Drawing tablets that work well with Affinity?

[true_blue1878]

Hi all

Just wondering what drawing tablets are best for affinity and which ones do people generally use? 

Getting muscular issues by constantly using my mouse so thinking about getting more comfortable equipment! 

Suggestions are very welcome.

 

Cheers! 

[loukash]

1 hour ago, true_blue1878 said:

what drawing tablets are best for affinity and which ones do people generally use? 

Wacom user here since over 20 years. Usually using the small cheap and officially unsupported Graphire 3 that I bought about 15 years ago, with hacked drivers on a brand new MacBook Air M2. It works well enough to be useful. But heck, even my A5 Intuos 1 which I bought in 2000 still works as well!

1 hour ago, true_blue1878 said:

Getting muscular issues by constantly using my mouse

Since I'm using mostly the MacBook trackpad otherwise, it's also important to enable as many multi-finger gestures as one can handle and occasionally switch hands, e.g. for simple scrolling. That all helps a lot.
I stopped using mice since I bought my first Wacom.

[markw]

Still using my faithful Wacom Intuos4 Medium here.
Got it not long after the 4 came out years back and it's still going strong.
Best features; The Touch Wheal, the infinite number of on-screen key shortcuts you can set and that all the programmable functions and key shortcuts you can make are done on a per app basis. Switch between apps and the tablet automatically switches to the specific setup you made for that app.
And all your customisation preferences can be exported as a backup file, just in case.
Should it ever die I would by another without hesitation.

[true_blue1878]

Thanks guys! 

I've seen the wacum tablets but they seem very expensive. Was looking at the XP-PEN Artist 12 to start with which cost significantly less. What do you guys think of those?

I'm no drawer/artist so I wouldn't get the full use out of a wacum, but i do a lot of the tedious technical stuff which cramps my hand a lot! 

Maybe ill try find an old wacum off ebay and use hacked drivers too 🤔 

Cheers! 

[loukash]

48 minutes ago, true_blue1878 said:

they seem very expensive

Usually you'll get what you pay for. I'd really like to see a cheap "NoName" crap tablet from 2000 that would still be usable in 2023…  

53 minutes ago, true_blue1878 said:

use hacked drivers too 🤔 

Yeah, the lack of official support for older Wacom products has annoyed me as well, until I found about https://github.com/thenickdude/wacom-driver-fix. I also happily donated a couple of bucks to the guy for all his work, as he actually saved me quite some money in that I didn't have to buy a new tablet (regardless if it would have been a Wacom or another brand).

[Bryan Rieger]

I've used Wacom tablets for decades, but switched to a Xence tablet last year. I've been using the 'Medium Bundle' with my MacBook Pro (Adobe, Affinity) along with a 12" iPad Pro (which has become my main illustration workstation with Procreate, Fresco, and Designer) and haven't really missed my older Wacoms (Intuos and Cintiq) at all.

[loukash]

Another yet unmentioned option is the iPad.
I have Affinity v2 installed on our family iPad 8th gen with an Apple Pencil 1. It works great in fact, although I've never used it for any serious project yet. Also, the iPad can serve as an external display with current Macs and MacOS. But I've only briefly tested all this because the iPad is running on my wife's Apple ID, so the Affinity document exchange with my Mac account is a bit complicated, and fully pairing the iPad with the Mac also works only when logged in with my wife's account.

[loukash]

34 minutes ago, Bryan Rieger said:

switched to a Xence tablet last year.

That looks interesting!

[markw]

2 hours ago, true_blue1878 said:

I'm no drawer/artist so I wouldn't get the full use out of a wacum, but i do a lot of the tedious technical stuff which cramps my hand a lot!

Well, if you are to all intents and purposes happy with your current mouse setup and it’s just repetitive strain you want to lessen perhaps consider a more ergonomic mouse?
I’ve never tried either of the following two items myself but they are way cheaper options than a tablet if you are not wanting to do freehand illustrative drawing and painting.
Mouse Pen 
Ergonomic Mouse

 

[R C-R]

34 minutes ago, markw said:

Well, if you are to all intents and purposes happy with your current mouse setup and it’s just repetitive strain you want to lessen perhaps consider a more ergonomic mouse?

