We may heard about graphic tablet , but not know much about it. So I would like to share some my opinion about this kind of product.
With the developing of the computer art painting, the graphic tablet comes out. Using the graphic tablet to draw, just like the painter draw with his palette and brushes. When we watch the TV, we can see that lots of lifelike characters. It is draw by the graphic tablet. That are so perfect so that the keyboard or palette can’t comparable with graphics tablet.
The graphic tablet mainly makes for designer, artist, add agencies, as well as vector flash animator. But as a amateur, it is also a good choice for us to use a graphic tablet to draw.
What is a graphic tablet ?
Normally we can call it pen tablet, drawing tablet, drawing pad, digital tablet, graphic tablet, and so on. It is a device connects with your computer and then transfers information into the computer. It is combined of a tablet and a pen with sensitivity. It looks like a pen tablet, but it is much different from it. The digital tablet usually makes for designers, artist designers; advertising company and they can use such kind of product to draw, paint and write.
As the keyboard, mouse, the hand-painted plate is a computer input devices. When you draw on the tablet, it will transfer your action into the computer, and then you can see the things you draw. And with the cartographic software such SAI, Photoshop, Adobe image, you can draw any kind of picture you want.
How to choose a proper graphic tablet for yourself?
Now I will show you several concept of the hand-painted plate. Pen sensitivity, Resolution, Report Rate,Active Area, these several concept is very important to a hand-painted plate.
1.Pen sensitivity means when you draw with the pen on the tablet, how it will reflect on the computer. If you push hard, the line will be thick. If you push the pen slight and the line you draw will be slender. Now there are three levels of the pen sensitivity, 1024, 2048, and 8192. The higher, the better.
2.Resolution. There are several common levels of the resolution, 2540, 3048, 4000, and 5080. The resolution means the accuracy of the tablet. When we draw on the tablet and enlarge the canvas to 800%, and then you can see the line is combined of little lattice. If the lattice is smooth and uniform, that means the resolution is high enough. And the picture you draw will looks much more nature and beautiful.
3.Report Rate: the report rate means when you draw on the tablet, how many time does the graphic reflect on the computer. Most time , there are several level to describe the report rate: 100,150、200、230、233 and so on.
4. Active area: The active area means the working area of the tablet. As this parameter, it doesn’t mean the higher the better. If the active area it too big, you will feel very tired too draw on it. And it is easy to get your arm harmed. The size of 5*8 inch or 6*8 inch is good for drawing. And also the most popular size for people who buys a graphic tablet.
XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro affordable drawing tablet monitor
Nowadays more and more people get used to draw with a graphic tablet, and with many kind of cartographic software, their creativity on art are express thoroughly. The advance of the technology makes our life and work become much easier, and also it reflect on the art working. Drawing on a tablet is not just a fashion but a normal in our daily work.And many companies are working on this area to make this kind of product better. Such as Wacom, XP-Pen , Huion.
The best manufacturer is Wacom , it is the leading in this field. And it sets many industry standards for his follower. But also its price is higher compared with many other brands. And there are several other brands I like which are from China. As we all know, china is famous with its productivity. And nowadays, they become much more professional in design.
I like the XP-Pen most, for it active social community activities on the internet, fans who love XP-Pen can get together to share their work and feeling on their page. And also the XP-Pen has produced many really good and not expensive products. Especially the Deco Series & Artist Series attract many people. I think it is really a good choice for those who can’t afford the high price of the Wacom.
I have been using wacom intuos 4 for many years. Wacom may be the best, but not by as much as they used to be; and for the price that they are asking… at some point you have to be looking at the diminishing returns.
I purchase a XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro drawing tablet with screen last week and by far I am really satisfied with this little graphic display tablet. The Artist 12 PRO is an advance version of Artist 12 .
The XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro graphics tablet has the coveted 8192 pressure senstivity, as well as tilt functionality,the stylus is battery-free and wireless . and The Artist 12 Pro’s 11.6 inch completely laminated IPS display enables 178-degree viewing angle with 1920*1080 high resolutions. There is a red color dial interface and 8 hotkeys customizable in the right side that facilitates smooth workflow.
