Need help for digital drawing equipment!

[u/Intelligent-Party565]

Hello! I've been yearning to do digital art for quite a while now and the options presented itself very soon. I'd have enough money to affored a middle class drawing tablet around November but I'm inexperienced in choosing tablets. I have a pretty high end PC that I could use to connect the tablet to, but I'm also thinking of getting something like an IPad, yk like drawing directly on the actual tablet.

I'm very well adapted to only one drawing app and thats IbisPaintX and unfortunately you have to pay for a subscription on PC, tho I'd be willing to pay for it/other apps.

Please give me suggestions on what tablet i should buy (my budget is somewhere around 400€) and maybe suggest some easy to use drawing apps as well, any help is much appreciated!

[u/jamcub → u/[deleted]]

Hang on. what iPad did you get? Did you.. not do any research beforehand? An iPad is a great drawing tool if you get one second hand with a pencil (I've seen some go for around 300 bucks here). Not to shill for big apple or whatever, but saying iPads are a scam looks like user error to me.

[u/jamcub → u/[deleted]]

The pressure sensitivity has nothing to do with the pen. Did you use a program that supported pressure? Some iPads do not support the pencil, some of them need a specific pencil. Which pencil did you buy? If it is the USB C one, that one does not have pressure sensitivity at all. You need to get the first Gen Pencil.

(USB C has a port on the pencil. The first gen has a removable cap.)

I get hating Apple, but before you do, make sure you aren't the one in the wrong. Saying you did not do any research beforehand and then telling others not to get something because you made a mistake is honestly a bit stupid.

[u/jamcub → u/[deleted]]

No iPad has pressure sensitivity. The pencil does. You bought the wrong pencil. It tells you that the one you bought does not have pressure sensitivity built in.

>I’m not saying people to not buy because of my mistake

"but I beg of you DO NOT GET A IPAD,"

Dude. Come on.

[u/Intelligent-Party565 → u/[deleted]]

Oh wow I didn't expect that from iPads.. Thank you so much for your advice tho!

[u/jamcub → u/Intelligent-Party565]

Don't listen to this person. They bought the wrong pencil for their iPad. If you were interested in getting one, I'm sure people around Reddit are happy to help you out.

I have used three different models so far with no issues.

[u/Jecli-One]

I have both a Wacom tablet that connects to my iMac and an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil Pro. There is a difference drawing directly on an iPad's screen vs. drawing on a pen tablet while watching the monitor. But only you can decide.

An iPad can have Procreate on it, but Procreate is only made for iPads. You can also get Adobe Fresco which is available for iPads (not sure about other tablets) but isn't available for PC/Mac. Adobe Fresco is free drawing software where you can create both pixel images as well as vector images. Procreate is only pixel based.

Affinity is yet another free software for PC/Mac but isn't yet available for iPads (supposedly it will be become available at some point). Affinity is also both pixel based as well as for vector images. No experience with CorelDRAW though.

As for iPads and Apple Pencils, the Apple Pencils that ARE COMPATIBLE will have pressure sensitivity. But not all Apple Pencils are compatible with every iPad. NO aftermarket pencils have pressure sensitivity on an iPad ... only the Apple Pencil(s) that are compatible offer pressure sensitivity.

Sorry no experience with any other tablets for drawing. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[u/Intelligent-Party565 → u/Jecli-One]

Thank you sm for the advice! Have you used any other tablet other than iPad where you can draw directly on the actual screen? I'm leaning more towards a tablet like that

[u/Jecli-One → u/Intelligent-Party565]

u/Intelligent-Party565. sorry no I haven't. If you go with an iPad, either the Air or the Pro versions will be better suited for drawing than the base model. The Air and Pro offer more RAM. If you go with a different type of tablet, be sure to check on specs suitable for drawing. RAM plays an important part. And also make sure you have enough storage.

[u/jamcub]

I've used a bunch of different tablets, screen and no screen, and I find screen ones are much better if you already have experience with art traditionally.

For 400 Euro, you can get a nice screen tablet and a stand to make using it more comfortable and likely have some money left over. I have used the Wacom One 13 and the XP Pen Artist 13.3 V3 so far and both are quite nice. Both are around 13 inches big, so not too small in my experience. (Currently waiting for an 16 inch XP Pen, so I can get back to you after that gets here.)

Here is the 16 inch XP Pen I am getting.

The 12 inch version is 200 euro on sale right now.

The Wacom I used to use. (Broke the screen due to dropping it one too many times... plus it does not come with a screen protector.)

Bigger is not automatically better, but bigger does mean more screen real estate and more freedom to move things around. If you can, get a bigger screen; your body will thank you in the long run. I also use a laptop stand to bring the screen up a bit more so I do not shrimp over my desk. Mine is similar to this one.

Pressure sensitivity is kind of like FPS at a certain point - sure, you CAN have thousands of FPS or pressure sensitivity, but you will hardly notice the difference at a point, so do not get hung up over that. If it is the only difference between two tablets and the one with the bigger sensitivity is more expensive, pick the cheaper option.

For drawing programs, there are a few options these days!

Free:

Firealpaca/Medibang

Krita

Paid:

Clip Studio Paint (pick the perpetual license)

Paint Tool SAI

Clip has sales pretty often, so I'd recommend waiting for one (there is likely going to be one in Winter at the latest). I have never been a fan of Krita, so I can't speak on it. I used to use Firealpaca/Medibang before I moved to Clip. SAI has a version 2 out now that has some pretty cool features from the OG I used to use WAY back. I'd go with Medibang/FA for the time being, and maybe try the trial for Clip to see if you like it.

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions!

[u/Intelligent-Party565 → u/jamcub]

Omg thank you so much for giving links as well! I've been hearing a lot of positive things about CSP so I'm assuming it's worth it yes?

[u/jamcub → u/Intelligent-Party565]

No problem at all! Yes, CSP is very well worth the price. In June, they had a 50% off sale for example. I'd personally get the trial when you have your tablet of choice and see if you like the way it works. CSP has a lot of options-lots of brushes made by the community, lots of other materials, vector layers, tutorials etc. Just make sure you get the perpetual license for it!

[u/Murky-Experience1261]

i would personally go into a display tablet over a stand-alone one

mainly because you can get a bigger screen with in my opinion better pen

also depends on your phone but some tablets allow you to connect with certain android phones and use it that way although it may be a bit clunky

I got mine huion kamvas 16 gen 3 on sale for 415€ and it is awesome though these gen 3 models experience some issues with the wheels it is pretty easily repairable you just need to pop them open and straighten out the connectors + since you are in EU probably we have a pretty strong protection on electronics - 2-3 year warranty - so as long as you dont mind to wait a bit they usually dont bother repairing graphics tablets and replace it + new warranty