Symptoms

If you are looking at a pressure reading while using your pen, you may see that it is either very difficult or impossible to reach 100% pressure.

This can be caused by several things

Information to collect

Does this problem manifest in the driver?

Does it manifest in an application like Krita?

Pen hardware issue

If it happens in the driver at all, then most likely there is something wrong with the pen hardware itself.

Occasionally pen hardware can sometimes have a very high maximum pressure that is very large (I've seen up to about 5X) what is normal for a pen.

Example of a pen with abnormal max pressure

For example one of my Wacom pens requires so much force to get to 100% that, if I tried, I'm sure I would damage the pen.

Below you can see how different the pressure response of this pen is compared to every other pen I have.

How to address

Because you cannot physically fix the problem, you have two options:

• Use pressure curves to address this problem

• Contact support for help and potentially get a replacement

Using a pressure curve to a pen hardware problem

Try adjusting the pressure curve in the driver until the problem goes away. Specifically you are looking for a pressure curve that "constrains the output". This means the right edge of the curve does not go up to the full height of the pressure curve. More here: Pressure curves that constrain output

Keep in mind:

• The number pressure reading in the driver may not take the pressure curve into account

• So to check if this is fully working for you, should verify in an application

Here are some examples below.

Software issue

If the problem does NOT appear in the driver, then it is possible that another pressure curve in the application is causing it. Check all the pressure curves and reset them to null pressure curve.

More here: null pressure curve

Overview

Among other things that append display receives from your computer, it also receives a “display signal”. Display signal means essentially “video” - what you see on the pen display.

Normally your pen display will be connected to your computer that provides such a display signal via an HDMI connection.

But your computer can receive that display signal from any device that supports a display signal. For example an Xbox, PlayStation, a DVD player, another computer, and even some mirrorless cameras (example Sony FX30).

This is useful for several reasons.

- It allows your pen display to be used like a monitor or TV

- it's also good troubleshooting technique

Troubleshooting

if you're getting problems like one of these:

- Not seeing anything

- Odd Flickering

- Weird colors

- "No Signal"

Then connecting your pen display via HDMI to another device is very useful technique. Because it gives you a hint as to whether the problem is with the tablet itself or with your computer.

If one device does not work, try others.

Restart the computer

Sometimes systems and drivers just get into confused states.

A restart will often clear up problems. If a restart or two doesn't fix the problem then move on to other troubleshooting steps.

Check drivers

• Are you running the latest tablet drivers? The driver software will usually have some place where it says which version it it.

• Try uninstalling, restarting the computer, and reinstalling the latest drivers.

• Sometimes the drivers you have don't completely uninstall themselves. To completely uninstall the drivers see this guide: .

Try an older driver

• Sometime newer drivers themselves introduce new problems that were not there before.

• Try installing an older tablet driver to see if that fixes the problem.

Test the tablet with other applications

Often the problems you experience might be due to a specific app so you should try other apps to see if they replicate the problem.

• Krita

• Clip Studio Paint

• Photoshop

• Microsoft OneNote

NOTES:

• I recommend always testing with Krita because Krita is free and has configurable brushes that let you test our specific pen features such as pressure and tilt.

Windows > Windows PNP drivers

Often it can be a clue to what is going on.

Windows > Windows Ink

If you are using a Mac, skip this section. It does not apply to you.

See these docs:

Pressure

• In Windows, If the tablet driver detects pressure but the pressure is not working in an app, it often indicates that Windows Ink is configured consistently between the two.

• It's important here to see if the where the pressure is working or not

  • Is it working in a specific app but working in others?

  • Or is it nor working in all apps?

Things to try first

First try the .

Common problems

Overview

The "NO SIGNAL" message is a VERY COMMON experience for people who have a pen display. Most often this can be fixed. But it can be challenging to diagnose the cause because there are so many factors involved.

What it means: The "NO SIGNAL" message tells you that the pen display is not receiving a display signal from the computer. Commonly when people encounter the NO SIGNAL problem, they will notice that their pen continues to work on the tablet, even though they can't see anything.

About this guide

This guide lists every piece of information and tactic I am aware of that might help.

However, it may be that even this guide is not enough to help. And ultimately you should be prepared to contact your tablet manufacturer's customer support team.

What you can tell from the message

The fact that you are seeing a NO SIGNAL message already tells you a few things:

• The pen display is getting enough power. If it wasn't getting enough power, you wouldn't see this message.

• The backlight inside the display panel is working. If the backlight wasn't working, this message would not be visible or incredibly difficult to read.

• There is nothing wrong with the display panel itself. The fact that it is showing you anything at all tells you the display panel is working.

Why the message might say "POWER SAVING"

For some tablets, the NO SIGNAL message is accompanied bya POWER SAVING message.