For from ideal for sketching but for mitigating my RSI problems I long ago switched to a Kensington Expert Mouse, a trackball with a scroll ring. Not cheap but built to last forever -- I have been using mine for well over a decade & it is as solid as the day I bought it.

[true_blue1878]

1 hour ago, loukash said:

Usually you'll get what you pay for. I'd really like to see a cheap "NoName" crap tablet from 2000 that would still be usable in 2023…  

Yeah, the lack of official support for older Wacom products has annoyed me as well, until I found about https://github.com/thenickdude/wacom-driver-fix. 

I have an old trust one that was never amazing but it won't work on w10 and I don't have the time to go through .inf files trying to fix them at the minute! So I might just give the wacom graphite 3 a try as it's only about £20 second hand on ebay if the drivers are already there for me! 🤔 I don't mind paying for a name but I've seen the new wacoms for about £1100+ lol. It'd just be overkill for someone who mostly just vectorises flat images and uses the fine selection tool. It would be neat to have a little screen on my lap though I guess which is why I am considering the XP-PEN Artist as its relatively cheap and seems to offer a lot! 

1 hour ago, Bryan Rieger said:

I've used Wacom tablets for decades, but switched to a Xence tablet last year. I've been using the 'Medium Bundle' with my MacBook Pro (Adobe, Affinity) along with a 12" iPad Pro (which has become my main illustration workstation with Procreate, Fresco, and Designer) and haven't really missed my older Wacoms (Intuos and Cintiq) at all.

Nice, I have looked at their website and they do seem good quality. The small one is £129 For that kind of price though I may just try out that XP-PEN Artist12 @ £149 (on amazon) as you get a nice built-in medium sized screen to comfortable gaze at while you work. My only wonder though, is how accurate is the nib to pixel ratio going to be? I do fine selection cutting out hair and stuff like that sometimes so it would need to be quite sensitive! 

59 minutes ago, loukash said:

Another yet unmentioned option is the iPad.
I have Affinity v2 installed on our family iPad 8th gen with an Apple Pencil 1. It works great in fact, although I've never used it for any serious project yet. Also, the iPad can serve as an external display with current Macs and MacOS. But I've only briefly tested all this because the iPad is running on my wife's Apple ID, so the Affinity document exchange with my Mac account is a bit complicated, and fully pairing the iPad with the Mac also works only when logged in with my wife's account.

I'm an android man myself but I do have an ipad air also packed away collecting dust. Quite old now but I wonder if that would be good enough? Cheers 

18 minutes ago, markw said:

Well, if you are to all intents and purposes happy with your current mouse setup and it’s just repetitive strain you want to lessen perhaps consider a more ergonomic mouse?
I’ve never tried either of the following two items myself but they are way cheaper options than a tablet if you are not wanting to do freehand illustrative drawing and painting.
Mouse Pen 
Ergonomic Mouse

 

Yes that's kind of where I'm coming from. It's not so much about being fancy, it's about comfort and accuracy above all else. There's no point getting something that has a rough DPI rating because a lot of what I do requires long tedius fine and careful selection. I like your idea but don't think I could get used to that mouse you've linked. The mouse pen is interesting though cheers! Holding a pen is a bit like riding a bike again, it's second nature. So thinking a tablet and/or pen is where I'm leaning towards. 

I also find that when I'm using my mouse in Affinity I tend to claw it like it's a gear stick 🤦‍♂️

 

Would love an opinion of this from someone if anyones ever had one! https://amzn.eu/d/dab2OIJ

Its rated 2nd on top tablets 2023 by "tech radar" with the wacom being 1st. I'm tempted but I am concerned/curious about how accurate the DPI will be! 

 

Thanks all!

[loukash]

1 minute ago, true_blue1878 said:

I do have an ipad air also packed away collecting dust. Quite old now but I wonder if that would be good enough?

It depends on which model, i.e. if it can run at least iPadOS 15 which is what Affinity 2 for iPad requires.

[true_blue1878]

10 minutes ago, R C-R said:

For from ideal for sketching but for mitigating my RSI problems I long ago switched to a Kensington Expert Mouse, a trackball with a scroll ring. Not cheap but built to last forever -- I have been using mine for well over a decade & it is as solid as the day I bought it.

I have heard good things about trackballs but I can't even imagine how I'd get used to it. I'll definitely look at that though, cheers! 

