I’m sure some folks use a tablet for drafting/drawing and I’m curious what everyone uses? In the past I’ve used a Wacom tablet (old style without a screen) and didn’t really like it, but this was back probably close to 20 years ago. Drawing with a mouse also leaves a lot to be desired. I currently own an older 4th gen iPad and I’ve messed with some of the free drawing apps on it, but still not what I’m after(drawing with a finger is odd). I’ve looked at the MS Surface and some of the dedicated drawing tablets, and maybe upgrading my iPad, but I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger on any of them without hearing from folks that use them, folks that do what I do. Requirements, must have stylus, must have actual screen (hated trying to figure out where my cursor was with my old Wacom), must not be priced outrageously ($2k+ beyond my ballpark). I also want to be able to output file formats I can use like SVG or whatever, no proprietary stuff. So what are y’all using?
Current machine is a Samsung Galaxy Book 12 which I was very pleased w/ until Microsoft took away the ability to select text using the stylus in Fall Creators Update or to draw in legacy applications. I’ve had to roll back twice now.
Mostly I use Macromedia Freehand and Inkscape. Really miss tablet-specific apps such as FutureWave SmartSketch and Corel’s Grafigo.
Thanks for the feedback Will. I’m not specifically looking for a PC, honestly don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, haha! Something I can set in my lap, draw with a pen like I would on a plain paper notepad, then transfer (somehow) into my PC software for final working. I would rather not be tethered to a second machine at all if I can help it, so WiFi would be good (I have a home file server on my home network, would be great to use that for transfer/storage). Just something more natural than a mouse and my PC. I can get my ideas out so fast on a sticky note with a pencil, when I sit at the PC it’s so many clicks to get to the same place.
Mac users can use the very versatile EazyDraw for vector drawing. I use it almost exclusively, it exports in a number of vector formats including SVG, EPS and PDF. I usually export EPSs to Vectric Vcarve.
EazyDraw is Tablet aware although I haven’t used a tablet with it.
EazyDraw is available at a number of price points. The way this works is that whenever a new version is released they drop the price of the previous versions. Because of this EazyDray is available from V3 (free) through to V8 (~ $120 Australia) with different prices in between. All versions are available on the Mac App store. V8 is also available from their webpage.
I have no connection with EazyDraw except I created one of the example drawings they use on their site.
I’ve used one of these for a few weeks… It’s pretty cool, very large, requires windows creator to work well. Has a nice feel due to the coating on the glass. If you’re wondering, the pen is Wacom, but uses a special driver that is not compatible with Mac. It’s shipping now (this was a pre-release review). Not cheap, but depends on your budget. Note that it is a monitor only, not a full PC like the Surface Studio. I recommend you look into it, maybe even try one (and return it if you don’t like it) It’s a lot like a Wacom Cintiq, but big, big big.
For myself, I find that a >good< mouse on a large/wide 4k+ screen (27"+, curved is surprisingly nice) works really well. A tablet (computer type) screen just isn’t big enough. A 15" laptop screen is barely big enough to be workable (but frustrating), but I use that frequently. A wacom (input device) tablet does take some getting used to, but when in “absolute” mapping, you quickly train in on screen vs tablet position.
This looks pretty cool. A little different than I’m looking for, but still worth considering. I don’t want to be tethered to my PC if I can avoid it. Something I can put in my lap, nothing external, carry with me to and from wherever, not haveto take out a loan to buy. I like the portability of my iPad, but it’s a little on the oldish side and a little unresponsive at this point. I’m looking at some of the Samsung Android tablets, but have no idea if they would have compatible software or processing power. I am obviously not going to run Catia V5 on a tablet like I do on my workstation at work, but I’d like to at least produce a good svg to pull into VCarve on my home PC.
My shortlist right now is a Samsung Galaxy S3 with an additional Staedtler Noris Digital Pencil. Gonna go check some out today I think. I’d love to upgrade my iPad, but the iPad pencil gets pretty horrible reviews. It seems like in this day and age it should be so simple to find what I’m looking for, but the more I look the more complicated it seems. Thanks to everyone for the input on input devices
If Carbide Create and Carbide Motion were available for Android, I’d’ve dropped by Galaxy Book 12 in favour of a Samsung Galaxy S3 w/ the Staedtler Noris Digital Stylus (still trying to convince my daughter to buy one)— note that you can get a stylus from HP (intended for their HP Zbook X2) which adds a side button and eraser.