POWER SAVING is NOT indicating a problem with POWER.

POWER SAVING means "The pen display is not receiving a display signal from the computer. So rather than wasting energy by keeping the display powered up but not showing anything, the pen display is going to shut down."

So, ultimately this message is telling you the tablet is trying to save you money not that there is a power problem.

How your computer interprets a pen display

Troubleshooting the the NO SIGNAL problem starts with understanding how your computer interprets an attached pen display. Pen displays are a single physical device that you connect to a computer. However, your computer thinks of the pen display as two separate devices:

• a pen tablet (aka screenless tablet)

• and a monitor/display

Your computer and operating system have no idea that these two devices are related in any way. Even if a single cable is used to connect your pen display to your computer, it will continue to believe two devices are part of the same pen display. On the other hand, your tablet driver will know that these two devices are related.

The reason it is important to understand this is that the NO SIGNAL issue is a display issue, not a pen tablet issue.

Another consequence of this "two devices" behvaior, is that even though you may be experiencing a "no signal" error, you can still use your tablet as a pen tablet (a screenless tablet). In fact this is often feature of drawing tablets, some people occasionally want to use them as pen tablets without the screen.

Tablet drivers

So, In general, messing around the tablet drivers WILL NOT HELP. So, don't bother reinstalling, upgrading, changing tablet drivers. While I do recommend having the latest drivers generally, it is very unlikely to help the NO SIGNAL problem.

Things to verify

Verify that the computer see the attached display

Presumably, your computer already has one screen, so when you plug in your tablet it should at least recognize that there are two screens (one coming from the pen display).

In your operating system's Display Settings, you should see two displays. And one of them should be your tablet's display

Verify that you operating system is trying to use the display.

Sometimes you operating system knows the display is there, but it is deliberately not sending a display signal to it.

For example, in Windows for the display in your tablet, Windows might be configured to "show desktop only on Display <X>" - change it to one of the other options that will use the tablet display.

Verify that the pen display can receive an HDMI signal

Try connecting your pen display to another source of HDMI input. This can be anything: another PC, a laptop, a XBOX, a camera, anything that sends a signal via an HDMI port.

Verify that your computer can send an HDMI signal

Try connecting a monitor the the same HDMI port you want to use with your pen display.

Verify cable connections

Verify that your cables are fully connected.

• Sometimes cables can sit in a port without fully "locking" in.

• Check for lint or any other foreign objects in the port. They can prevent the connection from working

Physically disconnect your pen display from power

• Turn off your pen display and DISCONNECT ALL THE CABLES, then plug it back in.

• DO NOT just press the ON/OFF button while the pen display is connected. Actually DISCONNECT ALL THE CABLES

• Some variations to try

  • Some people recommend to disconnect, then hold the tablet power button down for long time (30 seconds), and then reconnect.

  • Some people recommend that you try leaving the tablet disconnected for an extended period of time - like 30 minutes before you reconnect.

HDMI connect options

Use a different HDMI ports

Your computer may have multiple HDMI ports, try different ones.

Graphics card HDMI vs motherboard HDMI

• If the computer PC has graphics card, it have HDMI ports

• Always first try the HDMI port on your graphics card first - it's better to use them than HDMI ports on your motherboard

• Some people suggest that motherboard ports NEVER work. This is NOT true. It is highly dependent on the specific machine. I can confirm I have several computers where the motherboard does work.

USB-C connection options

IF your computer has a USB-C port that supports a display signal there are a couple of options for you.

USB-C to USB-C

If your tablet has a USB-C port and your computer has a USB-C port that supports a display signal, then you might be able to use a USB-C to USB-C cable.

USB-C to HDMI

Converting other ports to HDMI

Issues with HDMI Adapter

Sometimes adapters themselves can be the source of the NO SIGNAL problem.

• Try a different HDMI adapter .

• Try NOT using an HDMI adapter.

HDMI Splitters

• Try connecting WIHOUT an HDMI splitter

Try using your pen display as your only display

• If you have a computer, disconnect all other displays and then only connect your pen display. Sometimes computers get tripped up when multiple displays are being used, so by trying this procedure you help force it to use the pen display.

• If that works, start reconnecting the other displays until they are all plugged back in and working.

Check if there is any difference when using mirror vs extend for your desktop

• Typically you PC will already have one monitor attached to it. So the pen display will be the second screen.

• You have two options in your operating system:

  • Mirror the contents of your desktop across both screens. This means they will show the same thing.

  • Extend the contents of your desktop across both screens. This means that the screens will show different things.

• If you are getting no signal in extended mode, then try mirrored mode. And vice versa.

Maximum number of display outputs on your graphics card

Graphics cards usually have multiple ports for sending a display signal. However, sometimes not all of them can be used at the same time.

