place but you're looking somewhere else to see what's being drawn. So fundamentally using a pen tablet works differently than pen and paper.

    Switching from a pen tablet to a pen display

    Overview

    If you already have a pen tablet (a screenless tablet) and are considering getting a pen display (a screen tablet). There are a few considerations you should take into account.

    A pen tablet is not necessarily an "upgrade"

    The case against pen computers

    Overview

    Pen computers are standalone drawing tablets with screens that you can use without being attached to a computer. Essentially they are laptops that work with an EMR pen that are specifically designed for drawing and are made by drawing tablet brands such as Wacom. Examples of pen computers are: Wacom Mobile Studio Pro and Huion Kamvas Studio

    Even though some people love using pen computers, I do not in general recommend buying one.

    In this document I will evaluate pen computers on several dimensions such as cost, upgradability, etc and show you why I think they are not a great choice.

    Pen tablet recommendations (LARGE)

    Before you purchase:

    • Read

    • Review these

    My drawing tablet collection

    Overview

    I have a LOT of drawing tablets. As of June 27, 2025 I have 106 drawing tablets.

    Here is my current inventory:

    Buying a drawing tablet as a gift

    Introduction

    If you want to buy a drawing tablet as a gift, it can be challenging if you yourself have never used one and don't have a background. This guide is to help you make find a good choice.

    Understand the kind of drawing tablets available

    Beginner pen displays

    Overview

    13" is a good way to get introduced to pen displays. Though I do think ultimately 16" is a better size longer term.

    If I had to pick one

    Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) [$260, ]

    Pen tablet recommendations (SMALL)

    Before you purchase:

    • Read

    • Review these

    Drawing tablet brands vs digitizers

    Overview

    All drawing tablets have multiple components, but the primary component is the EMR sensor - which also called the digitizer.

    And despite all the many brands of drawing tablets you see, there are only a couple of manufacturers of digitizers. These are: Wacom, Hanvon Ugee, Huion.

    Disabling pen tilt

    Overview

    Pen tilt information is always sent from the tablet to the tablet driver and from there to the operating system and then to pen-aware applications.

    Sometimes when drawing it can be useful to turn off tilt. There are options

    Pen pressure levels

    Pressure levels

    Conceptually, a drawing tablet takes the pressure range and divides the range up into segments - each segment is a pressure level.

    The number of pressure levels NOT decided by the pen. It is ultimately determined by the tablet itself. It can be the case that a tablet decides to have 4K pressure levels with one pen model but 8K pressure levels with another pen model.

    Beginner pen tablets

    If I had to pick one

    If I had to pick one item on this list, I would recommend the One by Wacom CTL-672 for sure. It's reliable and has a good drawing experience though it does not have tilt support. The Huion Frego M (L610) is a new tablet (released in 2024) that is also a terrific beginner choice and it does have tilt.

    Pen pressure range

    Overview

    Based on my analysis of pen pressure ranges, I have developed this simple rating scale for IAF and max pressure. This represents my initial thinking and I expect to revise this in the future based on feedback.

    For more general information about pen pressure go here:

    A wide pressure range is very desirable. It contributes a lot to a good pressure experience. A wider pressure range is even more important than the number of pressure levels.

    2025 Drawing tablet tier list

    To see the previous tier list:

    Notes

    On November 12, 2025, during a livestream as a community we created a new drawing tablet tier list.

    Unlike last year

    • In addition to pen tablets and pen displays, we also ranked standalone tablets, and pens

    Active area

    Introduction

    The active area of a drawing tablet is the rectangle region of the tablet's surface that detects the EMR pen. Some drawing tablet manufacturers (Wacom & XP-pen) use the term active area while others (Huion) use the term working area.

    When we talk about the "size" of the drawing tablet, we are referring to the active area.

    Bezel

    The bezel of a drawing tablet is essentially all the area on the surface of the drawing tablet that is not the .

    For many devices such a phones and TVs, people make a big deal about having the smallest bezels possible. For drawing tablets, it is good to have a wide bezel.

    Ergonomic benefits

    • Avoids your pen uncomfortably "dropping off" if you are making strokes near the edge of the active area

    Drawing tablets for 3D workflows

    For the overall buying guide:

    Overview

    I don't do 3D work myself, so this document is based on feedback I've been given by others and what I have observed in online forums. Please share any .

    It seems that the 3D workflow tends has some special needs, ans for that reason we need to look at this use case specifically.

    Pen pressure instability at low pressure

    Overview

    Ideally when you're drawing with an EMR pen, smooth changes to physical pressure are translated to smooth changes in the pressure data the computer is getting from the tablet.

    In reality at low pressure near the IAF, you can experience some instability where pressure readings might do certain strange things. And this will produce odd artifacts in your strokes.

    Often this instability is present in your strokes but may not be noticeable at all especially if your brush size is small (for example 10px). But if you are using very large brush sizes like 100 pixels or 500 pixels that it may be much more obvious.

    Overview of pen computers

    Pen computers are essentially laptops with an embedded pen tablet. You don't need them to be connected up to a separate computer to work. Because pen computers have a CPU, they are running an operating system and all current pen computers use Microsoft Windows. Some people love using pen computers but . Instead, I recommend you choose a mobile computer with pen support.

    Pen computers cost between $1000 to $3500.

    Overview of pen tablets

    Pen tablets are the simplest and least expensive kind of drawing tablet. They are often called: "screenless tablets" or "non-screen tablets".

    • They DO NOT have an embedded display

    • They REQUIRE A COMPUTER to be used.

    • They REQUIRE A MONITOR attached the the computer or that the computer is a laptop.

    The key skill required to use a pen tablet is that you must adjust to your hand drawing on one surface (the tablet) while you are looking at another surface (your monitor). Most people can adjust to this immediately or within a few days, but some people find this weird and for them one of the other device options may be a better choice.

    Display toggle

    Overview

    Active area mapping is a surprisingly complex topic, because it has to work in a number of different situations (single monitor, multiple monitors, etc.) AND is highly configurable AND and can even change dynamically at the press of a button.

    For pen tablets (screenless tablets) mapping is the most complex, since the digitizer and the display are separate devices.

    Wacom model number format

    Pen tablets

    Consumer vs Professional

    The first letter to indicates if the tablet is a consumer of professional model. C means consumer. P means professional

    Overview of pen-enabled mobile devices

    These are NOT drawing tablets, but because they are very very similar to pen computers in that they are standalone and you can use a pen to draw with them - we can talk about them as an viable alternative to a pen computer.

    But the key difference is a pen computer is intended for drawing, whereas a mobile computer with pen support is meant for general purpose use, but also you can use a pen do draw.

    Sometimes the drawing experience with a mobile computers can really rival that of a pen computer. Sometimes they even use the same pen technology. But other times, they use a different technology and the drawing experience is not as good or may be missing features. So you have to carefully choose which devices you pick here.

    In this category I think the Apple iPad provides the most compelling experience, followed closely by a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.

    More here:

    XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 2nd Gen (MD160QH)

    Wacom One M GEN2 (CTC-6110WL) - a pen tablet released in 2023

  • Right-clicking - instead of clicking the right mouse button -> You press a button on the mouse

  • Getting strokes right the first time

    Because it is more clear what the pen is doing with the pen display many people who use append display say that they “get the stroke right the first time”.

    With a pen tablet people often feel like they have to make the stroke multiple times to get it right and have to press undo to erase Any errant strokes.

    I would generally agree with this feeling. When I want to get a drawing done faster especially if I have a general sense of what it is I want to draw then I do work faster with the pen display and I find that I have to press undo far less often.

    Dealing with your hands

    With a pen display, things are natural. You see the pen in the same place the stroke is being drawn - just like when you use pen and paper.

    And just like pen-and-paper, your own hand and the pen will block your eyes from seeing the display. The easy solution to this is to reposition your eyes or take advantage of the canvas zoom and rotation features of your drawing app.

    With a pen tablet, you are looking at a monitor but drawing somewhere else with your hand. Fundamentally this is no different than using a mouse. So this is kind of a convenience actually since you never have to worry about the positions of your hands. They can be anywhere and they will never block what you see.

    Adjustment period

    Because a pen display works like pen and paper almost everyone can immediately start using a pen display. It's just kind of obvious how it works. And especially these days with so many people having used devices like iPads. They know how to deal with the screen that they can interact with.

    For pen tablets things get a little more complicated. I would say that 80% of people can immediately or at least in a few minutes get comfortable using a pen tablet. Another 10% of people will take anywhere from a couple of days to maybe a couple of weeks to adjust to a pen tablet. And the remaining 10% of people will never be able to adjust to a pen tablet. For them it will never feel natural to use. And they are better off getting a pen display.

    Unfortunately without trying a pen tablet it's really difficult to tell if you would fall into the 10% of people who just can't use pen tablets..

    Matching aspect ratios

    With a pen display, the active are and the screen have the same size. This means the pen will draw exactly where you see it draw.

    With a pen tablet, the active area where you raw is separate from the monitor where you see the your strokes. Unless specifically configured in the driver, this will cause your strokes to be distorted. For example if you draw a circle on the tablet it will show up as an oval on the screen. It is easy to fix this problem in the driver. More here: match aspect ratios between pen tablets and monitors.

    Many people mistakenly believe that a pen display is always better than a pen tablet. They often thinking of moving to moving to a pen display as an "upgrade". If that's is your starting point, I ask your to take step back and consider that each has its own merits. And many people PREFER pen tablets to pen displays - even professional artists. More here: pen tablets vs pen displays.

    If it feels "weird" to draw on your pen tablet

    One thing that I often hear is that people find that it feels weird or strange to draw on a pen tablet like their hand isn't drawing what they expect it to draw.

    Many times what I found is that people have not configured their pen tablet correctly for their monitor's aspect ratio. More here: matching aspect ratios.

    So if your tablet is feeling weird, try matching the aspect ratios and give it a few more days. You might find that after this change you enjoy using your pen tablet much more.

    I suggest you seek alternatives

    I think there are better options for you: Alternatives to pen computers

    Cost

    Pen computers are incredibly expensive.

    For example the Wacom Mobile Studio 16 (2019) cost $3500 at time of release.

    I certainly do not recommend pen computers for people who are just getting started with drawing tablets. I will always recommend that you go with cheaper alternatives. And the reason for this is simple: You may find that the wrong experience doesn't live up to your expectations.

    Upgradability

    Pen computers typically have very limited upgradability compared to using a normal drawing tablet that requires a PC.

    Typically once you buy pen computer you'll be stuck with those specifications in terms of memory processor speed and GPU for the entire lifetime of the device. If you are going to purchase a pen computer please verify how upgradable it is before you make the purchase.

    if you use a non-standalone drawing tablet attached to a PC or laptop, you can either upgrade the PC or get a new laptop with significantly upgraded specs.

    Customer support

    Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Dell sell a lot of laptops and all-in-one systems. These companies have built world-class customer support organizations and support systems to ensure that their customers are getting the help they need when a customer has a question or something goes wrong with these complicated devices.

    The truth is that drawing tablet manufacturers aren't as big as these companies. They handle a much smaller volume of products and users and you may find that their customer support may not be as helpful as these larger companies.

    Repairs

    As with most laptops and all-in-one systems a pen display is typically not intended to be user-serviceable. If something goes wrong it's going to be difficult to fix by yourself. Not only are these computers often not designed to be opened. Even if you are successful in opening the case and fixing whatever problem there is it will most certainly void your warranty.

    If you need to have the pen computer repaired by the manufacturer. You are going to find that both the process is difficult and the cost is extraordinarily high.

    You cannot take these devices into a local retail store for the tablet manufacturer to take a look at. You'll have to send the pen computer back to the manufacturer and you will have to pay for the cost of shipping. And the repair cost can be as expensive as getting another laptop.

    The first thing you need to understand is the type of drawing tablet you want to give as a gift. This is very important because it determines how they will use the tablet and the cost. So, read this document first before you continue: Types of drawing tablets.

    Understand the basics

    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets

    Does the giftee already have some experience with a drawing tablet?

    This is important because:

    • You should understand what they like and don't like about that experience

    • They also have a set of expectations.

    • It might even be that they don't need a drawing tablet because they already have a device that serves that role.

    For example, if they already have an Apple iPad:

    • The may want to continue iPad apps

    • You can buy an Apple Pencil model that is compatible with their iPad

    If you are looking an easy answer for your budget

    See this list of recommendations

    They are separated by type and size of tablet, and options are available at multiple budget options.

    When ready look through the full buying guide

    The full buying guide: Buying a drawing tablet

    These tips will be useful: Video: Practical tips for buying a drawing tablet

    Make sure the tablet will physically connect with their computer

    For a pen tablet and pen display, they have to connect to a computer. For a pen tablet, this is easy because the computer needs just one USB port to be available. But for a pen display this can get complicated. See this: Connecting a pen display to a computer

    Do they need to use certain apps?

    Sometimes, the apps they need dictates what will work for them.

    Examples:

    • If they want to use the Procreate app -> the only option is to get an Apple iPad because procreate only works on iPads.

    • If they need to use the full version of Photoshop (as opposed to the mobile version) -> then they can't use an Android device or an iPad

    Join the discord for more help

    Go here for the invite link: Drawing Tablet discord server

    Which digitizers go into which brands
    • Wacom digitizers are used in their own products.

    • Hanvon Ugee supplies digitizers to Xencelabs and XP-pen tablets

    • Huion supplies supplies digitizers for: Gaomon, Huion, Veikk tablets. And Huion supplies digitizers for Artisul tablets through their acquisition of UCLogic.

    Acquisitions

    • Huion acquired UCLogic in 2019 (https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC-Logic_Technology_Corp.)

    Pen tablets cost between $50 to $500.

    Performing the toggle

    In the tablet driver you can assign display toggle to a button on the pen or on the tablet.

    My recommendation

    For pen tablets I always suggest mapping to a single monitor AND enabling display toggle if you need to use both monitors.

    C -> Consumer (example: CTL-472)

  • P -> Professional (example: PTH-660)

  • Active area size

    The first digit of the number Indicates the active area size of the tablet

    • 4 -> small (example: CTL-472)

    • 6 -> medium (example: CTL-6100WL)

    • 8 -> large (example: PTH-860)

    Samsung S Pen
    my notes on this pen
    Samsung Galaxy Book4 360
    Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 360
    My notes on using the Microsoft Surface Pro
    Surface Pro 8
    Surface Pro 9
    https://estore.wacom.com/en-us/osu
    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    Recommended drawing tablets for beginners
    Whiteboarding with drawing tablets
    Pen tablets vs Pen displays
    Beginner pen tablets
    Beginner pen displays

    Miro - https://miro.com/

  • Lovable - https://lovable.dev/

  • Built-in whiteboarding features in communication apps such as Microsoft teams and zoom.

  • Microsoft Powerpoint - Some people use Microsoft PowerPoint as a whiteboarding app. This allows the whiteboard to have a collection of pages - with each page being a slide in the PowerPoint presentation. And then they can take advantage of PowerPoint drawing tools.

  • Google Keep - Supports taking visual notes where you can draw.

  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/visio
    https://excalidraw.com/
    diagrams.net
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-whiteboard/digital-whiteboard-app

    Look through the Drawing Tablet Buying Guide

    If you want to see the full set recommendations go here: Drawing tablet recommendations

    These are tablets WITHOUT a screen that need to be connected to a computer (some support wireless) to work. See: Beginner pen tablets

    These are tablets WITH A SCREEN that need to be connected to a computer. see: Beginner pen displays

    These are tablets that don't need to be connect to a computer so they are like an iPad. See: Beginner standalone tablets

    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    Buying tips
    Types of drawing tablets
    Pen tablets vs pen displays
    Standalone drawing tablet recommendations
    https://www.wacom.com
    Kuuube's Wacom tablet mastersheet
    Other good options

    SMALL 13"

    • Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) [$260, my notes] ★★★

    • XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH) [$300, my notes]

    • XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN3 (CD121FH) [$220, my notes]

    MEDIUM 16"

    • Huion Kamvas 16 GEN3 (GS1563) ★★★ [$500, my notes]

    Decent options

    • Kamvas 16 V2 (GT-156 V2) [$400, my notes]

    • Wacom One 14 (DTC-141) [my notes]

    my notes
  • Provides a place for you rest your wrist or forearm so that the edge of the tablet is not digging into them.

  • Drawing benefits

    The EMR sensor (digitizer) needs to be a bit wider than the active area so that it is still accurate at the edges. A wider bezel provides that extra space for the digitizer.

    Reddit threads

    https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/qjjgj5/why_all_cintiqs_have_humongous_bezel/

    active area
    I don't recommend pen computers
    Using an iPad as a drawing tablet
    Matching aspect ratios
    https://www.huion.com/support.html
    https://www.xp-pen.com/support

    Standalone drawing tablet recommendations

  • Look through the Drawing Tablet Buying Guide

  • If you want to see the full set recommendations go here: Drawing tablet recommendations

    EXCELLENT

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTK-870) [$500, my notes]

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860) [$500, my notes]

    VERY GOOD

    • XP-Pen Deco Pro XLW GEN2 (MT1592B) [$200, my notes]

    GOOD

    • Huion Inspiroy Giano (G930L) [$200, my notes]

    • Huion Inspiroy 2 L [my notes]

    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    Buying tips
    Quick tour

    Sometimes people doubt that I have as many drawing tablets as I claim. As evidence, below is a quick tour of MOST of the tablets I have. Although not every tablet is shown, the video at least gives you a sense of how many I have.

    Notes on my collection

    • To see a full list of my tablets: https://1drv.ms/x/s!Aml8i4Jd6crCginxzCU7kvh4NB4w?e=Mkq7sx

      • This list is out-of-date - I'llb e revising it in summer of 2025 to make it accurate.

    • In that spreadsheet, you can see

      • The tablet name, model number, and brand

      • When I purchased the tablet

      • Which store I purchased from

      • The year the tablet model was released

      • Whether the tablet was bought new or used

    • Some of these tablets are quite old - 10 years, 20+ years. Even though they work perfectly their age does make it more complex to use them. More here:

    Where I buy drawing tablets

    • Most often I buy new tablets on Amazon or occasionally B&H Photo. If Amazon does not stock the tablet, I purchase it from the manufacturer's online store.

    • If it is an older tablet i buy them on eBay.

    https://1drv.ms/x/c/c2cae95d828b7c69/EWl8i4Jd6coggMK3CAAAAAAB-HGFQ_jOG9_uDCGPt2US5g?e=Zi2dci
  • Look through the Drawing Tablet Buying Guide

  • If you want to see the full set recommendations go here: Drawing tablet recommendations

    EXCELLENT

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Small (PTK-470) [$200, my notes]

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Small (PTH-460) [$200, my notes]

    VERY GOOD

    • Huion Frego S (L320) [$70, my notes on the Medium-sized model ]

      • FEATURE LIMITATION: NO TILT

    GOOD

    • One by Wacom Small (CTL-472) [$40, my notes]

      • FEATURE LIMITATION: NO TILT

    • Wacom Intuos Small (CTL-4100) [$75, links]

      • FEATURE LIMITATION: NO TILT

    • XP-Pen Deco

      • XP-Pen Deco M (IT850) [no wireless] [$50, ]

      • XP-Pen Deco MW (IT850B) [$70, ]

    AVOID

    • Wacom One S 2023 (CTC-4110WL) [$100, links ]

      • SUB-STANDARD PRESSURE HANDLING

    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    Buying tips
    OPTION 1 Use brush settings

    Drawing apps that use brushes may let you control how tilt affects the brush. So, you can configure specific brushes to ignore tilt. Examples of applications that support this are Clip Studio Paint and Krita.

    OPTION 2 Turn tilt off in the driver

    Turn off tilt in the driver - SOME tablet drivers let you simply turn off tilt so that it isn't reported to your operating system or applications.

    XP-Pen drivers have this feature.

    How many pressure levels do you need?

    These days tablet brands say that they can handle 8K (8192) levels of pressure. Some tablets even claim to support 16K pressure levels.

    Don't get caught up in hype about pressure levels.

    I claim you only need 2048 levels of pressure (and probably even less than that). As a quick example watch this 35 second video: https://youtu.be/V-79hS5sRQw

    Other good options
    • One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672) [no tilt, no wireless] [$60, my notes] ★★★

    • Huion Inspiroy Frego M (L610) [$90,my notes ] ★★★

    • XP-Pen Deco series ★★★

      • XP-Pen Deco M (IT850) [no wireless] [$50, ]

      • XP-Pen Deco MW (IT850B) [$70, ]

      • XP-Pen Deco L (IT1060) [no wireless] [$70, ]

      • XP-Pen Deco LW (IT1060B) [$90, ]

    • Wacom Intuos series

      • Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100) [no tilt, no wireless] [$200, ]

      • Wacom Intuos Medium Bluetooth (CTL-6100WL) [no tilt] [$200, ]

    Landscape

    Consider this diagram to be a DRAFT. it will evolve as I learn more.

