How to choose the best drawing tablet in 2022 and Wacom alternatives

What is a drawing tablet?

Drawing tablets, also known equally pen tablets or graphic tablets, are input devices that can be used to substitute or complement a mouse. They're very popular in the graphic arts field and are considered by some as an indispensable assistance for whatever creative professional.

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The Wacom Intuos M replaces the Intuos Pro Medium as my superlative pick for the all-time cartoon tablet for virtually users. It's a actually capable product that tin can handle professional person work environments as long equally you don't need tilt support, multi impact input and are not using 4K or multiple displays. For those cases, the Wacom Intuos Pro One thousand is still the best option.

If you're on a budget, accept a good look at the XP-PEN Deco Pro Medium and Small models, or even cheaper, the XP-PEN Deco 01 V2. In a nutshell, the Deco Pro models support tilt like the more expensive Wacom Intuos Pro lineup, while the Deco 01 V2 trades tilt for a larger work expanse and lower price, compared to the Deco Pro Small model.

What is a cartoon tablet used for?

Drawing tablets can be used for well-nigh creative and content production needs such as analogy, photography, 3D modeling, animation, graphic pattern, etc. Most professional programs on those fields offer advanced pen support and tin can recognize and use pen pressure level and even tilt, on more feature-rich models similar the Wacom Intuos Pro lineup.

Touching the tip of the pen on the tablet surface is the equivalent of a click, while pressure and pen tilt can exist used to vary stroke width, opacity, effect intensity, and other attributes. There are buttons on the pen that tin can be programmed for right click or other commands.

Most important of all, working with a drawing tablet is faster and more efficient than with a mouse. Your hand can travel from point to point on the screen in a single movement instead of repeated slides, every bit with a conventional mouse or trackpad. More chiefly, it also allows for more than natural input in activities such as cartoon and photo retouching.

Why using a pen is better than a mouse

Holding a pen is also much more than ergonomic than using a mouse, and most users with repetitive strain injury (RSI) or tendonitis suffer less hurting when using a tablet. In my personal case, it completely cured a chronic pain I had in my right wrist. I've been using a Wacom pen tablet exclusively for the past twenty years and could not become back to a mouse.

Working with a mouse requires repetitive muscle movements while the residual of the mitt keeps withal, creating uneven muscle fatigue. A pen, on the other hand, allows you to work in a more relaxed position and eliminates the forearm twisting that strains muscles and tendons. At the terminate of the mean solar day, it feels much more natural and relaxed.

The Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660, released in January 2017) drawing tablet is our top pick for all artistic professional fields - such every bit design, illustration, video and photography. The medium size has plenty of resolution to handle single displays of any common size, including 4K or 5K LCDs higher up 30". For a lower priced culling, check out the regular Intuos Medium with Bluetooth (model CTL-6100WL).

Areas in which drawing tablets don't work so well

There are a few areas in which fifty-fifty the best drawing tablets are not the platonic input devices.

Most games don't work very well with pen input, every bit their interfaces were originally designed for mouse control. Recollect about controlling a first person shooter with a pen. It definitely makes trivial sense.

In the architectural and applied science fields, there's a split: some users honey it, some hate it, mostly because the mouse curlicue wheel is very handy for zooming on CAD programs and Wacom tablets take that feature on the tablet surface, requiring putting the pen bated to use it. Force per unit area sensitivity is as well ignored in those programs, neglecting one of the tablet's main features. On the other hand, the more ergonomic position and programmable buttons could more than make upwardly for it.

Wacom recently introduced an optional pen designed specifically for 3D programs. The Wacom Pro Pen 3D – compatible with current Intuos Pro, Cintiq Pro and MobileStudio Pro models – trades the pressure sensitive eraser in the back for an additional customizable button that can exist mapped to whatsoever command in your application. It'due south not a real breakthrough compared to the regular Pro Pen, simply the extra push tin can come in handy when navigating 3 axis of movement in a 3D pattern program.