Suppose your graphics card has 4 physical HDMI outputs. It's possible your card only supports using 3 of them at the same time. And so if you plug in the to the 4th port, you may get a no signal issue.

Read the documentation for your graphics card to verify how many it supports.

Display signal properties

Display refresh rates

If your computer recognizes that a display is attached but you are still getting no signal, try changing the Refresh Rate the computer is using for the display.

Sometimes a misconfigured refresh rate causes the computer to not send a signal. For example, I have seen this happen with a Windows Update, my pen display worked, but then after the update I saw the NO SIGNAL error. Somehow the refresh rate had been set to some unsupported value, once I changed it back to 60Hz it all worked again.

So always verify the refresh rate.

Start with a lower refresh rate, and build up to higher ones.

Typically pen displays only go up to 60Hz.

Display resolution

If your computer recognizes that a display is attached but you are still getting no signal, try changing the Resolution the computer is using for the display.

First try a very low resolution first and then build up to higher resolutions.

Get the tablet to work with another computer then reattach to your computer

Some users report that if they are getting NO SIGNAL with their pen display, they have been able to connect the pen display to another computer where it does work. And then once it worked, they reattached it back to the first computer where it then began working.

The reason this process might work is not clear. It could be because depowering the pen display was the reason. It could be because the connection to the other computer altered something in the pen display. In any case, it is worth a try if you continue to have problems.

Wacom One 2019 GEN1 cable orientation

The Wacom One 2019 GEN1 is very sensitive to the orientation of the how the 3-in-1 cable is plugged into its USB-C port. Usually the orientation that works, is when the cable sticks out to left side of the Wacom one.

Tablet firmware updates

IMPORTANT: Don't install firmware updates on the general hope they will improve things. Please consult your manufacturer and support team to verify whether they recommend a firmware update to solve the problem.

Possible triggers

This is one of the most surprising things about the NO SIGNAL problem is that it can occur to an existing working system. It's happened to me.

Here's what can trigger it

• A GPU driver update

• An Operating System update

Other resources

Reddit threads

Misc

Manufacturer guidance

Huion

Problems all drawing tablets can have

• They lose or damage their pen. Replacement pens are expensive - it may cost a significant portion of what you paid for the tablet.

• The pen no longer reports pressure

• The pen pressure is stuck at 100%.

• .

• The tablet driver cannot detect the pen.

Problems unique to pen displays

• The pen display doesn't show anything.

• .

I have put together a list of troubleshooting articles to help with these problems and many others. More here

Overview

You must be very careful in buying a replacement pen. The best answer is to buy the exact same model pen that came with your tablet.

Compatible pens

For a detailed breakdown of the compatibility topic, see this:

Always verify compatibility before you buy a replacement pen

No matter what is written on any site, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to always contact customer support for your tablet and ask them to verify which pen models are compatible.

Introduction

SOME (very few) drawing tablets have a "reset" feature.

Check your user manual or contact support to see if your tablet has this feature

Wacom reset steps for Intuos Pro

Wacom has a reset procedure for their Intuos Pro tablets that may resolve Bluetooth issues, as well as other unusual problems that users may encounter.

The step-by-step instructions can be found on the following support page: .

Here is a snippet:

Directly to the right of the power button is a small pin hole which contains a reset button. To reset the Wacom Intuos Pro:

Use the reverse side of the Pro Pen 2’s Nib to reset the tablet Insert the reversed Nib straight into the hole and press firmly feeling the reset button depress

Hold for 10-15 seconds until the power light on the tablet turns off then release

Once released the tablet will turn back on, and the memory on the tablet is now reset to default.

Huion reset steps

Apparently some Huion pen displays have a reset feature. I've never tried it so I don't know how well this works.

Usually this problem seems to be a problem with the pen, but can also be a problem with the driver, and sometimes can be the tablet itself.

Try the these should resolve things most of the time. If that doesn't work, contact support.

Some things to check

• Does the pressure work in the tablet driver pressure test region?

• What happens with the Krita tablet tester?

  • Krita > Settings > Configure Krita > Tablet settings > Open Tablet Tester

• See what happens with Windows PNP drivers instead of the manufacturer drivers:

Some other things to try

• Reset the pressure curve in the tablet driver

• Reset the pressure curve in your app

• Reset the pressure curve in the brush in the app you are using

• If you recently swapped nibs, see if going back to the old nib fixes the problem

Links

If your pen is working on your tablet, but it is moving the pointer on the wrong display it is an easy problem to fix.

Overall: You need to go to your tablet driver and change which display the tablet's active area is mapped to.

For Wacom:

• In the Wacom Tablet Properties app, it will be under the Mapping tab, the Calibration tab

For Huion:

• In the HuionTablet app, it will be under the a tab called Working Area

For XP-Pen:

• In the XP-Pen Pentablet app, it will be under the Screen tab

Overview

Normally the pointer should follow the movement of the pen. However sometimes it gets stuck in the corner of the screen. Usually I have seen this in the upper-left-hand corner but it could happen elsewhere.

