What is Tablet Pen Delay?

A tablet pen delay occurs when the tablet takes longer than usual to register an interaction on the screen. Although it may seem that the tablet pen is delayed, the problem is sometimes pertaining to the tablet itself. The problem could be caused by the tablet, the pen, the computer, or even simply the software you are using.  Although there could be a variety of possible issues, the following are the most common:

Reasons your Tablet Pen may be delayed:

1. Pen Calibration and Sensitivity
2. Software or Applications not yet updated
3. Connection via Bluetooth
4. Driver not yet updated
5. Configuration via Adobe Photoshop

1. Pen Calibration and Sensitivity

The first step would be to make sure your tablet pen is correctly calibrated for your tablet. Often times, the tablet being uncalibrated can cause the pen to be off-center from where you are pressing and can even cause it to be delayed. You can calibrate your pen by opening your driver and finding the calibration settings in there. In the driver, you can also customize the sensitivity of the tablet pen, which also could be the problem. Once you have determined it isn’t the tablet that is the problem, you should start looking towards the pen itself.

 I have read that some people have had problems caused by the nib (the tip of the pen) rather than the actual pen. Sometimes, the pen pressure will remain active even when the pen isn’t close to the tablet. Some forums have claimed that you should remove the nib from the pen and let the pen rest sideways overnight and see if there is any improvement in the morning.  This will allow the pressure sensor to release any pressure that has built up over time. If you are using a Bluetooth tablet pen such as a Microsoft Surface Pen or the Apple Pencil, the Bluetooth connection could be causing your issue. In my opinion, Bluetooth is one of the least reliable ways to connect a device

2. Connection via Bluetooth

There is a high chance that the Bluetooth connection is the reason your tablet pen is delayed. This is because the connection to the tablet from the computer is unsteady, causing input lag. For the absolute best connection, I would suggest using the cables – that should have come with the tablet, to connect to the computer. If you for some reason aren’t able to use the cables or simply prefer to use Bluetooth, I would suggest moving the tablet closer to the computer if possible, since that may strengthen the connection.

The delay on your tablet pen could be happening due to a problem in the connection if your tablet or tablet pen is connected via Bluetooth connection. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard for transmitting data. Although it is easier to use, Bluetooth uses radio waves rather than wires or cables, so it has the possibility of being less reliable.

3. Driver not yet updated

One of your first actions should be to make sure you have the correct driver installed. It is surprisingly easy to accidentally install the wrong driver when first setting it up, and even I almost managed to do it. Some of the model names are very similar so it can be very easy to get them mixed up. If needed, find the box that the tablet came in, because it will likely have the model name or number on it.

Once you are certain you have the correct driver, you can rule out that possibility. Now, you need to make sure your driver is fully updated. Usually, the drivers are pretty good at updating themselves but sometimes it might not update itself and that could be what is causing your problem. For example, if your driver isn’t updated, the problem could be a bug – causing your tablet to be delayed – that they fixed in the next update.

4. Software or Applications not yet updated

Sometimes, the tablet or tablet pen aren’t the problem at all. In some cases, it can be a problem specifically with the software or applications you are using the tablet with. For example, if I was using outdated version of Photoshop, it may start to have problems, such as delays or input lag. You should make sure the app or software you’re trying to use is operating on the most recent version.

In some instances, the most recent version of the software could be what is causing the problem with your tablet. The new update could be unintentionally causing a bug affecting your experience negatively. If it is, you should take to the Internet to try and find an earlier version of the software and try using that to see if your problem is happening due to a new update in the software you are using.

5. Configuration via Adobe Photoshop

Sometimes, the configuration of your settings in Adobe Photoshop can affect your work and even cause delay. For example, when you try to change or raise the handlebar, after updating or reinstalling Photoshop, the Photoshop Pen Tool may display some input lag. I have read from some forums that there is a fix to this problem that is remotely simple to fix. In a few steps, this delayed reaction time should be fixed.

FIX: Turn off the “softened” or “dual brush” functions in the brush configuration.

 Change the configuration. Click on “File”> “Environmental Settings”> “Brush Coordinate”> and then change it from “Tablet Coordinate” to “Mouse Coordinate”.

If you have confirmed that Photoshop is what is causing your problem but don’t know how, you should contact Adobe directly for support so they can try to help you. That should fix your delay problem if that is what was causing it. However, if it didn’t, you might have to look towards more serious solutions.

If your Tablet still delayed or lagging:

If you have gone through and made sure the options above weren’t the problem you were experiencing, it is probably time to get in touch with tech support staff. Sometimes you can try everything to solve a problem but it just won’t be enough.

A well-maintained, a drawing tablet can last for many years. Your tablet may just need a repair or even a replacement. If you obtained a warranty for your tablet or pen when you purchased it, you can take advantage of that and have it repaired or replaced. I would suggest making sure you have tried everything within your power to fix the problem before you get your tablet or pen replaced or repaired.

