6 Best Graphics Drawing Tablets for Kids

Does your child like to write or make notes often? Do they often draw or doodle on the walls or on any piece of paper they find?

Do your kid passionate about drawing and are you looking to capture their creations digitally?

Well, then you should think about getting them a writing board to encourage them to write or sketch more and prevent them from scribbling on the walls, or important work documents.

We know that the traces on paper are pure art but transferring them to a screen through a drawing tablet, it will allow people to save and share them more easily.

When it comes to encouraging creative kids you can’t go wrong with supporting their imaginations and letting them create what’s in their head onto a screen and a digital graphics tablet can help with that.

You are going in the right direction because in this article you will know the best drawing pad tablets for kids to draw and go from paper to screen like a professional.

Which Drawing Tablet is Right for Kids?

A drawing tablet is an excellent tool for artists to push the limits of their creativity. All drawing tablets are more or less easy to use and made for everyone.

In general, there are different types of drawing tablets. Each takes a different approach to the core challenge of helping you draw on your Windows PC or Mac as if you were drawing on paper.

1. Graphics Tablets

The traditional drawing tablet features a flat, featureless surface that you draw with a stylus, with the image displayed on a computer monitor.

Graphics tablets are still the most affordable drawing tablet category. Its main disadvantage is the feeling of "disconnection" between the drawing surface and the screen, although most people get used to this quickly.

Graphics tablets require your child to go through a learning curve in order to get good at them.

These tablets are often more compact and lightweight than their counterparts with displays.

2. Pen Display Monitors

Pen displays consist of a flat-screen monitor with a pressure-sensitive surface that you draw with a stylus. you can see what you're drawing without an additional monitor. Obviously, the LCD display helps you with an awesome drawing experience.

They don't have the disconnected feeling experienced with graphics tablets . However, you get a lot of cables between the screen and the computer, because you need to connect it to computer since it doesn't have its own CPU,RAM,ROM and operating system.

3. multi-purpose standalone drawing tablets

They are priced much higher than graphics tablets, since they have more features, come with a built-in OS, CPU , RAM, ROM and screen. they are more portable since they can be used on their own. such as an iPad or an Amazon Fire HD Kids tablet.

What distinguishes them from the above two kinds, is that they can have apps and games stored in them as well, making them multifunctional.

There is an easy-to-use parental control option. You can limit screen time, identify educational goals and curfews.

4. LCD writing Tablet & Doodle Board

These tablets provide only a simple drawing surface for doodling and sketching. Many, like the Richgv model, don't even have the capacity to save creations, just for Simple sketch, doodle and write.

It offers a one button erase function, and has an anti-erasure lock to help prevent accidental erasures.

There's no need to worry about cables, connections, and charging the device. That's all thanks to the long-lasting button batteries.

The screen does not emit radiations or glare, making it safe for kids' eyes even when used for prolonged periods.

What should you look for when buying a drawing tablet?

The best tablet to get for your child depends on their needs and preferences, as well as yours. You need to consider a bunch of factors, including the use case for the tablet, its features, size, battery life, warranty, price, and so on.

Here are a few things you may want to consider when choosing a drawing tablet:

Budget: how much money do you have to spend? Prices can vary wildly, so this could be a deciding factor for you.

Features: how extensive do you need the features of your drawing tablet to be? Can the display be simple or do you need a more specialised device?

Size: do you want something small and portable or something larger to set up at home?

Screen: do you want to draw directly onto the tablet's screen or plug it into your existing computer screen?

Working area: do you need a large area that allows for intricate work?

Resolution: Resolution is the number of vertical and horizontal pixels that the screen can display. The screen is sharper the higher its resolution, regardless of its size. for non-screen tablets, resolution is measured in Lines per Inch (LPI). Higher LPIs mean a higher resolution.

Pressure sensitivity: the pressure of your lines could tell the thickness of the lines. It's one of the key elements in digital art that could make the outcome look more appealing. You'll need greater sensitivity if the work is more detailed.

Stylus: Stylus is a key component when it comes to tablets. While some use batteries, others do not, and some are even wired. Wired styluses give you less control, and wireless is more flexible. Ones with batteries tend to be heavier than ones without.

Video connections： Tablets with a built-in monitor connect to the PC with a video connection cable and a USB connector. Although some of the latest models of graphics tablets use USB Type-C cables for the video connection, it is best if your computer also has at least one free HDMI port.

Battery life: the tablet's battery life is another noteworthy feature. Also, the batteries should be replaceable and offer a longer shelf life.

Benefits of a drawing tablet for kids

You might be wondering “does my child need a drawing tablet?”

Well, there are many benefits to giving young kids drawing tablets. The most obvious reason is that these tablets unleash the child's creativity. It allows the child to express himself or herself through art.

Another reason kids need drawing tablets is that it keeps them busy when you have things to do. The tablet is an immersive educational toy, so it keeps the child interested and excited. Also, it helps kids develop and learn new skills.

But finally, drawing tablets are a great way to save paper and pens, crayons, pencils, etc. You don't need to spend any more money on wasteful drawing resources. Plus, think about it this way: with a drawing tablet, the child can draw, write, color, read, play games (on sophisticated models) with one tool. The tablet replaces many toys and devices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Buying a tablet for drawing for your kids is not a simple task. It requires thorough research and understanding of how tablets work and then make the decision.

Are drawing tablets worth it?

If your child likes to draw, yes, a drawing tablet is definitely worth its price. You can start off by buying a cheap drawing tablet for less than $30. With it, your child can explore his/her artistic abilities. In time, the child develops a love and appreciation for art, which leads to more creative thinking and expression.

At what age should you give your child a drawing tablet?

It's recommended that you wait until preschool to introduce your child to a drawing tablet. This is when the child learns to scribble, draw, and write.

A LCD Writing tablet / glow pad used for doodles and scribbles is best for young kids under the age of 7. But for school-age kids, a regular tablet is more educational. Kids can be more creative and they engage with content more effectively. At this age, the child benefits from the educational aspects of a drawing tablet.

Plus, we suggest that you learn how to put parental controls if you're purchasing a full-fledged display tablet for your kids. playtime should be limited and if properly monitored the use of a tablet does not hinder the child's social development.

Should you go all-in and buy an expensive tablet?

Depends. If you are a parent trying to find a tablet for your kids, then it is best to stick to a budget tablet. By doing so, you invest a reasonable investment and learn if your kid is really interested in using a tablet. If they do, then it is awesome! If they don't, then you surely saved some money.

Sometimes it's hard to determine if a device is a toy or a truly educational device for your child. A drawing tablet is a combination of both. A real tablet like an iPad is much more educational because the child can do so much more with it.

You should only go all-in and buy an expensive tablet if you know what you are doing.

Does tablet screen quality matter the most?

The screen quality of a tablet is an integral part of any tablet. A poor quality screen can damage the child's eyesight. Choose a tablet with a high-resolution screen or an LCD screen.

A high res screen lets the child see the details well so they don't need to squint or pull the tablet very close to the eyes.

Also, it is easy to miss details on a poor or low-resolution screen. Many tablets boost specs but are not great.

With better screens, the kids are able to create more beautiful drawings and the colors are more vivid. That's why you should also learn about tablets before getting one.

Are tablet's screen bad for children's eyes?

Tablets are not bad for children's eyes per se. What's bad for them is spending too much screen time, that is time spent staring at a screen. This can lead to eye strain and possible eye damage in the long run. To prevent this, set time limits for your child to use the tablet and also make sure the brightness isn't set too high.

What is the role of the stylus pen?

In most cases, the tablet comes with a stylus pen. This is an essential accessory because it is what the child uses to draw and write on the screen. Look for pens that the child can hold comfortably.

Also, many tablets come with multiple pens of different sizes and styles so kids can create all kinds of lines, shapes, and textures. These are handy for youngsters who get bored easily.

6 best xp-pen drawing tablets for kids

If your child is old enough to understand a computer, then the drawing tablet might be great for them. It is intended for older kids who understand the basics of working with a computer.

You can fire up a nice drawing app, it could be a program specifically made for children, but you'd be amazed at how much fun they can have with just MS paint or another drawing tool.

The drawing tablet is a useful device no matter whether you're a designer or just an amateur. There can be many different choices on the marketplace for a drawing tablet.

The question is which one to choose. When it comes to graphics drawing tablets, Wacom is perhaps one of the most popular. For the first-time experience, we recommend the XP-Pen tablet. It works great as a kid tablet as well.

It's difficult to argue against Wacom, which produces high-end drawing tablets that are superior in every way. Getting a Wacom Cintiq or any Wacom intuos is a fantastic choice if you're searching for a professional or even an amateur tablet for your digital work.

While XP-Pen still offers professional-level tablets, their prices are more suited to mid-level and below artists. That is simply because they are more affordable while remaining highly functional. Whether your kids are just starting out or have been a professional for quite some time, XP-Pen has a tablet for your kids.

