Graphic Tablet

Graphic tablets in the digital age

The basic digital drawing tool used to interface with a virtual canvas on Photoshop, Illustrator or any other host of programs designed for the new age artist. There are also graphic tablets that have built-in screens that one draws onto directly. This makes for a more portable option which has its own benefits.

General features

Not just used by artists but also a lot of photographers to retouch images in large amounts, as doing that with a mouse would take more time. The stylus improves the process with it being a lot more precise, also as we are more used to taking a pencil to more specific regions than a mouse. Graphic tablets have various other buttons and jog wheels alongside the open drawing space, to add another layer of efficiency and flow to ones work. Not having to use a mouse to change settings inside the computer allows for a more hands-on based hardware interaction, with the machine making for a quicker response overall. Incorporating more hi-tech systems and coding, these tablets can sense the variations between 1000s of levels of pressure and mould your line according to that and the angles, this sounds like a simplification but in application, this is a beautiful step for technology.

Sizes & connectivity

Available in varied sizes depending on your specific needs and of course budget, the smaller ones being more portable along with your laptop or on their own. There are also different shapes available in the pen/stylus and what you choose is a matter of what sets better in your hand; aiding your work process. Most connect through a USB port but now there is also the option of connecting through Bluetooth making it easier for you to set where you sit and work. This gives you leeway to be more free, you could sit on the sofa at a distance and be using your TV to work on.

Stand-alone options

A lot of graphics tablets are similar to touchscreen tablets, the drawing is done straight onto the screen so you are not interfacing with a laptop. A unit that is complete with a screen, processor and drawing surface. Of course, these versions are a lot more costly compared to the simple drawing tablets.

Tablets feel somewhat different

One thing that an artist needs to get used to is the way the stylus glides over the surface of all these tablets; it can be a bit annoying to begin with. There are stickers for the drawing surface that add texture akin to a paper so you have some frictional resistance but still it takes some getting used to.

Wacom has also thought about this and introduced a version that you can clip a paper onto and draw, the sensors below transfer the image onto the computer for you to play around with digitally. This range is called the Wacom Intuos Pro Paper. Aside from this, the known graphic tablets include Monoprice, Huion and XP-Pen. 

Comments

All this takes some getting used to and when you really start to feel the art form you will realise how much more this can open up to you, from just basic graphic design to character design for complex games and movies.

The price of a graphic tablet depends on its size and the brand that made it. A stand-alone tablet that does not interface with a computer would cost a lot more, usually more than a few times the price of the other tablet.