What students look for in digital art tools

Students, especially in college, often times cannot afford a single monthly subscription to Photoshop or other tools or they just don’t want to spend that kind of money. Even more importantly, they can’t afford to drop hundreds of dollars on a drawing tablet. In college, students are usually pretty low on money since they are using most of it to pay for tuition, books, fees, etc. Be that as it may, students can find ways to cheap and affordably pursue a career or simply just a hobby in digital art.

As a student looking to purchase tools or accessories, you are most likely looking to find products of the highest quality for the lowest price possible. This is much more difficult when it comes to digital art because most of the accessories you would want, like a drawing tablet, will usually run you at least $40, and that’s on the cheaper side. If you want to have the best overall gear, it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg. However, there are some high quality but still affordable options in the digital art world.

Discounts for Students

Some digital art applications give discounts for students and teachers. For example, Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of 20+ apps for photography, video, design, and more. Creative Cloud gives discounts for their memberships to students and teachers, which can save you about 60% of the original price. That is great because you can get virtually all the digital art applications you would need in one single subscription.

Although a Creative Cloud subscription adds up to a bill of about $20/month, or $239.88/year plus tax, it can provide you with a bunch of resources to pursue a career, or simply just a hobby, in digital art. Here are the applications you would receive with Adobe Creative Cloud:

• Acrobat Pro DC – Used for a variety of editing functions with your PDFs on desktop and mobile devices.
• Acrobat Pro – ^^^^^^^
• Photoshop – Used for photo editing and manipulation used for photo editing, digital art compositing, animating, and graphic design.
• Animate – Used to create “high-quality vector graphics that are scalable, reusable, and adaptable for cartoons, banners, games, and other interactive content.”
• Illustrator – “Vector-based design and drawing program often used to design posters, symbols, logos, patterns, and icons, among other things.”
• InDesign – Used to “design stationery, resumes, brochures, annual reports, catalogs, interactive digital publications, EPUBs, books, periodicals, and other digital and printed material”
• Fuse – Used to “create bespoke humanoid models, and clothe them using the array of clothing presets that come with the software.”
• Bridge – “Powerful creative asset manager that lets you preview, organize, edit, and publish multiple creative assets quickly and easily.”
• Dreamweaver – “Dreamweaver helps developers build web sites for the Internet or an intranet, letting developers design, code and manage websites as well as mobile content.”
• Lightroom – “cloud-based service that gives you everything you need to create, edit, organize, store, and share your photos across any device.”
• Lightroom Classic – ^^^^^ but with more features.
• InCopy – “lets copywriters and editors style text, track changes, and make simple layout modifications to a document while designers work on the same document simultaneously in Adobe InDesign — all without overwriting each other’s contributions.”
• Media Encoder – “Using Adobe Media Encoder, you can export videos to video-sharing websites like YouTube and Vimeo, devices ranging from professional tape decks to DVD players, mobile phones, and high-definition TV sets.”
• Character Animator – “Character Animator imports layered Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator documents into puppets which have behaviors applied to them.”
• Stock – “service that provides designers and businesses with access to millions of high-quality curated and royalty-free photos, videos, illustrations, vector graphics, 3D assets, and templates for all their creative projects.”
• XD – “a powerful and easy-to-use vector-based experience design platform that gives teams the tools they need to craft the world’s best experiences collaboratively. Available on Mac and Windows systems, XD meets teams where they’re working with cross-platform compatibility.”
• Premiere – “used to easily assemble and finesse and edit, add audio and video effects, create titles, manipulate color and lights for the perfect aesthetic and export your finished project to any screen and any format.”
• Premiere Rush –^^^^^ but more beginner friendly.
• After Effects – “industry standard tool for motion graphics and visual effects. Artists and post production professionals rely on After Effects to generate visually stunning work for film, TV, video, and web.”
• Dimension – “Create engaging content in 3D faster with models, materials, and lighting. Dimension makes it easy to build brand visualizations, illustrations, product mockups, and other creative work.”
• Audition – “Audition is a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform, and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing, and restoring audio content.”

Information credited to Adobe.

As you can see, you gain a bunch of different applications, which are all useful depending on what type of work you are doing. For example, if you were designing a logo for your company, you might want to use something like Adobe Photoshop, but to design the website for your company, you could use Adobe XD to design the layout. Most of these applications will come in handy, regardless of what type of digital art you plan on making.

Digital Art Equipment for Students

When it comes to the physical equipment you’ll need for digital art, it’ll be a little more challenging, because the majority of the equipment available will set you back a pretty penny. The goal, of course, is to save as much money as possible, since students have a bunch of other expenses to keep track of. Often, you’ll have to sift through a slew of pricey items to discover one that’s reasonably priced but still of good quality.

Drawing tablets are probably one of the most used devices when it comes to digital art. They provide a sense of precision that you sometimes cannot achieve with just a mouse. Drawing tablets don’t even specifically need to be used for drawing. For example, you could use a drawing tablet with a screen as an additional monitor for your computer. Drawing tablets can be very versatile in that aspect. After going through many different types of equipment and their reviews, I have found some digital art equipment that should work well, even for relatively low prices.