1. XP-Pen Star G430S / Star G640

The XP-Pen Star G430S / Star G640 can be called the best drawing tablet for kids as it combines several valuable features as reasonable price and is designed to serve your kids for many years.

It works great for beginner users when your kids improve their drawing skills. These two tablets has a slim design of 2mm thickness.

The two devices are rather compact – active area of star g430s is 4 x 3 inches and Star G640 is 6 x 4 inches , thus you can easily take it with you while traveling.

It comes with a battery-free stylus that features a side button to quickly switch between pen and eraser functions. Its stylus has 8192 pressure sensitivities and a resolution of 5080 LPI.

There's a possibility to edit, write, or convey ideas during video conferencing so you can use it yourself as well. It can be easily connected to a PC or Mac and can be used with any art software. It is good for photo editing and animation.

It is recommended for drawing, sketching, painting, and gaming of OSU. Still, there is one considerable issue – the two small version can feel a bit cramped soon. you might want a large one.

2. XP-Pen Deco Mini4 / Deco Mini7

There is a 4 x 3 inches ( Deco Mini4 ) / 7 x 4 inches ( Deco Mini7 ) sketching area and it is slim ( deco mini4 is 8mm thickness and deco mini7 is 9.3mm thickness ) and lightweight for easy portability.

Additionally, Deco Mini4 has six express keys and Deco Mini7 has eight hotkeys that make shortcuts personality easy.

The battery-free stylus provides 8192 levels of sensitivity. in addition，the stylus of Deco Mini7 is Design with tilt sensitivity which can make the strokes look more organic.

It is the tablet that supported by Android , Chrome OS,Windows and Mac OS. We also recommend considering an extra wire-free wireless model of Deco Mini7w to simplify usage.

As an added, bonus, it comes with three software to select one to enable graphic drawing, photo editing, and comic manga your somewhat older child might be into.

This tablet helps children perfect their drawing skills. It's especially useful if your child loves art and is talented. The child can even use this tablet to create artwork for sale as he/she grows in confidence.

3. XP-Pen Deco Fun

The XP-Pen Deco Fun series are available in XS - 4.8x3", S - 6.3x4" and L - 10x6.27" three sizes and features four stylish colors of Classic Black, Space Blue, Apple Green, Carmine Red to select from.

It comes complete with an advanced, battery-free stylus that allows for uninterrupted drawing and playing. It boasts 5,080 LPI , 60 degrees tilt sensitivity ( the smallest version of XS - 4.8x3 doesn't support this function ) and 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity.

With a very affordable price tag, it's an affordable option for those wanting a drawing tablet, and the quality craftsmanship associated with the brand, as well as the ease of setup and use more than justifies that price.

It is suitable for use with OSU! gaming, document signing, casual artwork, editing, inking, sculpturing, and more.

If your child wants to learn digital art, this is the perfect tool for beginners. It allows kids to express their artistic talent but it also looks professional, so they're motivated to practice and work hard.

4. XP-Pen Deco 01 V2

It comes with 8 customizable keys for your favorite shortcuts. It's also portable, but still has a wide area of 10 x 6.25 inches where you can draw or write.

It offers 8192 levels of pen pressure, and comes complete with a battery-free stylus. The innovative tilt control system provides improved pressure detection for more accurate cursor positioning and a more realistic drawing experience.

The XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 drawing pad is now fully compatible with Chromebooks, Windows, Mac and select Android devices. Kids can connect the device to android or chrome OS devices using the included Micro-USB or USB-C adapters and draw with their favorite apps.

We recommend this tablet because it can last them for several years and it's great for them when they're beginners but also excellent when they are skilled illustrators.

It has very good ratings with thousands of people reviewing it, which we think goes a long way in convincing people to make the investment.

5. XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro

This one is seriously more expensive and you'd probably only give this to your child that's getting serious about digital art.

But for those with a bit of a budget and a kid that shows real signs of digital artistry, this is the tablet for you.

This tablet allows users to paint, sketch, and design directly on the tablet providing a seamless creative experience. The high-quality glass enables high precision drawing.

The screen is 11.6”. With a 1920 x 1080 resolution and 72% NTSC color gamut it provides sharp graphics and visuals. The glass is fully laminated with the screen that reduces parallax to ensure the best drawing experience. notice that the model of XP-Pen Artist 12 ( not pro version, 1nd Gen ) is non laminated .

It has an 12.9 mm thin design, 6 express keys and a red scroll wheel for shortcuts. User-defined buttons and multi function scroll wheel put time saving shortcuts, modifiers, scrolling, zooming, and more at your fingertips.

The stylus provides 8192 levels of sensitivity and ±60 levels tilt recognition. It also comes with a high quality pen holder where you can store it when it is not in use.

This tablet is great for left-handed and right-handed users, so children can maneuver the device easily. They can practice drawing and sketching at all skill levels. However, we recommend this product for older kids because it requires quite a lot of tech knowledge.

6. XP-Pen Artist 12 ( 2nd Gen )

The XP-Pen Artist 12 (2nd Gen) with an 11.9-inch fully laminated screen is a portable device that can satisfy your children's drawing needs.

The small model comes with a 1920 x 1080 FHD resolution and can display 94% of the Adobe RGB ( 90% NTSC / 127% sRGB ) color space. which perfect for the most demanding painting and retouching jobs.

It is supplied with XP-PEN's Advanced digital Stylus that is equipped with the X3 Smart Chip. the New pen tip sensor technology lowers activation force and captures every nuance of pen pressure.

This kids draw pad reaches 8192 pressure levels and ±60 levels tilt support , providing a high level of precision and to draw.

XP-Pen Artist 12 (2nd Gen) is available in a range of 4 striking colors of Black,Green,Blue,Pink to suit any surrounding. Also It is developed with 8 hotkeys to adjust necessary functions.

It can be plugged into your laptop or desktop via USB-C connection and works with other software, including CorelDraw, Corel Painter, Illustrator, Photoshop, Paint Tool Sai, SAI, and more.

Although built for professionals, it is still great for children who love to express their creativity through art.

Conclusion

Almost all kids like to draw so why not encourage your creative kids and develop their artistic skills with a digital drawing tablet like the XP-Pen.

A drawing tablet is an awesome gift idea for that kid that has everything. it's a great product to develop a kid's creativity with technology.

My Son has loved drawing for several years now and I enjoy seeing her creative mind come to life on the screen.

I'd rather he be using her imagination with a XP-Pen tablet than watching TV or just playing video games.

Are you ready to get your little artist off to a great start?

Remember to select a tablet that keeps the child interested and creative.

Link: https://www.xp-pen.com/forum-2759.html

10 Best Free & Paid Digital Art Drawing Painting Software for Beginner Artists

Digital Painting, immensely flourishing, is an art process of painting or creating artwork digitally. Digital Painting plays an important role in today's world. Everything has been digitalized and we are to expandingly grow more on the journey of digitalization. Digital painting has brought many advantages to itself in the art. It gives the artist freedom of action.

Digital art is making a vast place and too many companies are introducing very well featured software. With the help of the best editing software, anyone can create a comic, graphic, illustration, and painting easily. Whether the user is a beginner or professional, anyone can create a masterpiece according to the imagination.

To bring imagination into the real world you have to find excellent Digital Painting software. With the help of the best painting and editing software, you can create anything that you want with a fine quality feature. So, let's go through where to find the right digital painting software?

There is many software with similar features and capabilities. So, it became hard finding out the best one. So, we show you the 10 best free and paid drawing software.

Check out the list o the below-mentioned editing software and choose one for creating a digital painting, comic character, illustration, etc.

List of best digital painting & drawing software

When you create a catchy image that it will help you to increase the number of your viewers. To create an excellent one is a big responsibility of the creator. OR to create a masterpiece master software is required. So with the help of the list of best digital painting software, you can create a mesmerizing image with beautiful effects.

The below mentioned are the good features and easy-to-manage software that you can use at a reasonable cost.

1. Adobe Photoshop

Platform: Windows, Mac OS | Price: $9.99/month

When you talk about editing the first name click in your mind is Photoshop. This one is the most popular painting and image editing software. With the help of this software, a beginner can easily editing images. Now it brings lots of creating features, brushes, shapes, etc to create a digital painting.

The newest version of Photoshop comes with a bevy of advanced features, including a "Paint Symmetry" mode that lets you create intricate patterns (e.g. Mandalas) on custom axes of symmetry while a content-aware fill workspace provides an interactive editing experience. Other goodies include a frame tool for easy masking, multiple undo levels, and live blend mode preview.

Digital artists like Photoshop's custom brushes and often create their own. Detailed layer settings, regular updates, and a sleek user interface are the driving force behind Photoshop's continued popularity.