    I think the pressure categories here (EXCELLENT, VERY GOOD, etc) are reasonable.

    But be aware, that for a specific pen there can be significant differences for IAF and max pressure for individual units.

    Pressure data and sources

    • Manufacturers

    • From tablet experts such as Kuuube

    • And my own measurements: https://1drv.ms/x/s!Aml8i4Jd6crCkTerfXD_1zsIxg3A?e=2aCPfI

    Considerations

    • Pens, even of the same model, vary in how their pressure handling

    • Drivers can potentially affect IAF.

    Resources

    • Comments on pen pressure levels and ranges for Wacom products: https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/10l0ujb/comment/j5u1v3z/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

    • Comparison of minimal gram-force ("initial activation force"/"initial activation pressure") recognized by various digital pens and digitizers ( https://www.reddit.com/r/stylus/comments/opc44f/comparison_of_minimal_gramforce_initial/)

    • Initial Activation Force / Initial Activation Pressure Cintiq Pro 16 2021? (https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/v9989o/initial_activation_force_initial_activation/)

    pen pressure

    Instead of 1 single tier list, we created one for each category

  • Instead of using a pre-built tier maker, we used a vibe coded one built in 3 hours using Google AI Studio.

  • Livestream

    Livestream vs this page

    As always, as I learn more and get feedback I update the tier lists shown on this page.

    Tiering strategy

    • COST does not affect the tier

    • TIERING and RECOMMENDATIONS are based on overall DRAWING EXPERIENCE

    • Some tablets might be not recommended (for drawing), but they might work well for note-taking, whiteboarding, etc. - tasks that are not about creative drawing/painting.

    • Pens are the primary determinant of how pressure works for a tablet (IAF, MAX PRESSURE, PRESSURE RANGE). So it is always important to understand the included pen for tablet.

    • UD-EMR pens offer OK performance. So tablets with UD EMR pens TEND to be the C tier.

    Tier definitions

    Pen tablets

    Pen displays

    Standalone

    Pens

    2024 Drawing tablet tier list
    Active area of pen tablets

    The active area is usually marked in some way on the surface. Sometimes it is marked at its four corners. Some tablets show a grid of of dots.

    Active area of pen displays

    The active area of a pen display is very easy to detect because it is the exact the same area of the display panel.

    Size

    Usually when we discuss the size of an active area, we talk about its diagonal length. Drawing tablets vary quite a bit in their active area size. More here: Active area size.

    Aspect ratio

    The relationship between the width and height of the active area is its aspect ratio. More here: Active area aspect ratio.

    There are three considerations for 3D workflows

    • Whether to get a pen display or pen tablet (the most common answer is pen display)

    • What display resolution to get for the pen display

    • What size for the pen display

    Pen display vs pen tablet

    Based on on my observation, most people doing 3D work use a pen display (screen tablet) instead of a pen tablet (screenless tablet).

    However, what will work for you takes some consideration. See: Pen tablets vs pen displays

    Display resolution of pen display

    • 4K+ is RECOMMENDED

    • 2.5K to 3K is OKAY

    • 2K, 1080p, and lower - NOT RECOMMENDED

    Display size of pen display

    • 19" to 32" recommended

      • I have personally noted a lot of 3D artists looking for a 24" display.

    • 16" is OKAY

    • 14 and lower - NOT RECOMMENDED

    For general guidance on picking size: Choosing the right size for a drawing tablet

    Prioritizing resolution and size

    It seems that the 3D workflow typically involves having many UI elements on screen at once - for example when using node editors. Higher resolutions will make it easier to read the smaller text in these scenarios.

    For example here is an example of what might need to be on screen

    For this reason, some suggest prioritizing resolution first before size.

    Notes

    Thanks to tablet enthusiast KoyoD for providing the guidance that this document is based on.

    Buying a drawing tablet
    feedback via our discord
    Prevalence

    All drawing tablet pens have some pressure instability near their initial activation force. The amount of this instability and the way it manifests itself does vary a bit between different pen models. However even the best drawing tablet pen on the market (Wacom Pro Pen 2) can be made to exhibit these issues.

    Examples

    All of the example below were created with the Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 M (PTH-660) with the Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E).

    • Application: Krita

    • Brush: Ink3 Gpen, null pressure curve, 500px brush

    Causes

    • The pressure detection mechanism in an EMR pen is almost always hypersensitive as pressure gets close to the IAF.

    • The texture of the tablet surface as the pen is traveling over it can get picked up by the pressure sensor.

    • The movement of your wrist or elbow on the tablet or the desk as your hand moves or rotates can get picked up by the pressure sensor.

    • It's very hard for a human to hold a consistent physical pressure.

    • Pens are more sensitive to pressure as they come closer to a vertical position.

    • Depending on the direction of pen travel the direction of the physical tilt of the pen can create odd interactions between the nib of the pen and the surface of the pen tablet.

    Addressing these problems

    See: Troubleshoot low pressure drawing problems

    My notes
    My notes

    Pen-enabled mobile device recommendations

    Overview

    If you're primarily interested in drawing or notetaking I think pen-enabled mobile computers are your best options.

    Top picks for drawing

    These are for when you want a GREAT drawing experience. Especially if you are already used to drawing tablets or Wacom professional tablets and pens.

    • Wacom MovinkPad Pro 14 -

      • This tablet has the best drawing experience on the market out of any current standalone tablet of any kind and from any brand.

    • Wacom MovinkPad 11 -

    Top picks for general usage

    This is when you want a general-purpose mobile device, but also want decent pen support for things like sketching, notetaking, whiteboarding, etc.

    • Apple iPads + the Apple Pencil -

      • Apple iPads can play the role of a drawing tablet very well. Do keep in mind, the Apple Pencil does not come with an iPad so you will have to purchase the pencil separately.

    • Samsung Galaxy Tab S devices -

    Some compromises

    • XP-Pen Magic Drawing Pad 2024 - I don't have any experience with this tablet.

    • XP-Pen Magic Drawing Pad 2025 (MDP1221) -

    Tablets to avoid

    Samsung Galaxy Tab A Series

    I do not recommend this series of tablets. More here:

    Huion Slate

    • NOT RECOMMENDED

    Resources

    • 2025/03/12

    Videos

    Pen display recommendations (SMALL)

    Before you purchase:

    • Read Beginner's guide to drawing tablets

    • Review these

    • Look through the

    If you want to see the full set recommendations go here:

    EXCELLENT

    • Wacom Movink 13 (DTH-135) [$750, ]

    VERY GOOD

    • Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) [$260, ]

    • XP-Pen Artist Pro 14 GEN2 (MD140FH) [$420, ]

    GOOD

    • XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN3 (CD121FH) [$220, )]

    • XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN2 (CD120FH) [$220, ]

    • XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH) [$300, ]

    DECENT

    • Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331) [$240, ]

    • Wacom One 14 (DTC-141) [$300, ]

    • Wacom One 2019 GEN1 (DTC-133) [$400, ]

      • NOTE: Expensive for what it is and how dated it is, but is a decent tablet. A good candidate for buying used.

    AVOID

    • Wacom One 12 GEN2 (DTC-121) [$400, ]

    • Wacom One 13 touch GEN2 (DTH-134) [$600, ]

    Videos

    Additional resources

    Uninstalling tablet drivers

    Overview

    Just as they are installed, tablet drivers can also be uninstalled.

    Normally, you would only be interested in uninstalling a tablet driver if you don't plan to to use your drawing tablet again. However, uninstalling/re-installing is a common troubleshooting technique so it is useful to be familiar with the process.

    Windows uninstall process

    Windows

    • Steps

      • Go to Start > Apps > Installed apps

        • On earlier version of Windowss, search for "Add Remove Programs" and then uninstall apps

    Extended uninstall process

    Some tablet drivers leave bits of themselves installed, even after an uninstallation process. To ensure nothing remains, use the .

    Starting the uninstall process from the driver

    Even though I normally use the standard operating system methods to start the uninstall process, for some tablet brands, you can launch the uninstall process from the driver app itself.

    MacOS uninstall process

    Wacom

    • Search for Wacom Tablet Utility 

    • Under Tablet Software click Uninstall

    Resources

    Resources

    Active area mapping

    Overview

    Mapping is how the tablet driver translated the position of the pen on the EMR sensor (AKA “the digitizer”) to a position on display.

    Mapping for pen displays

    For pen displays, mapping is relatively straightforward because essentially the digitizer and the display are embedded in the same device.

    Mapping for pen tablets

    Active area mapping is a surprisingly complex topic, because it has to work in a number of different situations (single monitor, multiple monitors, etc.) AND is highly configurable AND and can even change dynamically at the press of a button.

    For pen tablets (screenless tablets) mapping is the most complex, since the digitizer and the display are separate devices.

    Dealing with mismatched aspect ratios

    Because the tablet's active area and the display may have different aspect ratios, distortion can be introduced unless you enable Force Proportions:

    Display Toggle for pen tablets and multiple monitors

    When multiple monitors are being used, you can have the tablet switch between mapping to each monitor at the click of a button. See:

    Brands

    Introduction

    There are many tablet brands and picking the brand of the tablet is one of the most important decisions you will need to make when selecting a tablet to purchase

    • I covered brands extensively in this video:

    • If you are not familiar with drawing tablets, please read the

    Tier 1: Wacom

    Wacom was founded in 1983 continues to make the highest quality and most reliable tablets. In general, Wacom has the best drawing experience. Their products are the most expensive. I consider Wacom to be the "safe choice".

    • More here:

    • Wacom -

    Tier 2: Huion, XP-Pen, & Xencelabs

    Huion and XP-pen since about 2021 have been releasing decent devices and size 2023/2024 a couple very good ones that compete strongly with Wacom. In many ways they deliver 90% of what a typical person needs for about half the cost. They do trail Wacom in reliability and in customer support however. If you carefully research a tablet from these brands, you can find one that works for you.

    • More here:

    • Huion -

    • XP-Pen -

    Xencelabs (founded 2019) is a new brand focused only on professional tablets for professionally users. Xencelabs has a very strong focus on customer support.

    • More here:

    • Xencelabs -

    Tier 3: Smaller brands

    After Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen, there are many other brands that focus on budget or consumer tablets. All these brands the same technology as the Tier 2 brands. In fact they are even owned by the same companies. These brands have smaller portfolios, less responsive customer support, and smaller online communities.

    • Artisul -

    • Gaomon -

    • Ugee -

    • Veikk -

    Tier 4: Everyone else

    Avoid.

    How to choose the right brand for you

    More here:

    Pen display recommendations (MEDIUM)

    Before you purchase:

    • Read Beginner's guide to drawing tablets

    • Review these

    • Look through the

    If you want to see the full set recommendations go here:

    EXCELLENT

    • Wacom Cintiq 16 2025 (DTK-168) ★★★ [$700]

    • Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 (DTH-172) [$2500, ]

    • Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 (DTH-167) [$1500, ]

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 19 (GT1902) ★★★ [$1100, ]

    VERY GOOD

    • Huion Kamvas 16 GEN3 (GS1563) ★★★ [$500, ]

    • XP-Pen Artist Pro 19 GEN2 (MD180UH) [$900, ]

    • XP-Pen Artist Ultra 16

    • XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 GEN2 (MD160QH) ★★★ [$600, ]

    GOOD

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 16 V2

    • Xencelabs Pen DIsplay 16

    DECENT

    • Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) (GS1562) [$400, ]

    AVOID

    Huion Kamvas Pro 16 Plus 4K (GT1562) [$900, ]

    • LOTS OF AG SPARKLE

    OTHER

    • Wacom Cintiq 16 (DTK-1660) [$650, ]

    • XP-Pen Artist 16 GEN2 (CD160FH) [$400, ]

      • EXCESSIVE DIAGONAL WOBBLE

    Videos

    Wacom

    Overview

    The undisputed leading brand is Wacom (https://www.wacom.com). They have a variety of products and different price points that should fit everyone's needs. If you don't want to weigh the pros and cons of different brands and want an easy answer then choose Wacom.

    My experience: I currently own 39 Wacom tablets (6 pen displays and 33 pen tablets). I have extensively used every tablet in their professional series.

    Some basic summaries of their leading series of tablets

    • Intuos Pro - professional pen tablets. continue to be the best pen tablets ever made

    • Cintiq Pro - professional pen displays - continue to be the best pen displays ever made

    • One by Wacom - consumer pen tablets - are terrific beginner tablets

    • Wacom One - consumer pen tablets and pen displays - mixed bag of results here.

    What Wacom does well

    • Best EMR tech. This may not be obvious just by comparing specs, but their EMR tablet technology is ahead.

    • Long-term reliability. Their older tablets (20+ years old) still work today if you use the appropriate driver.

    • They have products for beginners, intermediate users, and professionals - but even their beginner products are very high quality.

    Feature availability

    One thing you'll notice about Wacom is that they tend to keep certain features in their professional line of products. In fact over time they have tended to remove features from their consumer tablets and move them only to the pro line. Other manufacturers tend to have those features consumer and professional lines.

    Pen tilt compensation

    In order to correctly represent the position of the pen. The tablet has to perform something called tilt compensation. This means adjusting the pointer position, depending on how much the pen is tilted.

    This is very important for EMR tablets because the digitizer is sensing an inductor inside the pen. And that inductor is not close to the tip of the pen. It's deeper inside the pen.

    Some other pen technologies. For example, the apple pencil don't have as big a separation as EMR tablets have.

    Now no tablet does tilt compensation perfectly. I have seen some very old habits to do this very badly almost as if they don't compensate for tilt at all. But these days, a modern EMR drawing tablet does a decent job compensating for tilt. And so the pointer doesn't really shift too far away from where the tip of the pen is. But there is some variation. Some tablets are better at this than others.

    Wacom standalone tablets

    Device
    Year
    Operating System
    Model number

    MovinkPad Pro 14

    2025

    Android

    DTH-A140

    MovinkPad 11

    2025

    Android

    DTH-A116

    MobileStudio Pro Gen 2 (13)

    Pen computer recommendations

    Overview

    Pen computers are slate form-factor laptops that provide the full drawing tablet experience.

    Pen computers are true drawing tablets because:

    • They use the most popular digital pen technology (EMR) for their digitizers and pens

    • They provide the classic drawing tablet experience.

    "Pen computers" terminology

    Pen computers is what Wacom calls this category of devices in relation to drawing tablets.

    Common traits

    • Operating system: Windows

    • Intended usage scenario: Drawing, painting, sketching

    • Pen tech: EMR (electromagnetic resonance)

    My position on pen computers

    As a policy, I do NOT recommend pen computers. The reasons are many and documented here: .

    I recognize that some people LOVE the experience of using a pen computer. But overall because of the cost of purchase, support, repair, lack of upgradability, etc. I cannot cannot in good conscience recommend them.

    I suggest you look at alternatives: .

    Current models

    • Huion Kamvas Studio 16 ($1700)

    • Huion Kamvas Studio 24 ($2400)

    • Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 ($2500)

    • Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 ($3500)

    Pen pressure dead zone

    Overview

    The pressure dead zone is an area of a pressure curve that is deliberately designed to ignore a bit of the lower end of the pressure range. The pressure dead zone effectively increases the IAF of the pen.

    Visualization

    Visually the pressure dead zone can be seen whenever the lower left corner of the pressure curve is displaced to the right

    Uses

    We often prize having extremely low initial activation force with our EMR pens because it makes them more sensitive to lighter strokes.

    But that sensitivity comes at a cost. It can introduce several kinds of problems. And a pressure dead zone can address these problems

    examples of problems that pressure dead zone could be applied to:

    • drawing while hovering

    • strokes having tails

    Default dead zones in tablet drivers

    When you look at the default pressure curve and a tablet driver for most of the EMR pens you will encounter, you will notice that they almost always do not have a dead zone predefined.

    There are a couple of notable exceptions (as of 2025/03/18).

    • The default pressure curve for the Wacom pro pen 2 (KP-504E) has a pressure dead zone

    • The default pressure curve for the Huion PW600 pens also has a small pressure dead zone.

    Testing results

    I've tested 4 Wacom pro pen 2 units by using them without the default pressure dead zone. Of the four two did not have any drawing while hover problems. The other two did in fact draw while hovering. It appears that the Wacom pro pen 2 is a bit oversensitive and some units by default do draw on hover. So this explains why Wacom defaults to a small pressure dead zone for these pens. Note that the Wacom pro pen 3 does not have a default pressure dead zone.

    For the Huion PW600 series of pens, without the pressure dead zone I did not encounter any drawing while hovering problems.

    Recommendation

    the pressure dead zone is intended to solve a problem. But not all pens have that problem. I would suggest that when you get a new tablet or a new pen you take a look at the tablet driver and verify whether a pressure dead zone is set by default.

    If it is try using the pen without the pressure dead zone. And if you don't notice any problems then leave it that way. Because that will give you a more sensitive pen with a lower initial activation force.

    Links

    • 2025/03/18

    Types of drawing tablets

    Non-standalone drawing tablets

    • Pen tablets (also called "screenless tablets") - Don't have a screen and you have to use them with a computer or laptop. More here: Overview of pen tablets

    • Pen displays (also called "screen tablets") - Have a screen and you have to use them with a computer or laptop. More here:

    Standalone drawing tablets

    • Pen-enabled mobile devices - These are devices like iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tab S devices that support being used with a pen. They aren't strictly-speaking drawing tablets, but they use the same/similar tech and can work as a standalone drawing tablet. More here:

    • Pen computers - Drawing tablets that are essentially laptops. I do not recommend getting these. more here:

    Choosing a drawing tablet brand

    If you are looking for tablet recommendations, go here: Recommendations

    Overview

    No brand's products are consistently perfect.

    All brands will eventually ship a product that has defective units or that will have sporadic problems with their drivers, etc. So, at some point you will need help.

    This is why you MUST choose a brand that:

    • Supports its customers well:

      • Is publishing driver updates

      • Had good documentation

      • Has active customer support

    Brands I generally suggest

    I generally steer people toward:

    • Wacom

    • Huion

    • XP-Pen

    • Xencelabs

    More here:

    You'll find people who've had good and bad experience with each brand. Though generally I do think Wacom has a better experience for customers overall.

    Brands vs specific tablets

    Within a brand, they will have good tablets and bad tablets. Even Wacom, which is the market leader has some tablets I will not recommend.

    Instead of only thinking of the brand, consider specific tablet models.

    Online communities

    Communities are where a people can learn and get help with drawing tablets. Depending on the brand there are different options. More here:

    Discussions

    • - brands compared

    How many pressure levels do you really need?

    Overview

    You need about 2000 levels of pressure could probably get by with a lot less.

    These days it's very fashionable for drawing tablets to advertise that they have 8000 levels of pressure or 16,000 levels of pressure. In my analysis the vast majority of users only need about 2000 levels of pressure and could get by with far less.

    Reasoning

    The quick summary is that the number of pressure levels has to be quantized or reduced into certain visible aspects of your artwork.

    For example if your pen supports 8000 levels of pressure but your brush size is 100 pixels - then there are only 100 different possible Brush sizes. In other words many of those 8000 levels of pressure map to the same brush size.

    By extension the same logic applies to transparency. Most people are using 8 bit transparency which results in 256 possible transparency values. So many of those 8000 pressure levels mapped to the same exact transparency value.

    There are some very specific conditions where someone might need more than 2000. But based on what I've observed those cases are incredibly rare and very specialized.

    Recommendations

    Below are tablets I would personally recommend separated by device type. These recommendations are centered around using the tablets for drawing. If you are new to drawing tablets, I suggest you read the . If you are want to learn more about how to decide what you need (type, size, specs), read the .

    Tier lists

    Check out the to see how these tablets and their pens rank against each other.

    Gaming with a drawing tablet

    My hobby concerning drawing tablets is centered largely around creatives - people who are drawing, sketching, etc. Despite using tablets for well over a decade, only in 2022 did I discover people were using drawing tablets for games. And some of these games are quite popular.

    osu!

    osu! is a popular rhythm game and many of its players use drawing tablets instead of a mouse. ()

    <- this video is relatively well known in the osu! community.

    Drawing tablets vs mice

    Overview

    Almost certainly you've used a mouse with a computer, and this this document will help you understand how using a drawing tablet with its pen differs from using a mouse.

    Positioning strategy

    Taking notes with drawing tablets

    Overview

    Taking notes is a popular scenario for drawing tablets.

    There are several types of drawing tablets:

    Generally I believe you will get the most natural experience taking notes if you use a or . Because both these kinds of devices have screens, are portable, and don't require a computer to use. And this makes them very convenient for taking notes.

    On the other hand some people enjoy taking notes with pen tablets (screenless tablets) or pen displays (screen tablets).