Affordable Drawing Tablets for Students

There are some affordable tablets out there that are still pretty high quality but not super expensive. One (ha-ha) in particular that I would recommend is One by Wacom. It is a drawing tablet that costs about $59.95 for the small size on Amazon. Now I know you might be thinking “60 bucks!?”, but this is a very good tablet for its price. It is ideal for students and teachers looking for a drawing tablet who want to sketch, edit images, express ideas, and communicate in a natural way. It is a battery-free, screenless, and wired drawing tablet that comes with a tablet pen. The small-sized one has an active working area length of 6.0 x 3.7″ inches. This tablet is also a great choice for artists who are just beginning to venture into the world of digital art.

If you have a much bigger budget and are simply looking for a great tablet, I would suggest the Huion Kamvas Pro 16. It has a pretty big price tag of $399.99, but if you are really into digital art, this is a very worthwhile purchase. I have personally used this tablet before and never had any problems with it. It comes with a 15.6-inch full-laminated screen with Full HD resolution. Included is an adjustable stand, a battery-free stylus, and an artist glove. This tablet would work really well as an extra monitor when you aren’t using it for digital art. This tablet comes with a one-year warranty just in case anything happens to it.

Affordable Computers for Digital Art

For a student, whether it be in college or high school, it is hard to dish out a bunch of money to get a high-quality computer to make digital art with. For that reason, I would suggest a Chromebook. They are some of the cheapest laptops you can find but can still have enough power to properly make digital art. In comparison to other computers or laptops, these are often much lower in price. The average Chromebook can range from $249 – $649, which isn’t really that much when you consider the prices of actual full-on computers.

Drawing tablets, especially smaller ones, go well with Chromebooks because they are very portable. That’s an upside that you can’t get with some of these other computers. Most are either too expensive or just not as portable as a Chromebook. Unfortunately, you cannot use normal Adobe applications on Chromebooks unless you can find a mobile app version in the Google Play Store. However, there are some good programs that you can use for digital art such as Chrome Canvas or Sketchbook by Autodesk.

In Conclusion If you had to pick one thing I have talked about to purchase, I would say get a Chromebook or some type of computer. After that, I would suggest the Creative Cloud subscription because it gives you a vast amount of resources for any digital needs you may have, plus a solid 60% discount for students and teachers.  All in all, there are plenty of cost-efficient resources out there for students trying to venture into the world of digital art.

Getting Started

Getting started in digital art can be intimidating, but this article is aimed at breaking up a behemoth of information into something hopefully much more digestible. Tools, shading, and learning the basics of coloring are all of course very important, but more than that, one of the most important things you can do when starting off is to practice. Experiment with brushes, pen weight, and pressure to find out what works for you and your art best. Try out anything you want to! Nobody can judge the ways you make art, or the art you make, so just try whatever you want. No matter if it works or not, experimenting is -practicing, and practice is essential to becoming an artist and familiarizing yourself with digital art.

As well as experimenting with what feels most comfortable for you, there are things you can do to make your journey much easier! Memorizing common keyboard shortcuts for your drawing program of choice can be very useful. Another common bit of advice is to get a drawing tablet. While they can be expensive, cheaper ones are available, and they provide a lot of functionality and make drawing digitally much more natural. Another thing to remember is that digital art is going to feel strange at first, no matter how experienced of an on-paper artist you may be. The only way to overcome this is with use and time.

Tools

Covering the full extent of tools available to you as a digital artist is past the scope of this article, but it’s still important to consider the things you may need as a digital artist. Other articles on this site cover this topic in far more detail than is found here. You will, of course, need a computer ton draw digitally, and you’ll need to make sure it has the processing power required to run a drawing software, as well as the storage necessary to hold any art you might create. Getting a tablet can, as stated above, make art feel more natural, but ultimately, all you’ll need is a decent computer and dedication.

Other tools are more digital in nature-Pen packs, access to articles like this one that cover important topics, and tutorials on how to use different drawing programs. But like with physical tools, these all come secondary to your own experimentation and willingness to learn. With this in mind, your journey into digital art should hopefully be easy and fun!

Brushes

The sheer number of brushes offered by most drawing programs can be overwhelming for any beginner, but it’s important to keep in mind that you only need to start small, and can scale up to suit your needs as you go. Hundreds of brushes are offered to mimic brushes, markers, watercolor, and any other medium that a more traditional artist might want to use, but the vast majority of artists really only use a few brushes. The most commonly used brush is the standard round brush, which is exactly was it sounds like-a standard, circular brush. This brush can offer a huge amount of flexibility just by editing the different settings.

Basic Settings to Remember

Important settings to remember include brush size, which is self-explanatory, and brush hardness, which controls how blurry or crisp the edges of a brush is. A brush at 100% hardness will have crisp edges, while a brush with 0% hardness will have feathered edges.