It's unclear what causes this problem.

Basic things to try

Sometimes this clears up the problem.

• Restarting the computer

• Testing with another computer.

• Reinstalling the driver

• Installing the latest version of the driver.

Other things to try

• Temporarily change the active area to only a portion of its default size. Then change to back to use the a larger area on the tablet.

  • 7P: This worked for me once

• Change the resolution of your screen to a smaller resolution then back to the original resolution.

• If you are using more than one monitor, switch between extend and duplicate modes for the desktop.

• If you are using Microsoft Windows, then test with Windows PNP tablet drivers to see if the problem happens in that case.

• If you have a pen display, it likely has a calibration feature. Start the and complete the calibration process to see if that addresses the issue.

If nothing works

Then do not hesitate to contact support.

Manufacturer guidance

Check this post from Huion: https://support.huion.com/en/support/discussions/topics/44001017276

Reddit threads

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/l6dh65/wacom_bamboo_pen_ctl470_cursor_stuck_in_the_corner/

• https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/13lnwc0/the_cursor_is_not_on_the_tablet/

Sometimes people report that plugging in their drawing tablet interferes with their WiFi connections or internet.

It isn't a super-common problem, but it does happen. People report it for all tablet brands.

One cause of WiFi problems is electromagenetic interference

The cause of this is not clear but here are some discussion threads that might help

https://superuser.com/questions/820693/wi-fi-turns-off-when-usb-device-is-plugged-in https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/13h4fuj/my_tablet_might_be_ruining_my_wifi/ https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/l02xhj/wacom_one_killing_wifi_connection/ https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/jpusqc/wifi_interference_problems/ https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/8iny9u/cintiq_22hdt_interferes_with_wifi_when_plugged_in/ https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/7g6f6w/problem_with_cintiq_pro_16_slowing_down_internet/ https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/wtmulg/kamvas_13_no_wifi_when_its_plugged_into_my/ https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/fm12b3/kamvas_16_pro_macbook_pro_15_no_24ghz_wifi/ https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/u5rg79/kamvas_pro_13_cutting_off_internet/ https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/icegs1/kamvas_pro_12_internetwifi_problems/

As years pass, a manufacturer will periodically publish new versions of their tablet driver.

And periodically, these driver updates dfrop support for older models.

You have a couple of options:

• Try an older version of your manufacturer's drivers that does support your tablet. The risks of this approach is that sometimes the older drivers don't work well with newer operating systems.

• Try using OpenTabletDriver (https://opentabletdriver.net/). Setting up OpenTabletDriver on Windows can be challenging. I wrote this guide to provide step-by-step instructions: Try Using OpenTabletDriver with Windows. OpenTabletDriver has full support for tilt and pressure on Windows but not an MacOS.

• Windows has somer VERY RUDIMENTARY support for tablets (this is called "Windows Plug-and-Play" support) and it works with SOME tablets in a limited way. For those tablets, The PNP support may support pressure and clicking but no pressure and tilt.

This can happen for two reasons:

• The driver is not installed or not working correctly

• Mouse mode is enabled in the driver.

Disabling mouse mode in the tablet driver

Wacom

Open the Wacom Tablet Properties app

• In Tool, select your pen

• Look inside the Mapping tab

• Set Mode to Pen.

Huion

Open the HuionTablet app

• Look inside Digital Pen > Press Key

• Uncheck Mouse Mode.

• Uncheck Game mode.

Overview

Windows has built-in tablet drivers through its Plug-and-play framework. More here: Windows PNP support for drawing tablets

Using Windows PNP tablet drivers to investiagate problems

The Windows PNP tablet driver is extremely basic. However, you can use it to diagnose problems with a drawing tablet.

• if a problem occurs with both the manufacturer tablet driver and the Windows PNP tablet driver, then the problem is likely not related to drivers.

• if a problem only occurs with the manufacturer driver, then it you know the problem is driver related.

Instructions

• First uninstall your manufacturer's tablet driver

• Restart your computer.

• The try to reproduce the problem.

Notes

• You do NOT need to disconnect your tablet.

• Some tablets do not work with Windows PNP drivers. This is usually a deliberate choice of the tablet manufacturer. So if the tablet isn't working with the PNP drivers, don't worry.

The pointer

When Windows PNP drivers are being used and you are moving your pen, you'll see the pointer look like this

If you see it look like the normal mouse pointer when you use the pen, that usually means the manufacturer driver is being used.

Overview

The "tablet not connected/detected" problem is fundamentally that your driver cannot "see" , "find", or "communicate" with the drawing tablet even though it is plugged in via USB cable. The driver will often claim that the tablet "is not connected" or "is not detected".

