Drawing on a graphics tablet - programs, settings, tips. How to set up a drawing tablet

So, you bought a graphics tablet. In addition to the fact that you still have to get used to it and get better at it, you need to immediately decide on a graphic editor that will maximize all the capabilities of your new device. And if you think that you can only draw in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, then you are very mistaken.

In addition to the internationally recognized and undoubtedly cool products of Adobe, there are many graphic editors that offer the same functionality, but for less money, and sometimes even for free. In addition, some programs boast a unique interface with many interesting features; designers and illustrators will definitely appreciate them.

We have compiled a list of programs where you can fully draw using a graphics tablet, simulating various artistic techniques, make sketches, create raster and vector images, and also practice lettering and calligraphy.

Corel Painter X3

Painter X3 simulates traditional brushes, textures, dry and wet effects with incredible accuracy. Thanks to this, there is an almost complete immersion in a real artist’s studio, where there is no computer or monitor, only an easel and canvas.

Painter Lite

Lightweight and cheaper version of Painter offers everything necessary tools for drawing, but at a lower price. An excellent option for those who are just starting to draw and are not ready to spend a lot of money.

Clip Paint Studio PRO

Despite the fact that this program was developed specifically for drawing manga, Clip Paint Studio has gone quite far and can be used with the same success in industry-standard digital painting. The program has incredibly convenient features, for example, ready-made shapes that can be used as a model for drawing poses.

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 7

SketchBook Pro is a professional drawing application optimized specifically for tablet devices. Drawing in it is easy and pleasant, which novice users will undoubtedly appreciate.

ArtRage 4

A program with incredible tools and the most attractive interface. Drawing in it is easy and pleasant. Focused on creating realistic images.

Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 9

Photo editing, drawing, unusual effects are not all the capabilities of Xara Photo. Users will appreciate the compatibility of file formats and the low price of the product.

Affinity Designer

The program supports working with layers, import\export of different file formats, a convenient navigator and all the tools for working with vector graphics that you can think of. Affinity Designer is kind of a killer Adobe Illustrator. The only drawback of this program may be that it is only available for MAC. But the price is more than reasonable.

Inkscape

A free and convenient vector illustrator, which is essentially a symbiosis of Corel DRAW and Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape's remarkable support for pen pressure sensitivity - a big deficiency in the vector illustration world powerful tool for those who are seriously interested in calligraphy.

By the way, Inkscape has an excellent resource in seven languages, including Russian, which is very rare even for commercial graphics programs. On the Inkscape website you can not only download the program, but also read articles, study lessons, participate in discussions and much more. There is also the opportunity to become one of the developers and testers of the product and bring useful features to it.

Artweaver

A raster graphics program that looks like a symbiosis of Painter and Photoshop. Compared to GIMP, it is slower in processing, but with a much larger set of brushes. Wide support for Wacom tablet.

GIMP

A colorful and functional raster program for drawing and illustrating. By appearance The interface and features are similar to Corel Painter. Wide support for Wacom tablet.

MyPaint

An undemanding and easy-to-use open-source program for digital artists. Allows you to concentrate on creativity, not the program interface. Tablet support is well implemented.

SmoothDraw

And here's another one worth attention drawing program - ten thousand beginner and professional artists managed to download this wonderful development for free. You don't have to waste time studying menus and tools - just open new file and showcase your talents with clearly visualized features.

Users have access to blending modes, layers, virtual canvas rotation, and sub-pixel anti-aliasing levels. In addition to standard painting tools, the application contains special tools, such as graffiti, water drops, stars, grass. Synchronization with tablets is also implemented.

Paint Tool SAI

Don't be intimidated by SAI's clean interface, as this is the de facto standard program for most Japanese anime artists. It also comes with a line correction feature to create sharper contours.

Serif DrawPlus (starter edition)

Serif DrawPlus offers all the tools for working with raster and vector graphics. Here you can create interesting prints, make logos, edit photos or draw using a lot of custom effects, including 3D. Truly a godsend for beginning illustrators and designers, and completely free!

All the programs on the list will be excellent alternatives to Adobe products, even if you are not ready to admit it yet. It’s enough to give them a chance, and who knows, maybe in a couple of weeks you won’t even remember about Photoshop! Moreover, you don’t have to pay for some products at all. Don't be afraid to try new things, push boundaries and improve!