Opacity is controls how visible, or opaque a brush is, with 100% being completely opaque, and 0% being totally translucent. Opacity controls the amount of color put down with each stroke regardless of any other setting that may affect this as well.

Spacing controls the distance between brush marks in a stroke, and editing this setting can be useful for making patterns, but is far less useful for things like sketching.

Blending Modes

Blending Modes control how the added pixels interact with others on the same layer. They directly affect the palette of a layer, and blending modes cannot be edited after painting on a layer. Blending modes also offer the “Behind” and “Clear” options, making it easy to control whether or not you can paint over objects on the same layer, or can just paint in empty space.

Flow and Airbrush Settings

The Flow setting controls how much color is applied to an area with every stroke. It works a bit like opacity, except for the color can be built up as more and more strokes are applied to an area. The airbrush setting works a bit like flow, except for the color is built up as the brush stays in one place, instead of with multiple passes over one area.

Pen Pressure

Another important setting, especially for art tablet users, is pen pressure. Pen pressure is a setting available to most drawing programs on the market currently, and can be used to control both opacity and stroke size. Pen pressure makes it so that using a tablet more closely mimics paper, and the lighter your pressure, the smaller and more translucent your stroke will be, while more pressure increases sensitivity and makes your stroke thicker. If brush pressure isn’t already turned on, you can find it in the brushes menu.

Coloring

One of the most important parts of creating art is ensuring you’re working with colors that are eye-catching and visually appealing, while also ensuring that you aren’t overwhelming or causing eyestrain to your audience. Another, equally important aspect, is ensuring that you’re using the right color mode (CMYK or RGB) for whatever your art is going to be used for. While color theory is far outside the reach of this article, we can still discuss various color palettes, as well as which color system to use here.

CMYK or RGB

CMYK and RGB are the two most commonly used systems for digitally creating color. RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue, and is used by all displays, which use a combination of LEDs to create these colors. RGB is the color mode you should use when making art for digital use, that will be seen on screens of any variety. CMYK is the color mode used by printers, and stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, and they add various dyes together to create different colors. CMYK is the color mode you should use for printing.

Color Schemes

There are three kinds of color schemes that will be discussed in this article: Monochromatic, analogous, and complementary. Monochrome palettes are palettes consisting only of hues of one color, and are easy enough to create and provide a cohesive and coherent look. Analogous color schemes are created by choosing a color, then selecting its left and right neighbors on the color wheel. Analogous schemes are visually pleasing and easy on the eye. Complementary color schemes are created by using two colors opposite each other on the color wheel, and can provide great contrast for any design.

Shading

Another just as important aspect of art is shading. There are thousands of other tutorials that go more in-depth online, but we can still cover the basics here. While you’re probably familiar with how shadows interact with the world from living in it in the past years of your life, it’s still important to practice shading. More complex objects, as well as overlapping objects, can create complex issues when trying to shade.

Light Source

One of the most important parts of shading is figuring out where your light is coming from. When shading, make sure to keep this in mind, as well as the intensity of the light, and how it will interact with your subject. A warm, soft light will illuminate something very differently from an intense white light will. Light distance can also affect shadows, and their crispness-A closer, or more intense light source will create a more defined terminator (or the edge between shadow and light), while a soft or far away light will create a fuzzier terminator line.

Occlusion

Shadows are visible because of the light that objects reflect. While this light is going to be dimmer than other lighting, its why shadows are gray instead of being pitch black. Object occlusion is created when the light reflected off of an object can’t reach a place, like the edges of where two objects are touching, or a dark corner.

Kinds of Shading

There are two ways of tackling shading that we will cover in this article-Cel shading and soft shading.

Cel shading is a more cartoon-y style of shading that involves just coloring shades over your subject where shadows should lie. It’s less realistic shading, but it helps to provide a sense of three-dimensionality to subjects. This style of shading is often used to mimic comic book or cartoon characters and styles.

Soft shading is a more complex and time-intensive version of shading that creates a soft and smooth transition between base colors, lights, and darks. It involves much more smudging and highlights, and is a more realistic method of shading.

What kind of shading you use depends on preference and art style!

Shadow Color and Highlights

When comparing shadows in the real world, you’ll notice that they can vary in color depending on what is casting them. The color in shadows is a mix of the color of whatever is blocking the light, as well as reflected light from other objects. Most shadows are going to be gray, but it is still important to keep this in mind. As well as this, the color of the lighting can affect how a shadow is cast and its color-Warm lighting, like the sun, creates different color than the cool lighting of fluorescent lights.

Highlighting is an important part of shading, but is also its antithesis. Highlights are used to create a sense of where light is reflected off of something, and can be created by either applying white to your drawing, or by picking the surrounding color, lightening it slightly, and then applying it in the area you want to be highlighted. I recommend you use a soft edge brush instead of a hard brush if you want the highlight to look more natural.

File format

Another important question when making digital art is what file type to use when saving your art. Different formats need to be used for different purposes, and we’ll cover four file types here: PSD, TIFF, JPEG, and PNG.