You can rotate your canvas naturally to mimic the rotation of paper. And you can setup grids and rulers for complex scenes, or even bring in 3D objects to paint over. PSD files(Photoshop's native file format) play well with other Adobe programs and this file type is an industry standard.

That means you can import PSDs into almost any other art software without a hitch. GIMP and Krita both accept PSD files along with many other programs.

This is why many artists combine Photoshop with other painting software. Depending on the workflow you're going for you could do your concept and lineart in something like Clip Studio Paint, then bring it to Photoshop for coloring and final touch-ups.

Other digital art software doesn't try to replace Photoshop but instead tries to improve on the interface for specific types of art(ex: comics, storyboards, environment paintings, etc).

It is a bit costly as compared to the other programs. The software work in windows and Mac OS. you can share data and access multiple assets because it is a part of Adobe Creative Cloud.

2. Clip Studio Paint

Platform: Windows, Mac OS , Android , iOS | Price: $49.99

Clip Studio Paint is the most popular software for creating comics and manga artwork. CSP was originally named Manga Studio but changed names in 2013. It originated in Japan as specialist software for manga, illustration, and animators.

The most notable drawing difference between Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop is the brush tool. In Clip Studio the brush tool instantly corrects any minor wobble you make while drawing on a tablet, leaving you with smooth clean linework.

Trusted by professional comic book artists and manga illustrators around the world, the powerhouse digital art software boasts a truckload of specialized features. Clip Studio is optimized for comic book creation and has various tools to speed up the process.

These include panel tools, customizable speech balloons, effect lines, and rulers to draw a variety of lines and shapes. You can also add perspective and realistic depth to backgrounds, position 3D figures (with adjustable body shapes and camera angles) directly on the canvas, and do a lot more.

The program makes it simple to draw vector shapes in smooth strokes and even comes with a "vector eraser" tool to easily erase intersecting lines. Clip Studio Paint gives you access to thousands of customizable brushes, as well as "effect lines," that can be used to add dramatic effects (e.g. speed, action) to illustrations.

Managing the storyboarding workflow is a breeze too, thanks to the page manager and story editor features. Once complete, the finished manga/comic can be previewed in 3D and even published directly in popular formats such as EPUB.

Clip Studio Paint uses advanced pen pressure detection for natural, realistic-looking pen strokes. The collection of its brushes is very fine and gives you a fine touch in a single stroke. If you are looking for a traditional painting experience while doing a software painting then this one is the best choice.

CSP is very good for lineart, It is not the best software to colored in my opinion, but if you're into creating colorful drawings, you could use it to create line art, then export that to Photoshop & other art software & color them there.

It offers its services in two versions:- Pro & EX. The pro version is affordable. If you choose this then you can only manage a single page at a time and fewer features as compared to the EX. ButWith the help of the EX version, you can easily manage multiple pages simultaneously. It offers you an amazing combo of 3D art painting, illustration, etc.

3. Corel Painter

Platform: Windows, Mac OS | Price: $429.99

Corel's graphics processing programmes are known to be one of the leading companies and Painter's new publication is no different. It is the ultimate digital art software for Windows with the right balance of output and functionality.

The extensive collection of over 900 pinions by Corel Painter is divided into 36 categories, from dab stencils and pattern plums to mixers and texture pins. You can also upload brushes and even make your version from other creators. You can either easily turn an image into a digital painting with Corel Painter's informative guides, or paint the lens with a picture as a replication source.

The program comes with six new color harmonies that can be saved as sets, making color selection an effortless affair. It also uses guides and grids based on classical image composition techniques, allowing you to create digital artworks that have a unique sense of proportion. Using mirror painting and kaleidoscope tools, you can easily design symmetrical illustrations by reproducing brushstrokes on the opposite sides of the canvas and by having multiple reflections of mirror planes.

Corel Painter's latest version brings plenty of new enhancements and improvements, particularly for Apple users. There's Sidecar support on macOS Catalina, enabling you to mirror your Mac screen on your iPad and paint with your Apple Pencil, and for MacBook Pro users there's Touch Bar and multi-touch trackpad support.

Other new features include AI-based art styles with 12 artistic styles to choose from, a thick paint workflow for achieving gorgeous oil looks, clone tinting and enhanced layer control as well as plenty of performance optimisations.

This program is very good at imitating traditional brushes, you could use it to paint as if you are using traditional brushes & canvas. It is one of the most expensive ones in the list, but it is surely worth trying. The software is suited or a range of styles. The software is suited to create photo art, fine art, manga, concept art, and illustration.

4. Paint Tool SAI

Platform: Windows | Price: $50.81

Paint Tool SAI is a simple painting program that's exceptionally popular among anime & manga artists. it contains many tools that makes drawing & painting easy, and it is relatively easy to learn.

Paint Tool SAI was first released in 2008 to a wave of popularity. It quickly spread among the art community who loved the clean brush strokes and unique interface.

Ideal for illustrations especially cartoons and anime, it has a straight forward interface, easy to use tools, and offers digital support to devices such as tablets and mobiles. A big plus here is the color tools including full-spectrum choices (light and darks) and luminescence.

SAI's learning curve is minimal and if you're coming from Photoshop you'll pick it up almost instantly. It's still very detailed though and great to use as a sketching program.

Use the pencil brush to get realistic sketches down on a textured canvas. Then switch over to brushes and color your line art to completion.

Now there are some minor limitations like that new projects are limited to 256 layers per canvas. It's also known to slow down with larger file sizes and glitch when trying to preview .gifs in the explorer window.

They also have a system of brushes where you can import textures to merge with brush styles and create totally new brushes.

Many artists use SAI to achieve a digital watercolor effect where the blending modes can mimic watercolor, but the overall feel is smooth and sleek. Others use it primarily for lineart, or for creating a ton of anime.

SAI is a small, old program and has not been significantly updated over the years. It only runs on windows and has a limited set of features.

Now there are some minor limitations like that new projects are limited to 256 layers per canvas. It's also known to slow down with larger file sizes and glitch when trying to preview .gifs in the explorer window.

Get started using SAI by following some easy beginner tutorials on painting in the program. If you put in the time you'll be a pro within a few weeks.

A fantastic program for anyone serious about anime-style art or any kind of digital painting. I'd say SAI is an awesome choice for anime lovers the world over.

5. Artrage

Platform: Windows, Mac OS , iOS , Android | Price: $79 ( for pc )

ArtRage is an easy to use art software for digital painting, and could be used to imitate traditional brushes with its lovely coloring abilities.

Unlike other digital art programs, ArtRage has stepped away from the complicated user interface and ditched the blocky side panels. They want your focus on the canvas creating great work.

when you start drawing on the canvas. The UI automatically disappears(although this setting is optional) and without the UI you get a full screen canvas to work on without any distractions. Pretty cool!

If you are coming from Photoshop you'll find the minimalist layout refreshing and easy to pick up. The brush presets are so good that you don't need to waste time adjusting them much at all.

It comes with a wide variety of unique toolkits which simulate their real collaborators. You can paint using thick oils, delicate watercolours, and even interact with patterns by mixing and spraying the paint. You can design and draw just as you'd on paper thanks to a number of practical resources (such as pastels, shaded pencils).

ArtRage supports unlimited layers and is compatible with all industry-standard blending modes. Using the "Metallic Tinting" feature, you can also add reflectivity to pigments. If you want to use an existing photo as a guide for painting, the same can be done by importing it as a tracing image. The app even samples colors from the tracing image automatically, allowing you to focus on brush strokes.

The full version will let you'll receive all future updates included with your license. The ArtRage Lite version is great for beginners and includes all the painting features of the full version.

You can also use the demo version for an unlimited amount of time. The demo doesn't let you save anything, which of course is a drag, but you can use that to familiarize yourself with the program.

If you've never used digital painting software before then ArtRage is fantastic. It's beginner friendly and super affordable. It doesn't have all the gadgets and gizmos that some prominent art programs have, but it's got all you need to make fun paintings(and a little extra).

What are the valuable techniques to get better at digital painting?

With the help of the growing software and innovation, digital art painting is not very much difficult. You can create multiple paintings or edit them easily. But, if you know about all the amazing techniques of digital painting then you can make it easier and better.

Techniques you should use while doing digital art

Use the default while and light color canvas.
Use limited colors If you don't want to make your painting dizzy.
Copy Colors from reality.
To paint use a big brush.
Get familiar with your software before using it.
Learn the value of the colors.

List of free digital painting & drawing software

Many o the users are not able to afford high or low-value editing software. So or all those here comes god. The below-mentioned software is free of cost through which you can create a painting. Add the best software to your device to create a beautiful painting.

6. Sketchbook

Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS | Price: $85/year ( SketchBook with Enterprise license )

In April 2018, Autodesk made the SketchBook drawing program absolutely free. No hidden costs, no subscription fees — all you have to do in order to use this drawing software with all its premium features is simply create an Autodesk account.