I am quite interested in this thread, as I have been using a wacom tablet for the last 15 years or so, and prior to that, a C-size Calcomp (450X550mm active area, roughly), that I still have and will one day build a USB interface for (it is 9600bps, +/-12v serial). I have not migrated to a modern tablet computer for a couple reasons, among them display size. The few that I have tried over the last several years all failed on usability. A suitable device would be quite a nice thing, given that my current laptop is well into midlife.
I spend a lot of time with autodesk tools, and,aside from those restricting to Win****, display real estate is premium. A second display for toolbars, dialogs, and so on, is key to being able to get anything done… it stinks when the dialog blocks what you are trying to modify EVERY TIME on a small display. Then again, I grew up on a 10"dia Computek from the early 1970’s (built around a Tektronix storage display unit, which I held on to for a number of years after the rest of the terminal went bye-bye and used as a storage unit for the oscilloscope) and no longer have young eyes.
Yeah, I actually bought a Samsung adapter which allows me to have a second display — need to get my desk arranged so that I can use it.
Applications should be better at using screen space though — really miss the pop-up main menu in NeXTstep (and the ability to hide all but one pixel of the main menu)
I plan to use this exclusively for drawing. I have several PCs that I use for writing toolpaths and actually running the machine, so no problems there. I think I’m gonna go ahead and order the Samsung on Amazon, can always return it if it’s awful. Thanks for the heads up on the HP stylus!
I am at the point where I need larger displays to have any hope of seeing them, even with proper correction, so on the small displays, even if the resolution is reasonable, I need to embiggen the text/dialogs to the point where they obscure the actual work. The second display takes care of that.
I also miss some of the older interfaces (the Lisp Machine had a fantastic UI model, even by the standards today), but nostalgia get me no where. I would love it if autodesk (and many others) would not default to bringing up dialogs in the middle of the workspace, though. Or make it easier to force dialogs to the alternate display.
I feel your pain. I’m just now getting to where even with my glasses on I use a small magnifier to read anything on physical media (books, new papers, menus at restaurants), either than or I use the camera on my iPhone to snap a picture and enlarge whatever I can’t read. My glasses prescription is less than 2 years old too. Backlit screens seem to be much better, heck even shining my phone flashlight on most things makes me able to read them. Just getting older I guess?
Ordered the Samsung S3 with pen, will see when it gets here if it will work for my needs, should be here tomorrow…I love Amazon Prime!
Of course as soon as I order on Amazon, then Prime Day hits and the tablet drops in price So I quickly cancel my order (bank card already hit) and try to reorder at lower price. Prime Day, it’s like Christmas in July, servers going nuts, but finally was able to reorder for delivery tomorrow under $400! Now I just have to wait for bank to stop holding my money hostage. Serious modern problems, haha . Wonder what would happen if I had to actually hunt/gather for food…and didn’t have a YouTube video to show me how (gasp!).
First impressions 2 days in with the Galaxy S3 tablet:
Having been a former android user that went to The Darkside (iPhone, iPad) about 5 years ago I can say that Android has really matured in that time. It’s taking me a little bit to get used to the interface, but I am really liking it.
Down to the root of why I bought this thing, drawing… I haven’t played with the Apple pencil, so I can compare it with the SPen, but the SPen is really smooth and feels nearly like drawing with a pencil and paper(my favorite medium). Obviously the feel of a pencil on paper is different, but I haven’t felt awkward with the screen and stylus at all. I haven’t found my favorite app yet, but I’ve downloaded several that I’m messing with. Will report back in a few weeks when (hopefully) I’ve dialed into an app I really like. My eyes, my eyes, this is a screen I can see! Even tiny text is readable without my glasses, this is a really sharp screen (I sometimes lose text on my iPhone 6S Plus). They’ve added a “blue filter” that is supposed to mitigate eye strain, but honestly it makes it harder for me to see, minus 1 point, haha!
Hopefully I can get some more miles on this thing and maybe even get a project cut on the XXL soonish, will report back when I do.
Yeah, the stylus is the best implementation save for a Wacom Cintiq (and on Android the driver isn’t crippled by not being allowed to right-click as it is on Windows), and the AMOLED is just amazing — I just wish it were more viewable in direct sunlight (it’s sort of workable if you turn on adaptive brightness and set it to the highest brightness — I still can’t believe that the industry feels that “try to outbright the sun on a battery powered device” is a valid option though).
Curious as to which apps you choose — let us know!
So I quickly cancel my order (bank card already hit) and try to reorder at lower price. Prime Day, it’s like Christmas in July, servers going nuts, but finally was able to reorder for delivery tomorrow under $400! Now I just have to wait for bank to stop holding my money hostage. Serious modern problems, haha 
. Wonder what would happen if I had to actually hunt/gather for food…and didn’t have a YouTube video to show me how (gasp!).