PSD

A PSD (Photoshop Design) can be a useful file if you’re working with Photoshop, or if you’re working with a team of people who all have access to Photoshop. PSD’s save all the layer information for an image, allowing them to be opened in Photoshop and edited from where you left off editing them.

TIFF

TIFF’s (Tagged Image File Format) are the most useful file for storing digital art, as they are lossless files and retain the quality of your art. They pay the price in functionality with being significantly larger than JPEG’s and PNG’s, but can be converted to both and can be handy in making sure your art is of high quality.

JPEG

JPEG files are good files to use for web-based art. They are universally supported, and are a good-sized file if you’re short on space. They don’t support transparency.

PNG

PNG files are higher quality and good for printing. They can take up more space, but they aren’t as sizable as TIFF’s and support transparency.

While all of this can be important to cover and study, at the end of the day, the most important part of learning digital art is to practice drawing. Familiarize yourself with the different aspects of it, tackle a little at a time, and with time and dedication your skills as an artist will grow.

Drawing tablets can be used as extended monitors, but only tablets with an on-screen display can be used this way. These drawing tablets can function as great monitors, given the right setup and the right accessories, and can provide a large range of functionality and flexibility to users.

Pros of Using a Drawing Tablet as a Monitor

Using an on-screen drawing tablet can provide a lot of flexibility compared with a more traditional monitor. Many of them come with or can be attached to drawing stands, as well as being compatible with a variety of drawing stands currently on the market (discussed below). While the controls can be hard to get the hang of, using a tablet pen can feel more natural than a traditional mouse. If you’re more comfortable with a tablet’s controls, then using one as a monitor could be the perfect fit for you and your computer.

Another pro of this choice is that a tablet can provide all the flexibility an iPad or other, more traditional tablet provides (minus portability) with all the power of a PC. Many people prefer tablets to monitors, and this choice provides a very personalized experience for using your computer.

Cons of Using a Drawing Tablet as a Monitor

While using a drawing tablet as a monitor can provide a unique and more comfortable user experience, there are still several things you need to consider before actually choosing this option.

Using a drawing tablet as a monitor may seem like a great choice, but it can make sharing your PC much more difficult. If your computer is something you’ll need to share with others, or serves a more communal purpose in your home, you may not want to consider this option. Other people may not be acclimated to the controls of a drawing tablet as you are. As well as this, if you’re not used to the controls yourself, then using it as your primary monitor is probably a bad idea.

Another difficulty this option poses is size restraints. A drawing tablet most likely won’t function as your only monitor, and if you don’t have the space for more than one, then this likely isn’t feasible (although hopefully you already took that into account when purchasing a drawing tablet). Price factors into these difficulties as well, so if you’re on a tight budget, a tablet (and its various accessories) shouldn’t be the choice at the top of your list.

Drawing Tablet Arms and Tablet Stands

One of the things you may want to consider when setting up a drawing tablet as a secondary or primary monitor is a drawing tablet arm or a tablet stand. Tablet stands are fairly self-explanatory, and can be useful if you feel more comfortable with your tablet being flat or only somewhat raised. Tablet arms provide even more functionality and adjustability, allowing you to position your tablet however you want, and however feels most comfortable to you. As well as this, tablet arms and stands can make transferring skills between traditional and digital art much easier, as they allow you to move your tablet into whatever position you are most familiar with.

The pros of a tablet arm in using a drawing tablet as a monitor are that it allows you to change how you’re using your tablet-Positioned horizontally, it can be used like a traditional drawing tablet, but they also allow for vertical positioning so they can be used as a more traditional computer monitor, with a keyboard and mouse. Drawing tablet arms provide a much larger range of versatility for this option, and while there are tons of great tablet arms on the market, discussing their prices and the range of options is a bit past the range of this article.

Something to keep in mind, however, for both of these accessories, is that they might add an additional cost of set-up in the range of hundreds of dollars. While cheaper options are available, higher quality tablet arms and stands can cost anywhere from $300-$800.

How do You Set Up More than One Monitor?

Perhaps the most important thing to consider in this process is how to actually set up a drawing tablet as a primary or secondary monitor. You need to consider the capabilities of your computer, checking your graphics card, and double-checking if your computer can handle more than one output at once. If you don’t have the right hardware for the job, you can always get a new graphics card, but make sure that you install the drivers for your card, as well as making sure it’s properly installed.

As well as this, you’ll probably want to go into your desktop’s settings to make sure everything is properly set up. You can extend the resolution of your display, change the resolution to whatever works best for your drawing tablet, and change the position of your screens relative to each other so your mouse can comfortably and naturally move through all three of them.

At the end of the day, whether or not you use a drawing tablet as a monitor is up to your personal preference, and what technology you prefer to use. Using a tablet as a monitor is both functional and flexible, but can come with a hefty price tag that needs to be taken into consideration.