As the name suggests, Sketchbook gives you an interface similar to a sketchbook, with tools panel to pick brushes & rulers from to help you draw. the straightforward design makes it ideal for beginners. this feature-loaded digital art software sports a minimal and elegant UI that stays hidden until a tool/option is needed, allowing you to work sans any distractions.

Great for all drawing but especially for sketching (as the name suggests), it is simple to use but flexible and customizable enough to really put your own personality on the art. Its drawing engine can handle canvases up to 10 megapixels in size while still maintaining precision and speed.

Sketchbook comes with a variety of drawing tools, including pencils, inks, markers, and more than 190 customizable brushes that can work with both textures and shapes. As an added bonus, you also get access to the exclusive "Copic" color library. Those who have just started their journey as digital illustrators can benefit from the program's built-in assistive wizards, which come with features like 16-sector radial symmetry and predictive stroke, which automatically smooths out lines and corrects shapes.

Autodesk SketchBook lets you export your artworks in a variety of formats, such as PNG and TIFF. It also supports layered PSD files that are fully preserved with a wealth of information, including layer names, groups, and blending modes.

SketchBook software is used for creating expressive drawings and concept sketches. The software also supports screenshot tools for adding notes and annotations. You can also create flipbooks and animations through this best digital art software.

Sketchbook comes in two versions, Sketchbook Express, which is free, and Sketchbook Pro, which is still affordable if you liked the Express version but wanted the additional features. I used Sketchbook before for some time, and I have always admired the clean interface it had. Since it's free, I don't see a reason not to try it.

7. Krita

Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Android,Linux/ubuntu

Krita is a free open source digital painting program designed for cartoonists, illustrators, concept artists, and pretty much all digital artists.

Many professional artists like David Revoy create all of their work with Krita and their stuff looks amazing. If you don't have the cash to burn on digital art programs Krita is the perfect choice.

Its user interface is made up of panels which can be moved around to set up a custom workspace, and you can also configure shortcuts for commonly-used tools. It's beautifully designed, intuitive and offers a range of tools, right up to advanced level.

The program comes with 9 unique brush engines (e.g. Color Smudge, Particle, and Shape) that can be tweaked extensively and then organized using a unique tagging system. A pop-up palette lets you quickly pick colors and brushes while the resource manager makes it easy to import brush and texture packs from other artists.

Krita features a "Wrap-around" mode that allows you to create seamless textures and patterns, whereas the "Multibrush" tool can be used to mirror illustrations about multiple axes to achieve a kaleidoscopic effect.

Other noteworthy features include full color management support (using LCMS for ICC and OpenColor IO for EXR), vanishing points, customizable brushes (save and reuse), templates, perspective tools, PSD compatibility, and brush stabilizers.

There are also plugins within the platform that let you create your own widgets for python scripting. it's really the best digital painting alternative for our Linux & Unix friends.

Its main focus is on the artistic painting for cartoons, anime or canvas art, meaning that some features that you may need for photo editing or image manipulation were not prioritized in development.

Krita has been under development for more than a decade and is loved by professionals and amateurs alike. Hard to believe it's free really but it is. the only way you can support its creator is by donating.

8. MediBang Paint Pro

Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS

Another drawing software program that heavily focuses on Comic Book and Manga art and illustration, designed especially for beginner creatives in this sphere. It fast, simple and it's all for free.

Pre-installed backgrounds (over 800) , more than 50 brushes, a huge selection of free fonts , easy comic panel creation tools and a large selection of other tools. You can create photorealistic images through this art and design tool.

The cloud support feature lets you share your piece of art with other pencillers, colourists, writers, and inkers. you can Quick and easy transfer between devices without the hassle of carrying extra storage devices.

Medibang Paint is a full-featured drawing application. Its features include Auto-file saving, Drawing tools-it with multiple settings, Selection tool, and Keyboard shortcuts similar to Photoshop.

Medibang is a devoted drawing application not a photograph altering application. Medibang supports Wacom , XP-Pen and Adonit styluses. We have to sync the styluses so as to utilize pressure sensitivity. Check out to create stunning paintings .

If comics or manga art are your thing and you don't want to shell out for Clip Studio Paint, have a look at Paint Pro from Japanese company MediBang. there is nothing bad about this free drawing design software .

MediBang Paint Pro Vs FireAlpaca:

FireAlpaca and medibang are both made by the same company. That explains why many features between these programs are quite similar, and why the brush workflow is great in both of them.

It's hard to point out differences between them, except for Medibang's cross-platformity and cloud tools. This, in turn, leads to MediBang Pro being compatible with a larger number of tablets ( ipad , surface....), while FireAlpaca is mostly optimized for brand names like Wacom , XP-Pen...

FireAlpaca gets the new development or upgrade of new features in weeks or months. The features that might not ever be in MediBang .

Firealpaca's pen pressure is not that smooth. Besides, you cannot install it on phones and tablets. But you can download MediBang on any device.

9. Mypaint

Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux/ubuntu

MyPaint has been around since 2008 and its development model is contribution-based, with the latest stable version released in 2016. The app is open-source, simple, and stable. The UI is pretty up-to-date and feels more modern than, for example, Paint.net.

MyPaint supports layers and basic color adjustments. It also has cool features, like symmetry mode, connected lines, and curves. Adjustable brushes configuration and easy stroke stabilization in a relatively big selection of drawing materials and pencils will suit your needs perfectly.

You can use lots of brushes to draw and sketch with My Paint. The effects, you will use here are like pretty much handmade paintings. You will find so many drawing tools here. Such as 2B pencil, Watercolor, 4H Pencil sketch, airbrush, etc. There is also sponge, ball pen, blending, spray, etc. are available.

Your eyes and mind will be resting while drawing in this open-source painting program. We've brought up minimalism so often, talking about display and interface, but here these benefits are reflected via a unique full-screen mode without distractions on your canvas.

It's well-optimized for working with graphics tablets, so the brush flow is smooth and glitch-free, which is great . Mostly if you use the Symmetry tool, Lines, and Curves: it's possible to preview the Pressure Variation for Lines and Curves.

Unlike trying to install heavier drawing solutions, MyPaint is easy on computer resources, so using it on old laptops and PC's is a great option.

Overall, MyPaint is a perfect choice for light sketching work, if you don't need advanced features ( animation tools... ) and want to rationally use system resources. For sharing your creative ideas with easy drawing then it is a perfect free drawing software for you.

10. Artweaver Free

Platform: Windows | Price: € 34 ( Plus Version )

Artweaver free digital art software is used for drawing creative works by both beginners and professional painters. it's particularly useful for children. Kids love experimenting with all the different brushes. if you're using it for commercial use , then you need get the Paid Plus edition.

Relatively easy to use and with a simple enough interface. There is the ability to work with layers, import and export graphics in various formats. so you can build up your masterpiece in layers without losing the ability to change anything.

A user is offered a rich set of various brushes (chalk, charcoal, pencil, acrylic fibers, sponge, oil). The painting brushes are highly configurable, and users can configure them as per the new variant or new category. You can also customise the palettes for brushes, presets, and shortcuts.

Artweaver also has all kinds of filters that can be used while editing drawings (wind effect, blur, waves, granulation, oil effect, etc.). Moreover, this best free drawing software has the feature to draw textures. Artweaver also has Plugins Pack that contains many additional filters.

Artweaver Free enables you to create beautifully realistic digital drawings by taking input – from your mouse, a stylus or, if you have a touchscreen PC, from whatever you feel like tapping the screen with – and applying ultra-realistic brush effects.

Some users call this free paint program as an analog of Corel Painter, while others claim that Artweaver is close in functionality to the fifth version of Photoshop. Anyway, Artweaver allows you to perform most standard photo-editing operations efficiently. It far surpasses the built-in editors of graphic viewers.

The graphics tablet

The main drawing tool of the digital artist is undoubtedly the graphics tablet. you can choose between a tablet with a screen allowing you to see what you are drawing directly on the operating area, or a tablet without a screen which are more affordable and more transportable.

With or without a screen, it allows you to retranscribe your drawing directly onto your computer screen, taking into account the intensity of your pencil stroke thanks to pressure sensitivity technologies.

Many graphic tablets exist, but an A5 format is generally a good compromise to start in the digital painting world. It allows you to have a portable digital tool, taking up little space on your desk, while keeping enough work space for a good comfort of use.

If you have not used tablets before and aren't using a pen/pencil all the time daily, it might be a good idea to consider a screen tablet, as that hand-eye coordination takes quite a while to develop. I've used XP-PEN graphics drawing tablets since 2016 or so and I don't myself see much point in having a screen. But that depends a lot on the person.