    Pen display recommendations (LARGE)

    Before you purchase:

    • Read

    • Review these

    Xencelabs

    Overview

    Xencelabs () positions itself as a direct competitor to Wacom for the professional creative audience

    They are a very new brand and have a small product line as of Jan 2024:

    • Pen displays

    Wacom final driver notices

    I'm collecting information about the last drivers available for discontinued products. This list is incomplete and may be merged with other docs in the future.

    Tablets
    Final driver

    Pen pressure response

    he pressure response of a pen describes the behavior of a pen with regard to pressure.

    The pen measures of physical force at its tip. Information about the physical force is sent to the tablet and then translated into a logical pressure value. The pressure response is the relationship between that physical pressure and the logical press.

    In numerical terms it can be expressed as a simple set of data points. And if we graph those data points with the physical pressure on the X axis and the logical pressure on the Y axis - then we get a chart that visualizes the pressure response.

    All pens come out-of-the-box with a specific pressure response. And keep in mind the response is unique to each pen. The response even for pens of the same model will differ a little bit at the very least.

    One thing that is generally found among EMR - is that the shape of the pressure response is bowed up quite a bit.

    Pen pressure

    Overview

    Pressure is the physical force being exerted on its tip.

    Key concepts

    Learning digital art

    Overview

    Most people buy drawing tablet to create digital art. I've collected some links below to help them get started on this journey.

    The role of drawing tablets

    They have good support.
  • They monitor and respond to questions on https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom

  • 2020

    Windows

    DTH-W1321

    MobileStudio Pro Gen 2 (16)

    2019

    Windows

    DTH-W1621

    MobileStudio Pro

    2016

    Windows

    DTH-W1620

    Cintiq Companion 2

    2015

    Windows

    DTH-W1310

    Cintiq Companion

    2013

    Windows

    DTH-W1300

    links
    links
    links
    links
    links
    my notes
    links
    links
    Locate the applivation for your tablet brand
  • Click on it and select to uninstall

  • The uninstall process may ask you to restart your computer, do that.

  • If you are not asked to restart your compute, after the uninstall process is finished, restart your computer anyway.

  • About the needed to restart the computer

    • Uninstalling a driver may require a restart of your system. So, get this out of the way before you proceed with the next steps. Even if a driver uninstalled without asking you to restart. I highly recommend you restart your computer after you uninstall a tablet driver.

  • Tablet driver cleanup tool
    Wacom - How do I uninstall and re-install the Wacom driver on Mac OS for a Pen Tablet, Pen Display, or Pen Computer?
    Huion - How to Uninstall Version 15 Driver (MacOS)
    Huion - How to Uninstall the HUION MAC Driver V13 or V14 Properly
    Huion - How to Uninstall Version 15 Driver (Windows)
    Match aspect ratios with Force proportions
    Display toggle

    Parblo - https://www.parblo.com/

    https://youtu.be/kw7fKQik3YY
    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    my notes on Wacom
    https://www.wacom.com
    My notes on Huion and XP-pen
    https://huion.com
    https://xp-pen.com
    my notes on Xencelabs
    https://xencelabs.com
    https://artisul.com/
    https://www.gaomon.net/
    https://www.ugee.com/
    https://www.veikk.com/
    Choosing a drawing tablet brand
    I don't recommend pen computers
    Alternatives to pen computers

    Has enough other people using their tablets, so that you can get help from online communities.

    brands
    Drawing tablet communities
    https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/zt9c2p/debating_on_what_to_do_with_these_two_tablets/
    https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/y8n9yp/how_much_of_a_difference_between_wacom_xp_pen_and/
  • Xencelabs Pen Display 24: my notes on this tablet

  • Xencelabs Pen Display 16: my notes on this tablet

  • Pen tablets

    • Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium SE

    • Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium: my notes on this tablet (very minimal notes)

    • Xencelabs Pen Tablet Small

  • What Xencelabs does well

    • They are very thoughtful about the design of their products. You can see small touches that make a difference. For example:

      • Their pen tablets are exactly 16x9 aspect ratio

      • The front edge of their pen tablets are slightly slopped so there's less of a hard edge hitting your wrist

      • Their driver UX is well the most thought-out, user-friendly and attractive of any tablet brand.

      • Their tablets come with 2 pens.

    • I don't have any direct experience with their support. I haven't needed to contact them for any issue. But from what I have seen Xencelabs support is extremely good.

    How Xencelabs could do better

    • Core Pen tech

      • MAX pressure of their pens as I have measured is GOOD but not yet as high as Wacom's Pro Pens which have an EXCELLENT high max pressure.

      • Their stated IAF is 3gf - which matches my measurements - is GOOD. But Wacom's Pro pens have an even lower IAF.

    • There aren't that many Xencelabs users out there - so if you need community help there are very few people in the community who can help and you'll need to rely Xencelab's customer support.

    • As of September 2025 their product portfolio does not include

      • A large pen tablet

      • A mobile device

    https://www.xencelabs.com/
    Tablet_P - Tablet Pressure Deadzones
    The case against pen computers
  • Pen-enabled 2-in-1 laptops - These are devices like the Microsoft Surface Pro or Samsung Galaxy Book 5 360 that can be used with a pen. More here: Overview of pen enabled 2-in-1 laptops

  • Overview of pen displays
    Overview of pen-enabled mobile devices
    Overview of pen computers

    Model launched: 1998

    Final driver (mac): 6.1.6-4

    Released on 22 Nov, 2010

    Final driver (windows): Driver 6.1.7-3 Released on 13 Sep, 2011

    CTH-470 CTH-461

    Final Driver (mac)

    5.3.7-6 (macOS 10.9 - 10.12) Final driver (windows) 5.3.5-3 (Windows XP, Vista, Win 7, 8, & 10)

    • Intuos 5 professional pen tablet series (PTH-450, PTK-450, PTH-650, PTK-650, PTH-850)

    • Intuos (2013 models) pen tablet series (CTH-480, CTL-480, CTH-680, CTL-680)

    • Cintiq 24HD Touch & Cintiq 24HD pen displays (DTH-2400, DTK-2400)

    • Cintiq Companion Hybrid (DTH-A1300)

    • Cintiq Companion (DTH-W1300)

    Intuos 5 launched: 2012 Final driver notice final driver (mac) 6.3.46-2 23 Aug, 2022 final driver (windows) 6.3.46-1 23 Aug, 2022

    Intuos 4

    • PTK-440

    • PTK-640

    • PTK-840

    • PTK-540WL

    Model launched: 2009 Final driver notice final driver (mac): 6.3.41-2 06 Oct, 2020 final driver (windows) : 6.3.41-1 06 Oct, 2020

    Intuos 3

    • PTZ-430, PTZ-431W

    • PTZ-630, PTZ-631W

    • PTZ-930

    • PTZ-1230, PTZ-1231W

    Model launched: 2004

    final driver (mac): 6.3.15-3 21 Dec, 2015

    final driver (win): 6.3.15-3 21 Dec, 2015

    Intuos 2 XD-0405-U, XD-0608-U, XD-0912-U, XD-1212-U, XD-1218-U

    Model launched: 2001 Final driver (mac): 6.2.0w4 Released on 25 Jan, 2012 Final driver (windows): 6.2.0w5 25 Jan, 2012

    Intuos (1998) GD-0405-U, GD-0608-U, GD-0912-U, GD-1212-U, GD-1218-U

    As an alternative to the Apple ecosystem, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S series of tablets is compelling. One great advantage of the Galaxy Tab S series is that they come with the Samsung S pen. So that keeps the cost down.
  • There are lots of models. Here are the

  • my notes on this tablet
    my notes on this tablet
    My notes on using Apple iPads
    My notes on Samsung Galaxy Tab S Series
    my notes on this tablet
    Samsung Galaxy Tab A
    Huion Kamvas Slate 10
    Gartzia Artz - The Best Tablet? iPad Pro vs. Xiaomi Pad 7 vs. XP Pen, MagicPad vs. Honor MagicPad 2 vs. Huawei M...

    Buying tips
    Drawing Tablet Buying Guide
    Drawing tablet recommendations
    links
    my notes
    my notes
    my notes
    my notes
    my notes
    links
    my notes
    links
    my notes
    For beginners

    If you are beginner, then consider these specific models which are great introduction to drawing tablets. Recommended drawing tablets for beginners.

    Considerations

    For pen displays

    • Make sure you know about anti-glare sparkle before you buy a pen display.

    • Pen displays are NOT inherently better than pen tablets. More here: pen tablets vs pen displays

    Resources

    • Buying a drawing tablet

    • Drawing tablet brands

    • Brad Colbow: Best Drawing Tablet By Price 2022/06/20

    • Aaron Rutten: The 10 Best DRAWING TABLETS of 2022 2022/10/01

    • 2023/05/08

    • 2023/08/07

    beginner's guide
    buying guide
    2025 Drawing Tablet Tier List

    PEN TABLETS

    No screen

    Require a computer

    PEN DISPLAYS

    Have a screen

    Require a computer

    STANDALONE

    Have screen

    Don't require a computer

    osu! is very popular

    They have about 1.7M monthly active users who play osu!

    You can get the live stats from here: https://stats.circleclickers.com/

    How osu! players use drawing tablets

    While creatives tend to use their drawing tablets in standard ways, osu! players do a number of quite surprising things:

    Active area size

    • Players use tablets of various sizes: Small, Medium, and Large. Small is the most popular based on the videos I've seen.

    • Players often customize the active area to be surprisingly small - much smaller than even the default active area. In the video above, notice how the player moved the pen only in a tiny region of that tablet.

    Drivers

    • Players often do not use manufacturer drivers, but instead they use OpenTabletDriver because:

      • OTD has less lag than manufacturer drivers

      • OTD is highly customizable through it's plug-in system

      • OTD works across many tablet models

      • OTD works on Windows, Mac, and Linux

    Drag vs hover

    • Drag players play with the pen touching the surface of the tablet.

    • Hover players don't let the pen touch the tablet surface.

    Clicking

    There are various clicking styles used by osu! players.

    • click by tapping the pen on the tablet

    • click by using the keyboard

    • click by alternating between the pen tapping and keyboard presses

    Tablet expertise

    Some osu! players - at least the ones I communicate with regularly - are remarkably knowledgeable about drawing tablets.

    They know a tremendous amount about the hardware, drivers, etc. Some conduct original research and testing of tablets. Some write code for OpenTabletDriver.

    I would consider them absolute experts - far beyond any drawing tablet reviewer out there and myself.

    They are also incredibly sensitive to microscopic behaviors, latencies, etc. in drawing tablets - far more than someone who has typically has used tablets only for creative tasks.

    Advanced customization

    Players do advanced customization of osu! through OpenTabletDriver plug-ins. Some examples:

    • Circular/Elliptical tablet areas

    • Rotated tablet areas

    • Live active area randomization

    Picking a drawing tablet for osu!

    More here: Buying a drawing tablet for osu!

    FPS games

    Players using drawing tablets for FPS games is less common than for Rhythm games, but this is the preferred input device for some people.

    • example: (video)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osu!
    Example of someone playing osu! with a tablet
    Mice and drawing tablets have very different positioning strategies. Mice use relative positioning. Drawing tablets use absolute positioning. Learn more here: Absolute versus relative positioning. Drawing tablets can simulate relative positioning if needed with mouse mode. However, I don't recommend using mouse mode.

    Stroke smoothness in drawing apps

    With a drawing applications you'll notice that the strokes drawn with a mouse have a rougher stair-step effect and in general are not as smooth.

    There are many techniques and features to help you draw smooth strokes. Some will work for both mouse and tablet, and some are specific to drawing tablets. More here: Drawing smooth strokes.

    Position smoothing (aka "stabilization") is one of these techniques. However, Some apps may allow position smoothing with drawing tablets but not with mice.

    Here's what Krita currently does:

    • Basic smoothing: applies ONLY to drawing tablets

    • Weighted smoothing: applies BOTH to drawing tablets and mice

    Here's what Clip Studio Paint does:

    • Stabilization: applies ONLY to drawing tablets

    Clicking and moving the pointer

    With a mouse, you move the pointer and clicks only happen when you take a very conscious effort to click a mouse button.

    A drawing tablet feels very different. To move the pointer and avoid clicking you hover the pen over the drawing tablet (up to about 10mm) and this will move the pointer without clicking. If you touch the pen to the tablet however, this will count as a click.

    So with a drawing tablet you have to get used to hovering and only pressing down when you want to click.

    Keep the pointer on a single pixel (without clicking)

    With a mouse it's usually pretty easy to put the pointer on a single pixel and keep it there. You can just move the mouse and once the pointer is where you want it, it's easy to hold the mouse in that position. Or you can even let go of the mouse and the pointer will stay there.

    Drawing tablets feel very different in this regard. First, you can't touch the tablet with the pen you have to hover the pen over that spot. While it is very easy to hover in a general location (a couple of pixels wide) its much harder to keep the pen over a specific pixel while hovering because you hand will move around a bit. Also most drawing tablet pens are sensitive to the tilt of the pen, and so if you tilt the pen it may cause some movement in the mouse pointer.

    Keep the pointer on a single pixel (while clicking)

    Mice are really good at this. Once the pointer is where you want it, you can click the buttons and this can be done without changing the pointer location.

    This is much harder with a pen. First there is the general difficulty of keeping the pointer on a specific pixel. And then, if you press the buttons on the pen, this will almost always change the position of the pen and thus the pointer.

    Application considerations

    if you are drawing strokes or painting in an app like Clip Studio Paint or Krita, then a drawing tablet will feel MUCH more natural.

    If you are layout out shapes and creating vector shapes in applications like Illustrator, a mouse might actually be better because they are easier to keep in a specific pixel location. For example, I normally just use a mouse when I use illustrator.

    Ergonomics > Wrist Pain

    Using a mouse can place strain on your wrist. Drawing tablets are generally less stressful on your wrist. However, they also can place strain.

    Power

    Mice get their power from either a cable or they use batteries.

    Modern drawing tablets all support wired connection through USB. Some tablets also support wireless connection through bluetooth.

    The pens for a modern drawing tablet neither use a cable nor do they have batteries. Instead they get power simply from being near the drawing tablet.

    ProTip: Match aspect ratios when using a pen tablet

    Make sure you match aspect ratios when you are using a pen tablet so that drawing feels natural and your strokes are not distorted. More here: Matching aspect ratios

    General considerations

    Besides locating the position of the pen there are two pen features to discuss.

    • pen pressure - this is somewhat useful for taking notes because it will make your notes look a bit more natural.

    • pen tilt - for taking notes, I don't think this is very important at all. And many note taking apps ignore this feature entirely.

    Using pen tablets (screenless tablets)

    Some people can work very well with using a pen tablet for taking notes. Though I'm not one of these people. The chief difficulty in taking notes with the pen tablet is that you cannot see what you are writing and instead you have to look at the screen of your computer. Some find this difficult for taking notes . But for others it works very well.

    Considerations:

    • Size. Small pen tablets don't offer much space for writing and it can feel cramped. A medium pen tablet is better, but then it takes up a bit more space.

    • Wireless. You might prefer to get a pen tablet that supports a wireless connection. Because it can be a little irritating to have the tablet always physically connected to the computer.

    Recommended pen tablets

    If you do want to use a pen tablet for taking notes here are some devices that will work well and don’t cost too much. You can even find them for less cost on eBay.

    • Wacom One Medium (CTL-672) o Wacom One Small (CTL-472)- My notes on these tablets

    • XP Pen Deco M & MW

    • XP Pen Deco L & LW

    other options here Recommendations

    Using a pen display (screen tablet)

    Pen displays, because they do have a screen, generally feel more natural for note taking than a pen tablet. However the chief problem with the pen display is that it requires connection with the computer.

    Considerations:

    • Size - a 13" or smaller pen display should work fine. In fact 13" may even be a bit large for this purpose.

    • Wireless. A pen display will always have at least one wire that needs to be connected to the computer.

    • Power. The pen display will draw a significant amount of power from your laptop. And this will really reduce the battery life of your laptop.

    • Complex connection. Ideally you would use a single cable to connect a pen display to a computer. But for various reasons this is not always possible. As an alternative you may be required to have a more complex cabling arrangement - often using a 3-in-1 cable. More here about .

    • Pointer lag. Pen displays have a lot of pointer lag - this can be very difficult to deal with when taking notes - especially if you write fast. More here:

    • Dropping the tablet. If you are note taking in a location where you might drop your pen display, in many cases you will either experience a cracked screen or simply break the tablet entirely.

    Applications for taking notes

    See the note taking section here: Applications

    Resources

    • Teoh on Tech - Best tablet for note taking in 2023: Xiaomi v OnePlus v Apple v Samsung Oct 7, 2023

    • Teoh on Tech - Onyx Boox Note Air3 C e-Ink tablet (review) Oct 16, 2023

    Types of drawing tablets
    standalone pen-enabled mobile computers
    dedicated note taking devices
  • Look through the Drawing Tablet Buying Guide

  • If you want to see the full set recommendations go here: Drawing tablet recommendations

    EXCELLENT

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 27 (GT2701) ★★★★ [$2000, links]

    • Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 [$3500, my notes]

    • Wacom Cintiq 24 / 24 touch (2025) ★★★★ [$1600, my notes]

    • Wacom Cintiq Pro 22 [$3000, my notes]

    VERY GOOD

    • XP-Pen Artist Pro 22 GEN2 (MD220QH) ★★★★ my notes

    • LARGE Xencelabs Pen Display 24 (LPH2412U-A) [$1800, my notes]

    GOOD

    • XP-Pen Artist 22 Plus (MD220FH) [$470, my notes]

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 24 4K (GT2401) [$1300, links]

    • Huion Kamvas 24 Plus (GS2402) [$900, links]

    DECENT

    • Huion Kamvas 22 Plus (GS2202) [my notes]

    • Huion Kamvas 22 (GS2201) [$450, links]

    OTHER

    Older but worth investigating

    • Wacom Cintiq 22 (DTK-2260). [my notes]

    Videos

    Resources

    • 22" pen displays compared (2024)

    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    Buying tips
    If we need to change the pressure response of a pen. We have to apply a pressure curve.

    A pressure curve modifies a pressure response. You could think of it as creating a new pressure response. In the example above the pressure curve that we apply to the original pressure response has created a new pressure response which is much more linear.

    I like to think pressure responses and pressure curves as a game of resource allocation - where we are trying to the physical pressure range in useful ways across the logical pressure range.

    The reasons we want to think about this allocation intentionally is because it can give us three potential things:

    • a better drawing experience

    • we might be able to solve problems while we're drawing or even address or mitigate some hardware problems

    • and also it's a way of getting some creative effects four our brush strokes

    This pressure response is similar to that of a Wacom pro pen 2 (KP-504E). It has that typical bowed up shape. The one thing that separates it from many other pens pressure responses it goes extremely far on the X axis because it has an extremely wide pressure range.

    There are two interesting things about how physical pressure is allocated in this specific pressure response.

    For the purposes of this discussion I'm going to only talk about how pressure affects the width of a stroke. Simply because it's easiest for me to visualize that in this document. But for everything I'm saying it equally applies when for example pressure is mapped to opacity or even to color.

    The first is the shape of the response indicates an under allocation at lower physical pressure. About only 10% of the physical pressure range is allocated to about 50% of the logical pressure range.

    This means that small changes in physical pressure result in big changes in logical pressure. In turn this means that there are big changes in the width of a stroke.

    This can make it feel like it's hard to control the width of your stroke when you're drawing very lightly.

    At the higher end of this pressure response we encounter an over allocation of physical pressure to logical pressure. About 50% of the physical pressure range is allocated to only about 10% of the logical pressure range.

    This means that big changes in physical pressure produce small changes in lot pressure which produce small changes in the width of a stroke.

    This can make it seem like you're pressing very hard but you aren't seeing your stroke size increase or decrease by much.

    In general I think we would want a more even allocation of physical pressure range into the logical pressure range. The visualization of such a more evenly allocated pressure response is one that is much more linear.

    To be clear I am not saying that linear is the best shape for a pressure response. I'm just saying it's a good starting point. Ultimately you'll have to use pressure curves to change your pressure response into something that works for you.

    Here you can see how a specific pressure curve takes the original pressure response and shifts it to a more linear shape. I'll show you this example just to help illustrate how much you might have to bend the pressure curve to get a linear response.

    And keep in mind again that the pressure response shown is for specific pen. This pressure curve may not have the same effect on different pens.

    The pen senses pressure, not the tablet. The pen communicates the pressure it detects to the tablet.

  • The Initial Activation Force is the smallest amount of pressure that an EMR pen will detect and report. More here:

  • The Pen pressure range is the range of physical force the pen is capable of sensing and outputting as pressure. In other words its lower bound is the IAF and its upper bound is the maximum pressure.