Categories I Rated Tablets By:

• Price
• Best rated
• Brand
• Reviews
• Skill level intended for

List of tablets

Huion Kamvas Pro 16

The Kamvas Pro 16 is the best drawing tablet all around. It works well for beginner and advanced digital artists. It’s not at all difficult to use, and it’s simple to set up and calibrate. This tablet will probably get you the best bang for your buck. The visuals are excellent, and the 15.6-inch screen is a reasonable size. The pen is quite responsive, allowing you to achieve various thicknesses depending on how much pressure you use. On Amazon, this tablet comes with a stylus, or pen, with an adjustable and portable stand. Huion is a very trusted brand as they have made many great tablets with high ratings. I looked over the reviews on this tablet from Amazon and the majority of the reviews were at 4-5 stars. The only issue was that some customers would email the company about an issue or issues that the company didn’t currently have a fix for. Aside from that, this tablet is excellent for the price, quality, graphics, pen, and large 15.6-inch screen.

Pros:

• Fairly portable
• Great pen
• Great adjustable stand
• Good quality screen
• Battery-free pen

Cons:

• Takes up a bit of room on your desk
• Has issues with the pen offset on the screen
• A bit pricey

Wacom 13HD

• Cintiq 16
• Small-$649.95

Medium-$1,199.95

• For Professional digital artists

According to many different websites I have researched, this tablet is the highest rated. This one is a little bit more on the pricy side but if you are willing to spend a lot of money on an all-around excellent product, this is a great choice for you. This tablet is more for advanced artists, including quite a few more complicated aspects such as a highly reactive pen. This tablet is equipped with vivid colors plus sharp and specific details in a high definition 15.6-inch screen so you can be a perfectionist. Wacom is one of the giants of the drawing tablet industry so that can almost confirm the quality of their products. They are very highly rated and very sought after. As I looked at the reviews on Amazon I saw costumers complimenting the drawing tablet, the pen, and how the pen grip feels. These great qualities led 85% of reviewers to give this product 5 stars. Many reviews touched on how great the graphics look and how great the pen reacted to the screen. However, with it being such a big screen, 8% of reviewers rated this product a 3 star or less because they had trouble fitting the tablet into their setup effectively. A few customers complained that they had to go out and get a new stand since the screen’s built-in legs weren’t as good as they had hoped.

Pros:

• Multiple sizes: Small, Medium
• Built-in Foldable legs
• Great graphics
• A good size screen
• A great pen and pen grip

Cons:

• Pretty heavy (4.2lbs)
• Takes up a lot of space
• May need to buy new stand
• More on the pricey side
• Big and bulky

XP Pen Artist24 Pro

• $899.99
• Best for experts

This is one of the most expensive art tablets and is best used by professionals. This is one of the first tablets with a screen this big, measuring 23.8 inches. After reading the reviews, with 75% of them being 5 stars, most of the bad reviews were simply people not knowing how to set up the tablet to connect to their monitor. The screen has very good quality with 2K QHD, which is the type of resolution (2560 X 1440). The tablet has a built-in adjustable stand which is great for placing the tablet at different angles. This is a great tablet, especially if you are experienced with digital art and know how to use it well. It has 20 shortcut buttons with 2 small red dials. A few reviews I read were all saying how bulky and heavy this tablet is. With the screen being so big, it limits the portability significantly. However, if you have plenty of office space for this tablet to rest, this is a great tablet.

Pros:

• Huge screen
• The pen accuracy and drawing accuracy
• The pen’s sensitivity and grip
• Graphics
• 20 shortcut buttons with 2 dials

Cons:

• Heavy
• Takes up a lot of workspace
• Not portable
• Price
• No touch screen

Wacom Intuos Drawing Tablet

• Small: $60

Medium: $130

• Best for beginners

This tablet is the best for beginners learning how to do digital art or trying to improve in it. This tablet does not have a screen. However, you can hook it up to your monitor to see what you are doing. This tablet only comes in a small and a medium size. This is a great tablet for a relatively small price tag. This tablet is very small and easily portable. This tablet also works on Chromebooks, which is great for school and teaching. Approximately 74% of the reviews were 5 stars, with most of them complimenting how responsive the pen was and how smooth everything felt when drawing. I read that the pen is great and lightweight. The few cons I read stated the USB cord was a little too small and they wished it could have been a little longer. The majority of the negative reviews stated that you should make sure you have the most recent version of the Chromebook and that it wouldn’t work with the most basic version of the Chromebook. This is a great tablet for beginners and teachers because of the cheap price and how potable and lightweight this tablet is, along with the Chromebook compatibility.