If this happens with a pen tablet (a screenless tablet), then essentially the tablet isn't functional at all.

If this happens with a pen display (a screen tablet), usually the display part of the tablet works fine but you won't be able to use the pen with the tablet. In other words, now the pen display works only like a monitor.

Driver versus operating system

What makes this issue confusing is that sometimes your computer's operating system may know that a device is connected even if the tablet driver does not. For example, your operating system may "beep" when you plug the tablet in. And even may list it as a device, even though the driver insists nothing is connected"

What is not being detected

Your tablet is a plastic shell that contains at least one component - the tablet digitizer. This digitizer is the fundamental component of a tablet that deals with the pen.

When a driver is saying your tablet is not connected, it is talking about this digitizer

The digitizer is the primary component of a pen tablet (screenless tablet) though some pen tablets have other components. You may for example see your tablet detected as a keyboard because it has some keyboard like buttons.

For a pen display (screen tablet) there is of course another component - the screen. Your computer detects the screen completely separately from the tablet digitizer. This explains why the display part still works.

NO SIGNAL for pen displays

Another kind of connection problem is the "NO SIGNAL" problem. It has nothing to do with the digitizer and is a completely unrelated topic. It means a pen display cannot detect a video signal from the computer. If you are experiencing the NO SIGNAL problem, then go here: Troubleshoot No Signal.

Basic troubleshooting

• Restart the computer. This sometimes resolves the problem.

• Uninstall and reinstall the driver. Then restart the computer.

• Check if there is a more recent version of the driver. Install it. Then restart the computer.

• If you are using a pen display, verify it is getting enough power.

USB-connection options

• Try unplugging other USB devices leaving only the tablet then plug devices back in.

• If you have a USB hub, try not using it.

• Look at the USB ports and ends of the USB cables and verify they are clean. Remove any lint, etc. that you find.

• Try a different USB cable - make sure the USB cable supports data and not just power.

• Try a different USB port.

• Unplug and re-plug the USB cable

• Check your tablet documentation. Some tablets have a "reset" option.

Try the tablet with another computer

The issue may be specific with your computer, so try with another computer.

• If it doesn't work there, then that suggest the tablet itself is having problems.

• If it does work there, then retry with your own computer.

Reset the tablet

• This is an option for SOME tablets. More here: Reset a drawing tablet

Windows > Check if Windows PNP drivers work

Windows has some limited built-in support for tablets. Not all tablets work with Windows PNP, but many do.

How to test with the Windows PNP drivers: Testing with Windows PNP drawing tablet drivers

If it does work correctly, it points to a problem with the manufacturer tablet driver instead of the tablet hardware.

Windows > power options for the tablet

Some people say this has helped them. I'm not sure.

• In device manager, select View > By container

• Find your tablet

• Under it will be a list of devices

• For each device under the tablet, right-click and select Properties

Uncheck Power Management > Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power if that option exists for the device.

Manufacturer support pages

• Wacom: What does the error message “A supported tablet is not found on the system” or "No Wacom device connected to your computer" mean and how do I fix it? (link)

• Huion: What To Do When Huion Driver Shows Device Disconnected? (link)

Time

Sometimes just waiting out the problem is all you can do. Some people report that they leave their tablet disconnected from their computer for a few days, and then afterwards it just starts working again.

Both the times I've personally encountered this problem it seems like nothing I did worked, but I just waited and it eventually resolved itself.

Still not solved?

If none of these suggestions are helping, then contact support.

In the meanwhile, you may be able to use alternative drivers on Windows:

• Windows PNP drivers: https://docs.thesevenpens.com/drawtab/guides/windows/windows-pnp-support-for-drawing-tablets

• Open Tablet Driver: Install OpenTabletDriver on Windows

Notes

• When you plug in the tablet or unplug the tablet, check if the computer makes a "beep". This at least indicates that the computer is aware that there is some device there.

• Sometimes this problem is sporadic. I've had it personally occur with a tablet and after about 30 minutes of restarts, things just started working again.

• Some vendors like Huion recommend disabling antivirus when reinstalling the drivers. I do not recommend this, but some people say it has helped.

Reference: Driver disconnected messages

Here are several examples of how the driver indicates the tablet is not connected.

Huion

XP-Pen

driver version: 3.4.12(104e65f)

Wacom / Wacom Center

Date: 2023/12/23

Examples of insects between the display panel and glass

A video of a live bug (spider) inside a pen display

Insect invasion

Usually people might find 1 bug in their display. In some rare cases. there may be more. See the example below from a reddit thread.

The original poster mentioned in the comments he did have some success: "I’ve managed to get most of them out by shaking the absolute sh*t out of it and using a can of compressed air and bug spray."

