Hey lex! Im lookin into buying a drawin tablet for the first time and was wondering if you had any tips on what to look for & avoid while doing so? bc i have no idea what im doing and dont wanna spend my broke binch money on smth thatll shit out quickly
@sevenspires Sorry for taking so long to answer this again! I got really bummed out after I tried typing a response the first time and losing it T_T Now I’m back months later, LOL
If you can’t afford a Wacom brand tablet, make sure that you read up on specifications that are important. Screen size, resolution, pressure levels, color settings, all that.
Tablets above a certain size, or of a certain screen type are VERY bulky and built like a tv screen. (usually bigger than 15 inches or so.) Make sure you differentiate between those kinds and the more lightweight, portable ones, and choose accordingly. I have a small space and work on the go, so more portable tablets for me are a non-negotiable requirement. My current tablet is like a slate the same size as my laptop, but I can still put it in my backpack if I need to go elsewhere and work. It’s still technically too big for my work space though. Other artists have studio-sized spaces and plenty of room to have a 24-inch tablet to draw on. It depends on your line of work!
Wacom is always going to have top of the curve pressure levels, but you can get away with having 1024 at the minimum for any tablet you end up using. I honestly can’t tell the difference between 1024 and 2048 levels (even though I know there is a difference- 2048 is definitely smoother) If you’re looking at old/outdated stuff that’s in your price range, you can get away with 512 pressure levels.512 = the barest minimum | 1024 = decent | 2048 = I think this is the modern standard for tablets right now | 8192 and higher = luxurious
My current XP-Pen 13.3 tablet has a whopping 8192, and the pressure levels are SO nuanced, that it starts to make my lines actually look... kind of bad, LMAO. So for me, 8192 is too much nuance for pen pressure. But hey I got it free so I don’t care, LOL
Make sure you can afford more than one set of the accessories that go with the tablet. Pens, nibs, cables, ALL of that stuff. And if you don’t feel like buying them right away, make sure you plan ahead in the future. With cheaper tablets like XP-Pen, Huion, Monoprice, and etc. the money you save by not buying a Wacom is money you can put towards replacement parts.
READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF YOUR WARRANTY! You should always do this when you buy shiny new toys, but it’s VERY important for your art hardware. Make sure you keep your purchase records archived in your e-mail as proof for when you redeem your RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization)Usually an RMA or warranty says that If anything goes wrong with your tablet within the warranty period that you purchased it, as long as you didn’t tamper with the tablet yourself, they will replace it with a new one for no charge except how much it costs to ship it back. I’ve done it with my cheapest Monoprice tablet (RIP) and my current XP-Pen tablet. My first XP-Pen took a nasty fall to the floor one day and the screen stopped working :’( So yeah, read the terms of your warranty, it might save you one day!!!
If you already use keyboard shortcuts on your computer a lot, you usually don’t need side buttons on your tablet. I forget they exist. Every time. Otherwise, if you find the keys on the tablet to be very accessible, then go for it! AFAIK, only Wacom has done the BEST side buttons bc they always have sliders for zooming in and out on your canvas, which I actually used before. Other than that, I have never used the side buttons on a tablet since.
Read your installation and instruction manuals! Even if you think you know how to install a tablet after owning 5 different brands, read the manuals!!! In my experience with windows, getting your tablet’s drivers to work the first time is absolute hell because tablets are always fighting with Windows’ tablet pc stuff. So even if you’re tech savvy and have been fighting Windows’ tablet support for over a decade, READ THE MANUALS! Make sure you go to the correct website, download drivers for the correct tablet model, ALL of that. Restart your computer when the installation tells you to, EVERYTHING. Do what the instructions say! After that, you can take to tech support or forums for any problems you have later.
Make sure your art software is up to date as well once you’ve installed your tablet!
Uhhh that’s all I got! If you (or anyone else who sees this post) have any questions, feel free to ask in the replies/reblogs, I do check them!
(Also I am selling one of my old/dated tablets that still works, so if ur interested, hmu and we can talk pricing!)
