
Spending all day hunched over a drafting board is physically exhausting work, and a Cintiq is no different. Finding an icon and getting your pen onto it is surprisingly inconvenient when your arm is always in the way. This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s actually a major humbug when driving a desktop CAD application, for example. With a Cintiq, your drawing hand is in front of the screen, blocking the right half of your screen from view. It’s improved a lot in recent years, but it’s still inferior to the pixel-perfect accuracy I have with a separate pointing device. This makes high-precision work difficult to do on a Cintiq. The tip of the pen is never exactly pixel-for-pixel accurate because of the distance between the glass and the underlying LCD. Speaking as someone who spent several years working with Cintiq monitors, let me count the reasons: Why draw on a separate tablet when you can draw directly on the monitor itself? I think most people, on seeing a Cintiq for the first time, assume that it’s superior to the cheaper Intuos tablets in every way. In fact, I own two Wacom tablets: one for travel, and one for office use. But I have three other PCs in the office: a giant power tower, a mobile workstation, and a compact laptop. The only feature of the tablet I use with any regularity is the scroll wheel.Īnd yes, you’re seeing my iMac in this image, because that’s what I’m using to write this post. I don’t typically use the extra buttons on the tablet, but I have friends who swear by them. What’s that?” “My finger paints.” “Oh.” Things go downhill from there.Īs with a mouse, I keep my right hand on the stylus and my left hand on either the SpaceMouse or keyboard as appropriate for a given application. I pull out a sheet of butcher paper, a bowl of water, and start arranging tempera cakes in rainbow order across the top.

Well-dressed people around the table start pulling out moleskins, whiteboard markers, sticky notes, pens, and pencils. I show up at a client meeting for a brainstorming session, and people are filing into the conference room. But when it comes to speed, precision, and comfort, a stylus is far superior. It’s fine for short stints and has some really nice advantages in that it works on any surface, sits still on the table, and doesn’t have that penchant for disappearing that pens so often do. Speed and precision are second nature with a stylus. Selecting a region changes the language and/or content on you don’t find yourself handwriting bawdy messages in SolidWorks as frequently as I do, but the broader point is valid: pencils are shaped like pencils because that shape maximizes the fluid dexterity of the shoulder/elbow/hand/finger machine. If you’re looking to integrate a drawing tablet or pen into your workflow, learn more about working with these tools in Illustrator, Animate, and Photoshop. Whether you’re an illustrator, designer, or studio artist, digital drawing tools offer exciting new ways to create. For the best ongoing performance, you’ll need to replace your nib every so often. Even if you’re happy with the default nib, remember that nibs wear down over time. Apple Pencil has yet to release different nib styles, but most Wacom and Anoto Livescribe smartpens have a variety of options to choose from. This can have a huge impact on how the pen feels and draws. Matte protectors also give the surface more tooth, meaning the pen has more friction and texture than it would if it were simply drawing on glass.ĭepending on what kind of stylus you have, you may be able to swap out the tip. Matte screen protectors are a popular accessory for tablet screens because they provide a more paper-like drawing experience. Investigating digital drawing accessories.
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The only thing to watch out for is your rechargeable smartpen’s battery life. Instead of scrapping a whole canvas in the event of a mistake or worrying about wasting expensive materials, artists can just hit “undo” and try again. “You get more control and more flexibility than a mouse, and more options than a pencil,” explains designer Robin Casey.ĭigital drawing tools are quick and forgiving, allowing the user to create without having to refill any physical supplies. Swapping pen and paper for stylus and screen.Ĭreating with a tablet and stylus has become an essential part of many artists’ and designers’ workflow. Discover all the ways you can create with digital mediums that are becoming more advanced every day. And, with tablets and mobile apps, you can create from anywhere, anytime. They allow you to draw, sketch, paint, take digital notes, and more with the convenience of unlimited do-overs and digital storage. While traditional art often leads to scrapped drafts spilling over the edge of a trash can, digital drawing tools make trial, error, creation, and exploration easier than ever before. Digital drawing tools take art to new levels.