  • A tablet splits up the pressure range into a number of segments that are called Pen pressure levels.

  • The pen pressure response is the pen hardware's "pressure behavior" - how a specific pen maps the physical pressure (how hard you are pressing down) to a logical pressure number that is sent to your computer.

  • A pressure curve is a way of modifying or processing the pressure pressure response of a pen. You can do this to solve solve or mitigate some kinds of pressure problems or to achieve certain kinds of creative effects.

  • A pressure dead zone is a ways of using a a pressure curve to effectively increase the IAF.

  • The vast majority of drawing tablet pens are too-sensitive to small changes in physical pressure near the IAF. This means there is some pressure instability at low pressure. You can address this by using pressure curves or pressure smoothing.

  • Tilt affects pressure. The pen is more sensitive when it is held - perpendicular to the tablet surface.

  • "Under pressure" video series

    If you'd prefer to watch, I built the "Under Pressure" video series on YouTube that goes deep into how pressure works. It explores all these concepts in great detail.

    Relationship between the pen and the tablet

    • The pressure sensing mechanism is in the Pen, not the tablet.

    • Tablets do play a role in processing pressure. Tablets

      • Determine the number of pressure levels

      • Translate the pressure information from the pen into those levels

      • May process the pressure data before it is sent to the computer

    Units

    When dealing with the pressure (i.e. the force applied to the tip), the standard unit used in gram force abbreviated as gf.

    You may occasionally this force described as grams and see the unit g used. This is technically incorrect, since grams are a unit of mass, not force.

    Disabling pressure

    Sometimes it is useful to disable pen pressure. For options on how to do so go here: Disable pen pressure.

    How EMR pens measure pressure

    There are two different techniques. The newer technique involved a pressure sensor in the pen. More here: EMR pressure detection

    Notes

    • Pens - even if they are of the same model - differ a little in their pressure sensitivity

    • Pressure sensors are subject to wear. Over time, you may find that a pen is less sensitive to pressure than it used to be. Though in practice, I have never experienced this in any noticable way myself.

    I do recommend you get a drawing tablet for digital art, but remember you don't have to force yourself to use a tablet for everything.

    Many people use tablets in addition to other techniques. For example, some people draw on paper and then photograph or scan the drawing to get it into their computer. From there, they just finish up their work with a drawing tablet.

    Videos

    • Digital art

      • Nadiaxel - Beginner's Guide to Become a Digital Artist - Drawing Tablets & Apps 2022/07/04

      • Brad Colbow - Digital Art for Beginners (2020 Edition) 2020/02/24

      • Trent Kaniuga - Getting started with digital art Tools and practices 2022/03/02

      • Marc Brunet - 2020/12/12

      • David Revoy - 2022/08/15

    • Learning to draw and paint

      • 2023/05/21

      • Drawabox () - Drawabox is a set of free exercise-based lessons that focus on the fundamentals

    Social

    • Kawaii Sensei (https://x.com/KawaiiSensei_jp) - There's lots of practical tips every day.

    • EtheringtonBrothers (https://x.com/EtheringtonBros) - More frequent practical tips. And they publish useful printed guidebooks.

    Equipment

    • Laptops for digital art

    Using older drawing tablets
    Buying tips
    Drawing Tablet Buying Guide
    Drawing tablet recommendations
    my notes
    my notes
    links
    my notes
    links
    links
    my notes
    my notes
    my notes
    links
    links
    13" pen displays compared (2023)

    Inspecting a drawing tablet

    Overview

    This is a list of some things you should check when you (a) first set up your drawing tablet or (b) have an opportunity to inspect the drawing tablet before you purchase it.

    This will save you a lot of headaches and disappointment later on.

    Testing before you setup the tablet

    • Tablets usually have a list of things they come with. This list will include things like cables cleaning cloths, pen nibs , etc. The list might be printed on the box, or it might be on a piece of paper inside the box, or it might be a list on the website of the tablet brand.

      Verify that you have all the things you're supposed to have.

    • Examine the screen carefully with your eyes. You're looking for scratches or areas where the surface is worn out. If it's a new tablet you shouldn't see anything like that.

    • Sometimes it might be difficult to see scratches so you might want to shine a bright light across the surface at an angle to identify any scratches.

    Getting prepared for functional testing

    In order to perform test the tablet actually works you'll need to set it up. Follow this guide: .

    Then install any applications you need. I strongly suggest you install Krita from Krita.org. It's free and its behavior is consistent so it makes it an ideal application to test the functionality of a drawing tablet. So even if you don't plan on using Krita it's a very useful tool for troubleshooting.

    Mobile phones can interfere with the operation of a tablet. Keep them away.

    Ensure there isn't anything magnetic underneath the tablet. Some stands use magnets. Don't place the tablet on top of an electronic device like a laptop.

    Basic functional testing

    Connectivity

    • Conduct the tests with a wired connection.

    • Any then verify they work with wireless connection

    Drawing

    • Check if the pen can draw in all locations on the active area

      • Just draw a lot of lines alll over the screen. You want to ensure that there aren't any gaps were you can't draw and that the position of the pen is accurately tracked.

    • Check if the pressure going from 0% to 100%

    Pen display pen tracking accuracy

    • With the pen held vertically and not moving, check that the pointer is close to the tip of the pen.

    • With the pen held at a 45 degree angle and not moving, check that tilt compensation is working. As you tilt the pen check to make sure the pointer doesn't deviate too far from the tip of the pen. A little bit of drift is normal. Keeping the pen at 45 degrees, rotate the pen in a full circle.

    • Check that location of pen is tracked accurately in over the entire surface of the tablet

    Express keys

    • Check if all the buttons, dials, work. A quick way to test this is to map the buttons to keypresses. Then you can open a notepad app and press the express keys and see it typing things

    Pen display features

    • Check for stuck or dead pixels

    • Check for basic color and brightness

    • All tablets have some pointer lag. Usually it is very obvious in pen displays. Verify if you are OK with the amount it has.

    • All pen displays have some minor edge and corner inaccuracy in tracking the pen location. Check this to see how much there is and if you are OK with this.

    Surface

    Take your pen and move it around the surface.

    There should be no rough patches. There should be no cuts or scratches deep enough that you can feel them through the pen. More here:

    Active area size

    Introduction

    As a rectangular region, we can discuss the size of the active area in different ways

    • Width & Height

    • Diagonal length

    • Area

    But most often we will talk about active area sizes using the diagonal length.

    If you need help picking the right size for your tablet, consult .

    Size in tablet names

    You can often see the diagonal length in the names of pen displays. For example:

    • Wacom Cintiq Pro 27

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 16 Plus 4K

    For pen tablets, manufacturers often use descriptive names such as "small", "large" instead of numbers.

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Medium

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Large

    Standard sizes

    By looking at the Wacom's product line and naming, we can establish a decent framework understanding how descriptive words like "small" and "large" map to numbers. Note that the size names are different for pen displays and pen tablets.

    Distribution of active area sizes

    If we look at how drawing tablet models are distributed along this scale we'll see that there is a lot of variation.

    Diagonal vs Area

    Is it reasonable to use the active area's Diagonal length vs the Active area's area measurement.

    I think it is, because the diagonal is reasonably well correlated with area for drawing tablets.

    Let's see how diagonal and compare buy plotting the values for 180 different tablets.

    For pen tablets:

    And for pen displays:

    Overall, I think using the diagonal is reasonable.

    Erasing

    Overview

    Besides drawing, pens have varying support for specifically erasing things. Typically this is done either with an eraser on the pen or using the pen buttons to perform the erasing.

    Erasers

    Below you can see the nib and the eraser for the Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E). As you can see the nib is quite a bit larger than the nib.

    The eraser is also pressure sensitive and retracts into the pen. The eraser has a much bigger retraction distance than the nib.

    Pens that have erasers

    Erasers are relatively uncommon for EMR pens.

    Brand
    Pens

    App support for erasers

    Drawing apps have to add deliberate support for erasers. Some do have support. Some do not.

    Usage of erasers

    Lots of people do use the eraser and find it critical, but then lots of people never use the eraser. I'm one of the "never use" category.

    For me flipping the pen around to use the eraser feels like it disrupts my flow and sometimes I simply am too clumsy and I have dropped the pen while I was rotating it. Also I just think it is faster to use a keyboard shortcut or to use my tourbox device.

    Pen compatibility with tablets

    Remember that a specific tablet is compatible with only specific pens. Avoid buying a pen that has an eraser and assuming it will work with your tablet. Always check with the manufacturer.

    Using the side buttons to erase

    Another option is to map the side buttons to switch to the eraser tool in the app you are using. You can do this in the tablet driver app.

    Pen tablet recommendations (MEDIUM)

    Before you purchase

    • Read

    • Review these

    • Look through the

    If you want to see the full set recommendations go here:

    EXCELLENT

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTK-670) [$300, ]

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660) [$300, ]

    VERY GOOD

    • Huion Inspiroy Frego M (L610) [$90, ]

    • XP-Pen Deco Pro

      • XP-Pen Deco Pro MW GEN2 (MT0962B) [$140, ]

      • XP-Pen Deco Pro LW GEN2 (MT1172B) [$170, ]

    GOOD

    • One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672) [no tilt, no wireless] [ $60, ]

    • XP-Pen Deco

      • XP-Pen Deco M (IT850) [no wireless] [$50, ]

    AVOID

    • Wacom One M (CTC-6110WL)

    • Wacom One S (CTC-4110WL) [$150, ]

    OTHER

    Older but works well

    • Huion Inspiroy HS611 [$80, ]

      • Little bit of an older Huion tablet with older tech. But it does work fine.

    Seems OK but haven't spent much time with it

    • Huion Inspiroy RTP-700 [$93, ]

    Huion and XP-Pen

    Overview

    HUION (https://www.huion.com/) and XP-PEN (https://www.xp-pen.com/) are the next big tablet brands. Their recent (2021 and later) models have been pretty good - but still trail Wacom a bit in quality and reliability. In general I think they offer 90% of what you get with a WACOM but at a substantial price reduction.

    Their best tablets

    In 2023 and 2024 Huion and XP have released models with upgraded tech that are challenging Wacom's professional line.

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 19

    • Huion Kamvas Pro 27

    • XP-Pen Deco Pro GEN2

    • XP-Pen Artist Pro GEN2

    A lot of their improvements with these tablets are due to their pens handling pressure better: lower IAF and much wider pressure ranges than before.

    What HUION and XP-PEN do well:

    • Good price vs cost

    • Their latest offerings since 2021 are very usable for creative tasks.

    • They introduce new models frequently - much more often than Wacom.

    • Their consumer level tablets tend to have more features than Wacom's consumer models (tilt & tablet buttons, dials, knobs)

    How Huion and XP-PEN could do better

    • Huion pen displays - especially the high PPI ones tend to show more AG sparkle. more here: .

    • Pointer lag:

      • XP-pen pen displays tend to exhibit slightly more pointer lag than Wacom or Huion. More here: .

    Switching from Wacom

    If you are an existing Wacom user yuou should keep in mind there are somethings that Wacom does where Huion and XP-Pen are still catching up on. In particular some of Wacom's pens (especially the Pro models) have an extremely low IAF (<1gf) . Huion latest pro pens can get to 2gf (per Huion's statements) and 3gf (per XP-Pen's statements). If you are used to a Wacom pen making marks at very tiny pressure you may find these higher IAF values hard to deal with.

    Pen tilt

    Introduction

    Almost all drawing tablets can detect the tilt of the pen. The support tilt for drawing tablets usually ranges from 0 degrees to 60 degrees.

    This video demonstrates tilt. I highly recommend you watch it.

    Making educational videos with a drawing tablet

    Drawing tablets are heavily used for creating educational content. For example you've probably seen the Khan Academy videos and those are created with a drawing tablet.

    Easy tablet choices

    For this you want high reliability and durability and you DO NOT need to spend a lot of money buying a fancy tablet. And for those reasons I'll keep the recommendations short:

    using one USB-C cable with a pen display
    lag

    THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO DIGITAL ART (from an art teacher)
    Comic Book Artist - Tutorial: an illustration from A to Z with Krita
    Draw like a Sir - LEARN TO DRAW FROM 0 to 100!
    Art tutorial for the intermediate painter
    https://drawabox.com/
    First do this in the driver. They usually have some regio where you can test the pressure.
  • Then do this in an application. I suggest using Krita.

  • You want to ensure that:

    • The pen isn't "stuck" at 0% pressure or 100% pressure

  • You may notice that the pressure is "jumpy" any low pressure this is normal for EMR pens. You can use pressure curves to control this.

  • Check tilt works in all directions

    • draw some strokes and tilt the pen in different directions.

    • do this in multiple locations across the active area

  • Verify you are OK with the anti-glare sparkle on the screen. Some people are very sensitive to this.

  • Verify that the display does not have a color tint on the edges. More here: Color tint on edges of display.

  • Get started with a drawing tablet
    surface wear on pen tablets
    surface wear on pen displays
    XP-Pen Deco MW (IT850B) [$70, links]
  • XP-Pen Deco L (IT1060) [no wireless] [$70, links]

  • XP-Pen Deco LW (IT1060B) [$90, my notes]

  • Huion Inspiroy 2 M (H951P) [$70, see notes for Inspiroy 2 L ]

  • Huion Inspiroy 2 L (H1061P) [$90, my notes]

  • Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100) [no tilt, no wireless] [$200, links]

  • Beginner's guide to drawing tablets
    Buying tips
    Drawing Tablet Buying Guide
    Drawing tablet recommendations
    my notes
    my notes
    my notes
    links
    links
    my notes
    links
    my notes
    my notes
    my notes
    XP-Pen and Huion's pen tablets seem to have the same level of pointer lag.
  • Improve their Core EMR tech and specs - while on paper equivalent to Wacom are still trailing. For many artists they may not notice this, but tablet enthusiasts do certainly notice it. (Will be a topic for a future video)

  • Improve customer support. Both Huion and XP-Pen struggle with customer support. They tend to take more time to respond.

  • Reliability - Huion and XP-pen a little lag behind Wacom.

  • Huion and XP-Pen offer too many products - with new models (with newer tech) and older models (with older tech) sitting alongside them. This makes it confusing to buyers.

  • They should monitor and answer questions on https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/XPpen/

  • Long-term reliability unknown compared to Wacom. This can't be helped, they have only been around since 2011 (Huion) and 2005 (XP-Pen). And their passive EMR tablets (the ones where the pens do not have a battery) have only been around since the late 2010s.

  • Anti-glare sparkle
    lag
    Brad Colbow: Best Drawing Tablets for Beginners - What I Recommend
    Brad Colbow: Dream Digital Art Setup on a Budget
    SMALL pen tablets
    MEDIUM pen tablets
    LARGE pen tablets
    SMALL pen displays
    MEDIUM pen displays
    LARGE pen displays
    Mobile devices
    2-in-1 Laptops
    Pen computers
    choosing the right tablet size

    Wacom

    This is a partial list of Wacom's more recent pens.

    • Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E)

    • Wacom Pro Pen Slim (KP-301E)

    • Wacom Pro Pen (KP-503E)

    • Wacom Grip Pen (KP-501E)

    • Wacom Art Pen (KP-701E)

    • NOTE: Wacom's most recent professional pen, Wacom Pro Pen 3, no longer features an eraser.

    Huion

    • Huion PW600

    • Huion PW600S

    XP-Pen

    • XP-Pen P06

    • XP-Pen X3 Pro

    How tilt is used in drawing applications

    Think about how you use a pencil - when you want a fine line you keep the pencil more perpendicular. However, when you want a wider line - maybe you are shading in an area - you tilt the pencil.

    Many drawing applications have digital brushes that mimic that same behavior.

    For example, here is a stroke I drew with Krita. I configured the brush to ignore pressure entirely, but to let the amount of tilt control the width of the brush.

    As draw left to right I started with the pen very perpendicular and gradually started tilting the pen.

    Mapping tilt to brush width is just the most common way of using tilt. However, depending on the application you could have tilt control other attributes of the stroke.

    Which tablets support tilt

    The vast majority of modern drawing tablets support tilt.

    it's easier to list the modern tablets that don't support tilt:

    • Wacom One by Wacom Small (CTL-472)

    • Wacom One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672)

    • Wacom Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100 & CTL-6100WL)

    • Wacom Wacom Intuos Small (CTL-4100 & CTL-6100WL)

    • Huion Frego S (L310)

    Do you need tilt support?

    The vast majority of drawing tablets have tilt support, but a few entry-level Wacom ones do not.

    For some people tilt is critical and for others, it is not useful at all. It strongly depends on what they are doing.

    Scenario
    Is tilt useful?
    Notes

    Whiteboarding

    Not useful

    It's rare for whiteboarding apps to even support tilt.

    Taking notes

    Not useful

    It's rare for note-taking apps to even support tilt.

    Educational videos

    tilt not useful

    Digital painting with natural media brushes -

    can be useful

    Technical details

    You don't need to know these details, but if you are curious how an EMR tablet actually detects the tilt of the pen go here: EMR tilt detection.

    Tilt angle range

    • The standard range is +/- 60 degrees for both X and Y directions

    • I don't know of any tablets that support a wider range

    Tilt support in applications

    • Even if your tablet is sending tilt data to your computer, your application may or may not be using the data.

    • Some applications don't use the tilt data at all. An example would be most note taking applications like OneNote. They tend to recognize pressure but not tilt.

    • Other applications do recognize tilt but the use of the tilt data is only for specific brushes. So for example, typically a "pencil" brush would support tilt. But other kinds of brushes may not. Even then, these brushes has settings that let you customize whether and how tilt is used for the brush.

    • Here's a good example for a brush in Krita. You can seee that the Rotation of the brush is set to the Drawing Angle, but that it could also be set to the tilt.

    Tilt affect on pen tracking accuracy (tilt compensation)

    To calculate the location of the pen, the tablet must take into account how much the pen is tilted. This process is called tilt compensation. Remember: no tablet has perfect tilt compensation and at extreme title angles you might see some deviation - This is normal.

    Disabling tilt

    You may not always want to have tilt affect your drawing. It is possible in some cases to disable it. More here: Disable pen tilt

    What features you need
    • Pressure support - Will help you strokes look more natural. All drawing tablets have this pressure support.

    • Tilt - not needed for education use. More of an artist thing.

    • Tablet buttons (aka. ExpressKeys) - I think they can come in very useful for people. For some people these are critical. No harm in getting them, you can always disable them.

    • Size - Medium or Small. I always recommend medium. Even though some people are OK with small tablets, I do see a far number of people say the small size makes their hand feel cramped.

    My recommendations

    Pen tablets (no screen)

    • One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672)

      • Pressure: YES

      • Tilt: NO

      • Tablet Buttons: NO

      • Wireless: NO

    • Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100 or CTL-6100WL)

      • Pressure: YES

      • Tilt: NO

      • Tablet buttons: YES

    Pen displays (have a screen)

    • XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN2 (CD120FH)

      • Pressure: YES

      • Tilt: YES

      • Tablet buttons: YES

      • Wireless: NO

    • XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH)

      • Pressure: YES

      • Tilt: YES

      • Tablet buttons: YES

    • Wacom One GEN1 (DTC-133)

      • Pressure: YES

      • Tilt: YES

      • Tablet buttons: NO

    Which tablet does Sal Khan use?

    Sal Khan uses a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium for his videos. That is an AMAZING tablet, but honestly overkill. You can get by with a much less expensive tablet.

    Which specific model of Intuos Pro he is using?

    It does NOT look to be the latest model of Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660). You can tell this because in one of his videos he shows the tablet and I can see some things that clearly mark it as an older tablet.

    • The pen does not look like the Wacom Pro Pen 2 that comes with the PTH-660

    • The USB-cable connects with a thicker end and is not the L-shaped connector that comes PTH-660

    • The back of the tablet has the older Wacom branding.

    Note that the Khan Academy has this document What software program/equipment is used to make Khan Academy videos? In that doc, they say he uses a Wacom Bamboo tablet. I suspect this probably was true at some point, but he clearly no longer uses it.

    Resources

    • Teach with Khan - Sal's Tips for Creating Blackboard Videos for Remote Learning - this is the video where he shows that he uses Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet.

    • Khan Academy - Be Like Sal: 3 Ways a Tablet Can Energize Your Digital Teaching! Dec 9, 2020

    • ClassPoint - Best Way to Use Wacom Tablet for Online Teaching with PowerPoint [One by Wacom] Dec 2, 2020

    • Joshua Tarbutton - My Workflow for Recording Khan Academy Style Lectures Mar 28, 2020

    • Sep 26, 2020

    • May 26, 2020

    2024 Large pen tablets compared

    Overview

    Large pen tablets have an active area diagonal size of about 15".