Using a pen aslope with a regular mouse

When consulting with other photographers and designers, I frequently notice people that choose a mouse for full general computer usage and switch to the pen tablet for creative programs, such equally Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom or design apps. Continue in listen that Wacom drivers play well with mice and both devices practice not interfere with each other.

I've personally switched fully to pen input almost 20 years ago, abandoned the mouse and never looked dorsum. I utilize my Intuos Pro Medium for everything and keep a regular Intuos Medium for traveling with the laptop. Not coincidently, those are the nearly well rounded models on Wacom'due south lineup and my elevation recommendations for most users.

Will touch devices kill pen tablets?

I doubt information technology. Without a major practice in user interface design, my feeling is that we won't be able to attain the necessary cartoon precision with bare fingers to supplant tablets. The ii technologies are complementary and Wacom offers models that incorporate bear on control. This gives u.s.a. the best of both worlds: bare finger touch and gestures for quick window transitions, icon and menu selections, along with a pen for more precise actions where pinpoint accuracy and especially pressure sensitivity are indispensable.

Go on in listen that bear on input can exist an overrated characteristic for some utilise cases. Laptop users, for instance, already have a proficient trackpad or touchscreen at their disposal, lessening the demand for multi touch on the tablet itself. On the pen displays front, sometimes touch input gets in the style of your work and can interfere with the pen, even with the excellent palm rejection on newer Wacom models. The Cintiq Pro 24 with multi touch on costs $500 more than its regular sibling and I'd personally choose the non-touch version for my work.

Which pen tablet should I go?

Wacom is still the best brand of drawing tablets, but go along an center on the less expensive alternatives

Wacom still offers the best pen tablets on the market but the competition has been heating up on the by few years and now nosotros tin can find good quality cheap cartoon tablets from a variety of brands such as Huion, XP-PEN, Artisul, Gaomon, Monoprice, Ugee and Yiynova.

Unlike most of the contest, Wacom pens use a patented electromagnetic resonance (EMR) applied science, so they don't need batteries or any wires to function, reducing maintenance and weight for a more natural pen feel. The well-nigh noticeable difference, though, is non the lack of a battery. To be fair, nowadays the batteries on culling pen tablet brands last and then long that this is non really an issue and both XP-PEN and Huion offer models with bombardment-free EMR pens.

What actually sets Wacom pen tablets apart is better pen precision, with improved pressure level transitions and less wavy diagonal lines than the competition. Wacom tablets tend to be supported for a longer time and take better drivers and 3rd party integration than competing brands, making them a lasting investment.

I've always recommended Wacom tablets since the first revision of this guide, 7 years ago, but the panorama has been slowly changing in the past few years, especially on the pen display and tablet computer markets. Wacom'due south Cintiq Pro and MobileStudio Pro lineups now discover strong competition from the budget brands, Microsoft Surface tablets and even the iPad with the optional Apple Pencil.

As those devices come downward in price, creative professionals may be tempted to drift from a traditional pen tablet (Intuos) or pen display (Cintiq Pro) to a full blown tablet that integrates pen, brandish and reckoner in a single device. This makes a lot of sense for illustrators as all-in-i devices combine portability with the practicality of working directly on a sheet. Mobile reckoner power has been increasing steadily and tablet computers tin now replace desktop computers for most tasks.

Wacom updated its tablet computer models in 2019: The MobileStudio Pro 13 (xiii.3 inch) and the MobileStudio Pro 16 (15.6 inch). The larger model offers an UHD (3840 ten 2160) display with better color gamut, covering 94% of the AdobeRGB color space. Both come up with Intel i7 processors, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

The Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 is an illustrator's dream come up truthful: a large 24" digital canvas with very niggling parallax, 4K resolution, wide color gamut and the latest pen applied science.

