Sources:

• [1] Kuuube

• [2] TheSevenPens

Overview

Drawing tablets tablets are very specific about which pens they work with. Never buy a pen without verifying compatibility first. The best way to confirm compatibility is to contact support.

Key points

• Usually a drawing tablet is only compatible with the exact pen model it came with

• A pen from Manufacturer A will most likely not work with Tablet from manufacturer B.

• A pen from Manufacturer A may not work with all tablets made by manufacturer A

• Using the same technology such as "EMR" does not mean two pens are interchangeable.

• Apple Pencils are only compatible with Apple iPads.

• Wacom has so many tablets and and pens that compatibility can get confusing: Wacom pens

If you need to replace a pen, find out the model number that is compatible with your tablet. Then order that exact model. If you don't know the model you need, contact support for your drawing tablet.

Video: Buying compatible pens for your drawing tablet (https://youtu.be/cKBSpIVeZJk)

What causes pen incompatibility?

Tech differences

• Different pens use different resonant frequencies for their EMR signal. So pens that don't use the same frequency as the tablets expect will not be compatible

• Different pens use different techniques for transmitting some kinds of information back to the tablet, and these techniques have to also be supported by the tablet to work.

• This is sometimes why you can for example try using brand X pen with brand UY tablet, and the tablet might be able to sense the position of the pen, but not the button presses, or pressure.

Non-tech causes

Driver selectively excludes pens - I know of at least one case with Wacom where the pen and tablet would actually work but the Wacom driver prevents it. The way around this is to use opentabletdriver which does not have that restriction.

Resources

• Huion's guide to finding compatible pens: (https://support.huion.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002337828-how-do-i-choose-correct-pen-for-my-huion-tablet-)

• Wacom pen compatibility

XP-Pen X3 pen

See this reddit post:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/XPpen/comments/1buiyvy/dismantlingteardown_of_x3_stylus_for_artist_16/

Huion PEN80

The Huion PEN80 is a VERY OLD Huion pen. It use a an active EMR pen - meaning it uses a rechargeable battery for power instead of getting power from the tablet. Again, it is very old and the newer Huion Pens like the PW517 (and other models) are passive EMR pens.

I've mentioned the Huion PEN80 my 2022 EMR video as an example of one older method in which pressure information is transmitted from the pen to the tablet. c

• The nib fits into the hollow ferrite rod.

• There is enough pressure in the ferrite rod such that the nib does not fall out.

• The nib does not go all the way through the ferrite rod. There's about 2mm left inside the ferrite rod

• The spring touches the ferrite rod.

• The plastic piece fit into the the spring.

• The wires from the inductor coil to the circuit board have been cut to make it easier to present

• The wires from the circuit board to the rechargeable battery have been cut to make it easier to present.

• Panda Tech: Huion Pen80 Disassemble & Reassemble (https://youtu.be/F3Y3uxPhVlY)

Overview

Pens vary in weight. Typically between 8g to 16g .

Here are a few examples of pen weight:

• Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E) 15g

• Huion PW600 15g

• XP-Pen X3 Pro 10g

If you want to see more pen weight data see: Pen weight comparison

Increasing pen weight

The vast majority of EMR pens are not designed to have their weight altered.

The only exception to this is the Wacom Pro Pen 3 which can be easily unscrewed and a custom metal rod from Wacom can be inserted to add weight to the pen.

If you do want to add weight to the pen, consider adding tape. Many osu! players add raquetball tape aorund their pens for a bettwe grip. Maybe that would add enough weight for your needs.

Number of buttons

• The vast majority of drawing tablet pens have two buttons.

• Though some consumer Wacom models have only a single button.

• A few pens have three buttons - for example a Wacom Pro Pen 3

Default button actions

These are the default settings for Wacom pens with two buttons.

• lower button (the one closer to the nib) set to perform a mouse right-click

• upper button (the one further away from the nib) set to perform a mouse left double-click

Customizing button actions

The actions taken by the buttons can be customized. Usualy to perform either a mouse action (left click, right click, a keypress, a system action, or to do nothing)

Common button customizations

Other things people configure their buttons to do:

• MOUSE DOUBLE CLICK - because same app use a double click

• CTRL-Z keypress to perform UNDO

• SPACE keypress - in many apps, SPACE + dragging pen will pan the drawing canvas

• CTRL+SPACE keypress - in many apps, this will zoom into and out of the canvas (Krita, Photoshop, Illustrator)

• NO ACTION - sometimes people accidentally press the buttons too oftern, so they set the button to do nothing.