    Even if a tablet has "large" in its name, it doesn't mean it us truly a large tablet. A perfect example is the Huion Inspiroy 2 Large which is more of a medium sized tablet. Same with the XP-Pen Deco L/LW.

    Key considerations

    Using a large tablet is very different from using a medium size tablet. There are many things you have to adjust to. More here: Using large pen tablets

    Large tablets in market as of May 2024

    • Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860) -

    • XP-Pen Deco Pro XLW (MT1592B) -

    • Huion Giano (G930L) -

    Ranking

    In terms of drawing performance the best of the three is the Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860).

    Second is the XP-Pen Deco Pro XLW GEN2 (MT1592B). The things to note about this tablet is the excellent design and vastly improved pressure handling coming from its X3 Pro pen.

    Third, the Huion Giano overall is very good. It's a very close third to the XP Pen Deco Pro XLW GEN2 because the PW517 pen does not handle pressure (smaller pressure range for example) as well as the X3 Pro pen.

    Basics

    Intuos Pro Large
    Deco Pro XLW GEN2
    Giano G930L

    Product pages

    • Intuos Pro Large -

    • Deco Pro XLW GEN2 -

    • Huion G930L -

    Active Areas

    Tablet
    Length x Width
    Diagonal
    Aspect ratio

    None of these tablets have an exact 16:9 (1.78) aspect ratio.

    So, you should ensure you with your monitor before you start drawing.

    Pen pressure range info

    The Wacom Pro Pen 2 is the clear winner, but the XP-Pen X3 Pro is good. The Huion PW517 is just OK.

    In my experience I see that the PW517 units vary quite a bit in their maximum pressure. The average of my tests is about 200gf.

    Pen
    IAF
    Max pressure

    Considerations

    Tablet age - don't let the fact that the Intuos Pro Large was released in 2017 dissuade you. It's still better than the most recent tablets put out by the competition

    Pen replacement cost - Keep in mind the Pro Pen 2 is very expensive ay $80. It's a significant cost if you need to replace it. The PW517 is $50 and the X3 Pro is $40.

    Nib wear - the Intuos Pro comes with a surface that (at least initially) has a lot of texture and can wear down nibs fast.

    Wireless - All three support Bluetooth wireless connectivity

    Touch - only the Intuos Pro supports touch.

    Auxiliary inputs

    • Intuos Pro Large - 8 total buttons

    • Deco Pro XLW GEN2 - no buttons

    • Giano G930L - 6 buttons

    Remotes

    • Intuos Pro Large - no remote

    • Deco Pro XLW GEN2 - comes with remote

    • Giano G930L - no remote

    Diagonal wobble

    • Intuos Pro Large - Low (good)

    • Deco Pro XLW GEN2 - some wobble at slow speeds OK

    • Giano G930L - Low (good)

    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.

    Some people simply want to use the drawing tablet as a mouse replacement. They can definitely serve this purpose.

    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.

    I generally recommend MEDIUM sized tablets as a mouse replacement, but SMALL can work also.

    Wrist pain

    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. So a drawing tablet might help, but it will not eliminate these kinds of problems.

    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.

    Pen pressure

    The vast majority of drawing tablets support pressure sensitivity. For a mouse replacement, tilt is not important.

    Pen tilt

    The vast majority of drawing tablets support tilt. This is useful for art. Even then not all artists use the tilt feature. For a mouse replacement, tilt is not relevant.

    Sturdiness

    Modern mice are incredibly sturdy devices. They don't even have moving parts except for the buttons. You could drop them from your desk and they will still work.

    Drawing tablet pens are much more sensitive. They have more delicate and sensitive parts. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you DO NOT DROP THEM. Sometimes they work perfectly after that. But they can malfunction in all sorts of ways after a drop. And keep in mind that the pens are not cheap. If you need to buy a replacement it will be anywhere from $35 USD to $90 USD.

    Pointer positioning

    Mice move the pointer through relative positioning while drawing tablets use absolute positioining: .

    However, you can configure the tablet driver to use mouse mode to provide relative positioning which will make it feel more like a mouse. more here: .

    Aspect ratios

    If you are using a pen tablet (a tablet without a screen) you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD also configure the tablet to match its active area to that of your monitor. More here:

    Moving the pointer vs clicking

    In a a mouse, you can independently move and click. This means you can move the pointer without accidentally clicking.

    The same thing works with drawing tablet pen. But you should realize how it works.

    • To move without clicking - you have to hold the pen above the tablet (within a range of about 10mm). This is called hover. more here: .

    • To click - you tap down on the tablet with the pen

    • To move AND click at the same time - you press down on the tablet and move the pen. The click lasts as long as you are touching the tablet.

    Holding pointer position completely still

    With a mouse this is SUPER EASY you can jsut not move the mouse. And it is EASY to keep a mouse still. You can even let go of the mouse from your hand the pointer won't move.

    With a drawing tablet, this is actually very hard. Because you have to HOVER the pen at the exact same spot above the tablet. That is very hard to do, because any motion of your hand will often move the pointer.

    Not clicking

    It's easy to avoid accidental clicks with a mouse.

    With a pen you have to HOVER. And if you accidentally touch the surface it will count as a click.

    Drivers

    For the vast majority of mice, you can just plug them into a computer and they will "just work". This is because the computer has drivers for mice already installed.

    That isn't quite the case for drawing tablets. You will need to install the tablet driver.

    Compatibility with apps

    Once you install the tablet driver, the tablet is compatible with all applications.

    Wired vs Wireless

    Mice can be:

    • Wired only

    • Wireless only

    • Wired + Wireless

    Drawing tablets can be

    • Wired only

    • Wired + Wireless

    There are no drawing tablets that are wireless only.

    Wireless issues

    Latency - There is a little extra latency when using wireless. Some people don't use wireless for this reason.

    Interference - Usually tablets use Bluetooth. You may find that devices liek phones when they are close to your tablet may interfere. Usually this takes the form of an unresponsive pen or stuttering of pointer position as you move.

    Tablets that work well as mouse replacements

    Lots of them would work. The easy choices are:

    • One by Wacom Small (CTL-472)

    • One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672)

    • Wacom Intuos Small (CTL-4100)

    • Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100)

    If these, my strong recommendation is the CTL-672. . You could get the CTL-6100 but all it gives you for the extra cost is some buttons on the tablet.

    Other brands also have tablets that work as mouse replacements, but the safe choice is Wacom because of their track record of reliability.

    Resources

    • Feb 24, 2020

    • (2023/05/03)

    Wacom tablet release history

    Name
    Model
    Date Released
    Notes

    MovinkPad Pro 14

    DTH-A140

    Oct 2025

    Wacom One 14

    DTC-141

    September 2025

    Initial activation force (IAF)

    Overview

    The Initial Activation Force (IAF) is the smallest amount of pressure that an EMR pen will detect.

    In more simple terms: IAF is how hard you have to press to draw. High IAF means you have to press harder to draw with the pen. Low IAF means you don't have to press as hard.

    Generally, people want lower IAF.

    IAF is measured in "gram-force" units. Though you may see it very often described in "grams".

    IAF is determined by the pen hardware, not the tablet.

    More info:

    Video

    Initial activation force (IAF)

    A lower IAF is good because it allows you to draw finer details better.

    • EXCELLENT IAF: <=1gf

      • Modern professional pens have an IAF of <= 1gf

    • GREAT IAF: Between 1gf and 2gf

      • Only a couple of pens are in this range

    These are MY rankings. Some people have much stronger opinions about IAF. For example, some people thing any IAF greater than 2gf is BAD IAF.

    IAF through the years

    Very low IAF is not new. Wacom has been making pens for decades that have excellent low IAF. Their professional pen have had low IAF for a long time.

    Here are some examples from Kuuube's measurements (using Open Tablet Driver) from his .

    Pen
    IAF
    Tablet launch year

    The importance of low IAF

    Some people REALLY need that EXCELLENT IAF of <1gf.

    Others like (myself included) work fine with a 3gf IAF. I definitely notice the difference but it doesn't effect me with the kind of art I create.

    Tweaking the IAF

    The IAF is a physical property of the pen, so that physical behaviors can't be lowered or raised. However by using a pressure curve with a dead zone, you can effectively increase the IAF. More here:

    A higher IAF can be useful

    Given that there's so much focus on having a “low IAF”, it would be natural to think that always having a low IAF is good and that it is always preferable to have a lower IAF rather than a higher one. The overall sentiment is generally true but there are some exceptions and things to keep in mind.

    False pressure detection

    First, as the pressure sensing mechanism in a pen gets more sensitive to enable a very low IAF, it can have unintended effects. For example those pens with super low IAF may actually say that they are detecting pressure when they are clearly not touching the tablet. Sometimes this can take the form of spurious pressure readings or it can happen more frequently and the pen can effectively draw while hovering.

    Effectively increasing IAF with the pressure curve

    To compensate for these kinds of effects you, You might encounter a tablet that has a pressure dead zone deliberately created by the manufacturer. This dead zone ignores a little bit of that lower pressure so that these kinds of strange artifacts are avoided.

    • Note that depending on which tablet you have the pressure dead zone might be visible to you in the pressure curve that you see in the tablet driver.

    • And also the dead zone might be implemented in the driver but it is not shown to you.

    • And of course some tell the drivers don't implement default dead zone at all.

    More here:

    Wispy tails on strokes

    another thing that happens when you're dealing with very low initial activation force is that it can affect the shape of your strokes at the very beginning or ends. For example it can often leave little wispy tails at the beginning or end of a stroke. So in some cases you might want to create a little bit of a dead zone in your driver to avoid those wispy tails.

    In some pens I've also noticed that having an extremely low IAF can cause the pen to register pressure for just one moment longer after you lift the pen off the tablet. I suspect this is due to the mechanics of a nib that is moving the pen having to overcome some friction. And so for just a moment as you lift off the tablet the very sensitive pressure mechanism is still detecting the nib pushing into it. This can create the same wispy tail effect.

    How IAF is measured

    This video from XP-Pen demonstrates it

    .

    2023 13" pen displays compared

    Overview

    13" pen displays very popular, often representing great choices for beginners. In this document I compare some popular options in the market in 2023.

    • Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331) - ( | | model year 2020)

    Beginner's guide to drawing tablets

    Introduction

    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.

    Buying a tablet? Read this beginner's guide first. Then look at the detailed . It has links to my .

    Buying tips

    Video

    Read the user manual

    The user manual contains so much information that can help you understand if the tablet will work for you. It'll answer most of the questions you'll have about connecting the tablet and the basics of how it works. It will also give you a chance to familiarize yourself with potential problems you might encounter and how to handle them.

    MovinkPad 11

    DTH-A116

    July 2025

    Cintiq 24 touch 2025

    DTH-246

    Jun 2025

    Cintiq 24 2025

    DTK-246

    Jun 2025

    Cintiq 16 2025

    DTK-168

    Jun 2025

    Intuos Pro Large 2025

    PTK-870

    Feb 2025

    Intuos Pro Medium 2025

    PTK-670

    Feb 2025

    Intuos Pro Small 2025

    PTK-470

    Feb2025

    Movink 13

    DTH-135

    May 2024

    Wacom's first use of OLED display panel

    Wacom One 12

    DTC-121

    Aug 2023

    Wacom One 13 touch

    DTH-134

    Aug 2023

    Wacom One S

    CTC-4110WL

    Aug 2023

    Wacom One M

    CTC-6110WL

    Aug 2023

    Cintiq Pro 17

    DTH-172

    Oct 2023

    Cintiq Pro 22

    DTH-227

    Oct 2023

    Cintiq Pro 27

    DTH-271

    Sep 2022

    Wacom One 2019

    DTC-133

    2019

    One by Wacom M

    CTL-672

    2019

    One by Wacom S

    CTL-472

    2019

    Intuos Pro Small 2019

    PTH-460

    May 2019

    Intuos Pro Large 2017

    PTH-860

    Jan 2017

    Intuos Pro Medium 2017

    PTH-6400

    Jan 2017

    Intuos Draw

    CTL-490

    Sep? 2015

    Intuos Pro Large 2013

    PTH-851

    2013

    Intuos Pro Medium 2013

    PTH-651

    2013

    Intuos Pro Small 2013

    PTH-451

    2013

    Wacom Intuos M BT

    CTC-6100WL

    2018

    Wacom Intuos S BT

    CTC-4100WL

    2018

    Wacom Intuos M

    CTC-6100

    2018

    Wacom Intuos S

    CTC-4100

    2018

    Wireless: Only the CTL-6100WL supports wireless
    Wireless: NO
    Wireless: NO
    Be a Better Dev - How to make Khan Academy Style Videos for YouTube
    GRUMO - Teach with a Tablet (Full Tutorial + Demo)
    Absolute versus relative positioning
    mouse mode
    Matching aspect ratios
    Pen hover
    My notes on this tablet
    PiXimperfect - 7 Reasons Why Tablet is Better than a Mouse!
    r/wacom - Replacing your Mouse with a Drawing Tablet/Pen "Guide"

    Retail Price

    $500

    $200

    $200

    Common On-Sale Price

    $400

    $170

    $170

    Used on eBay

    $150 to $250

    Model number

    PTH-860

    MT1592B

    GT930L

    Release year

    2017

    2023

    2022

    Pen

    Pro Pen 2

    (KP-504E)

    X3 Pro

    Intuos Pro Large

    12.1" x 8.4" 311mm x 216mm

    14.7"

    1.44

    Deco Pro XLW GEN2

    15" x 9" 381mm x 228.6mm

    17.6"

    5:3 (1.67)

    Giano G930L

    13.6 x 8.5 345.4mm x 215.9mm

    16"

    Wacom Pro Pen 2

    <1gf

    ~800gf

    Huion PW517

    3gf

    ~200gf

    X3 Pro

    2gf

    ~400gf

    my notes on this tablet
    my notes of this tablet
    my notes on this tablet
    https://estore.wacom.com/en-us/tablets.html#wacom-intuos-pro-link-anchor
    https://www.xp-pen.com/product/deco-pro-gen-2-series.html
    https://www.huion.com/products/pen_tablet/InspiroyPro/inspiroy-giano.html
    match aspect ratios

    PW517

    16:10 (1.60)

    GOOD IAF: Between 2gf and 3.5gf

    • Most modern EMR pens have an IAF of around 3gf

  • OK IAF: Between 3.5gf and 5gf

    • This is tolerable. Something that would be typical of a consumer-level pen.

  • BAD IAD. ≥ 5gf

    • Most people would not enjoy using such a pen.

  • Wacom Intuos2 Grip Pen (XP-501E)

    <1gf

    2001

    Wacom Intuos1 Grip Pen (GP-300E)

    <1gf

    1998

    Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E) IAF

    <1gf

    2017

    Wacom Pro Pen Slim (KP-301E) IAF

    <1gf

    ?

    Wacom Intuos4/5 Grip Pen (KP-501E)

    <1gf

    2009 and 2012

    Wacom Intuos3 Grip Pen (ZP-501E)

    <1gf

    2004

    Pen pressure
    Wacom Tablet Mastersheet
    Pen pressure dead zone
    Pen pressure dead zone
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLmkI2vgfBg

    XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH) - (user manual | product page | model year 2022)

  • Wacom One 2019 GEN1 (DTC-133)

  • Summary

    These are very, very similar tablets. There is NO CLEAR winner - each has positives and negatives.

    • Huion Kamvas 13

      • slightly less pointer lag (GOOD)

      • slightly more more anti-glare sparkle

    • XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2

      • a tiny bit more pointer lag

      • less anti-glare sparkle

    Links

    • Teoh on Tech review of XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2

    • Create Now Sleep Later review of XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2

    Evaluation notes

    Testing Setup

    • Driver versions used

      • Huion: 15.6.2.80

      • XP-Pen: 3.4.0

    • Operating system of test machine

      • Huion: Windows 11

      • XP-Pen: Windows 10

    • Specs

      • The tables of specs come from the Huion and XP-Pen websites. For some specs, I did some testing to come up with the numbers.

    • Variances

      • Please remember that how tablets work can vary even with tablets that have the same model number. I cannot guarantee everyone will experience what I encountered.

    • Pen labeling

      • I used gaffer tape to identify the pens. Green = XP-PEN, Red=Huion.

    Pens

    • X-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 - X3 ELITE

    • Huion Kamvas 13 - PW517

    • Wacom One 2019 GEN1 - CP-913

    Center versus Corner accuracy

    Accuracy in both tablets is very good for a pen display

    In my testing

    • Both have similar center accuracy. I agree with their listed specs of ±0.5mm

    • Both have similar corner accuracy. I measured at ± 2mm

    Diagonal wobble

    Both tablets have excellent diagonal wobble (i.e. very low amounts of diagonal wobble) with both slow and fast strokes.

    XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH) wobble

    Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331) wobble:

    Compare it to the most expensive pen tablet wacom makes the Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860):

    Both the Huion and XP pen are on par with

    Anti-glare sparkle

    Both tablets exhibit some anti-glare sparkle. Ideally tablets should exhibit no sparkle.

    • iPad -> no observable sparkle

    • Wacom Cintiq Pro -> very low sparkle

    • Wacom One -> low sparkle

    • XP-Pen Artist 13 (2nd gen) -> On the low end of moderate sparkle

    • Huion Kamvas 13 -> moderate sparkle

    For both tablets you'll notice the sparkle if your eyes are close, at a normal drawing distance I don't notice it.

    The XP-Pen tablet is clearly the winner over the Huion tablet for AG sparkle.

    Drawing Experience

    Both tablets handle these cases well

    • drawing lots of dots

    • drawing many small quick tiny low pressure lines - hatching

    • keeping pressure constant

    • moving between high and low pressure smoothly

    • Tapering - typical for every pen display I've seen.

    Overall drawing experience is very good for both tablets.

    Pressure range

    • Remember: Pressure is detected by the pen, not the tablet.

    • The lower bound on the pressure range is called the Initial Activation Force.

    • To test this I hung each pen from a string and dragged the tip of the pen across the surface. The goal is that the minimal weight for the pen will draw a continuous line. Here's how they ranked:

      • XP-Pen Artist 13 2nd Gen -> made no marks whatsoever

      • Huion Kamvas 13 -> half the time made a mark. if pen moves slowly mark is captured usually but if there the pen is moving a little faster the mark is not registered.

      • Wacom One -> about same as the Huion Kamvas 13

      • Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860) -> draws a continuous line

      • Huion Giano (G930L) -> draws a continuous line

    • Between the two, Huion is the clear winner with its lower IAF.

    Pointer lag

    Both Huion and XP-pen models tested exhibit the typical pointer lag present with all pen displays. The lag is comparable to the Wacom One pen display (DTC-133).

    Manufacturers don't publish lag numbers. So, this is subjective:

    • The Huion has about the same amount of lag as the Wacom One

    • The XP-Pen model has a bit more more lag than the Huion model

    Both tables can be successfully used for creative applications. But Huion is the winner here over the XP-Pen model.

    Parallax

    Thanks to their laminated displays both have very good parallax. They match that of Wacom One.

    Below is a parallax photo for several pen tablet models. The XP-Pen parallax similar to the picture of the Wacom One and Huion model in the photo.

    Connecting with a 3 in 1 cable

    Both tablets come with a 3-in-1 cable.

    The end that goes into the tablet is USB-C.

    The other 3 ends are:

    • HDMI - connect to computer

    • USB-A for data - connect to computer

    • USB-A for power - this cable is colored red.

      • if your computer can provide enough power you can plug the cable into the computer

      • Or you can connect to a USB power adapter. Neither tablet comes with a USB power adapter.

    Connecting with one USB-C cable

    For both tablets, I was able to use a single USB-C cable to connect them to the computer. More here: Connecting a pen display with one USB-C cable

    user manual
    product page
    If are a beginner, and want to get a very quick recommendation, go here:
    . Once you have a tablet, look here:
    .

    Types of drawing tablets

    Before you continue, be sure to read this thoroughly: Types of drawing tablets. Once you understand the different types of tablets then continue.

    The key ways to categorize a drawing tablet:

    • Does it have a screen?

    • Is it standalone?

    These two things affect how the device is used, tje cost, and how well a tablet works for certain scenarios and for different users.

    Basics

    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.

    What people do with their tablets

    • Drawing - Of course, many people use drawing tablets for drawing, sketching, painting, photo-editing etc. All the fundamental creative tasks.

    • Gaming - Drawing tablets are popular for some games. More here: Gaming with drawing tablets

    • 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: Using a drawing tablet instead of a mouse

    • 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.

    • Note taking - Especially with pen computers, students for example, take them to their classes and write down their notes digitally. More here:

    Brands

    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: Drawing Tablet Brands

    Core features

    • Tracking pen position - any modern drawing tablet does a good job with this. Learn more here: Pen tracking

    • 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 hover

    • 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 pressure.

    • 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:

    • 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.

    • 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

    The active area is the region on the tablet that your draw on. More here: active area.