I tend to use my monitor tablet more for better hand-eye tracking. It feels better to me so I do the majority of my work on it. I would never go back to a regular tablet, the Artist 12 Pro is so natural.
Technology Specifications :
Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels, Full HD
Display Colour Gamut: 72% NTSC, 100% sRGB
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Pen Pressure: 8192 levels
Tilt: 60 Degrees
Ports: HDMI/USB
Size: 351.52 x 225.38 x 12.9 mm
Active Area: 256.32 x 144.18 mm
Brightness: 250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio (Typical): 700 : 1
Number of Colors: 16.7 M
Report Rate: ≧200 RPS (Revolutions per Second)
Response Time: 14ms
Hand Input Resolution: 5080 LPI (Lines per Inch)
Viewing Angle:178°
System: Windows 10/8/7 (32/64bit), Mac OS X version 10.10 or later
official site: https://www.xp-pen.com/product/479.html
What’s in the box?
The tablet comes in a white box with a front view image of tablet with a pretty drawing displayed on it.
The things that come in the box:
XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro tablet
XP-Pen PA2 battery-free pen
Pen holder
Combined cable (USB type-C to USB type-A, HDMI, and USB type-A for power)
USB type-A extension cable (for power)
USB power adapter
Outlet adapters for international power outlets
HDMI to Mini-DisplayPort adapter
Pen nib replacements x8
Anti-fouling glove
Screen cleaning cloth
User manual
Warranty policy and warranty card
“Thank you” card
fully laminated Display
The XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro has an active drawing area on tablet of 11.6 inches diagonally, which gives it a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080.
The display has an impressive gamut of 72 per cent of Adobe NTSC , which is actually same with the Wacom Cintiq 16. However, the colour accuracy is good, but not perfect, so you’ll need to use a colour calibrator to fix it to avoid your artwork’s colours being inaccurate when printed.
The screen is capable of being extremely bright, and brightness can be conveniently adjusted by buttons on the side of the tablet.
The 12 Pro’s screen is laminated and bonded, That’s where they reduce the space between the screen and the glass to increase accuracy and reduce the parallax. The low levels of parallax are very similar to the Cintiq. It’s noticeable, but minor, and you’ll get accustomed to it quickly.
The pre-applied, and replaceable film cover’s anti-glare properties reduce reflections considerably. this is to give your pen more grip and improve control when drawing. Because the 12 doesn’t have etched glass, the tablet surface is slippery, feeling more like a phone screen than paper.
The Artist 12 Pro comes with a free, anti-fowling glove, because the palm will often stick to and smudge a display when drawing.
Battery-free Stylus PA2 support tilt and pressure
This tablet uses the newest XP-Pen PA2 battery-free pen. It has a rubber grip with a plastic top, and has a nice shape with a bulge near the bottom to allow for an easy and comfortable grip on the pen.
The stylus is battery-free and boasts 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, as well as 60 degrees of tilt functionality. Also what I have to say is that the pen sensitivity is really awesome. Feeling that you are using a real pen to draw or write.
I have checked several XP-Pen’s model . They make lots of model, such as Artist 12, Artist 13.3 Pro and Artist 15.6 Pro, Artist 22E Pro and so on. It is really hard to decide. But after I have compared XP-Pen’s graphic tablet, I found that almost all XP-Pen’s tablet is 8192 levels of pen pressure sensitivity for precise pressure control and the resolution is 5080. It is better than most other brands’graphic tablet at the same price.
Tilt support is another things that has always set Wacom apart until recently. I can confirm that the tilt definitely works but I don’t use it in my work so it’s hard for me to tell how well it works.
I like the feel of the Wacom pen more, but this is still one of the best pens i have used on a Cintiq alternative and for a lot of folks, they just aren’t going to be able to tell the difference.