In addition to those, the Cintiq Pro 24 and 32 models can have an optional calculating module chosen Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine. This module turns the pen display into an upgradeable Windows 10 workstation. It'due south not really portable equally it lacks a battery, but is a far more self contained solution than lugging a desktop around. These modules are pricey but evangelize pro course hardware on a compact bundle, which tin can be interesting for users in professional environments.

It's a tough marketplace for Wacom as bigger companies, like Microsoft, tin can afford to iterate faster between hardware revisions. It took Microsoft 7 years to introduce eight new Surface Pro models and their latest version, the Surface Pro 8, is a very tempting alternative on the tablet / pen calculator space, specially for users that need a total blown Windows desktop workflow. Just keep in listen that the pen for this latest model is sold separately – Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2 – and upgrading to the 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD model could be a expert investment.

In 2022, Wacom notwithstanding produces the best dedicated cartoon devices, while the Surface tablets are better all around computers and nothing tin vanquish the iPad with Apple Pencil on low price, ease of use and convenience, while losing on integration and admission to professional workflows.

Best inexpensive drawing tablet and Wacom alternatives

On the traditional pen tablets front, If you're on tight budget and cannot stretch it to the $200 range for an Intuos M with Bluetooth, take a proficient expect at the XP-PEN Deco Pro Modest in the $100 range and the Deco 01 v2 at the $60 mark. Both models are highly rated, offer better specs and really good hardware build quality for less than a comparable Wacom product. If your budget allows, I still think the Intuos Thou is a better long-term investment.

Best Wacom drawing tablets and pen displays - Updated in March 2022

Hither are our top picks in each of Wacom'due south main product lines. Those are the models we feel are the almost competitive and upward to date, representing the best blindside for the buck for whatever creative professional.

Drawing tablets - Intuos and Intuos Pro

  • Intuos Pro Medium model PTH-660, released in 2017
  • This is the well-nigh well rounded model of all Wacom pen tablets. It has the right blend of size, resolution and features to satisfy most artistic users and display configurations. Hardware quality is excellent and based on the track record of my own previous Wacom Pro tablets, it should last for several years of daily apply.
  • Intuos Medium model CTL-6100WL, released in 2018
  • The regular Intuos line offers great value for first-time pen tablet buyers or anyone on a budget. Well made, very lite and thin, with enough resolution to work well on large displays up to 2560 pixels in width. It is also an splendid travel companion for users that already accept a Pro model on their main setup and would like a more portable alternative for traveling.

Which models to avert

Note that the small Intuos models are non amongst our recommended buys for artistic work. The smaller expanse combined with the lower resolution makes information technology hard to achieve the necessary cursor precision for creative work, particularly on higher resolution displays. Those models are more suitable for general computer usage, handwriting recognition and for educational uses.

Intuos vs. Intuos Pro

Effect though the regular Intuos offers great blindside for the buck, there are a few key differences that set the Pro model apart. If y'all're choosing betwixt both and have the budget to afford the Pro model, have some time to understand if any those features would be an important asset for your particular utilise instance.

  • Tilt support
  • Required to correctly simulate the shapes of natural brushes, making it a must-have feature for illustrators working in programs that simulate natural media. Tilt gives much more natural results in those cases and there'due south no software workaround for that.
  • Multi-touch input
  • If you're a desktop computer user, chances are that yous're going to miss having bear upon support for Os gestures and navigation. The quality of bear upon input on an Intuos Pro isn't up to the best trackpads, but is nevertheless very skillful and comes in handy for zooming, scrolling and switching between windows while working.
  • Higher resolution
  • Wacom didn't stand up nevertheless as figurer displays increased in resolution. Current pen tablets offer really high resolution and even the regular Intuos tin handle large resolutions with splendid cursor precision. The Intuos M model, for example, can accost up to 2540 lines per inch, which translates into 21600 past 13500 points on its surface. Pro models have double the resolution at 5080 lpi and a slightly larger agile area. Compared to a typical display resolution, that is plenty.
  • In exercise, I felt comfortable using the Intuos M tablet up to a single 30" display with 2560x1600 pixels. At that resolution, the Pro model felt a bit more precise, just the regular 1 was still plenty useable. That's higher than the actual resolution of a 5K iMac running on its native Retina scaling, which is equivalent to a 2560x1440 display.
  • Users with 4K displays running at their native resolution of 3840x2160 or multiple display users should invest on an Intuos Pro M model, every bit the resolution divergence becomes very credible in those cases and the regular Intuos 1000 model doesn't deliver plenty accuracy for critical work.
  • Build quality and accessories
  • The Intuos Pro is amend constructed and feels like a luxury product in hand. It'south built like a tank and should concluding for years of professional use. The Pro lineup also offers more accessories, like optional pens, nibs and surface sheets in divergence textures.