This manifests as gaps in strokes.

The gaps will not be aligned vertically or horizontally - which is a sign of a different problem.

Examples

Overview

I've been unable to identify a clear origin for this problem, but I suspect either:

• Something is wrong with the pen

• Possibly electromagnetic interference from some other device

Things to try

• First try the Common drawing troubleshooting steps.

• Check if this is associated with a specific pressure range.

  • In the driver try increasing the lower bound of the pressure range and see how the gaps react.

    • Do they develop earlier in the stroke?

    • Do the stop developing?

• If it continues to happen, then contact support.

Links

• (https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/s84fjr/the_dreaded_gap_problem/)

Overview

This is a common effect that is highly dependent on how you draw and the specific brush in your drawing app. It manifests as a longer "string" at the end of your stroke. These ends can be rendered as a constant width or a long very thin string.

NOTE: There is a related problem: Troubleshoot hooks at start of strokes

Examples

Avoid flicking

Are you "flicking" the pen away from the tablet at the end of your strokes? This can induce the effect. Try not taking the pen off the tablet surface and ending the line slowly.

Smoothing

Smoothing (also called Stabilization) can cause this issue. Try using less smoothing.

Pressure sensitivity

In my experience this can happen when pens have a low IAF (Initial Activation Force).

Even though a low IAF is a good thing. It can also mean that at the end of strokes it is still picking up the very last bit of low pressure.

Try adjusting your pressure curve as shown below to see if this helps reduce the problem.

Your application

Different apps may be more prone to this problem - depending on the implementation in their brush engine.

Reach out to other users of your application to see how they addressed it.

OpenTabletDriver & Slimy Scylla

If you are using OpenTabletDriver, the Slimy Scylla plug-in can remove shoelacing with its Remove Tail Position Reports option on any of the Slimy Scylla's pressure smoothing filters.

The default value for Remove Tail Position Reports is 1, and usually this is enough.

However, sometimes may need to increase it to 2 or higher.

In general, set the value to as low a number as it will go and still work correctly for you.

Lazy Nezumi

The Lazy Nezumi tool (https://lazynezumi.com/) has several tools to help deal with these shoelace effect.

Reddit threads

• https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/11imlzd/kamvas_16_2021_shoestringing/

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-shoelace-shaped-brush-stroke-with-wacom-and-smoothing-on-macos/idi-p/12558795

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/yr6hhb/sudden_checkmarkshoelace_effect_at_end_of_every/

Overview

This problem happens on Windows due to some interaction between the Windows Ink system and an application that uses the pen.

It manifests during the start of a stroke where as you begin the stroke nothing will happen at first - you pen tip will move but the stroke does not. And then suddenly the stroke will move to where the pen is. This will produce a small straight line.

It will also manifest as a small delay when first moving a slider. As you move the pointer with the pen, the slider will not move for several millimeters and then suddenly snap to the location of the pen.

Examples

Things to try

• Try disabling windows ink in the app and disabling windows ink in the driver.

• Try disabling the press-and-hold ring in Windows.

Links

• (https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/sa6wjd/is_this_kind_of_thing_supposed_to_happen_when_im/)

• (https://www.reddit.com/r/Windowsink/comments/ao0kvs/is_this_just_a_non_issue_for_microsoft_windows_ink/)

• (https://www.zbrushcentral.com/t/windows-ink-api-support/214256)

• (https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/113173-the-first-5mm-of-a-freehand-line-are-straight-when-using-a-tablet/)

Overview

These "hooks" often seem to be an artifact of various pen smoothing/stabilization techniques.

Smoothing

In the example lots of quick flicks were used to draw several strokes. Lots of smoothing was used. You can clearly see that some lines have hooks at the beginning/

Below the same style flicks were used to draw strokes but this time the smoothing was set to zero.

Angle of fast stroke

When making fast strokes one after the other, there is a tendency for the hand to move the pen is a bit of a circular motion. So the initial point of contact is not where you want the stroke to begin. As your hand move the pen to the correct location, this can create the hook.

I have found that I can reduce the hooks by:

• being more careful about the stroke

• drawing more slowly

Pressure curve

Another contributing factor is that your pen may have a very low IAF and so is sensitive to that initial contact.

A low IAF is great. but if you are doing a lot of strokes, the sensitivity can result in more hooks. Consider adjusting your pressure curve as shown below.

Links

• https://www.reddit.com/r/ClipStudio/comments/zkvu0k/how_remove_that_hook_or_s_in_the_beginning_and/

Photo Examples

Video examples

this video gives an example (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTGG1NiF2MY) with red pixels

Appearance

• This manifests as certain pixels lighting up and flickering

• Even if the input signal isn't changing you may see the pixels rapidly flicker

• Usually it will be a single color. It very often happens with the GREEN component of a pixel. But can happen with RED (LESS COMMON) or BLUE (UNCOMMON).