    Tablet size

    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: Choosing the right tablet size

    Drivers

    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: drivers.

    Connecting the tablet to the computer

    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.

    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: connecting a pen display to a computer

    Compatibility with applications

    Once you install the tablet drivers, all applications are compatible with drawing tablets. In addition, creative applications (paint programs, etc.) can take advantage of special features of the tablet such as pressure sensitivity and tilt.

    See: App compatibility with drawing tablets

    Pen nibs

    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: nib wear

    Tablets almost always come with spare nibs. Some nibs made of different material which provide a different drawing feeling. More here: Pen nib material.

    Nibs that come with a tablet may be provided in a separate plastic bag or pouch, may be stored in a pen stand, may be stored inside the pen, etc.

    Drawing with a tablet vs a mouse

    A drawing tablet uses absolute positioning and a mouse uses relative positioning. They behave very differently. More here: absolute versus relative positioning. Using the tablet driver, you can make the tablet and pen work more like a mouse by using mouse mode.

    Other topics to explore

    • Learning to use a drawing tablet

    • Learning digital art

    buying guide
    recommendations
    Recommended drawing tablets for beginners
    Getting started with a drawing tablet

    If you read the user manual before you make a purchase you'll save yourself a lot of time and frustration.

    The key thing you want to understand from a user manual is:

    • How to install the driver

    • how the tablet will connect to your computer. This is especially important to understand if you are planning on purchasing a pen display.

    Pen tablets vs pen displays

    Because it is so common that people struggle with the decision between getting a pen tablet and pen display. You should go into the purchase decision knowing that each kind of tablet has its advantages.

    Many people think that pen displays are simply inherently better. This certainly is not true. I strongly suggest you carefully consider the strengths and weaknesses of both.

    Here you can find the comparison between pen tablets and pen displays that should help you make your decision: pen tablets vs pen displays.

    Tablet brands

    There are many tablet brands. I usually stick to talking about and recommending tablets from Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen, and Xencelabs. That's because I have owned many of those tablets and I believe there's a large enough community of users of those tablets that if you need help you're likely to find it from them.

    You can read much more about these brands here: Drawing tablet brands.

    Community size

    Based on my experience with tech products when a user of a product has a question or needs help more than 50% of the time they get their answer or help not from customer support but rather from other users in the online community.

    In other words the community around a drawing tablet brand has a great impact on your satisfaction with that tablet.

    That's why I tend to recommend the brands that I do because they have so many users that I can see online.

    Since Reddit is a popular online location for discussions around drawing tablets here are some numbers that help you see how big these communities are.

    Understand how the tablet will connect to your computer

    For pen tablets this is pretty easy. All pen tablets can connect with a USB C cable. And some pen tablets can also support wireless connectivity.

    In the user manual you'll find diagrams like this for a pen tablet.

    For a pen display wiring them up is much more complicated. There are more cables and ports involved. And more requirements on those cables and ports.

    The user manual will show diagrams like these below indicating how pen displays may connect to a computer.

    With pen displays you should also be very clear about which cables come in the box. Sometimes it user manual may show you how to wire up the connections. But sometimes some cables are not included. So it's best to understand that before you make a purchase.

    In addition to just understanding how the cables are connected for pen display you also have to make sure your computer has all the ports that are needed and that they meet the requirements.

    To help you understand this I recommend you watch this video on connecting a pen display.

    Test the ports on your computer

    Once you know how a once you know how the connection should work even before you order the tablet you should confirm if the ports on your computer will work as intended.

    A pen tablet will lead you to a simple USB port. So you can verify it works by testing that port with a mouse or some other similar input device.

    For a pen tablet you should verify any ports used to transmit a display signal work.

    In particular because using a pen display essentially counts as adding another monitor to your computer. You should make sure that your computer can support as many simultaneous displays connected as are needed to account for both your monitor and the pen display.

    Use model numbers not names

    So many tablets are on the market right now and many of them have confusingly similar names.

    For example Wacom has one series of tablets called Wacom 1 and another series of tablets called one by Wacom. They have very different levels of quality, they are different types of tablets, and they have different ages. If you rely on name alone you're likely to buy the wrong tablet.

    Another example are names like these from XP pen which are confusingly similar.

    Ultimately the way you can avoid purchasing the wrong tablet is by making sure you know the model number.

    Do not stress out about the numbers of pressure levels.

    These days it's very fashionable for drawing tablets to advertise that they have 8000 levels of pressure or 16,000 levels of pressure. In my analysis the vast majority of users only need about 2000 levels of pressure and could get by with far less. Almost every tablet on the market today has more than 8000 levels of pressure and only a handful have 4000. So any tablet you buy will have enough.

    More here: How many pressure levels do you really need?

    Be prepared to handle common problems

    • Ensure you know how to contact customer support.

    • Ensure you know the warranty and how (if needed) you can can return the tablet to the manufacturer or to the retailer (example: Amazon) you bought it from

    • Here's a list of Common problems with drawing tablets. Although for a majority of you everything `will "just work" some small number of you will start off with issues on day one.

    • I have a list of troubleshooting docs here:

    • The most complex problem for pen displays is usually the "NO SIGNAL" problem. If it happens, this guide will help:

    Check the reviews

    Never purchase a tablet without looking at the reviews first.

    Some reviewers to explore:

    • Teoh on Tech (https://www.youtube.com/@teohontech7141) Teoh has the most in-depth reviews of tablets.

    • Create Now Sleep Later (https://www.youtube.com/c/Createnowsleeplater)

    • Brad Colbow (https://www.youtube.com/c/thebradcolbow)

    • Aaron Rutten (

    • Adam Duff (

    Verify the model number, not just the model name

    Tablet names are confusingly similar. So much so, that I've seen people order the wrong tablet just because the names were close.

    • NEVER order by using the name of the tablet alone.

    • ALWAYS verify you have ordered correct model number.

    See this page for all the reasons why you should not rely on the model name: Model names vs model numbers

    Make sure your working environment is usable

    • Check for potential sources of Electromagnetic Interference. More here: Electromagnetic interference

    • Ensure you have enough space on your desk for the tablet and where your keyboard will be placed

    Some artists require it.

    Line art

    can be useful

    But many/most people do line art without using any tilt features

    Pen tablets vs pen displays

    Overview

    There are three kinds of drawing tablets. This document is discussing how you might choose between a pen tablet and a pen display.

    • pen tablets - that don't have a screen

    • pen displays - that do have a screen

    • standalone tablets- that have a screen and you can use them without being connected to a computer

    Approach

    Choosing between a pen tablet and pen display is not easy. There is no single answer that applies to everyone.

    This document will identify the different dimensions across which you can compare a pen tablet and a pen display. And it will identify those cases in which pen tablets have an advantage and those cases in which a pen display has an advantage.

    And ultimately the goal is to provide you enough information so that you can make an informed decision.

    Details

    This document summarizes many very deep topics. If you want more information, consult the which covers all these topics in detail.

    Dispelling common myths

    MYTH: A pen display is inherently better than a pen tablet

    REALITY: Neither is inherently better. Which one you should use depends on a lot of factors

    Pen displays look really fancy and cost much more than a pen tablet. And it would be natural to think that this means that pen displays are in some way fundamentally better than a pen tablet. That is absolutely not true. Pen tablets have their own merits. So do not think about a pen tablet as simply a lower cost option that you have to “settle for.” For many people it is the right answer.

    MYTH: Professional artist only use pen displays

    REALITY: Professional artists use both pen displays and pen tablets

    Another common myth is that professionals only use pen displays. Again this is absolutely not true. There are many professional artists who use pen tablets out of preference and or doing high quality professional work with those pen tablets.

    MYTH: People naturally prefer using a pen display. The only reason they use pen tablets is because they are cheaper.

    REALITY: Lots of people try pen displays, and go back to pen tablets

    I see countless stories of people who love using their pen tablet but feel the need to get a pen display and then when they tried the pen display they realized that the pen tablet worked much better for them. And then they end up returning.

    MYTH: Pen displays let you create better art

    REALITY: Both pen displays and pen tablets can create equivalently good art

    Some people worry that the quality of art they want to produce can only be produced by a pen display. You shouldn't let that worry you. People have been producing amazing art with pen tablets for decades. There are definitely some benefits to using a pen display, but the quality of art than can be made is not a factor.

    MYTH: Once you use a pen display you will never enjoy using a pen tablet

    REALITY: Many people try a pen display and RETURN to using a pen tablet

    • 2020/10/07

    • 2025/03/25

    Advice for first-time tablet users

    If you are just getting started using a drawing tablet - for example maybe this is going to be the first tablet you own - my advice is to start with a pen tablet. And learn to use it and if you can't adjust to a pen tablet in a few weeks then return it and get a pen display.

    Need to be used with a computer

    WINNER: TIE

    Both pen tablets and pen displays need a computer to work. They can't be used standalone like an Apple iPad.

    Posture

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    With a pen tablet you are drawing in generally a better posture. You will be sitting in a way such that your back is vertical and your head will be looking straight ahead at your monitor. With a pen display you will almost always have to lean over a little bit and look down at the tablet to draw. This can place strain on your lower back and on your neck. This is one of the most popular reasons why someone buys a pen display but then returns it. They just find using a pen display to be very hard on their bodies. More here:

    Cost

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    Pen tablets cost much less than pen displays. Even the most expensive pen tablet cost less than the majority of pen displays.

    • Pen tablets cost between $50 to $250. The most expensive on the market is $500 and often discounted to $400.

    • Pen displays start at around $300 and can go up to about $1300. Wacom professional pen displays are in a special price category and can cost from $2500 to $3500.

    Reliability

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    Pen tablets are the clear winner for reliability. Pen tablets are very simple devices compared to pen displays. They have far fewer components. And so there's just less of a probability that something will go wrong with the hardware of a pen tablet. And the components they have are not as delicate.

    Cabling

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    Pen tablets work with a single USB cable (And some are wireless). Pen displays are more complex. Depending on your computer and which pen display there are multiple cabling options and sometimes they can be difficult to configure. More here:

    Pointer lag

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    All tablets have some amount of pointer lag. But in my observation pen tablets have less pointer lag than pen displays.

    And on top of it even if they have the same amount of lag you will notice it more with the pen display because you can see the tip of the pen and the pointer next to each other. And looking seeing them next to each other on the same screen highlights the pointer lag. More here:

    Wireless connectivity

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    Many pen tablets support wireless connectivity. These days that is via Bluetooth.

    However no pen displays support wireless connectivity. You will always have at least one wire connecting your end display to your computer. And if you have a larger pen display - anything at 16 inches and above - it's almost guaranteed you'll have at least two wires - one going to your computer and one for power.

    Taking notes

    WINNER: Pen displays

    In general I do not recommend taking notes with pen displays. I think that standalone tablets are much better for no taking. But compared to a pen tablet a pen display is certainly much better because you can see what you're doing with the pen and so it's just more intuitive and feels like you're working with pen and paper. More here: .

    Surviving a fall

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    If you knock a pen tablet off your desktop and it hits the floor almost certainly nothing bad will happen. Pen tablets generally don't have any moving parts aside from maybe some buttons. But if you drop a pen display almost certainly that pen display will be severely damaged by the drop. This could shatter the glass of the pen display. Or it could do some severe internal damage to the display panel that's inside the tablet. And this damage to a pen display is not user repairable and it's often extremely expensive to have it repaired if it is even possible to repair.

    Most of the time when I've seen someone have significant damage to their appendix display the cost to repair is as much as a new pen display.

    Power requirements

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    A pen tablet doesn't require much power. If connected to your laptop it won't drain the battery as much. A pen display requires much more power. If connected to your laptop, it will draw much more power and run your battery down faster. More here: .

    Hand covering what you are drawing

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    In many ways a pen display mimics how it feels to draw with pen and paper. Usually this is an advantage. However it also has some of the same limitations of pen and paper. In particular with the pen display your hand and arm are between you and what you are drawing. So quite naturally you have to accommodate for this. You might have to draw from a different angle or rotate the canvas.

    A pen tablet of course separates what you see from where you draw. And so your hand is never in the way of what you are drawing.

    Physical size and weight

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    Pen tablets are considerably thinner and weigh less.

    Drawing experience

    WINNER: Pen displays

    • Pen displays have a more natural feel because you looking at the same place your are drawing. With a pen tablet you are drawing in one place but looking somewhere else.

    • Most people feel like they have press UNDO much less frequently with a pen display because the stroke more often goes where they intended.

    • With a pen tablet, you must configure the tablet's active area to map to your display so that there is no distortion while drawing or moving the pen. (This is done with a "Force proportions" setting in the tablet driver.) With pen displays, this is not required. They are pre-configured correctly. More here: .

    More here:

    Portability

    WINNER: Pen tablets

    Given their size and weight and need for a single cable (or even wireless capability) pen tablets have a lot of advantages for carrying around with you.

    Also with a pen display, you will need to protect it more because it is more sensitive to damage. See .

    Diagonal wobble

    is a slight "wobbly" inaccuracy in tracking the pen position. It is present in ALL drawing tablets to various degrees.

    In my testing I have found no clear pattern that indicates that pen tablets or pen displays are prone to more or less diagonal wobble. Instead it seems to be linked to the specific tablet model involved.

    You can see the different diagonal wobble samples I have collected here: .

    Pen pressure handling

    The behavior of a tablet with regard to pressure (IAF, max pressure, etc.) depends on the pen that is used, not the tablet.

    There are a few exceptions - there are 1 or 2 tablets that I think do a particularly bad job of pressure independent of the pen, but those are exceedingly rare.

    You can use both kinds of tablets

    And there is no rule that says you have to use only one kind of tablet. There are many people who have both a pen tablet and a pen display. And depending on what they're doing they will switch between using one or the other. See:

    Videos

    • Jan 6, 2023

    • July 10, 2023

    • Mar 30, 2023

    Buying used drawing tablets

    Overview

    We would all like to have completely brand new equipment. However, used tablets maybe a way to save a little extra money.`

    My experience with used drawing tablets

    I have bought and worked with MANY used drawing tablets - 26 used tablets as of April 2024. You can see the list of all my tablets here:

    • pen tablets - Pen tablets are generally very reliable devices and are fine to buy used I own many used pen tablets, some over 25+ years old that still work.

    • pen displays - I have purchased one used pen display.

    • pen computers - I have no experience with used pen computers. And in general I do not recommend pen computers. See:

    Tablet age

    Because the used tablets might be older models, you should prepare for issues that might arise due to their age. More here:

    Older drivers

    In particular you may need to use older drivers. This comes with its own set of complications. More here:

    Which brands for buying used

    Wacom products have always been the most reliable and higher quality devices. So even going back years, their models work well. Because Wacom professional pen tablets are the very highest quality, those make great choices for buying used. More here:

    Used Wacom Intuos professional tablets

    There are some factors you MUST take into account when buying them used. I've summarized those issues in this video below. In the description of the video, please make sure to note the errata.

    Even though this video is about used pen tablets, I think it may be useful even if you are looking to purchase a used pen display.

    Likewise even though this video is about professional tablets, the topics raised also apply to consumer level tablets.

    Be clear what you are getting in the box

    Find the information about the manufacturer included normally in the box for the tablet. You can find this from the manufacturer website, contact customer support, or even watch a review or unboxing video of the tablet on YouTube.

    Then, compare what the manufacturer delivers with what the seller has available. The most import things to verify you are getting are the pen and any cables you need.

    Be prepared to clean the tablet

    Some used tablets will arrive in a pristine condition - either through disuse or the seller thoroughly cleaning the tablet beforehand.

    Sometimes though the tablets are filthy. For example they may:

    • Have food crumbs, dust, skin cells in crevices

    • Have stickers attached

    • Have remains of adhesive on the surface (perhaps from some removed stickers)

    It may be worth asking the seller how clean the tablet is.

    Notes on Wacom drivers

    • As of Wacom Driver 6.4.0 released in October 2022, Wacom has dropped support for Intuos 5 tablets and older Intuos tablets - except for the Wacom Intuos 4 XL which is still supported. ()

    Alternative to Wacom drivers for older tablets

    • If you have an older tablet and need a driver check out

    • For creative work in Windows see

    Testing out a tablet before you buy

    If you have the opportunity to examine the tablet before you decide to buy, here are some things: .

    Buying online

    You can find many tablets on eBay and I've had a good experience with the 25+ tablets I've bought from there

    • All but 1 worked out-of-the-box

    • Reading the item description...

      • I made sure the surface didn't have any visible signs of wear

      • That the tablet came with a pen

    Verifying the model you are buying

    You must be extra careful to verify you are purchasing the correct tablet. Always verify the MODEL NUMBER not just the name of the tablet. The importance of using the model number is explained here: . If the seller is not sure of the model number, see this article:

    Don't rely on the model number in the listing title, always check the photos of the product from the seller.

    Official tablet brand stores on eBay

    Some manufacturers directly sell new and used/refurbished tablets on eBay

    • Wacom:

    • Huion:

    • XP-Pen:

    Surface texture

    A used tablet's surface might be almost pristine or it might be heavily used and exhibit a lot of surface wear.

    • Ideally you get one that is not heavily worn.

    • Small scratches or OK if they can not be felt through the pen.

    • Larger scratches will interfere with your pen. You might be able mitigate that by using some surface protection. More here:

    More here:

    Pens

    Keep in mind you may get a nice price on a tablet, but it may not come with a pen. So verify whether a pen is included or not before you purchase.

    If you need to buy a pen or you break your pen, keep in mind that

    • You have to make sure you find the exact model number of pen that is compatible with your tablet. A random pen from the same brand may not be compatible.

    • Replacement pens can be very expensive even if they are a decade old. For example, older Wacom Pro Pens can be very expensive (>=$100).

    • Replacement pens can be incredibly hard to find on the used market.

    • In the used market, sellers do not sell the pen by itself. So you may even have to purchase ANOTHER tablet with a pen. I've personally had to do this myself.

    More here:

    Bite marks on pens

    Some people hold their pens in their mouths and use their teeth to lightly chew their pens. You can sometimes find teeth marks on the pens.

    Below is a used Intuos1 pen (GP-300E) I bought on eBay displaying what I believe are bite marks on and near the eraser.

    This is a reminder that you should thoroughly clean any used equipment you purchase.

    Nibs

    Often, depending on the tablet and how you draw, the pen nib wears down as you use a pen.

    • Verify whether your purchase includes spare nibs or not.

    • Compatible nibs may be difficult to find.

    • Compatible nibs may be difficult.

    Reddit threads

    Taking notes with drawing tablets
    pen tilt
    pen buttons
    ExpressKeys
    Touch support
    buying guide
    Ariann Art - 7 Reasons Why I switched back from a display tablet to a Pen tablet
    Art by Sil - I Ditched My Screen Tablet — Here’s Why You Should Too
    Body posture when using drawing tablets
    Connecting a pen display
    lag
    taking notes with drawing tablets
    powering a drawing tablet
    matching aspect ratios with Force proportions
    The drawing experience
    protective cases
    Diagonal wobble
    Diagonal wobble samples
    Using multiple drawing tablets at the same time
    Teoh on Tech - 9 things to know about pen displays before you buy one
    EyeKooDrawsStuff - What drawing tablet to buy... a screenless graphics tablet or pen display?
    Paintable - Do you NEED a Screen Tablet? | Honest Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Review

    That the tablet came with the cables it needed - this is very important if the tablet used proprietary cables

  • Listings on sites like eBay let the seller provide a photo. Sometimes the initial photo is the official product photo provided pulled from the manufacturer website.

    • Remember - the seller may have used the image for the wrong tablet

    • Some people advise to be extremely wearing when you see official product photo in the listing that is a sign that this photo does not match the actual product being sold.

    • Always verify with photos of the actual tablet.

  • https://www.ebay.com/str/xppentechnology

    my tablets
    The case against pen computers
    Using older drawing tablets
    Using older tablet drivers
    drawing tablet brands
    https://cdn.wacom.com/u/productsupport/drivers/win/professional/releasenotes/Windows_6.4.0.html
    OpenTabletDriver
    Using OpenTabletDriver on Windows for drawing
    Inspecting a tablet
    Model names vs model numbers
    Finding the model number of a drawing tablet
    https://www.ebay.com/str/wacom
    https://www.ebay.com/str/huiontablet
    https://www.ebay.com/str/xpdrawingus
    Surface protectors
    surface wear on pen tablets
    surface wear on pen displays
    Replacing a pen
    https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/17cp4h9/intuos_4_or_intuos_5/
    Troubleshooting
    Troubleshoot the NO SIGNAL problem
    https://www.youtube.com/c/aaronrutten)
    https://www.youtube.com/@AdamDuffArt)

    Getting started with a drawing tablet

    Overview

    If you just acquired a drawing tablet and want to start using it, this guide will lead you through the basics.