Choosing the correct drawing tablet size

Tablet size and resolution vs. screen size

Tablet sizes should exist relative to your screen size and resolution. The smaller the tablet surface, the less hand motion will be necessary to motion the cursor on the screen. Having a tablet likewise small for your screen leads to a jumpy cursor and makes fine selections difficult. A tablet too big for your screen feels slow, requiring more than hand movement, and may tire your arm muscles quicker.

Tablet resolution is likewise a factor. The regular Intuos model has half the resolution of the flagship Intuos Pro line and this difference may be very noticeable, depending on your screen size. Given the same tablet size, the higher the resolution, the bigger the screen that can be used comfortably with it.

Bigger tablets, such equally the 16.viii" ten 11.2" (430 x 287 mm) models (Intuos Pro Large, for instance), are difficult to utilize along with a keyboard and tend to be more than acceptable for single task piece of work where typing is secondary, for instance video editing or cartoon. If y'all are an illustrator and likes to draw with very long strokes, a larger cartoon area may exist necessary. For most artists, the medium sized models are the sweet spot.

For dual brandish use, keep in mind that the overall screen proportion is much more than horizontal than the tablet itself. Through the system preferences configuration console, the tablet tin be set up for different screen mappings, unmarried screen way or screen switching with a hotkey. The near natural manner, in my stance, is to keep the screen proportion exactly the same as the tablet surface. If you use dual displays, this ways that some of the vertical area of the tablet would be inactive and that the horizontal resolution available will exist mapped to a much bigger number of pixels—for instance, 3840 x 1080 for dual 24" 1080P displays. This would crave a larger drawing area than a single screen, and preferably a high cease tablet such as the Intuos Pro Medium or Big models. An alternative that works fairly well is to use a smaller tablet and gear up a hot key combination to switch the control between the two screens, but doing this create some defoliation when dragging objects from i screen to the other.

My favorite keyboard for employ along with a Wacom tablet is Logitech K810 (PC), or K811 (Mac), because it has a smaller footprint and fits nicely at either side of the tablet. A total size keyboard may exist also large to be used on the side of a tablet larger than an Intuos Pro Medium, leaving the tablet too far from the primal seating position. Some users prefer to identify the keyboard in front end of the tablet. This organisation works best if y'all don't need to employ the keyboard much while working and is not my preferred working position.

Pay attending to the tablet size you choose: Having a tablet too pocket-sized for your screen feels imprecise and makes fine selections hard. A tablet also big for your screen feels slow, requiring likewise much manus move, and may tire your arm muscles quicker.

Retina Displays and resolution scaling

Always consider the bodily effective resolution of your screen, and not the raw hardware resolution, to chose the most adequate pen tablet model and size. For example, even though an Apple MacBook Pro 13" brandish has 2560 x 1600 pixels at native resolution, the operating system default and recommended scaled resolutions vary from 1680 x 1050 to 1440 ten 900 pixels. This is well within the realms of a regular Intuos Medium model.

First days with your new drawing tablet

Working with a tablet is a paradigm alter and may crave an accommodation catamenia for hardcore mouse addicts.