• You may notice that the pixels light up in vertical or horizontal stripes

• This problem is not related to "STUCK PIXELS". In this case which pixels light up is dynamic and depends on what is shown on the display.

Sources of the problem

• The ultimate source of the problem can be:

  • The display panel

  • The cabling (cables & ports)

  • The GPU that is sending the display signal

Cabling

• This problem seems to be associated with the connection to the display and is often a cabling issue:

  • Sometimes the cable is bad

  • Sometimes the cable is sagging or stretched too tightly and can cause this problem as it puts pressure on the ports

  • Sometimes it is due to the ports the cable is using

  • It can occur with HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C cables/ports

Try

• Using different cables

• Use a different port

• Use a different kind of port (for example, switch from HDMI to Displayport)

• Test with another computer

• Checking the refresh rate

• Test with a lower resolution

• If you are unable to resolve, you should contact your manufacturer's support

Things to try first

First try the Common drawing troubleshooting steps.

Examples

So far, I have rarely encountered this and don't know the specific cause.

If you are having problems with pressure, one great diagnostic test you can run is to try testing the pressure in the tablet driver itself.

Most tablet drivers have some kind of "pressure test region" where you can try out the pressure. Usually this pressure test region is found close to the UI for defining the pressure curve.

Wacom pressure test region

There are two locations in the Wacom Tablet Properties app where you can see the pressure.

First, you can see the pressure under the Pen tab. It is shown in the Current Pressure bar.

Second, you can also click Customize which will bring up the Pen Feel Details dialog.

Here you can draw in the Try Here section and see how the pen draws with pressure.

Huion pressure test region

Open the HuionTablet app. Then navigate to Digital Pen > Pressure Sensitivity Adjustment.

Draw in the Pressure Test area.

Xencelabs pressure test region

Open the Xencelabs app, then select the pen you are using, then draw in the region to the right of the pressure curve.

Overview

This will manifest as a vertical or horizontal bands that the pen seems to ignore. These bands will extend across the full active area of the tablet.

Examples

If normal strokes look like this:

Then missing horizontal bands will look like this:

And missing vertical bands will look like this:

Causes

• Usually it seems to be a hardware issue. Something is wrong with the tablet itself.

• It might also be cause be electromagnetic interference

Things to try

• Restart computer

• Reinstall driver

• Test tablet with another computer

• Check if it happens with multiple applications

• Check if it happens in the pressure test region of the tablet driver

• If the problem persists, contact support.

Reddit threads

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/13ls32y/can_someone_tell_me_whats_going_on_here/

Symptoms

In this situation when your pen display is plugged in you may see something shone on the screen for a moment and then nothing is shown on the screen for a moment and then it cycles and shows you something on the screen again. This cycling we'll go on forever.

When it is on you may see that the screen is just showing a field of a solid white color. Or you may see a brand logo or some other indication that the display panel is actually working.

Primary causes

Pen display not getting enough power

Overwhelmingly the primary cause of this cycling seems to be that the pen display is not getting enough power.

If you're connecting through a three in one cable. Please make sure that the power is coming from an AC adapter instead of from a computer. Often computers can't deliver enough power especially when the pen display is larger than 13 inches.

If you are connecting via USB C cable, then try a different port because maybe it will supply enough power. Or you may have to switch to using a three in one cable.

Potential but rarer causes

Ambient heat

In at least one case I've encountered a situation where someone's pent up but performs this cycling but it is not due to being underpowered. In this case it had to deal with how warm the pen display was getting due to the current weather conditions.

Here is the thread from Reddit which describes this case.

Many pen displays need to connect via HDMI to your computer.

You may be in a situation where you don't have any HDMI ports or don't have enough.

There are a couple of options you can look into:

• Use HDMI adapters to convert existing ports to HDMI. More here: .

• Remember that HDMI splitters may not help. More here:

• If your tablet supports getting a display signal via a USB-C cable, you MIGHT be able to use that as an alternative. See:

Overview

• To use your pen display, your computer must be able to detect the display panel inside it.

• Most of the time, when you plug in your tablet to your computer this will work automatically.

• Unfortunately, sometimes your computer can sometimes have difficulty.

When you plug in your pen display your computer should detect it as an additional display/monitor in display setttings. If you don't see another monitor in Display Settings, then for whatever reason it does not think the display part of your pen display is attached.

Don't bother reinstalling the tablet drivers

Your computer thinks of your pen display as two devices:

• a pen tablet (aka a screenless tablet) without a display

• a monitor

The tablet driver is talking to the pen tablet. So reinstalling the driver is likely not going to do anything about this problem.