On the other hand, nowadays you could buy a 4k 43" screen and use that with a screenless tablet to get a lot drawing real-estate; you can fit quite a few life-size heads on that screen and it also easily fits to your budget with a drawing tablet.

There are definitely benefits of having a screen tablet, as you can see the things you are drawing. Obviously it's a bit more like having a drawing paper/painting in front of you. But remember that your hand is there blocking the view more often than not. So you need to develop that habit of moving your hand away and drawing.

And depending on how greasy your hands get, you usually have to resort to drawing gloves (either just buy cotton gloves or those pricey specialized few fingers -tablet gloves) and get used to the chore of cleaning the screen quite frequently (daily).

On the other hand, the traditional no-screen tablet can get quite dirty before it makes drawing difficult... And the screen models can be problematic depending on your work-space lighting, so you might have to adjust that lighting too. Move lights, add a dimmer to light etc.

Conclusion:

In this post, you get familiar with the valuable and effective Digital painting software. The latest version of all the software is amazing. You can create any fascinating art with any of this software.

But, If you ask us which one is best of the paid software then we will recommend you Clip Studio Paint. Because it provides you several amazing painting tools, features, etc. So, purchase the best one and start creating a master.

For a beginner, using free drawing software is an easier solution. Among these 5 best free drawing software Krita, Sketchbook, MediBang is the best.

But when it comes to deciding for the best digital painting & drawing software, it can be tough to make good decision. You can check every software by downloading them and try out.

The ultimate decision is yours. You can buy premium software or use one of these. But we tried to help you and we are happy to help you.

XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro Display Monitor Review: Cheap Drawing Tablet With Big Screen

The XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro 21.5" Graphic Drawing Tablet Monitor is the largest sub below $600.00 pen display monitor I could find that met all my other criteria. When it comes to drawing surfaces I believe the bigger the better, hence my choice. I know there are bigger displays but my budget didn't stretch that far.

I also know WACOM pen display tablets are generally better quality products but I didn't want to settle for the 13.3" screen of the Cintiq 13HD, the only one of their tablets in my price range.

It should be noted that this is my first Pen Display monitor. Prior to this I was using a WACOM Intuos 4 Drawing Tablet (which is no longer available but is similar to the Intuos Pro Tablets). This was a factor in my choice not to stick with a smaller WACOM display tablet. I figure, what I don't know I won't miss. Even if a WACOM 13HD is better for drawing - I'm not going to know.

That said, I can still compare the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro to my WACOM Intuos.

If you want the actual specs of the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro visit their website. This review is mainly focused on my personal experience of using the monitor since I have nothing but my WACOM Intuos to compare it with.

Initial Impressions

The PXP-Pen Artist 22 Pro came packaged with the tablet display itself, battery-free pen, power adapter, power cord, HDMI, USB and VGA cables, DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, 1 tablet documentation.

Artist 22 Pro has also included a few free gifts: A screen protector, an artist glove, lens cloth, cleaning brush and anti-static glove.

XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro Specifications

Buy online from offical Store : https://www.storexppen.com/buy/60.html

Type: Pressure-sensitive

Size: 23.3 x 16.8 inch

Active Area: 18.8 x 10.6 inch

Connection: HDMI, USB, VGA

Express Keys: No

Multi-Touch: No

Tilt: No

Spare Nibs: 8

Pressure Levels: 8192

Wireless Support: No

Resolution: 5080 lpi

Pen Reading Speed: 266 rps

Response Time: 14ms

Minimum System Requirements: Windows 7/8/10 or OS X 10.10 and higher

The Monitor/Display

IPS panel : An IPS panel is the main technical specification you want to look out for ever you’re buying a tv, monitor or screen for any purpose. If a monitor has (IPS) In-plane switching you know you’re getting a really good monitor. You know this because an ISP panels have the best colors and the best viewing angles in comparison to other monitors.

The tablet display has a large active area of 18.8 x 10.6 inches, so you'll never run out of room when drawing. The display also has clear, vibrant colors that match the monitor perfectly.

Everything you can do with a Cintiq is possible with this tablet. You get 178° of rotation which lets you easily draw from any angle. And the pen can even tilt as far as 45° either way and still draw with surprising accuracy. You can get pretty damn flexible!

One happy surprise about UC-Logic drivers is their excellent responsiveness, which I find comparable or better than other digitizers, including Wacom’s. The XP-Pen’s driver has a comfortable pressure curve and seem to maximize line variation. You can get very thin, interesting lines, similar to using a ballpoint pen.

Unfortunately there are some problems with glare due to the display being made of glass. Just make XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro sure there is no harsh lighting around the display and you should be okay.

There is a small amount of parallax, maybe 1/10” of an inch, with the cursor being a little under the pen. I do not mind this as I like to see where the cursor is. If it were larger, I would mind, but it’s pretty small. I drew around the edges and did not get jitter regardless of speed or direction.

Once I turned the tablet display on I was greeted with a display of vibrant colors. Surprisingly, the colors perfectly matched the colors on my monitor and there was no need to adjust them to get the picture right.

Some artists use this as a second or third monitor and it’s certainly large enough to fill that job.

21.5" hard screen ISP Panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080

Exceptional accuracy everywhere on the screen

178° horizontal and verticle viewing angle

8192 levels of pressure

Options for HDMI, VGA, or DVI

Comes with extra goodies like an artist’s glove and screen protector

XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro's Rechargeable stylus.

The other main criteria I had for choosing the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro is that it's one of the few Pen Display Monitor competitors to WACOM that comes with a 8192 levels of pressure stylus.

Simply put, the harder you press on the stylus, the greater the pressure level identified and the thicker the line.

The advantage of going with a greater number of pressure levels is that it enables you to make finer distinctions in the thickness of the lines, which is essential when working on high-resolution drawings.

With 8192 levels of XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro pressure, this stylus gives you enough room to express yourself with a fairly good range of line weights.

The stylus that came with the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro had great accuracy, The rounded shape of the stylus meant that the two programmable buttons the stylus had could always be easily pressed when needed.

I reprogrammed two of buttons on the P02S to function as middle-mouse-click and right-mouse-click which served as a satisfactory work around me. My hand is always on the keyboard anyway and the response is great with no perceivable lag.

The stylus comes with extra nibs, a nib remover - all contained in the stylus desk stand. The stylus that came with the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro had great accuracy, The rounded shape of the stylus meant that the two programmable buttons the stylus had could always be easily pressed when needed.

For a long time I was under the impression that only Wacom had access to such hardware. I’m glad to admit I was wrong. This stylus has everything you’d expect from a Wacom pen and the monitor tablet comes at a fraction of the cost.

The P02S stylus does not have an Eraser . you may need charging just like your phone or laptop. And if they die you will have to find a power source to charge before you can draw again. The company says the pen battery lasts a minimum of 800 hours.

Flexible, ergonomically designed stand

The included stand that comes with the Artist 22 Pro is fine if you're going to leave the monitor in one spot but it's not practical to use a pen display as a monitor only in the drawing position.

The back legs are very handy and they feel firm in any position. You can get a reliable tilt without worrying about breaking anything or having the legs give way to your weight.

Despite looking easy to adjust, it's not, due to the sheer size and weight of the monitor. Plus, once you have all three cables attached to the back of the monitor, moving it around becomes tricky.

Device Setup / Connection

With both a VGA and HDMI cable you should have no problem connecting this to any computer. Most video cards support both inputs and most laptops like MacBook pros have at least one HDMI port.

Installing the Monitor into my system was fairly painless, though it could have used better instructions. Not having used anything like this before I had no idea that the supplied USB cable is what sends all the pen's interactions back to the computer. I was thinking the USB port on the monitor was perhaps a USB through port or something like other devices I have.

If you don't connect the USB cable from the monitor to your computer the device is literally just a straight monitor that you can connect to your system either via HDMI, VGA or DVI port. The various monitor port options were great since I already have two monitors connected to my system. Unfortunately my graphics card, which can have three monitors connected, can only run two of them at any one time.

Not too big an issue. It just means, when I plan to use the Pen Display I have to go into my Graphic Card control panel and switch one monitor over. I could just remove one monitor entirely from my system but I like them too much - and both have better color and are brighter than the XP-Pen, even if that is set to full brightness.

Make sure you plug in the power cord first just to be sure it powers on. Now when connecting the USB cable to the computer it’ll already have a power source and should work right away.

Software Installation

Through the course of researching Pen Displays I read that people sometimes encountered issues with WACOM drivers conflicting with other Pen Display drivers. In light of that, I made sure my Intuos drivers were completely removed from my system before installing the XP-Pen drivers from the CD.

I've also read some people have had no issues with both WACOM drivers and other Pen Display drivers installed so, whether uninstalling the drivers was necessary or not, I don't know. The fact is the XP-Pen Drivers installed with no problems and everything worked fine (once I worked out I needed the USB cable connected too).