All pen tablets piece of work with absolute positioning, while mice are relative positioning devices. This means that you can slide your mouse several times to move the cursor across your screen, while on a tablet all you do is move your manus and position the pen tip on the respective point on the tablet surface. This changes your eye vs. mitt coordination logic and can be a footling daunting the showtime fourth dimension.

I bought my starting time Wacom Graphire 4" ten 5" model, circa 1998, after suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome for a good time. No affair what treatment I used, I always felt hurting afterwards using my mouse for extended periods, so adapting to a new input device was surely less painful than keeping the mouse.

My tablet arrived in the middle of a book design job and I delved directly into it, leaving the mouse asunder. You can use a mouse forth with the tablet, but my reasoning was that the more than I forced myself to get used to the tablet, the faster I'd principal it. After 2 days of work, I was already comfy with it and never used a mouse again in the 20 years after that twenty-four hours.

A peek into the future

At 40, I'1000 older than the average twenty-something that populates nearly artistic studios effectually the world. I come from an age where screens were monochromatic and there was no Snapchat or even the Internet. Oh, the horror!

While I love desktop computers and focus on tools that allow me to get stuff washed with maximum efficiency, I have to concede that the globe is moving towards mobile devices and playing with the amazing tech toys we take nowadays can be an amazing creative outlet.

People and companies (I'm looking at yous, Apple) are abandoning desktops and this trend is no different on the pen tablet market. We're moving from pen input devices and pen enabled displays to complete tablets that ally computer, display, touch and pen on the aforementioned device. This makes a lot of sense for the general public and peculiarly illustrators, who at present take freedom to produce work anywhere without beingness tied to a computer.

On the other hand, it makes admittedly no sense trying to employ a tablet computer, even a powerful one, for movie editing, web pattern, 3D animation, print design or fifty-fifty professional photography. Those are areas that benefit profoundly not but from pen input, but also from raw processing ability and workflows that favor integration between different programs, fast storage devices and multiple professionals working simultaneously on a projection. In those cases, desktop computers offer much meliorate bang for the buck and workflow integration options.

In other words, I wouldn't abandon my computer and Intuos Pro (or Cintiq Pro) for an iPad, even though I'd heartily recommend an iPad for illustrators, comic artists or students who want to dive into the artistic field.

Keep in mind that none of the companies that occupy this big market place are standing even so.

I recognize Wacom equally a company that moves fast, experiments a lot and thinks exterior of the box, even though this sometimes leads to a disruptive product lineup. This is a keen trait coming from a large company. Their recently revamped tablet line, the MobileStudio Pro, is a very well reviewed device that bridges the gaps between mobile devices and traditional pen input.

Microsoft offers the best laptop replacement tablets on the market place. The n-Trig technology used for pen input is not up to Wacom's golden standard, just has been improving at a fast pace and the Surface Pro 8 is a not bad device, surely capable to replace a traditional computer and Cintiq combo for a lot of use cases. Microsoft made great improvements on the pen latency, initial activation force and pen wobble on this latest iteration.

Apple is another of import player. The iPad Pro and Apple Pencil introduction was received with some skepticism from professional users – myself included – just has proved itself every bit a worthwhile alternative for digital analogy. The iPad excels in usability and is a much bacteria and portable package than even a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet, non to mention the big price difference. The latest iPad + Apple Pencil philharmonic tin be had for less than half the cost of a Surface Pro 8 and a third of the least expensive Wacom MobileStudio Pro.

iOS software ecosystem favors newcomers and outside thinking, bringing to the market programs like Procreate and Paper by Fifty Iii, for drawing, or even Astropad, which turns and iPad into a Wacom Cintiq replacement. Traditional software companies are also investing in this market. Take a look at SketchBook past Autodesk and the offerings from Adobe that transform the iPads into companion devices for the desktop Artistic Suite.