Pros:

• Very affordable
• Very portable
• Lightweight
• Responsive pen
• Works for Chromebook

Cons:

• No screen
• People had problems connecting it to MAC
• Some people had issues getting it to work with Chromebook
• Small USB cord
• For it being so cheap, it isn’t the best quality
  
  

Gaomon PD1560

• $300
• Great for teachers and students

This tablet is great for teaching and doing remote meetings. This tablet comes with 10 shortcut keys on the left side of the 15.6-inch screen. On Amazon this product come with an adjustable stand. This is a great tablet for students simply because of how user-friendly the tablet is plus it has a left-handed access. This tablet has a high-quality screen with a protective film over it to protect the screen, this also helps feel like your drawing on paper. The pen has a pressure sensor so it can tell how much pressure you are using which can be useful when trying to make calligraphy. This tablet has a built-in adjustable stand. On Amazon, 74% of the reviews were 5 stars, while only 4% of the reviews were 1 star. A few reviews were mentioning how after a while, the screen would experience discoloration. A few customers were complaining about the screen not turning on and/or staying on. The positive reviews were mentioning how well the packaging was and that it seemed very protected during shipping. They mentioned how well made and how well the pen was acting, specifically for a tablet of this price. The vast majority of the reviews on this tablet agreed that it was a worthwile purchase.

Pros:

• Great for kids and students
• Easy to use
• Great price for product
• Very comfortable pen
• quality of device is great

Cons:

• pen cable is short
• many have said screen started glitching after a while
• stand is wobbly and not the best
• a bit heavy (3.5lbs)

The screen has some issues such as discoloration, won’t respond to pen, screen will turn off randomly

What Types of Digital Equipment Do I Need for Digital Art?

There could be many things you will want for your digital art activities but there are only a few things you will need when wanting to get into Digital Art.

10 Things you may need to improve your digital art:

1. Desk
2. Drawing Tablet
3. Electronical Digital Art pen
4. Good and powerful Computer
5. Software for drawing (photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Animate, etc.)
6. Keyboard and mouse
7. A computer monitor
8. Digital tablet glove
9. Digital art stand
10. A good workspace with plenty of room

Desk

There are many types of desk you can get for your Digital art needs. Some are better for if you like to stand or if you like to sit and be relaxed while drawing. You should get a desk that has plenty of room for your monitor, computer, and your drawing tablet. Having a big enough desk is one of the main things you should consider when looking for the right desk for you.

Adjustable Desks

Adjustable desks are great because you can raise and lower them whenever you want with ease. These desks can also extend and retract, as well as angle themselves down a little if you feel that would be better for your needs. These desks are great because you can buy smaller ones that will fit almost anywhere however, that means less work space or you can buy a bigger one that won’t fit necessarily anywhere but are still pretty compact. Adjustable desks are great for digital artist and even non-digital artists because of how versatile they are and the diversity of price and style of them.

Multi-level Desks

Multi-level desks are great if you are willing to stack you monitors and any other item you want to stack. These desks are usually 2 or 3 levels high and can extend or retract each level. These desks are very compact and have great amount of space depending on how many levels you have. Many of these desks have a layer under the primary one and one above the primary one, they just stack up from the primary level. Some leveled desks have some little storage or cubby on the side of the desk where you can put your art equipment when you are finished using it so you don’t just leave everything laying around.

Drafting Table

Drafting tables are great for people who are wanting to do digital art on a tablet or paper. Drafting table’s tabletop is able to lift up at different angles allowing you to not need a stand with a drawing tablet. These do not have much room because the whole tabletop pops up however, these are a great add-on for you to add next to your desk if you already own one. These are small desks that can fit in small spaces and some of these desks have storage allowing you to store your art equipment. These are great desks if the only thing your willing to put on it is maybe a monitor and a tablet.

Drawing Tablets

Drawing tablets are tablets that you can draw on and use a stylus to use many art type software apps to make the exact art you want. There ware many types of drawing tablets ranging from screenless to a drawing tablet with a screen big or small. You can use an iPad as a drawing tablet as well if you would prefer that. There are many big brands such as: Wacom, Huion, XP pen, Gaomon, etc.

What to Look for in a Drawing Tablet

I would look for what kind of art you will be focusing on, as well as look at what kind of software you will be using and if your computer can run that software. I would look for what brands are best for your art style and look at the reviews for that specific brand. Lastly I would consider price, if you are looking for a more cheaper tablet then I would look at the reviews to see if it is a greatly built tablet, or if you are looking for a more expensive tablet, then I would look for a tablet will fit more of your needs, because you don’t want to buy something expensive and have it not fit any of the things you want it to do.

There are many things to look for when deciding if it is the proper tablet for you, just take your time and make sure you read the reviews thoroughly, you read all the specs, and make sure it will fit your needs.

Screenless Tablet

Screenless tablets are great if you are looking for a cheaper tablet that is portable and lightweight. These tablets do not have a screen however, you hook it up to your computer and monitor then you can see exactly what your pen is doing. These are great tablets for beginners because it helps them learn how to work and use the tablet, and are a nice and cheap tablet for them.

Tablet with Screen

Tablets with screens are great if you like to see what you are doing on the tablet. Tablets with screens are a little bit more expensive and a little bit bulkier. The tablets with a screen have many different sizes of a screen and come with a lot more option like shortcut buttons or dials that have many different uses. These tablets are great if you know that you will be using the tablet a lot because they are a bit pricier and are better if you have some of experience with using drawing tablets in the past.