1 minute ago, loukash said:

It depends on which model, i.e. if it can run at least iPadOS 15 which is what Affinity 2 for iPad requires.

Ahh probably not then. It's about 7 years old! Cheers 

[loukash]

1 minute ago, true_blue1878 said:

Ahh probably not then. It's about 7 years old

If it's Air "1", then definitely not, it's stuck at iOS 12.
Air "2" can run iPadOS 15 and thus Affinity 2 but it wasn't compatible with Apple Pencil yet. It might have been compatible with some simple 3rd party pens though, but usually those are not pressure sensitive.

[RM f/g]

Still happily using my old Wacom Bamboo under macos Monterey thanks to Connect My Tablet.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/connect-my-tablet/id1352696344?mt=12

Edited October 29, 2023 by RM f/g
typos

[loukash]

54 minutes ago, RM f/g said:

Connecties My Tablet

Looks like a similar approach to github.com/thenickdude/wacom-driver-fix except the latter is open source.

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, true_blue1878 said:

I have heard good things about trackballs but I can't even imagine how I'd get used to it.

It definitely takes some time to get used to using it but once you do, at least for the Kensington one of the best things about it is because the trackball is heavy & runs on low-friction synthetic ruby bearings, you can flick the trackball to start moving the pointer rapidly across the screen & then tap it with a finger to stop it exactly or very near to where you want the pointer to be. That makes it possible to use a relatively low tracking speed for greater fine control while still being able to move the pointer anywhere very quickly.

It is hard to describe how useful this is & it definitely takes practice to hit the target exactly on the first try, but it reduces wrist strain so much compared to using a conventional mouse that for me it was well worth it.

[true_blue1878]

23 hours ago, R C-R said:

It definitely takes some time to get used to using it but once you do, at least for the Kensington one of the best things about it is because the trackball is heavy & runs on low-friction synthetic ruby bearings, you can flick the trackball to start moving the pointer rapidly across the screen & then tap it with a finger to stop it exactly or very near to where you want the pointer to be. That makes it possible to use a relatively low tracking speed for greater fine control while still being able to move the pointer anywhere very quickly.

It is hard to describe how useful this is & it definitely takes practice to hit the target exactly on the first try, but it reduces wrist strain so much compared to using a conventional mouse that for me it was well worth it.

I'd love to see a video of what you're describing. I'll hit youtube and see if I can find one! Cheers for the info. It sounds awesome, but I'm a bit of an old dog, so to speak lol. It'll take a long while to get into that, I'd imagine! But they're not super expensive either so might just get one and gently ease myself into using it 🤔

[R C-R]

8 minutes ago, true_blue1878 said:

I'd love to see a video of what you're describing. I'll hit youtube and see if I can find one! Cheers for the info. It sounds awesome, but I'm a bit of an old dog, so to speak lol. It'll take a long while to get into that, I'd imagine! But they're not super expensive either so might just get one and gently ease myself into using it 🤔

While there are lots of YT videos about the kensington, I am not aware of any videos showing how that works. So my suggestion would be to buy one locally or from an online store that offers a good 'no questions' 100% satisfaction return policy so you can check it out for a week or two & then decide if it is right for you.

BTW, several of the YT videos are done by people that like me have been using theirs for decades.

[Sid J]

I have an XP-PEN Deco Pro, the double wheel function is really useful.

The cabled version is on sale at Amazon Canada and there is an additional $50 discount at present. I also own an old Kensington track ball, it still works well, but using it to draw doesn’t work for me.

[RichardMH]

I have a medium One by Wacom. (CTL-672). I suppose its entry level but it works for me. Mainly use it for selections. 

A good mouse can also make a difference. Love my Logitech MX Master S. 

[Horseflesh]

I never much enjoyed using a tablet that was not also a display, but it is better than a mouse. A tablet that is a display like a Cintiq (or whatever the modern version is) is a real joy to use though. 

If OP is using MacOS then using an iPad as an extra display, with the Apple Pencil 2, seems like the way to go. There is a similar iPad solution for Windows called LunaDisplay. 

I certainly would not try actually using the Affinity suite on the iPad... Kudos to the Serif team for making great apps, but iOS makes productivity work so aggravating. I mean, just look at what a pain it is to install fonts. (I'll admit I have a larger than average distaste for iOS, even though I have an iPad Pro.)