Tablet I can draw directly onto?

Question

Hi,I am looking to buy a drawing tablet that I can directly draw onto, preferably using Illustrator. I currently have a Wacom Intuos tablet however I find the fact that I have to connect it to the laptop rather than draw directly onto it very challenging. I want a tablet that is highly optimised for design including illustration and wireframing. Being able to use the internet on the tablet would also be useful. I was looking into an Apple iPad Pro as it is very versatile however I don't know whether I could cope not using Illustrator and using a different program. Cintiq's are way out of my price range. For something that dear I would want to be able to use the internet. I looked into some tablets that integrate with Sai and Photoshop however the colour matching seemed to be an issue here.Preferably I would like the tablet and pen cost to be under £500 at very very most - I would be looking into a 10.5 inch refurbished iPad in order to keep within my budget.Are the programs available for illustrators on the iPad Pro good? Are they vector based?What tablets would you recommend for my situation?

Monika Gause · Accepted Answer

There's no need to be rude. I'm a multi disciplinary designer. My

illustrations range from basic line icons to in depth portraiture. I want a

versatile tablet that fits my versatile needs and art styles.

The iPad and its apps are cool for the more freely drawn stuff. There are a couple of apps that have some awesome brushes to imitate natural materials (pixel based of course). There are some vector apps that can somehow be used for precise drawing, but that kind of stuff is just not in the focus of working with an iPad. Apple wants you to think that it's a desktop replacement, but it's not.

You want to take a look at:

Learning the Concepts App

or

Painting with the iPad app Procreate 2

or

Affinity Photo for iPad

Those (paid) tranings can show you what's possible and how it works.

Those seem to be some of the most advanced apps in the vector and the pixel sector. In case you're also doing inforgraphics, don't expect the iPad to be of much help. You cannot move your illustrations from Illustrator to the iPad (in case that is part of your intended workflow). It might be slightly easier with pixel artworks, but I'm not sure about that.

Then you can also take a look at apps such as Astropad that turn your iPad into a graphic tablet for a desktop.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS · Answer

I was recently shopping for a tablet for when I didn't need to carry my full-sized, 15 in Mac and Windows laptops.

I was looking at an iPad, but didn't like the idea that it couldn't run "regular" software. I ended up getting an Windows Surface 4 with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, along with a pen. (It comes with 16 GB and 1 TB SSD too.) It won't match your price range however, it was about $2000.

As a long-time Mac users, including iPads and iPhone, I am disappointed on how Apple has fallen behind the design/capability curve. Maybe the next iPad generation will actually be a full Mac with a touch screen and removable keyboard. One can only hope...

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