This tablet should run on every major version of Windows or Mac. You can get this working on computers ranging from Win7 to Win10. Mac users have support from OS X 10.6 and newer.

you can download the drivers right from xp-pen's offical website https://www.xp-pen.com because you’ll get the latest version.

There are separate links for the Windows and Mac drivers and they both come in a .zip file. Unzip the drivers and find whichever drivers you need(32-bit or 64-bit if applicable).

Using the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro

In general, it's been great so far. I feel the color and brightness of the Artist 22 Pro isn't quite as vibrant as the promotional images would have you believe but it's completely fine. It's possible you don't want a monitor, that you're sitting so close to, to be too bright just for eye safety reasons anyway.

I use it mostly with Clip Studio Paint (formerly Manga Studio) for sketching ideas, illustration and character design work. I've also used it with Springboard for Storyboarding.

In comparison to my WACOM Intuos I would say it's just as responsive. Both have more than 8000 levels of pressure sensitivity but this isn't something I've exploited a lot. Much of my work is sketching and then converting my art to vectors where pressure sensitivity is not necessarily vital.

I was never a heavy user of my Intuos tablet because, although I had no issue with the disconnect between the pad and the screen, I never liked the indirectness of it.

Drawing directly on screen wins hands down for me. Other than the shape of the stylus shaft there's not a lot of difference between the drawing experience (apart from the drawing pad vs drawing directly on screen).

What I do miss from my Intuos is the programmable side buttons and control ring, which enable you to draw with one hand and control things like zooming and rotating the canvas with the other.The pen display has no programmable buttons and this was actually a plus for me. I appreciate the minimalist look that the screen has without buttons. I never used those tablet buttons anyway because I hated moving my hand from my keyboard to awkwardly push in one of those gummy little buttons.

The XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro is all screen with no programmable buttons. If you want this function , you may can buy a XP-Pen Artist 22E Pro Pen Tablet Monitor , it have 16 hotkeys . Whilst you can use your spare hand with your keyboard it's harder to locate an entire keyboard to a comfortable position alongside the monitor whilst drawing.

Installing this was a simple case of plugging it in to a USB port and then mapping the keyboard short cuts I use all the time to it. Now I can easily draw with one hand and access all my keyboard shortcuts with the other.

Customer Service:

XP-Pen is doing their best to put their best foot forward in customer service. That means a lot, especially if you're going out on a limb with a new product. I am way less apprehensive trying out a new product if I am confident I can speak to someone if I am unhappy. XP-Pen is quick to respond to emails and they have a facebook page that responds quickly to inquiries and posts frequent contests and community artwork. They even post welcomes to new community members.

Delivery:

I tracked it from HK to Toronto in 3 days! Three days!! That seems nutty to me. Plus free shipping, my dudes.

Cons:

The only real downside is that this model does not have touch sensitivity. Nor tilt on stylus. But I'd ask how often do you use tilt?

Conclusion

As my very first pen display monitor I'm extremely happy with my purchase. I have no doubt an equivalent WACOM Pen Display Monitor would probably blow the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro out of the water but at least four to five times the price it should.

As a light user of this kind of display, where the majority of my work is sketching out ideas rather than creating finished art, the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro Pen Display Monitor is more than capable.

If you've never had a Pen Display tablet this is definitely a good first encounter. The luxury of a big screen at a fraction of the price of other options is a great selling point.

I haven't had any issues with the responsiveness of the stylus or the fact that it is rounded in shape. I enjoy using it and am very happy .

Overall I'd recommend the XP-Pen Artist 22 Pro to anyone looking to buy their first Pen Display Monitor or wanting to upgrade to a larger monitor but still on a limited budget.

XP-Pen Artist13.3 V2 Review: 13.3 inch IPS Pen Display Drawing Tablet Monitor

Do you like to draw using digital technology? There are many different digital tablets that are used for drawing. The XP-Pen tablet can plug into your computer so you can draw with it using a program on your computer. But, you can draw just with the XP-Pen without a computer if you wanted to. With so many different drawing tablets out, there are many options.

Aside from my computer and Photoshop, a graphic tablet is probably the sole piece of equipment that gets used for every single image I shoot. It plays an indispensable role in processing – specifically, for precision dodging and burning, and masking and retouching on more involved images. I’ve been a big fan of the XP-Pen Star series since 2015; every one of years or so, I have to buy a new one because I wear through the surface – that should give you an idea of just how important they are in my photography. I also use them for design work and illustration, too. My Star03 has been with me since 2015 .

I did a lot of research into tablets and displays alike, trying to determine which would best suit my needs. The use of Photoshop was my primary concern. Portability and OS compatibility were further down my list, since I didn't foresee carrying a tablet around with me all the time, and I have both a Apple and Windows based computers. I looked into the Surface Pro, iPad, and XP-Pen and ultimately went with a Artist 13.3. I won't go into pros and cons of other options here, but having used the Artist for a few months now, there are definitely things I like and dislike about it.

The XP-Pen Artist 13.3 V2 is a new 13.3-inch interactive pen display. Aimed at creative professionals working in areas such as design, art and image editing, the Artist 13 HD combines a 13.3” HD screen, slim and compact design, simple setup, an adjustable stand and an improved pen for creating directly on the screen. The new XP-Pen Artist 13.3 V2 will be available for £299.99 in https://www.amazon.co.uk/XP-Pen-Artist13-3-Interactive-1920x1080-Battery-free/dp/B075D7NWHV .

Boasting high quality HD resolution with advanced control and comfort, the new Artist provides an immersive experience consistent with XP-Pen’s family of interactive pen displays .Aimed at creative professionals working in areas such as design, art and image editing, it combines a 13.3” HD screen, slim and compact design, simple setup, an adjustable stand and an improved pen for creating directly on the screen. Easily integrated into any environment, the Artist 13.3 is the ideal tool to support creativity and enhance productivity, offering a natural and immersive experience.

Artist13.3 V2 Technical Specifications

Screen resolution:- Full HD 1920 X 1080.
Maximum colors for the screen:- 16.7 million.
Screen Aspect Ratio:- 16:9.
Contrast Ratio:- 800:1.
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Color Gamut:-75% Adobe RGB.
Pen Tilt Sensitivity:- ±60.
Screen viewing angle (according to XP-Pen’s website):- 178°, ±89 Horizontally, ±89° Vertically.
Comes with pro, and an additional 8 nibs inside the case.
Active drawing area- 293.76×165.24 mm.
Product Dimension:- 389.0×250.7×14 mm.
Supports precision mode, which allows you to temporarily map the whole screen to a small portion of the canvas with a press of a button, which allows you to add details more easily.
Allows you to enjoy the natural creative experience of working directly on screen.
Has a passive pen doesn’t require charging.
Pressure (8192 levels) XP-Pen P03S Pen performs like traditional brushes, pencils and markers.
Easy shortcut access with our six time-saving, customizable Express Keys .
Simple set-up to PC or Mac with 3-in-1 cable. Bear in mind that you will need an adapter for Mac.
Comfortable, compact, lightweight design.
Windows compatibility:- Compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 & Windows 10.
Mac compatibility:- Compatible with Mac OS / Mac OS X 10.8 and above.

Superior IPS glass screen in HD quality

Perfect for professionals such as artists, graphic designers and photographers, the Artist 13.3’s best-in-class screen displays 16.7m colours to ensure life-like colour quality. In addition, the wide-format HD LED display offers a wide viewing angle of 178° and a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels that is particularly beneficial for handling intricate graphics.Some artists prefer higher resolution to draw with, but that can make the icons smaller in some programs.

With the same level of pressure sensitivity 8192 Levels and 6 ExpressKeys . artists, designers, photographers and creators of all kinds can immerse themselves in the pen display's 1920x1080 pixel canvas to work intuitively, naturally and efficiently across 16.7 million colors.

The screen is so responsive. And there is a little chance you will feel any lag while drawing with it. Kudos for XP-Pen for that. The screen is bright it looks sharp and good.

Oddly though, I found drawing on the screen itself very odd – not just for the above reasons – but because my hand would often block the area I was working on. There’s still some distance between pen tip and cursor – the pressure sensitive layer has to go somewhere – and this does hamper precision slightly. I admit it felt a bit more natural to use the tablet in the normal way, The good news is that the Artist13.3 can be used both directly as a display/tablet combo – i.e. as primary display, where your pen position corresponds directly to the screen – or in the same way as the non-display tablets, where the area maps to your primary display, but the screen itself remains active and can continue to be used as a secondary display for things that don’t require pressure sensitivity – your email window, for instance.

The full Artist13.3 Usage experience

As with all XP-Pen interactive pen displays, the Artist 13.3 Graphics Drawing Monitor enables users to create directly on the screen for an immersive and seamless process that feels natural and saves time.