Digital art pen/stylus

Digital Art pens, or a Stylus, are how you draw on a Drawing tablet. Some drawing tablets have little buttons on the side that act like left and right mouse button. All pens feel a little different with some feeling smoother on a drawing tablet and some being more rigid, or some have better grips and some have cheap or uncomfortable grips. The pen should feel most comfortable when you hold it, this is a very important part of your digital drawing experience.

Good and Powerful Computer

A big Part about having a drawing tablet is having a great pc that is powerful enough to not freeze and shut off when working. If you have a good pc then you won’t experience a lot of screen freezing and the drawing will not be delayed. Nothing Is more frustrating then when your pc is causing the table to be delayed or start lagging. When looking for a good look at the software you will be using and look at the specs for each of the different software apps for drawing.

Digital Drawing Software

There are many different apps you can get for doing Digital Art. We all have heard of Photoshop but there are many more that are not as known that are just as great if not better. There are many different apps that are better for free hand drawing or some that are better at photography, etc.

Photoshop

Photoshop is one of the most used Digital Art apps. It is a great app for layering photos, it is very easy to use and has simple controls. This is a great app for people that are new to digital art. There are many tutorials about how to use photoshop and there are many tutorials you can easily follow. If you are into free-hand drawing I would recommend using another app that is purely for drawing. Photoshop is a great app if you are into Photography and making your images look a little better.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a great app for people who are trying to make logos, icons, graphics, etc. Illustrator uses vector-based designs You can make beautiful and unique designs and lettering with this app. With Illustrator you can also draw free-hand and make unique drawings.

Adobe Animate

Adobe Animate is great for making GIFS, animated drawings, animated clips, and shorts. Animate uses vector drawings to create animated drawings. This app is for very creative people who want to bring their art to life. This is a little more complex than Photoshop but it is still a great app to use and a very unique app because you can make your artwork move however you want and bring it to life.

Keyboard and Mouse

You will need a keyboard and mouse for when setting up you drawing tablet. If your drawing tablet doesn’t have any shortcut buttons you will need a keyboard for doing small little tasks. If you Drawing pen does not have any shortcuts on it such as a left and right mouse button shortcut you will need a mouse to left or right mouse button click for whatever it might be. If you were to add text into you image you would need to type it on a keyboard. There are a few tablets that come with small keyboards attached to the side or bottom of the tablet. You won’t need a really good keyboard however if you want the keyboard and mouse to last a while I recommend getting a pretty good quality mouse and keyboard because you will need one.

Computer Monitor

I think it is safe to say that a computer monitor is a given that you will need this for digital art. Getting a good computer monitor is highly recommended so you can see the great quality of your drawing and so you can see what your art looks like from a screen monitor. If you have a screenless tablet, then you will need a monitor that your tablet can hook up to so you can see what you are drawing. I would recommend getting two monitors so you can have multiple things open and not have to switch tabs as much, it just overall speeds up your work and allows you to multi-task.

Digital Tablet Glove

A digital Glove is used to protect the screen and allow you to not make any accidental inputs on the screen. Many drawing tablets come with a glove that you can use but if it does not come with one, I would recommend buying one, they are fairly cheap. A glove is a great investment, it allows your screen to stay smudge free, it allows the screen to stay scratch free, and it allows your hand to slide across the screen much easier.  Digital art gloves allow you index and middle finger to be free out of the glove allowing you to grip and move around the pen much easier. A digital art glove is a great investment if you do not own one.

Digital Tablet Stand

Many Digital Tablets come with a small stand, however they may not suit what you were hoping for when getting a stand. If you are going to be drawing for a large amount of time in a row, a stand is almost a necessity. They allow you to be more precise because you can angle it however you want if you have an adjustable stand, and if you don’t they help your hand from being worn out and cramping. Adjustable stands are great because you can adjust it to where it feels the most comfortable and you can be more precise. Even though many tablets come with their own stands they tend to be lower in quality and have received a lot of complaints, I would recommend getting the stand you think will be best for you and your needs.

Workspace

Having a big workspace with plenty of room is definitely a need. The workspace is one of the most important things to have when doing digital art. If you have a good workspace you will look and feel more professional and allows you to work without having to move and adjust your tablet on your workspace. Before buying a desk, I would look at the size of everything you will be putting on that desk and make sure you have enough space for everything to fit. I would recommend getting a desk with little storage compartments to fit your little art equipment and small little gadgets, that way you can be more organized and helps you from losing the stuff you need.

In Conclusion You will want many drawing accessories and there are many accessories that you should have in the future, but these are what I think the main 10 things that you will need when starting your Digital Art journey. I recommend getting what you think will best fit what your specific wants are. These were not in any specific order, they are just what I thought would be a necessity for your Digital Art needs. I hope this article has allowed you to feel a little less overwhelmed and help you get a feel for what you need when starting this amazing journey.