Surface wear on pen tablets

Overview of surface wear on pen tablets

All pen tablets (those without a screen) will experience some form of wear. The amount and type of wear will be affected by:

• The material of the surface

• The texture of the surface

• The material of the nib

• How you draw

• Other sources of damage not related to normal use of the pen tablet

In general, surface wear is not a problem, unless it interferes with your pen. Typically this means a deep scratch which deflects the tip of the pen. This deflection may be strong enough that you will get little "bumps" if you try to draw a line across the scratch.

Types of surface wear

• Texture erosion - where the surface texture starts getting a little smoother as you continue to move your pen over it. More here: Texture erosion on pen tablets.

• False scratches - False scratches are things that look like scratches but are really the result of a tablet surface that isn't clean. More here: False scratches

• Scratches - permanent grooves cut into the surface. More here: Scratches on pen tablets.

Protecting the surface

There are options to help protect the surface

• Maintain your pen nibs so that they don't develop a flat edge

• Use a felt nib which is softer than a plastic nib.

• Don't press down so hard on the tablet

• Use surface protectors

• When traveling with the tablet, make sure you put it inside something to prevent something from scratching the surface