Can the iPad Replace a Professional Drawing Tablet?
Are you a professional illustrator trying to determine if the iPad can replace a drawing tablet from a company like Wacom? We compare both products to see which is best.
Drawing tablets like those made by Wacom allow artists to create gorgeous digital art using the skills they’ve honed in physical media for years. Now Apple, with its Apple Pencil and latest-generation iPads, wants to provide the same features in a universal tablet for everyone. But is it up to the task?
For this comparison, we’ll look at two broad categories of devices: iPads and dedicated drawing tablets. Each category offers a lot of nuance. Apple has the iPad Pro, which starts at $800, all the way down to the iPad mini for half the price, but with fewer features.
Meanwhile, companies like Wacom make smaller drawing tablets you connect to an external computer, up to full-fledged Windows 10 PCs inside a touch-screen tablet that cost over two grand.
We won’t dive into the specifics of each model. Rather, we’ll take a broad look at the features professionals look for in a drawing tablet and compare them to Apple’s iPad line. Let’s dive in.
Pressure Sensitivity
With a pencil or a brush in real life, the harder you press, the stronger of a mark you make. The stylus you use with your drawing tablet needs to be able to do the same. To simulate this, styli support sensitivity levels, which are how many levels of pressure they can distinguish. The more sensitivity levels, the finer the control you have over the pressure of your pen strokes.
There are no set rules for how many sensitivity levels you need to get work done. Some say they’re fine with a stylus that has 2,048 levels, while others swear by Wacom’s latest with a whopping 8,192 levels. Microsoft’s most recent Surface Pen splits the difference with 4,096 sensitivity levels.
Frustratingly, Apple doesn’t reveal official sensitivity levels for either generation of Apple Pencil, but anecdotally, artists say it’s about as sensitive as competing styli. There also isn’t much difference between the first- and second-generation Apple Pencil when it comes to sensitivity (the latter only works on the iPad Pro lineup). If you want to see how it feels for you, the safest option is to try it out in your local Apple Store before committing.
Tilt and Rotation Support
Another key element to making a stylus feel natural is how it handles tilting and rotation. With a physical brush, you can tilt it to give broader or narrower strokes, and you can rotate it to create a stroke from different angles without moving your canvas. Both are incredibly useful techniques when drawing.
Unfortunately, the iPad only supports one of them. Both Apple Pencils support tilt sensitivity, so for example, when using the pencil tool in a drawing app, you can draw with your stylus straight up for a fine, sharp line, or come at it from an angle for a wider, softer stroke.
However, unlike styli from Wacom and other companies, neither Apple Pencil supports rotation. This means angled brushes will only be able to flow in a single direction unless you rotate the tablet itself. This is easier to do with an iPad than a drawing tablet connected to an external computer, but it’s still an annoying limitation.
Tips and Erasers
The tip of your stylus can have a significant impact on how it feels while drawing. The replaceable tips — or nibs, as they’re called — on some professional styli can come in a variety of textures that simulate the feeling of markers, pens, or even chisels. For advanced artists, these can be very valuable.
Unfortunately, the Apple Pencil doesn’t support them. You can buy replacement tips, because they will wear out eventually, but there aren’t any alternative styles. This has led to some creative solutions from those who want their Pencil to feel more natural.
The iPad also has a glossy surface which, when paired with a hard tip on the Pencil, can make drawing feel unnatural compared to pencil on paper. Of course, this comes down to personal preference. If this doesn’t bother you, the Apple Pencil will work just fine.
Another issue migrating from the analog world is the eraser. Many professional styli have a secondary touch-sensitive tip on the opposite end so you can flip it over and use it as an eraser. If you learned to draw with traditional pencils, this flows smoothly with your muscle memory.
The Apple Pencil lacks this physical feature, but you can double-tap it to switch to the eraser tool. It’s just as convenient, but it may be slightly less viscerally satisfying.
Programmable Buttons
Professional drawing tablets of nearly every size and price point usually come with a set of buttons along the side that you can customize with different functions. You could map a button to undo, create shortcuts to some of your favorite brushes, or make basic tasks simpler with the tablet’s built-in tools.
Unfortunately, the iPad lacks this feature. You can double-tap your Pencil to switch tools (by default this switches to your eraser, though you can customize it), but you don’t have any other shortcuts beyond what’s available on your screen. This is only a bad thing if you can’t do without customizable buttons.
Software
The biggest — and arguably most important — difference between an iPad and a professional drawing tablet is its software. The iPad has a number of powerful drawing apps including Adobe Photoshop Sketch, Procreate, Autodesk Sketchbook, and even the upcoming Adobe Fresco. If you want to draw, paint, or design, there’s a wealth of software available.
But most of these apps aren’t aimed at professionals working in a production environment. A typical drawing tablet can be paired with Macs or Windows PCs running high-end software used in everything from animation studios to architecture firms to fashion design studios. You might be able to use an iPad for some stages of professional work, but it’s more likely to be relegated to casual sketching.
The Verdict
As with most gadget buys, what works for you will depend on your needs and personal preferences. If you prefer a physical eraser or customizable hotkeys, a Wacom might be more your speed. If you’re fine with a sensitive-enough stylus and don’t care much about rotation, an iPad will work just fine for you.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com on September 30, 2019.
