Have you ever wished that you might have a pen to directly write or draw on a laptop screen? Or do you consider replacing your mouse with pen or pencil-like tools to get the realistic feel of writing on your screen?
With the advancement of technology, We have been provided ease in most of our work. We are now able to modify our workflow, save our time, and at the same time can be more productive with these advanced tools. A graphics tablet is one of these admirable devices.
There are some misconceptions among people that graphics tablets have been specially made for graphic designers, animators, illustrators, or other artists. But it is untrue. Whether you are a teacher, doctor, engineer, or belong to any other non-artist profession, a graphic tablet would be a valuable device. You couldn’t have imagined how much it would modify your workflow.
What is a Graphics Tablet? How does it work?
A graphics tablet is a hardware input device that consists of tough plastic, touch-sensitive surface/screen upon which you can draw or trace an image and can make changes using an attached pen-like “stylus”. The image is shown on the computer’s monitor as the position of the stylus(pen-like apparatus) is spontaneously related to the spot of the cursor on the monitor. Some graphic tablets also incorporate an LCD screen for a more realistic and natural experience.
It is also known as a drawing tablet, drawing pad, pen-tablet, digital drawing tablet, digitizer, etc.
Characteristics:
Tablet
It refers to the resolution size or active area of a graphic tablet. It is the most prominent surface on which drawing or tracing can be done. It connects a point on the tablet’s surface to the point on the screen using a stylus/puck that moves the cursor correspondingly.
Interface
Just like other wireless computer interfaces applied with the keyboards, mouse, trackpads, etc. Various graphic tablets also utilize interfaces such as Bluetooth, USB(Universal Serial Bus), etc.
Stylus
A stylus is a pen-like tool that is used to draw or write on the surface of the tablet. When you move the electric tip of the stylus on the tablet’s surface then the related software tracks its movement and creates a drawing accordingly.
With the help of a stylus, Graphic tablets give a realistic experience similar to writing/drawing on paper using a pen. Several graphic tablets also consist of a puck/cursor which is a mouse-like accessory that can sense its relative position and move the cursor on the screen accordingly.
Software
Graphics tablets work together with one or more graphic-editing software such as Adobe Illustrator, Coral’s Painter, Adobe Photoshop, etc, and give artists a lot of precision during creating their artwork. This software should have the controls of the graphic tablet.
Pressure Sensitivity
Pressure Sensitivity decides that what would be the thickness of the lines on the basis of the force you put down on the stylus. It’s like when you press harder on the stylus then the software will react by making a more spacious and deeper line on the screen.
The most common and the best pressure sensitivity of affordable graphic tablets is around 8192 levels.
What Are Graphics Tablets Used For?
There are so many use cases of graphics tablets. Along with animators, illustrators, editors, etc., it is also popular among non-artists. Using a graphic tablet is as easy as writing on paper using a pen or pencil. It provides so much precision and accuracy to the artwork and improves our workflow. Some of the important use cases of a graphics tablet are as follows:
Illustration, Animations & Graphic designs
Many illustrators, animators, photographers, graphic designers, etc. use graphic tablets to work with more accuracy and precision and to complete their projects faster and easier. From concept designing to character development, the graphic tablet provides an ease to complete the entire process smoothly.
If you are among those people who do many illustrations, animations, character designs, sketching, and rendering work then you might need a graphics tablet. Because working with a digital pen gives the natural feel and comfort to make more designs smoothly and perfectly.
Architectures, Industrial designs, and Engineering purposes
Sometimes engineers and architects are unable to create their ideal designs even after spending hours in front of a computer screen. This may increase the need for a graphic tablet with advanced features and software to induce their visions of life. Graphics tablet makes it possible to do the work efficiently with tablet and stylus(pen-like tool) instead of using that traditional screen and mouse.
Education and training
Graphics tablet proves to be one of the most efficient and affordable teaching devices, especially for online education. It helps teachers to make the lecture more interactive just like using chalk-n-duster. Teachers can easily show images, graphs, math equations, and many more things using graphic tablets. Now it is not needed to draw images manually, teachers can quickly pick up the file and start explaining the topic, procedures, and other instructions.
In this way, graphic tablets also play an important role in making online classes more interactive, similar to offline classes.
Medical and Health Cares
Graphic tablets are used to speed up the whole process of medical document management by replacing a lot of paperwork. It also saves time, energy, and expense required for scanning, processing, printing, and recovering papers.
Using a graphics tablet, doctors can quickly write prescriptions for the patients and give approval directly with a few clicks.
Business and Office
Many business people use graphic tablets for the demonstration and presentation of their products and services. Graphic tablets empower businesses to digitize their standard and enhance the workflow with proper time management.
Conclusion
If you are an artist or a designer and serious about your design career then you must buy a graphics tablet. It is provided with lots of custom settings and allows natural drawing motion and lets you do work with more productivity.
Even if you belong to another profession, graphic tablets prove to be a very important device. Believe us, It is worth buying. So look closely at your requirements and increase your productivity with a graphic tablet. Keep growing!