The stylus comes with a plastic pen holder that houses eight replacement nibs and will definitely keep your stylus safe while travelling, and the holder opens to become a pen stand.
Connection
The XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro has a USB type-C port on it to connect to the combined USB/HDMI/power cable. Also if its connected to laptop. It will take the power from laptop, so we can work remotely without direct power support also.
The 12 Pro’s USB connection cable allows you to both connect the display and draw power with the same cable, you don’t need to attach it to an AC adapter. It can even be run from an external power bank, which adds to its portability.
Install Tablet driver
The XP-Pen tablet driver are extremely easy to install. Just go download the latest version directly from XP-Pen’s site and remove all other tablet drivers you have on your computer before installing it.
Once you’ve installed the driver and plugged in your tablet, the XP-Pen driver icon should appear in the system tray in the bottom right. You can access the tablet settings by clicking on that. The installer will also create a shortcut on your desktop for opening the settings.
8 hotkeys and 1 Red Dial
The Artist 12 Pro has eight built-in shortcut keys positioned down the side of the tablet, alongside the new red dial, which can be programmed to zoom in and out, alter brush sizes, and so on. It works on most of the software so far, but sometime you will find it will be a lot of trouble when you use on some other kind of software, but when I contact to the XP-Pen service center, they response to me quickly and with patience. It makes me feeling so good.
Don’t even forget the foldable tablet stand that you can install on the back of the tab and lift it with just few angle, makes the drawing more comfortable. There are no mounting holes for mounting to a stand or a VESA mount.
Drawing Experience
XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro Screen drawing tablet need to be plugged into a computer to function. The software for it measures out how hard your pressing down so it has a weight pressure in it and only reacts to a pen so that way your fingers aren’t moving the mouse when your drawing.
This product is amazing. Colors are even better than my monitor. Easy set up and great definition. I’ve used Wacon intuos tablet for more than 5 years. But I feel more excited for this tablet with display. Works perfectly with photoshop for some photo manipulation and full on digital art. The pen works really good its well balanced and doesn’t need charging. I like that its portable an very light also doesn’t heat.
Thing is it makes you work faster. Or at least that’s how it worked for me. When you’re drawing on a screen-less graphics pad, it might have a different ratio than your monitor and that’s a bit weird when you first try it. So if you draw a circle on the tablet it will never look like a circle on your monitor, but that changes when you have a graphics display. For me, it was nice that it decreased the production time. If you’re doing a lot of work on it, you might feel a difference. I went from drawing 8 hours on a piece to only 2 or so. Of course, that might differ for each individual. With screen is mostly useful for tracing line-art.
Pros:
-Easy setup
-simple software
-Colors are great/ full HD resolution
-Great size for on the go with a laptop
-No pen delay/no pen battery
-THE SHORTCUT KEYS ARE MARVELOUS
-the scroll wheel is awesome
-Uses type C connection
-pressure is a advertised
-comes with a tablet stand and glove
-extra pen tips/pen case
Cons:
-Some issues with the specific drawing apps
Conclusion
A Standard Tablet can totally get the job done – but if you are a hardcore illustrator/modeler, you love sketching in notebooks, painting etc, and you’ve got the money I’d recommend a XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro. Where you put the pen is where you draw – there’s no learning curve, there’s no disconnect, the screen real estate is fantastic , plenty of buttons and Red Dial to customize shortcuts, etc. it’s amazing.
Attracting design makes me love it at first sign. I think this is most important thing for a product. It is not attractive at first sign, it is hard for people to choose it. We all love beautiful things, right. So the outward appearance is very important.
I can’t say that XP-Pen is perfect and they can replace wacom. While for this competitive price and good service, it is a good choice for people who would like to buy a drawing tablet with no much cash. Just as the daily use and dress, someone can easily afford the best things without hesitation. But I think also part of people would think twice and carefully make a decision. And the XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro is an amazing entry-level screen drawing tablet and is super fluid and has no lag at this low price. You deserve it.
I bought the $250 on the XP-Pen official store , here is the link . You can check it for more information.
tianxin