The new and improved cordless and battery-free P03S Pen offers advanced pen performance, superior comfort, precision and control. With 8,192 levels of pressure and tilt sensitivity, it is perfect for precision work and is ergonomically designed. The Artist 13.3 comes with a convenient case to securely store the P03S Pen and everything else an artist needs at their fingertips including spare nibs.

The more pressure sensitivity a tablet has, the more variation of pressure you could apply with the pen, which can allow to quickly draw thin or think lines, or transparent & opaque lines, depending on how much pressure you apply with the pen.Pressure sensitivity is what allows you to vary the width or opacity of your lines by applying more pressure on the tablet surface.

Offers great accuracy and is very responsive, with no lag at all. It is more accurate than any regular graphics tablet you will ever get. The same can be said about all pen displays in general.

The 6 Hot Express Keys

The Artist 13.3 offers six fully customizable ExpressKeys , users can take complete command of their favorite software by hand and by pen simultaneously.Making use of these shortcuts can save valuable time by minimising keyboard dependency.

Capable of connecting to both Mac and PC computers, users can make the most of all of their favorite software, including the Adobe Creative Suite, Manga Studio5/Clip Studio Paint, Autodesk's SketchBook Pro, Corel Painter, Pixologic's ZBrush and more.

A Versatile 3 in 1 Cable

Do you like tangled cords in your carrying case, or the narrow portability bottleneck of setting up cords? Me neither, that’s why I like the Artist 3 in 1 cable.

I’ve been struck by the urge to draw on a long commute many times, but given up due to the hassle required to even get started.

Since wireless connection is unfortunately not yet a viable option for this kind of tablet, XP-Pen tackle this issue with a clever 3 in 1 cable that handles all video and power through one slot.The USB type-C is the only cable that's connected to the pen display. The whole setup is quite clean.

There are 3 cables you have to attach to the XP-Pen Artist 13.3. USB, HDMI and Power cables. The Artist comes with a 3-in-1 cable than contains all the 3. Which makes it more convenient. But keep in mind that sometimes one of these 3 cables can gets wobbly. Which causes the screen to go all black for you. So you better be careful with that if you placed this Artist on your lap.

The XP-Pen Artist 13.3 is compatible with both Windows & Mac. If you are a Mac user, you will need to get a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable to be able to use the Artist. Or whatever is compatible with your Mac. As some older Macs comes with a mini display port instead of Thunderbolt. In that case. Mini display port to HDMI adapter will be offered by free costs.

Bear in mind that XP-Pen Artist13.3 doesn’t come with a stand. I don’t think that’s a deal breaker for many artists, you can buy XP-Pen’s stand, buy a 3rd party stand, or make your own.

Produst warranty is defined as how long the drawing tablet lasts. This is important to the product because artists want a tablet that will last a long time. The XP-Pen Artist 13.3 has a limited warranty of 1 years .

The Driver

With the driver, you can change the pressure sensitivity, assign functions to the side and physical shortcut buttons, calibrate the screen to compensate for parallax offset and switch to left-handed mode if you want to.

When you're using it for the first time, there's going to be parallax. The glass is close to the screen but there's still a distance. There's parallax so you'll definitely want to calibrate the screen.

There isn't much difference between Windows and Mac drivers except that with the Windows driver, you can change the pressure curve but the Mac driver uses a pressure slider dial.

If you use dual monitors, the driver also allows you to click a button to switch between monitors to use.

Drawing performance

My testing involved using the Artist as a second display and as a working tablet. It's a nice display but smaller than a usual desktop. Screen resolutions are limited to 1080p, 720p and 1600x1200. Default is 1080p which is nearly illegible for my eyes. I've set mine to 1600x1200 and it's ok, 720p makes a Photoshop an exercise in moving around so that doesn't work for me. I would prefer more resolution choices than are offered.

That stand is also quite annoying if you don't get the screen positioned just right, tending to fall over a lot. The price of portability I guess.

As a tablet the Artist 13.3 works very well. I found it gritty at first but more use smooths the nib out and it now rides smoothly. I got used to working on big displays so I have had to relearn zoom and move keystrokes in Photoshop to move around on images. The big deal for me is the ability to engage the pressure sensitivity as a brush function and this worked flawlessly. I was able to control filters and masks not just by drawing but also handle flow rate and such using just pen pressure. Just like you should be able to do.

Conclusion

If you are an illustrator or graphic artist of any sort, I think you’re going to love the XP-Pen Artist 13.3 Drawing Pen Display tablet unconditionally – unless you need a much larger monitor. If you’re a photographer and need a decent monitor and a tablet, and don’t mind the relatively small area, then you’ll love it, too. If you’re a photographer on the go, you’ll appreciate the added screen real estate and tablet-in-one; just make sure you don’t forget any of the cables or doodads, or the thing will be useless. If you’re used to a big screen…this is where I have trouble: you have to think very carefully about whether you can either live with working off a small screen for the draw-direct effect, or find a use for an extra display when you use the tablet area mapped to your primary.

In case you don’t want touch, or want to save few bucks and get the Artist series for cheaper, it may worth it to get this Artist 13.3 model. like the 8192 level of pressure sensitivity, the HD screen, the 3-to-1 cable. And the P03S Pen with 8 replacement nibs.XP-Pen Artist13.3 is one of the most affordable Cintiq alternatives out there, price-wise. It’s really a good choice if you’re cash-strapped, as long as you don’t mind drawing on a smaller screen .

Ps:

Technology is just a tool, and we have to be updated with it, it is very easy to become obsolete in no time within this times, but…..without skills, knowledge and craft, they are just merely tools.

XP-Pen Artist 15.6 review: A Interactive Pen Display drawing tablet monitor for designers

Hello everyone!

This time I want to share my experience with the display tablet XP-Pen Artist 15.6.
I bought this some weeks ago and I had some time to try it and here is my review!

The XP-Pen Artist 15.6 is a display tablet. This means you can directly draw on the display! This is cool, because I found it quite hard to draw on a tablet while looking at the display of the laptop.
This one only costs £399.99 on https://www.amazon.co.uk/XP-Pen-Artist15-6-1920x1080-Graphics-Battery-free/dp/B0785682VP currently.

The specifications:

Product Dimension: 443 x 280 x 12.6 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Active Area: 11.8 x 7.5 inches, 15.6 inch diagonal
Resolution: FHD 1920 x 1080 (16:9 ratio)
Display Type: IPS
Pen Type: Battery-free
Pen Buttons: 2 side buttons, no eraser
Pen Tilt Sensitivity: None
Expresskeys: 6 buttons
Multi-touch: No
Pen Pressure: 8192 levels
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Display Color Gamut: 75% Adobe RGB
Visual Angle: 178°
Power Output: 5V DC, 2A (max)
Power Input: 100 to 240VAC, 50/60Hz
Other features: Can display 4K content dithered to 1080p.

Package Contents

1x Pen display
1x Passive pen
1x Pen Stand
1x 3 in 1 Cable
1x CD drive
1x Quick Guide
8x Replacement Pen Nibs
1x Cleaning Cloth
1x Anti-fouling Drawing Glove
1 x HDMI to Mac Adapter Cable

XP-Pen is an artist specific company which only makes artist supplies such as tablets and light pads. They are the only Wacom alternative that I have come across which offers battery-free pens consistently for all their graphic tablets. Not all of their drawing monitors use battery-free pens though.

Personal Notes
-XP-Pen is fairly established company alongside Huion, so they are quite trustworthy.
-Their graphic tablets are all quite good and the “age” of each tablet is fairly easy to figure out as they are named in order from oldest to newest (ex. Star 03 is older than Star 04).
-Their drawing monitors are all quite respectable, but I have heard that the monitor colours are not very well calibrated out-of-the-box.
-XP-Pen is currently the only company which offers company-developed Linux drivers (still in beta testing). Wacom’s Linux drivers are community-developed, and are not actually official drivers, so XP-Pen is the first to do this.

Is XP-Pen worth looking at for drawing monitors?
-Yes.

Here is how the packing looks like:

When opening it, I was so surprised about all the accessoirs inside! There's nothing missing: You get a glove, a tissue, a lot of cables and adapters!
And there's already a matte screen protector on it.

I didn't find it hard to put all cables together. There is an instruction inside and if everything fails, there are many videos on Youtube.
It's great that the tablet has a USB-C connection and if your PC gives it enough power, you don't need an external power source! This means it can be quite portable!
Important: Please deinstall all old drivers (e.g. from Wacom) before installing the most current one from the XP-Pen website.
And mind that the resolution of the display tablet is the same as your display from your PC. In my case, it's 1920 x 1080.
After installing the driver and putting all together, you can adjust the tablet like the pressure sensitivity and the express keys.

Now my workplace looks like this:

Mind that there is NO stand included! But it doesn't matter because I simply bought a cheap one from Amazon. You can use any stand for a 17 inch laptop.