Hi all!
My name is Matt M. Laskowski and I am a graphic illustrator.

STEP 1. NEW FOLLOWERS

:: I don't have a tablet, but I'm planning to buy one.

Great! But first: try to find the answer to the question “why do I need a tablet?” It doesn't have to be Wacom, they just produce probably the highest quality and easiest to use tablets. But if you are completely new to this business, then it is better to first ask yourself why and how much you need this tablet.

And I will say slowly and clearly:

NO GRAPHICS TABLET, WHATEVER BRAND AND MODEL IT IS, CAN MAGICALLY MAKE YOU A SUPER-DUPER ARTIST.

A graphics tablet is a productivity tool that speeds up an artist's workflow to keep up with digital media. It doesn't enhance your pre-existing skills just because it's a high-tech item plugged into Photoshop. Very often everything happens just the opposite.

Although the tablet comes with a stylus, which gives the feeling simple drawing On paper, the actual practical use of a tablet (especially if you've never used one) is a completely different dimension, one that can be reached through a long, winding learning curve. After all, once you install a regular desktop tablet, you'll be holding it in horizontal position on the table or on your lap, and the lines of your pen on the vertically located monitor opposite you. You will have to get used to this and it may take weeks before you stop feeling discomfort from such a system.

I've met many artists who were thinking about buying a tablet for testing, shelling out $350-400 for a mid-level professional model, using it 10 times and never thinking about it again, because getting used to this technique was too much for them. Well, then this tablet could be used as an expensive mouse pad - otherwise, the money could be spent more wisely.

So don't let this discourage you from purchasing a tablet. By any means, buy yourself a tablet if you decide that you really want one. The only thing you really need to remember here is that you need to be smart if you are buying blindly on the principle that everything will work out.

:: I want a tablet, but have never used one before

There's good news for you. Wacom manufacturers know that people buy tablets with different content and for different purposes. If you've never used a tablet and can't say for sure whether you'll like it after you try it, you certainly shouldn't even think about starting with something big and expensive.

Wacom offers a range of low-budget tablets for aspiring artists, the BAMBOO (as I write this article). These tablets can provide good experience drawing for about 30-40% of the cost of a series of professional INTUOS tablets. (As of this writing, the BAMBOO PEN tablet will cost just $70, compared to the same-sized INTUOS SMALL tablet, which costs $220.)

When plunging headlong into the digital world, it is best to buy BAMBOO, because even with the minimum probability that you will like it and continue to use it, this tablet will serve you faithfully for quite a long time. As you become an experienced user of this tablet, you can safely switch to INTUOS. After all, the cost of BAMBOO is negligible and it can be resold to someone else who just wants to try the product, or you can simply store it and use it when traveling or other places. We need to treat it more simply, and not bury our nose in it. (To learn only what you need at the beginning of the journey, and develop as your experience accumulates.)

At the same time, if in the end you didn't like BAMBOO and never used it again, you won't be too upset, because... it costs nothing - and by keeping it, you potentially increase your chances of using it again.

:: What about the CINTIQ tablet series? Are they easier to use?

CINTIQ tablets, for those who don't know, are WACOM's professional grade products. CINTIQ has a screen built into the tablet body itself. This means that when you draw on it, you get an instant visual feedback on a scale of 1:1. It's as if you were drawing on a regular piece of paper, without taking into account the work in Photoshop. Due to the stand, functionality and ease of handling, it is very expensive. The small model (the 12-inch Cintiq 12WX at the time of writing) retails for $1,000, while its larger 21-inch brother, the 21UX, costs $2,000. As you can tell by these prices, it's too early for you to even think about such tablets until you have a very good reason to do so.

For the working professional, CINTIQ tablets are like steamed turnips. They allow professional artists to work faster and more accurately. The end result created by a professional artist on a Cintiq tablet will most likely be no better than the painting he drew on a regular Intuos, but the 1:1 scale alone makes any investment worthwhile. Let's take professional photographers for example. If you are just starting out in photography, will you buy expensive equipment that professionals use? Most likely not, because expensive equipment does not make you a good photographer, just as it does not make a professional a good photographer. Of course, you can buy the latest technology, like from famous photographers, but you will only use it as much as your knowledge of this technique. Thus, a beginner, having acquired professional equipment, will still produce beginner-level work. Professionals are only interested in the latest technology because it almost always improves the efficiency of their work.