Your computer's operating system is taking to the display. You need to focus your efforts on why the operating system doesn't think the display in the tablet exists.

Also reinstalling tablet drivers can't hurt, reinstalling them multiple times is not going to change anything.

Restart the computer

Sometimes this can trigger the detection

Check that the cables are plugged in all the ay

This is a very common mistake.

Ensure the ports are clear of obstruction

Check the ports to ensure that there isn't some lint or other material preventing a secure connection. Material like lint in the port can prevent the cable from working.

Windows > built-in display detection

In Display Settings, there is an option to detect a display. Try it.

MacOS

Using NVIDIA Rigorous Display Detection

If your computer is not even detecting the existence of the display, and it has an NVIDIA GPU, the NVIDIA Control Panel have a feature called Rigorous Display Detection which help.

• Open the NVIDIA Control Panel

• Navigate to Display > Set up multiple displays > Select the displays you want to use

• Click on My display is not shown

• This will launch the Detect Missing Display dialog

• Click Rigorous Display Detection

Use Intel Graphics Command Center to detect your display

If your computer is a laptop or similar device that has an embedded Intel GPU, on Windows you can use the Intel Graphics Commend Center app to potentially detect additional displays.

You can download the Intel Graphics Comment Center from the Microsoft Store.

Use a another port of the same type

Suppose you are using an HDMI port, there may be multiple HDMI ports on your computer. Try the other ones.

Use a another port of a different type

For example, if you are using HDMI, try DisplayPort instead.

Check if the pen display can get a signal from another device

See if the display can be detected by another computer or even any device that can send a display signal such as a DVD player or an XBOX.

If this works it tells you the pen display and cables work correctly and the problem has something to do with your computer.

Depowering the device

Some people suggest doing this:

• UNPLUG the pen display from POWER

• hold the power button down

• while continuing to hold the power button down, attach the pen display to power, and continue holding down the power for a few seconds.

Firmware updates

Check with your manufacturer if there are any firmware updates.

If all else fails

Contact support!

Cause

Some drawing tablets - specifically those with screens - have audio hardware. They don't have speakers (at least not that I am aware of), but some do have a headphone jack so you can listen with headphones.

When you plug in your tablet, the computer may detect that the tablet supports audio, and it can mistakenly assume you want audio to now play through the tablet. And of course because the tablet doesn't have speakers but only a headphone jack the audio is now being sent to your tablet, but you can't hear it.

Example

Here's an example of Windows 11 detecting showing the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (GT2401) as an audio output.

Solution

The solution for this is simple. Just go to your operating system's sound settings and set the audio to go back to where it was going.

NO SIGNAL

If you turn on your pen display and see a NO SIGNAL message, then this is a difference kind of problem. Instead go here: Troubleshoot the NO SIGNAL problem

Ensure your computer actually detects the display

Does you computer detect the display in the tablet? Check your operating system's display settings. More here: Troubleshoot computer does not detect display

Check if the backlight is broken

If your computer does detect the display, but you still see just a back screen, shine a flashlight at your tablet's screen, and see if you can detect faint traces of the image your computer is sending. If you do see something, then this means the backlight is broken.

Unfortunately this is not an easy or cheap think to repair. Most people simply just get a new tablet or if it is under warranty have the tablet replaced.

• r/monitors - Anyone know how to fix a extremely dim monitor screen? 2022/10/28

Check if the display works with another source of display signal

For example, connect it to another computer or X-BOX or DVD player. If you see something, then it tells you that the pen display is capable of showing something but that the problem is somewhere else. More here: Check if the pen display works with another display output device .

Overview

Normally, your pen should only draw or "click" when you press down on the tablet. if it's always drawing even while you are hovering (not touching the tablet) then something is very wrong.

This is a very common problem people run into. Sometimes it happens the first time they start using the tablet and sometimes only after years have passed.

Causes

The two most common causes of this problem are:

• Something is physically wrong with the pen. You'll need a replacement.

• The driver is having a temporary problem. Often resolved by restarting the computer.

Things to try

Try the Common drawing troubleshooting steps.

Check if the problem happens in the driver app

Instructions here: testing pressure in the tablet driver

If the problem does not occur in the driver app, then it indicates the problem may be app specific.

Adjust the pressure curve

Sometimes a pen is reporting pressure even when it isn't in contact with anything.

In the tablet driver, try dragging the lower left point of the pressure curve to the right until the pen stops drawing while hovering.

If nothing helps

If the problem continues, then contact support.

Things to try first

First try the Common drawing troubleshooting steps.

Examples

Links

• (https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/s6wdud/dots_appear_when_i_dont_put_one_why_does_this/)

• (https://www.reddit.com/r/ClipStudio/comments/1011a69/big_dots_at_start_of_strokes_need_help/) - This was solved by reinstalling Clip Studio Paint