    • If you are new to drawing tablets, first read

    • If you don't have a drawing tablet:

    Find out the tablet's model number

    • Make sure you know the model number of the tablet. This will help you in many ways later. More here: .

    Identify how to contact support

    • The vast majority of time everything "just works" but you may need help or a question answered by customer support. So, Make sure you know how to for your tablet manufacturer

    Read the user manual

    • Most questions you have will be answered already in the user manual.

    • You will spare yourself a lot of frustration if you read it first.

    • You don't need to even open the box. You can download the manual from the manufacturer website.

    • The most important thing to understand in the user manual is how the tablet physically connects to your computer. This is especially important if you have a pen display (screen tablet).

    Don't drop the pen

    • If drop the pen to the floor, usually it will be unharmed.

    • When you are not using it make sure its stored in such a way it doesn't fall off your desk.

    • HOWEVER, sometimes a pen seems to hit just right and the fall can damage the pen.

    Keep the box safe

    • You may need to return or transport the tablet, the original box is the best way of doing thus.

    Verify the box contains what it should

    The box will usually list everything that is supposed to be inside it. If you can't see it there look for it in the user manual, or the manufacturer website.

    Then verify that box contains everything that is expected.

    99.9999% if of the time it will have everything is supposed to have. But every now and then you might encounter a box that is missing a cable.

    Prepare for replacing your pen

    The pen has somewhat delicate parts inside and is the most likely thing you will break. If you lose or damage your pen, there are some things you need to know:

    • First drawing tablets are generally only compatible with the pen they came with or a small number of pens. So note down the model number of the pen. You will need this to get a replacement. More here:

    • Pens are surprisingly expensive to replace.

      • Some pens cost half the cost of the tablet

      • Some pens (especially Wacom Pro pens) are more expensive than the tablets of other brands.

    Install the tablet driver

    • You need the tablet driver installed for the tablet to work correctly.

    • You can go to the manufacturer site and download the driver and install now before your tablet even arrives.

    • If the tablet driver is installed, when you connect the tablet with USB cable the driver will just detect the tablet and the pen will work as soon as it comes close to the tablet (about 10mm)

    Connect the tablet

    • Pen tablet - There will be a simple USB cord. These days the cords are all USB-C cords.

      • Some pen tablets ALSO support wireless connection. For now ignore wireless. It just adds more complication. Get it working with a cable first. Once everything is working, then try wireless.

    • Pen display - There are several options. See

    Finding the Driver UI

    At some point you'll need to find the driver again after you have installed it. You MUST be familiar with how to do this. Here are the instructions: .

    The NO SIGNAL problem with pen displays

    If you encounter a "NO SIGNAL" message, follow these troubleshooting steps:

    How the pen & tablet work with the computer

    • Once the tablet driver is installed and the tablet is connected it will detect the pen. It will treat the pen just like a mouse. (except a mouse uses relative positioning and the pen uses absolute positioning. more here: )

    • If the pen is in range (about 10mm) of the tablet or touching the tablet , then moving the pen will move the mouse pointer.

      • If the pen is not touching the tablet, it will be like your are not pressing down any mouse buttons

    Learn what the active area is (aka "Working Area")

    • The active area on the tablet is the region of the tablet that is sensitive to the pen.

      • Wacom calls this the "Active Area" in their docs. In their driver, it is called "Mapping"

      • Huion calls this the "Working Area"

    Pen tablets: map the Active Area to a single display

    • This step is needed for pen tablets (the ones without a screen)

    • The active area can be mapped to one of your displays or multiple displays.

    • By default, they are often mapped to multiple displays.

    • For now, map the active area to a single display.

    Pen displays: map the Active Area to your pen tablet if needed

    • With a pen tablet, the active area should be mapped to the screen of your tablet.

    • Sometimes however, drivers get confused and they initially map the active area to some other display that your have. When this happens you will move the pen on your tablet but you'll see the mouse pointer move on a different display.

    • This is VERY easy to solve:

    Pen tablets: Enable Force Proportions to match aspect ratios between the active area and your display

    • This step is very important for pen tablets (the ones without a screen). You don't have to do this for pen displays.

    • If you don't do this there will be a distortion as you draw - in other words tracing out a perfect circle on the tablet will draw an oval on the screen.

    • Explanation and instructions here: .

    Adjust the pressure curve to give you more control

    Drawing tablet pens are "over-sensitive" at low physical pressure. Near the initial activation force the pressure can swing wildly. If you are using pressure to control for example the width of your strokes, then the width can vary more than you expect. This is especially obvious as you are doing linework and you brushes start getting larger (>50px).

    This over-sensitivity is common to pens, and not unusual. Some people may not even notice. But if you do, you can use pressure curves to reduce the over sensitivity.

    Mapping buttons dials and sliders

    If you tablet has additional inputs such as buttons, dials, etc. You can control what they do. Even assign them to do different things per application.

    Here are some popular assignments:

    Windows

    Perform this configuration:

    Apps

    • Krita - I highly recommend you Install . It is a FREE and good drawing app. Eve if you are not going to draw anything, it is useful for testing and troubleshooting.

    • Kleki - is a FREE web-based app that is very simple. It's ideal I think for something for kids to start with before they try something complicated like Krita.

    • Clip Studio Paint - I draw a lot of illustrations so I pay for a subscription to .

    The drivers install an app you can use to configure the driver. The apps have different names depending on your tablet brand
  • More here: drivers

  • if the pen is touching the tablet, it will be like you are holding down the left mouse button

  • In drawing apps which are pen aware can take advantage of other features like pressure and tilt.

  • If you are using a drawing program, You don't need to hold down any button for it to draw, just put touch the pen to the tablet.

  • I will always call it the "active area" because that is the oldest term for it.
  • Go into the driver and and find the active area and get familiar with what it looks like. It's one of the most common things you'll need to adjust.

  • More here: Active Area

  • If you want to use both displays, later on you can configure a "display toggle" feature that lets you switch between displays by pressing a button on the pen or the tablet.

    Photopea (https://www.photopea.com/) is a web-based Photoshop-like app. It is very good and also has a free tier.

  • Procreate - this is THE drawing app to get if you are drawing on an iPad.

  • Infinite Painter - this is the equivalent of Procreate, but for Android devices.

  • Other applications - Look here to find a large number of applications to explore: applications

  • the beginner's guide
    buying guide
    Finding the model number of a drawing tablet
    contact support
    Pen compatibility with drawing tablets
    connecting a pen display
    Finding the driver settings UI
    Troubleshoot the NO SIGNAL problem
    Absolute versus relative positioning
    Troubleshoot pen moving pointer on the wrong display
    Matching aspect ratios with Force Proportions
    Popular bindings for auxiliary inputs
    Disable the press-and-hold ring in Windows
    Krita
    Kleki
    Clip Studio Paint

    Choosing the right size for a drawing tablet

    Overview

    Size = Active Area Size. The way we measure a tablets size is NOT the physical size of the device. Instead we measure the diagonal of the ACTIVE AREA of the tablet. The ACTIVE AREA is the region on the surface of the tablet that is responsive to the tablet's EMR pen. Learn more: Active area & Active area size

    Companion Video

    My size categories

    I've given convenient labels ("small", "medium", "large") to drawing tablets. This will make it easier to talk about their sizes. These categories are based off the standard sizes that Wacom uses. The sizes here are approximate. For each category a typical value is provided, and also a range of values.

    Size category
    Pen tablet
    Pen display

    Manufacturer size categories

    Manufactures also sometimes provide size categories in the names of their pen tablets. But don't trust the size categories - always calculate the actual diagonal distance when comparing sizes.

    Here's are some great examples:

    • The XP-Deco L is much closer in size to a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium than the Intuos Pro Large.

    • Inspiroy 2L is sort of in-between a medium and large size.

    Tablet and manufactr
    My size category
    Active area
    Diagonal

    Considerations

    Here's what you should consider in your choice

    • What is your natural drawing style? some people draw a lot from the wrist and others use much larger motions driven from their elbows and shoulders

    • Do you have enough space on your desk?

    • Do you intend to be mobile and use the tablet in different locations?

    Size recommendations

    Pen tablet
    Pen display

    Pen tablets size

    • Small (7") pen tablets are good for scenarios where the focus is less on creating strokes. For example, if you need to simply use a tablet as a replacement for a mouse, then a small tablet will work fine. One creative task that works great with small tablets in photo editing - since it doesn't typically require "drawing". Most people who are drawing would find using a small tablet, to feel very "cramped".

    • Medium (11") pen tablets are the best combination of size, cost, and ergonomics for most people interested in drawing tablets and is my standard recommendation. Medium tablets are the minimum size I would recommend for anyone who is interested in drawing, sketching, painting, or any creative task that requires drawing with strokes.

    • Large (15") pen tablets are these days the largest size available. They are popular for some artists. They are large enough though that you will have to adapt to using them. More here:

    Pen tablet size vs monitor size

    If you have a pen tablet (which does not have a screen), then you use it with a monitor. You should consider the relationship between these two sizes. I find that that relationship influences how it feels to draw on the pen tablet. A much more detailed explanation is here: .

    Pen display size

    • SMALL (13") pen displays may be good choices for children.

    • If you are drawing the minimum size I would recommend is MEDIUM (16"), though many people work very effectively with SMALL pen displays.

    • LARGE (24") are great but they do occupy a lot of space so ensure you have a desk that is big enough.

    Impact of pen display size

    • Anti-glare sparkle - For a given anti-glare treatment, the higher the pixels-per-inch of the display, the more anti-glare sparkle you will notice. For example using the same anti-glare treatment a 4K 24" display will show less AG sparkle, than a 4K 16" display.

    Test the tablet before you buy

    Check if there is a way you can try a tablet before you buy it. For example

    • At retail locations

    • Maybe a friend has the same model

    Simulate the tablet before you buy

    If you can get access to the tablet, consider simulating it with a piece of cardboard: .

    In relation to paper size

    Some of you like to think of a tablet size relative standard papers sizes. The tablet below shows the paper sizes with their diagonal size and you can see how specific paper size matches my standard tablet sizes

    Standard tablet size
    Nearest ISO paper
    Nearest US paper

    Videos

    • Nov 28, 2022

    • Mar 18, 2022

    • Mar 8, 2022

    • Jun 27, 2022

    Typical: 23" Range: 20" to29"

    Typical: 32" Range: 30" to 33"

    Wacom Intuos Pro Large

    (PTH-860)

    LARGE

    12.1"x8.4"

    14.7"

    MEDIUM (11") (I don't recommend pen tablets for note taking)

    SMALL (13") (I don't recommend pen displays for note taking)

    Mouse replacement (More here: )

    SMALL (7")

    N/A

    For children

    SMALL (7")

    SMALL (13")

    What I prefer and use

    LARGE (15")

    22" - on the low end of LARGE

    .
  • Extra large (23") pen tablets are no longer produced but for some users they are ideal but require quite a bit of adjustment to use. More here: Using Extra-large pen tablets.

  • I think the best balance is around 20" to 22" - these provide enough space to draw on without being to cumbersome, occupying too much space on a desk, or being difficult to move.

    Pen Display Medium (16")

    ISO A4 (14.3")

    US Legal (16.4")

    Pen Display Large (24")

    ISO A3 (20.2")

    n/a

    The Seven Pens - Is an EXTRA LARGE Pen tablet right for you? Jul 25, 2022

    SMALL

    Typical: 7" Range: 6" to 9"

    Typical: 13" Range: 11" to 14"

    MEDIUM

    Typical: 11" Range: 10" to 13"

    Typical: 16" Range: 15" to 19"

    LARGE

    Typical: 15" Range: 14" to 19"

    Typical: 24" Range: 20" to 29"

    Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660)

    MEDIUM

    8.7"x5.8"

    10.5"

    XP-Pen Deco L

    MEDIUM

    10"x6"

    11.5"

    Inspiroy 2 L

    MEDIUM (high end of medium)

    10.5"x6.56"

    Starter tablet

    MEDIUM (11")

    SMALL (7") if budget is a constraint

    MEDIUM (16")

    SMALL (13") if budget is a constraint

    Drawing, Sketching, Painting

    MEDIUM (11")

    LARGE (15") if you know you need it

    MEDIUM (16")

    LARGE (24") if you know you need it

    Photo Editing

    SMALL (7") is enough

    SMALL (13") or MEDIUM

    Pen Tablet Small (7")

    ISO A6 (7.1")

    n/a

    Pen Tablet Medium (11")

    ISO A5 (10.1")

    US Letter (13.9")

    Pen Tablet Large (16")

    ISO A4 (14.3")

    US Legal (16.4")

    Pen Display Small (13")

    ISO A4 (14.3")

    Using large pen tablets
    Matching pen tablet size to monitor size
    Simulating tablet size with cardboard
    Tim McBurnie - Which Size Wacom Is Right For You?
    Aaron Rutten - What Size Drawing Tablet Should I Get?
    The Seven Pens - What size drawing tablet should you get?
    The SevenPens - Is a LARGE pen tablet right for you?

    EXTRA LARGE

    12.38"

    Note taking (more here:)

    US Letter (13.9")

    Taking notes with drawing tablets
    Using a drawing tablet instead of a mouse

    Drawing tablet buying guide

    Introduction

    I want to help you make an informed choice when purchasing a drawing tablet. My goals are to (1) save you money, (2) ensure you aren't disappointed with your purchase, and (3) prevent you from damaging your tablet or pen.

    If you are new to drawing tablets, read this first: Beginner's guide to drawing tablets. This buying guide builds on the beginner's guide. If you also just want to quickly get to some beginner recommendations then go here: .

    Buying guide videos series

    If you prefer a watching a video. See this playlist:

    Choosing the type of drawing tablet

    The most fundamental choice to make is the kind of drawing tablet you want:

    • pen tablet - does NOT have a screen and requires a computer to use

    • pen display - has a screen and requires a computer to use

    • standalone tablet - has a screen and can be used my itself without being connected to a computer. There are several distinct types of standalone tablets.

    Before you continue, read this: . It will help you understand the options and how much they will cost.

    Questions you need to answer

    Your selection of a tablet will be accelerated if you are clear with yourself on the following questions

    • Which type of drawing tablet do you want

    • How much you are willing to spend

    • What is your intended usage scenario. If multiple scenarios apply, rank them.

      • Artistic - painting drawing

    My recommendations

    If you are ready to buy a tablet, go directly to . These recommendations will help you narrow your search.

    I strongly urge you to read this buying guide and beginner's guide completely before you jump directly to the recommendations.

    Basic buying guidelines

    • Get a pen tablet (no screen) unless you are absolutely sure that you MUST have a pen display (has a screen). More here:

    • If you really need need one that is standalone get an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

    • If you are a beginner I have simplified the options for you: .

    Brands

    If you want a safe choice, go with Wacom. They are also the most expensive. Competitors such as Huion, XP-Pen, and Xencelabs are closing the gap with Wacom in features and reliability.

    More here:

    If you decide on Wacom and want a pen tablet, read this guide: . In the future, I'll add a doc covering Wacom pen displays.

    Core features

    • Tablet size - The size has a BIG impact on the ergonomics of using the tablet. And different sizes serve different user needs. This guide on will help you find a size size that works for you.

    • The pen (also called stylus) is how you provide input to the tablet. All drawing tablets come with a pen. Some pro tablets come with two pens. You have to PAY ATTENTION TO THE PEN. The pen controls how well pressure works - not the tablet.

    • Pen pressure handling - The pen can detect how much pressure you are putting on its tip. All drawing tablet pens sense pressure. More info: . There are some aspects of pressure you need to be aware of.

    Things to watch out for

    • Diagonal wobble - All drawing tablets all have some wobble when moving the pen at an angle - it is strongest at 45 degrees. Some have a lot and some have very little or almost none. You may be very sensitive to the wobble. Be aware of this affect and make sure the tablet you buy doesn't have too much wobble. More here: .

    • Anti-glare sparkle - To prevent glare, pen displays have an anti-glare treatment applied to them. This will produce a kind sparkle effect. Some pen displays have a lot of it and some a little. Some people can tolerate it. Some people hate seeing it. More here: .

    • NO SIGNAL - The most common problem with pen displays is something called NO SIGNAL. If you are interested in pen displays you should be prepared to deal with this topic. The problem isn't usually the tablet, but how your computer's ports work and which ones you are trying to use. .

    Already have an iPad?

    If you already have a compatible Apple iPad and Apple Pencil, consider whether your current device meets your drawing needs.

    Non-pen inputs

    • The primary input to the tablet is the pen. But some tablets support other inputs such as buttons, dials, and sliders. Some tablets even support touch.

    • These non-pen inputs are important for some people but others don't care about them at all.

    • Read more here:

      • - buttons, dials, sliders

    Pen display features

    • Display resolution - Choosing the .

    • Brightness - Pen displays are bright but not super bright like some other displays you might be familiar with. More here: .

    • Parallax - Parallax is the apparent disagreement between the location of the physical tip of the pen and the and where the computer thinks the tip of the pen is. This is another thing, some people are more sensitive to. Learn more here: .

    Connections & cabling

    Cables that come with the tablet

    • Pen tablets - ALWAYS come with a USB cable to connect your computer to your tablet. Usually it is a USB-A to USB-C cable .

    • Pen displays - there are different ways to connect a pen display. A pen display will come with cables to support at least one of these methods. But if you want to connect a different way, you may need to buy additional cables.

    Wireless

    ALL Pen tablets can be connected with a single USB cable. Most pen tablets even support wireless connectivity - usually via Bluetooth. Be aware that many tablet models have wireless and non-wireless versions with slightly different names and model numbers. Be sure which one you are buying.

    ALL Pen displays require at least 1 cable to your computer.

    Understand connection options BEFORE YOU BUY

    It is a common mistake to buy a pen display and then realize you have no way to connect it to your computer. So please invest time understanding connection options BEFORE you make a purchase.

    To keep it simple:

    • Understand what cables come with the tablet

    • Understand which cables from the tablet go where

      • Pen tablets - this is easy - a cable goes from the pen tablet to the computer. Or some pentablets support wireless connection

      • Pen displays - this is complicated - there are many connection options. Sometimes it can be done with one cable, two cables, three cables, special cables, etc. Sometimes it requires multiple ports on your computer. Sometimes the ports on the computer must meet specific requirements. Some require additional power from a power adapter. And there are many other things to verify and investigate.

    More here:

    Compatibility with operating systems

    Pen tablets and pen displays must be connected to a computer in order to work. And how well they work, depends on the operating systems of that computer.

    In my experience, tablets work BEST with Windows and MacOS. With Linux, Android, ChromeOS, iPadOS, iOS things are more challenging.

    More here:

    Ergonomics

    • Thickness - Pen tablets are very thin these days - about 8mm. Smaller pen displays can be around 10mm larger pen displays can be 35mm.

    • Surface texture - If you are drawing, you might have strong preferences of what the texture of your tablet feels like. All drawing tablets have some surface texture but there is quite a bit of variation. There are even ways to achieve the texture you want. For example, many people want their tablet to have a rougher texture like paper. Learn more here:

    • Body posture - With a pen tablet, your torso will naturally have a more vertical posture. This is because you will be looking at your monitor while you hand rests on the pen tablet which is on your desk. With a pen display, you will be leaning over a bit to draw since you must look at the pen tablet on you desk. You may experience lower back pain or strain on your neck from looking down. More here:

    Use Cases

    • Drawing - Drawing with a drawing tablet very similar to but different from drawing on paper. And there is a big difference between how it feels to draw with pen displays versus pen tablets. You must understand the differences to help you choose between a pen tablet or pen display. More here: and here

    • 3D workflows - I'm not personally involved with 3D work but I have collected some guidance from others here:

    • Taking notes - I don't typically recommend pen tablets or pen displays for note taking. But some people really do like doing this. Instead I suggest standalone devices like an iPad which I think work much better. More here:

    Look at model numbers, not just names

    Tablet names are confusing and often misleading. Make sure you make your decisions based on the model number. More here:

    Applications

    All apps work with drawing tablets (once you install the drivers). Creative apps can take advantage of things like pressure sensitivity and tilt sensitivity.

    More here:

    Buying used drawing tablets

    If you buy a used tablet, you could save yourself some significant money but you should be prepared for the issues you might face buying a used tablet. More here:

    Power

    Depending on the kind of tablet it will draw different amounts of power. Pen tablets requrie very little. Pen displays need much more. Some pen tablets even have batteries so that they can work wirelessly. More here:

    So-called "PRO" tablets

    Some tablets are labelled "PRO"- for example Wacom Cintiq Pro or Wacom Intuos Pro. But there is no clear definition of Pro in the industry. And many new non-Pro tablets are better than older Pro tablets. More here:

    Picking tablets with more recent tech

    Drawing tablets have been released over many years. That means when you shop online you are going to be seeing many models both old and new and that can get very confusing.