The pen is made of plastic, has a triangle shape and has a light weight. It can't roll away on the table.
It has 2 adjustable keys like you know from Wacom and like the Wacom one, it's a passive pen. It means you don't have to charge it ever!
Compared to Wacom's pens, it has no rubber grip and it's slimmer. Honestly, I loved the one from Wacom, but well... it's a matter of taste.

Have a comparing picture:

But the most important thing is: It works!
You can draw well on the XP-Pen Artist 15.6.
I use it with Clip Studio Paint and Paint Tool Sai and both work very smooth!
With over 8000 levels of pressure sensitivity you can work properly!
I found out that I have to put more pressure on the pen to make visible strokes or use a bigger brush, although I put it on "soft" in the settings. But it's not bad to me.
And I also noticed a slight parallax because of the thickness of the display. That's the distance between the tip of the pen and where the cursor is. The parallax is around 1mm which is not much. But you have to get used to it.
With callibration you can minimize it.

The matte screen protector is practical and good it's already on the display. We all know how hard it is to put a screen protector without any bubbles and dust! ^^;
For many artists, a matte protector is good because it is anti-glare and you get a paperlike feeling. However, because of its texture it eats the nibs quite fast!
I personally prefer clear ones, but this is also a matter of taste.

Screen quality

The screen colours on this tablet do not come calibrated, so I suggest that you run Windows Colour Calibration a few times to manually calibrate it, or use a colorimeter. I used a ColorMunki Display with DisplayCal to calibrate mine.

To change the monitor colours through the monitor settings, you have to go to the Color tab in the monitor settings, click Color Temperature, and scroll down to User and select that. Otherwise, the individual RGB adjustment sliders are greyed out and not adjustable. You could probably just use the sRGB mode in the monitor settings if you can’t be bothered to try calibrating it.

Turning on Gamma in the monitor settings also helps to improve the colours on screen. Gamma was turned off by default when I received it.

I mentioned this in the “How good is this tablet?” section before, but the IPS screen is not as good as it could be on the XP-Pen Artist 15.6.

The selling point of an IPS screen is that you can view the exact same colours from all viewing angles. The colours on screen should look the same whether you look at the screen from directly in front or from the side.
However, the XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Drawing Monitor screen colours look washed out when you move your head to view the screen from fairly shallow angles despite being an IPS screen. You can see the colours getting washed out in the photo above.

I can certainly understand why it’s not perfect considering it was released around 2+ years ago, but for artists I would suggest a proper all-angle IPS screen for accurate colour reproduction, so this tablet somewhat fails in that regard.

Disregarding the somewhat aged viewing angles, this tablet has a decent colour gamut of around 92% sRGB and 70% Adobe RGB using DisplayCal and a ColorMunki colorimeter. Nothing particularly special, but certainly nothing to scoff at either.

Overall, the screen quality is not bad, but it feels like the age of this tablet is starting to show with the subpar viewing angles. Certainly use-able, but not ideal.

Tablet drivers

The tablet drivers are pretty easy to install. Just go download the latest version from xp-pen.com and remove all other tablet drivers you have on your computer before installing it.

Once you install the drivers, an icon should automatically appear in your System Tray which looks like the above. You can access the tablet settings by clicking on that. (The System Tray is the area on the taskbar by the clock.)

If the installer doesn’t automatically prompt you to restart your computer after the drivers are installed, I recommend that you do anyways to allow the Windows files to properly integrate into your system.

In the Info tab, you have the option to hide the icon in the system tray and turn on/off Digital Ink (also known as Windows Ink).

If you accidentally hide the icon, you can find the tablet settings by searching for tablet settings, or looking for the tablet settings in the Control Panel.

The Digital Ink option is usually best left off, but certain programs such as Photoshop need it turned on for pen pressure to work. If your pen pressure isn’t working in a program, the first thing to try is turning on/off the Digital Ink option.

In the Monitor Setting tab, you choose which monitor your tablet is mapped to. That’s all.

In the Button tab, you can choose which functions your pen buttons are mapped to and the speed of double clicks.

Unfortunately, the buttons cannot be mapped to anything aside from right, left, middle mouse click, and the pen/eraser toggle.

In the Pressure tab, you can change the lightness or hardness of the pen pressure and test it.

The pen pressure starts at the lightest it can be though, so you can only increase the pen pressure to require heavier presses. I had no problems with the default light setting.

In the Calibration tab, you can calibrate the cursor using 4-point or 9-point calibration.

I personally do not see the point of calibrating the cursor on a drawing monitor as I find it is simplest to understand where the cursor will be by keeping the default machine calibration, in other words, cursor 90 degrees directly under the pen.

When you calibrate the cursor, you are basically forcing yourself to only be able to work with your head in a single spot so that the cursor appears directly under the pen from that angle. If you move your head even a little bit and look from a different angle, the cursor will no longer be where you expect it to be.
On the other hand, if you get used to the default machine calibration, you can draw the same no matter where your head is in front of the screen because the location of the cursor is constant in relation to the pen.

Overall, the drivers for the XP-Pen Artist 15.6 are quite basic, but they have everything you would need for drawing on the tablet.

The drawing experience!

The drawing experience on this tablet was quite good for a tablet that was released 2+ years ago. Drawing on a smooth glass screen was not a bad experience at all, and the pen input as well as the pen pressure were smooth and predictable.

I only truly test my tablets on Clip Studio Paint because that’s all I use. You should contact XP-Pen support directly if you want to know if the tablet is compatible with the drawing program you use, but most major drawing programs should be compatible. Their customer support is also very kind so there’s no need to be afraid of contacting them directly.

You can see an extremely slight wobble in the lines I drew with a ruler on the testing page. The wobble is extremely minimal so it shouldn’t have an effect on your drawing. The pen pressure is extremely smooth as well.
There were no problems regarding the tablets performance at all.

Regarding the temperature of the tablet, no parts of the screen become even close to unbearably warm. The bottom middle area becomes slightly warm compared to the rest of the screen, but that is all.
There were no problems regarding extended use of the tablet.

Another issue I had with the tablet was that FHD resolution of 1920x1080p actually looks kind of pixelated on a 15.6-inch monitor. FHD resolution is fine on a normal 15.6-inch monitor because your face is actually quite far from the screen while typing/working/gaming. However, on a drawing monitor, your face gets really close to the screen so the pixels become quite apparent, especially on a super clear glass screen with no texture like on the XP-Pen Artist 15.6.
The reason that this was never a problem with the Wacom Cintiq 22HD (which also has FHD resolution on a 22-inch screen) is because of the texture and how it blurs the actual screen below it. Because of the blur, no one sees the pixelation in the first place so no one complains about FHD resolution being too low for the Cintiq 15.6s 15.6-inch screen!

Overall, I couldn’t actually find an issue about the drawing during my drawing.

To sum it up, there are following pros (+) and cons (-):

+ the unbeatable price of £399.99.
+ almost 16 inches, which is a good size to draw on
+ feels like it has a good quality
+ so much accessoirs like adapter, glove, tissue,...
+ Full HD resolution 1920 x 1080
+ 8192 levels of pressure sensivity
+ passive pen that doesn't need batteries or charging
+ if your PC gives enough power, you don't need an external power source
+ light and compact device
+ 6 adjustable express keys on the device and 2 on the pen

There also are things, which I don't directly consider as cons, but you have to be aware of them before buying:

- pen is light and feels a bit "cheap" compared to a Wacom pen
- slight parallax of 1mm, can be corrected by callibration, but is still there
- Sometimes the pen doesn't react on the edged below (e.g. at the task bar) immediatly. Then you have to put the pen away from the edge and then it works again.
- The matte screen protector eats the nibs so fast!! Luckily, you can buy extra nibs quite cheap.
- different colors on the XP-Pen Artist 15.6 pen display tablet monitor than on my laptop monitor, needs a bit callibration
- no included stand, but you can buy from any other brand
- NO pen tilt
- NO eraser on the pen
- just one year warranty

But all in all, you get a solid drawing device for a fair price!
I personally like this display tablet because either I can live with the cons or I don't miss them.
I didn't use a Wacom Cintiq long enough for a proper comparison, but regarding the price difference, I would have compared apples with pears.
In my opinion, this is a good drawing device for hobby or semi-professional artists! Since I'm no professional artist, I don't know if it would match their expectations.
But I also wouldn't spend over $2000 for such a gadget.
The support is nice and helpful. I contacted them before because I was afraid of getting the same experience with a bad support again. But they are very nice and understanding!

Maybe there is no "Wow" feeling like when I first touched a Wacom Cintiq, but this is a matter of mind, I guess. You don't need an expensive tool to make great art, please remember!
In the end, it's the artist behind the device or tools!

I hope, this review helps a bit!