    • Wacom - Wacom models from any year are good quality. However keep in mind over time their latest drivers will drop support for older models.

    • Huion & XP-Pen - Huion and XP-Pen have so many models and some that use older pen tech are released in the same year as tablets that use newer pen tech. The easiest way to know whether you are getting a truly more modern tablet is be looking at the pen it is compatible with.

      • XP-Pen: Look for tablets that have X3 in their name

    Preparing for a drawing tablet

    • Troubleshooting - At some point, something is going to go wrong. I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with the and be aware of these .

    • Accessories - There are some interesting accessories for a tablet. More here:

    • Purchasing - Before you actually purchase the tablet. Go through this .

    Resources

    • 2025/07/07

      • This is a a very good overview for buying a drawing tablet. It covers a lot of topics. The video is a great starting point for getting familiar with the overall set of things you need to think about.

    Utility - note-taking, whiteboarding, creating educational materials

  • Gaming

  • Initial Activation Force (IAF) is smallest pressure that activates the pen. In general you want a pen that has a low IAF. Fore details on what IAF values are good, bad, etc. go here: Initial activation force (IAF)

  • The Maximum Physical Pressure is the most pressure the pen can detect.

  • The Physical Pressure Range is the difference between the maximum pressure and IAF. You want a wide enough pressure range because it makes it easier to control pressure. For details on how what is good are bad for pressure range go here: Pen pressure range

  • Pressure levels - the physical pressure range is divided into segments - each segment is a pressure level. They go from 0 to some number like 8192. Despite what marketing says, I believe you only need 2048 pressure levels. All modern tablets have at least 4096 level, and 99.9% have 8192 or more. You don't need to worry about the number of pressure levels when selecting a tablet. Every tablet on the market has enough.

  • Pen Tilt Detection - the tablet can detect the tilt of the pen adjust brush strokes and this can be very useful for for certain kinds of artwork. But some people don't use tilt at all. And tilt is not useful for scenarios where you are note taking or whiteboarding etc. Almost all modern tablets support tilt, except for less than a handful of pen tablets. More here tilt.

  • Digitizer resolution - This is how accurately the tablet can sense different positions of the pen. In other words, this is the tablet's ability to detect very tiny position changes. Most tablets have a reported LPI of 5080. 5080 lines per inch translates to 200 lines per mm. Without getting into details, Wacom tech is superior here, but if you are drawing you will not notice this. You don't need to worry about this spec. All modern tablets have enough resolution.

  • Touch support

  • Lamination - Lamination can decrease parallax. I highly recommend getting a pen display that has lamination. Learn more here: lamination

  • Even though a pen display is meant to draw on you can use it exactly like a normal monitor. Learn more here: Using a pen display as a monitor.

  • Display Panel tech - Most pen displays use an IPS display panel. Though a handful use OLED. Currently I recommend sticking with IPS panels because we don't know how long OLED displays will last in the scenarios we use drawing tablets. More here: Display panel technology.

  • Standalone - these only need to be connected to power occasionally.

  • Arm mounting - Pen displays are essentially monitors, and many (but not all), pen displays have a VESA mount on the back that you can put the pen display on. This will allow you to use keep the pen display away and use it like a secondary display and then pull it close when you want to draw. Pen tablets do not have any kind of built in ability to be mounted like that. See: Using monitor arms with a pen display

  • Legs - Many pen displays (not not all) have foldable legs on the back. This allows you to keep the pen display at a slight angle on your desk which makes it a bit easier to see and draw on. Pen tablets do not have legs. If you want to place them at an angle, you will need to find and purchase some other solution.

  • Right-handed vs left-handed use - All drawing tablets work for people who are right-handed or left-handed. In some cases (usually due to the layout of the tablet buttons) you may need to configure the tablet to be used correctly in a left-handed way. See handedness of drawing tablets.

  • Noise - You may have strong preferences about noise. Generally drawing tablets are considered very quiet, and some are completely silent. More details here: Noise

  • Heat - Drawing tablets are either room temperature or slightly warm depending on the kind of drawing tablet. More here: Heat

  • Educational videos - You've probably seen those Khan academy videos. Those are done with a drawing tablet. More here: making educational videos. More here: Making educational videos with a drawing tablet

  • Gaming - some people actually play games with drawing tablets. More here: Gaming with a drawing tablet

  • Playing osu! - If you want to play osu!, there are very specific drawing tablets you should consider. More here: Buying a drawing tablet for osu!

  • These are the X3 Elite, X3 Roller, and X3 Pro

  • Huion: Look for tablets that use more recent Huion PenTech versions:

    • PenTech 3.0: PW517, PW515, PW110

    • PenTech 3.0+: PW500, PW500S - in my research these are clearly better pens than PenTech 3.0. In terms of pressure range as good as PenTech 4.0.

    • PenTech 4.0: PW600, PW600S. The PenTech 4.0 Pens are better than the PenTech 3.0 pens

    • More here:

  • Getting started - Once you get your tablet, here's a guide to setting it up for the first time: Get started with a drawing tablet
  • Maintenance - Once you get your tablet, you'll need to take care of it and perform some simple maintenance. I've written a guide on this: Caring for your tablet.

  • Be prepared for the total cost of ownership. Just buying the tablet is one thing. But you will likely purchase other things. More here: Total Cost of Ownership

  • Recommended drawing tablets for beginners
    Drawing tablet buying guides
    Types of drawing tablets
    my tablet recommendations
    Pen tablets vs pen displays
    Recommended drawing tablets for beginners
    Brands
    Choosing a drawing tablet brand
    Overview of Wacom pen tablets
    choosing the right tablet size
    pressure
    diagonal wobble
    Anti-glare sparkle
    See Troubleshoot the NO SIGNAL problem
    Apple iPad vs drawing tablets
    Apple Pencil vs EMR pens
    my Notes on Apple iPad
    Auxilliary inputs
    display resolution
    brightness
    parallax
    Connecting a pen display to a computer
    Connecting a pen display with one USB-C cable
    Connecting a pen display with a 3-in-1 cable
    Operating systems
    Surface texture
    Body posture when using drawing tablets
    The drawing experience
    Learning digital art
    Drawing tablets for 3D workflows
    Taking notes with drawing tablets
    Model names vs model numbers
    App compatibility with drawing tablets
    Applications
    Recommended apps
    Buying a used tablet
    Powering a drawing tablet
    Buying "PRO" tablets
    Common problems with drawing tablets
    Troubleshooting guides
    Accessories
    Before-purchase checklist
    shar - how to choose a drawing tablet
    Huion pens

    Comparison of Wacom pen tablets

    Overview

    Wacom has several separate lines of pen tablets. This document will help you understand the difference and help you make your choice.

    • One by Wacom -> product page

    • Intuos ->

    • Wacom One 2013 ->

    • Intuos Pro 2017 ->

    • Intuos Pro 2025 ->

    If you are interested in a pen tablet (a drawing tablet without a screen) for drawing/sketching/painting and want to go with the "safe choice" then you should pick a Wacom tablet. In particular the Wacom Intuos Pro models identified here (PTH-860, PTH-660, PTH-460) are THE BEST PEN TABLETS EVER MADE.

    Here are .

    Wacom One 2023 tablets

    The Wacom One 2023 pen tablets are intended to be upgrades to the consumer Wacom Intuos tablets. I do not recommend them because their pressure handling is (in my opinion) not acceptable for the Wacom brand. More here:

    Recommendation summary

    • Sketching, digital painting, illustration, etc. -

      • If budget permits,

        • Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Medium (PTK-670)

    Pens

    Each product line uses different pens. And the pens can only be used within that product line. For example if you try to use the LP190K pen with the PTH-860, the tablet does not even recognize there is a pen there. More here:

    REMEMBER: You cannot MIX AND MATCH these pens. For example, it is not possible to use the amazing Wacom Pro Pen 2 with the One by Wacom, Wacom Oner, or Intuos tablets.

    Tablet
    Included pen

    Of the pens identified, the Wacom Pro Pen 2 and Pro Pen 3 is the best in terms of design, materials, shape, weight distribution.

    Overall drawing experience

    All of the tablets except the Wacom One 2023 tablets have a very very good drawing experience. The Intuos Pro series definitely the best of all of them though - largely driven by the amazing pressure handling of the Wacom Pro Pen 2 and Wacom Pro Pen 3.

    Pen pressure

    Learn more here:

    2048 pressure levels is all you need for creative work. All of these pens are enough in that regard. Wacom has strong marketing towards their higher pressure level tablets, but the vast majority of users will not be able to make use of these higher levels in their work.

    More than pressure levels, the pressure range has a greater impact on your drawing experience. And this is driven by the quality of the pressure sensor in the pen.

    Pens pressure range compared

    Pen
    Levels
    IAF
    max pressure

    Notes:

    • Data for IAF and max pressure measurements independently made by .

    • Learn more about

    • Learn more about how

    Drawing features

    Tablet
    Pressure
    Tilt
    Barrel rotation

    Notes on pen tilt

    TILT - Not all drawing styles require tilt. And if you do want to control the rotation of your brush many drawing apps let you control the brush rotation based on the direction of the pen movement instead of tilt. Lean more here:

    Tablet resolution

    Resolution means how many separate points the tablet can distinguish (i.e. resolve) in a given length. This is specified as Lines Per Inch (LPI) though it is also useful to think about it as lines per millimeter (LPMM)

    You will not notice the difference between 2048 LPI and 5080 LPI.

    • One by Wacom -> 2048 LPI = 80.62 LPMM

    • Wacom One 2023 pen tablets = Unknown

    • Intuos -> 2540 LPI = 100 LPMM

    • Intuos Pro 2017 -> 5080 LPI = 200 LPMM

    Accuracy

    Accuracy = tablet & computer know the correct position of the tip of the pen. As far as I have observed, all three tablets are very accurate.

    Pointer lag

    Pointer lag is the difference between the physical position of the pen and where the operating system pointer is drawn. Pen tablets in general display very little pointer lag. In comparison, all pen displays all show very noticeable lag.

    • One by Wacom -> very little pointer lag

    • Wacom One 2023 pen tablets -> very little pointer lag

    • Intuos -> very little lag (when hovering has a little bit of pointer lag)

    • Intuos Pro 2017 -> very little pointer lag

    Learn more here:

    Accuracy / Diagonal wobble

    The Intuos Pro models exhibit less wobble than the Intuos of One by Wacom. But all of the tablets are good for diagonal wobble

    Position smoothing

    Position smoothing makes for better looking strokes but introduces pointer lag. All of these Wacom tablets are great for artists in terms of position smoothing.

    Driver position smoothing

    Wacom drivers by default add a little bit of position smoothing - which is needed - to make their strokes look better. The smoothing is not much and Wacom pen tablets still feel more responsive than other tablet brands.

    Hardware position smoothing

    Tablet series
    Hardware smoothing

    Wireless/Bluetooth

    Tablet series
    ExpressKeys available

    Touch support

    USB port on tablet

    The consumer series use older USB ports than the professional series.

    Tablet series
    USB port on tablet

    ExpressKeys

    Tablet series
    ExpressKeys available

    Touch support

    Tablet series
    Touch support

    For these tablets that do support touch, touch can be enabled/disabled with a physical switch on the side of the tablet.

    More here:

    • .

    Tablet design

    With the Intuos Pro tablets and pens - everything feels great to me. The texture the weight of the pen, etc.

    The One by Wacom, Wacom One 2023, and Intuos models feel a more plasticky/cheaper. Also I just don't enjoy how their pens feel in my hand.

    Active Area

    The size of the tablet is based on it's active area which is the region on the tablet that is sensitive to the EMR pen. Besides the height and width of this area it is also convenient to discuss them in terms of their diagonal lengths.

    Aspect Ratio: Most monitors are 16:9 (1.78) or 16:10 (1.60) If the Aspect Ratio of the tablet does not match the monitor, that means your strokes will be slightly distorted. So, remember to enable the Force Proportions checkbox to have undistorted strokes. More info here:

    Tablet
    Size
    Diagonal
    Aspect Ratio (approximate)

    Reliability

    All of these are very reliable tablets. Their pens are also very reliable. But remember, DO NOT drop your pens. they are much more delicate than the tablets and you can break from a fall.

    Drivers

    As of October 2025, the same Wacom driver works with all three product lines.

    Surface texture

    The Intuos Pro models a more textured surface, the Intuos and One by Wacom have less texture.

    The Intuos Pro 2017 has more texture than the Intuos Pro 2025.

    Texture sheets

    Wacom sells texture sheets for the the Intuos Pro 2017. Three texture options are provided for both the Medium and Large sizes.

    Wacom sells texture sheets for the the Intuos Pro 2025. One texture options are provided for both the Small, Medium and Large sizes.

    More here: .

    Potential future versions

    • Intuos - In August of 2023, The Intuos models seem to be replaced by the Wacom One GEN2 pen tablets.

    • One by Wacom - No sign of any updates coming

    • Intuos Pro - Wacom released new versions in 2025, so we expect it will learn about new Intuos Pros around 2032. We certainly hope they will arrive sooner.

    Intuos Pro generations

    There are three Intuos Pro generations and unfortunately the have the same name "Intuos Pro". So if you are purchasing an Intuos Pro you really need to pay attention to the model numbers.

    • Intuos Pro 2025 (PTK-870, PTK-670, PTK-470):

    • Intuos Pro 2017 (PTH-860, PTH-660, PTH-460):

    • Intuos Pro 2013 (PTH-851, PTH-651, PTH-451):

    Distinguishing physical features

    • The One by Wacom has a bright red back

    • The One by Wacom has a fabric pen holder on the side of the tablet

    • The Intuos in available in several colors for the back plastic

    • The Intuos has a fabric pen holder on the top of the tablet

    Notes on older Wacom tablets series

    • The Wacom Bamboo series has now been renamed to the One by Wacom series

    Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Medium (PTH-660)
  • If you tend do draw with larger gestures then...

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Large (PTK-670)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Large (PTH-860)

  • If you want to spend less

    • One by Wacom MEDIUM (CTL-672)

    • Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100)

    • Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Medium (CTL-6100WL)

  • Photo-editing - i.e. you aren't doing anything that requires "strokes" then the One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) is fine.

  • Using the tablet as a mouse replacement - i.e. you aren't doing anything that requires "strokes" but instead just clicking on things or dragging them - then the One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) is fine.

  • Taking notes. I don't recommend pen tablets in general for taking notes. Use an alternative (like an iPad) instead. More here: Taking notes with drawing tablets.

  • Play Osu! - One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) or One by Wacom SMALL MEDIUM (CTL-672) are the best choices. For more information regarding tablets for osu! and other tablet options consult Kuuube's tablet buying guide.

  • Exploring drawing tablets - this is if you are not sure if you are going to use a drawing tablet, but just want to dabble without spending a lot.

    • Start with a One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) for general usage.

    • Start with a One by Wacom MEDIUM (CTL-672) if you intend to draw on it.

  • Want the best and don't care about the cost. Either:

    • Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Large (PTK-670)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Large (PTH-860)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Medium (PTK-670)

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Medium (PTH-660)

  • Picking the right size - More information about picking the right size: tablet size.

  • <1gf

    GOOD

    400 to 600gf

    Wacom Pro Pen 2

    (KP-504E)

    8192

    <1gf

    VERY HIGH

    700gf to 800gf

    Wacom Pro Pen 3

    (ACP-500)

    8192

    <1gf (assumed)

    VERY HIGH

    600gf to 700gf

    NO

    NO

    Intuos Pro 2017 (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860)

    YES

    YES

    Requires Wacom Art Pen (KP-701)

    Intuos Pro 2025 (PTH-470, PTH-670, PTH-870)

    YES

    YES

    Requires Wacom Art Pen (KP-701)

    Intuos Pro 2025 -> 5080 LPI = 200 LPMM

    Intuos Pro 2025 -> very little pointer lag

    7.06"

    (16:10) 1.60

    Wacom One M (CTC-611WL)

    8.5" x 5.31"

    10.03"

    (16:10) 1.60

    Intuos Wacom Intuos SMALL (CTL-4100 and CTL-4100WL)

    5.98" x 3.74"

    7.06"

    (16:10) 1.60

    Wacom Intuos MEDIUM (CTL-6100WL)

    8.5" x 5.31"

    10.03"

    (16:10) 1.60

    Intuos Pro 2017 SMALL (PTH-460)

    6.30i" x 3.94"

    7.43"

    (4:3) 1.440

    Intuos Pro 2017 MEDIUM (PTH-660)

    8.82" x 5.83"

    10.57"

    (3:2) 1.514

    Intuos Pro 2017 LARGE (PTH-860)

    12.34" x 8.50"

    14.91"

    (4:3) 1.44

    Intuos Pro 2025 SMALL (PTH-470)

    7.4" x4.1"

    8.46"

    16x9 (1.78)

    Intuos Pro 2025 MEDIUM (PTH-670)

    10.4" x 5.8"

    11.91"

    16x9 (1.78)

    Intuos Pro 2025 LARGE (PTH-870)

    13.7" x 7.7"

    15.72"

    16x9 (1.78)

    The Intuos Pro is always black both front and back

  • The Intuos Pro has no fabric pen holder

  • The Intuos Pro has a circular dial on the left of the tablet.

  • One by Wacom (CTL-472, CTL-672)

    Wacom 2K Pen 2K (LP-190K)

    Wacom One 2023 pen tablets

    (CTC-4110WL, CTC-6110WL)

    Wacom One 2023 Pen (CP-923)

    Intuos

    (CTL-4100, CTL-4100WL, CTL-6100, CTL-6100WL)

    Wacom Pen 4K (LP-1100K)

    Intuos Pro 2017 (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860)

    Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E)

    Intuos Pro 2025 (PTH-470, PTH-670, PTH-870)

    Pro Pen 3 (ACP-500)

    Wacom Pen 2K

    (LP-190K)

    2048

    <1gf

    GOOD

    300 to 400 gf

    Wacom One 2023 Pen

    (CP-923)

    4096

    <8gf

    OK to GOOD

    200 to 300gf

    Wacom Pen 4K

    (LP-1100K)

    One by Wacom

    (CTL-472, CTL-672)

    YES

    NO

    NO

    Wacom One pen tablets

    (CTC-4100WL, CTC-6110WL)

    YES

    YES

    NO

    Intuos

    (CTL-4100, CTL-4100WL, CTL-6100, CTL-6100WL)

    One by Wacom

    no hardware smoothing

    Wacom One 2023

    unknown

    Intuos

    No hardware smoothing when drawing/dragging.

    Some Hardware smoothing on hover.

    • For artists, drawing is fine and unaffected. The smoothing is only happening when you are not drawing. Artists do not notice this at all in practice.

    • For osu! players the hardware on hover is a strong reason to avoid this tablet.

    Intuos Pro 2017

    no hardware smoothing

    Intuos Pro 2025

    no hardware smoothing

    One by Wacom

    none of these models support wireless

    Wacom One 2023

    all models support wireless via Bluetooth

    Intuos

    Only models with WL in their model number support wireless via Bluetooth

    Intuos Pro 2017

    all models support wireless via Bluetooth

    Intuos Pro 2025

    all models support wireless via Bluetooth

    One by Wacom

    Micro USB B

    Wacom One 2023 pen tablets

    USB-C

    Intuos

    Micro USB B

    Intuos Pro 2017

    USB-C

    Intuos Pro 2025

    USB-C

    One by Wacom

    No ExpressKeys

    Wacom One 2023 pen tablets

    No ExpressKeys

    Intuos

    4 at the top

    Intuos Pro 2017

    8 on the left

    Intuos Pro 2025

    8 on top with 2 additional buttons to swap what those 8 do

    One by Wacom

    No model supports touch

    Wacom One 2023 pen tablets

    No pen tablet model supports touch. (Not that the Wacom One 2023 13 touch pen display does support touch as the name indicates).

    Intuos

    No model supports touch

    Intuos Pro 2017

    All three models support touch

    Intuos Pro 2025

    NONE odf the models support touch

    One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472)

    5.98" x 3.74"

    7.06"

    (4:3) 1.44

    One by Wacom MEDIUM (CTL-672)

    8.5" x 5.31"

    10.03"

    (4:3) 1.47

    Wacom One S (CTC-4110WL)

    product page
    product page
    product page
    product page
    my detailed notes on the Intuos Pro (PTH-x60) series
    7P notes: Wacom One 2023
    Wacom pen compatibility
    Pen pressure
    Kuuube
    pen pressure
    pen pressure ranges compare across pens
    Pen tilt
    Lag
    My detailed notes on the Intuos Pro (PTH-x60) series
    Touch support
    https://youtu.be/9oAvsJk5ESU
    My detailed notes on the Intuos Pro (PTH-x60) series
    More here
    More here
    More here

    4096

    YES

    5.98" x 3.74"