This, of course, does not mean that you should not think about it and buy a tablet like the Cintiq. They are created not only for professionals and the artistic elite. Cintiq tablets are easier to use than traditional Intuos or Bamboo versions because they're the format you're most used to (pencil and paper), but they're not perfect. Aspects such as cursor lag, pen line jitter, pen calibration, and bulkiness of Cintiq tablets may be unacceptable to some, but can be minimized with appropriate use of the tablet. Some newcomers (and even professionals) to digital art may find it impossible to get used to traditional tablets like Intuos and Bamboo and refuse to work on them. However, when you give them a Cintiq, they can do anything with it and the results will be top level. These people are ready to pay one, or even two thousand dollars for such equipment.

For most people, it will make sense to start with a basic level tablet and work your way up to the Cintiq, especially if you spend a ton of time working on the tablet. When you really understand that the features that the Cintiq has are exactly what you need, then without a doubt, go for it.

:: Tablet personal computer (tablet PC, Tablet PC)? What kind of fruit is this?

Tablet computers have been around for quite some time, but there have been issues with hardware and usage that have made working with programs like Photoshop problematic. In recent years, the development of higher power, lower voltage processors, and simpler electronic circuitry has allowed Tablet PCs to take a higher position in the personal computing world, now being as powerful as larger, non-Tablet systems.

As the name suggests, a tablet computer is a tablet that is inserted directly into a computer monitor. Most Tablet PCs with pens are made by Wacom, using a technology called "Wacom Penabled". The "Wacom Penabled" Tablet PC has all the same specifications as the Bamboo Tablet in terms of tracing and pen pressure sensitivity, with the exception of the LCD screen. However, they are a little more similar to the Wacom Cintiq series, but are not high enough in terms of standards technical characteristics. Most tablet PCs are rotatable, which means they are usually 12 or 13-inch laptops, and the screen can rotate on an axis and fold over the keyboard, thus becoming a thin PC with just a monitor. Unlike Cintiq tablets, tablet PCs are much more convenient, more powerful, and completely autonomous (work wirelessly). However, unlike the Cintiq, the tablet constantly works in conjunction with the computer. So when your computer gets old and deteriorates, so does the functionality of your tablet. Cintiq tablets gain their functionality by connecting to a computer, so your Cintiq will work as well as the computer it's connected to will work. So, we can say that generally Cintiq tablets are more durable than tablet computers due to the fact that its hardware lasts much longer.

One of the main differences, however, is that tablet computers are rarely designed for true artists. Most Tablet PCs are designed for end consumers who want their computers to be faster in a smaller space. Their bulk of target consumers are in hospitals and warehouses. Since Tablet PCs are not 100% a product for artists, their functionality can sometimes lead to frustration. Not all software will be compatible with this computer, and calibrating the pen may be a complicated process.

For those who are interested in Tablet PC, I present for your attention the following models:

Amazing! From now on, I'll only be focusing on Wacom tablets and not Tablet PCs - but there's still plenty here for you, fellow Tablet PC users. useful information, so keep reading.

- Check your drivers!

The first step, of course, is to make sure that your drivers are working properly! Many new tablet users often forget to install drivers completely, and then wonder why some functions, such as pen pressure, do not work. The best way To find out if your drivers are installed and functioning, this is to bring the stylus to one of the corners of the tablet, then remove it and bring it to the other corner. If the cursor automatically jumps to the second corner at the position where the pen tip is, you can be sure that everything is working perfectly. Without installed drivers, the cursor will not move.

- Disable Tablet PC services on Windows

This step does not apply to: Mac users, Tablet PC users, and Windows Vista/7 handwriting recognition and flicks users.

Windows 7 and Vista have a feature called Tablet PC Services. By default, this feature is enabled when a tablet connected to the computer is detected. Tablet PC Services, as the name suggests, should only apply to tablet computers - not to your laptop or personal computer to which the Wacom tablet is connected. These Windows features will only get in the way if you intend to devote yourself entirely to drawing.

To disable Tablet PC services, click the Windows button on the taskbar and type “Services” in the search box. A shortcut called “Services” should appear in the search results. Label in the form of two small mechanisms.

Click on it, and an even larger window will open in front of you with a list of other shortcuts. The list is alphabetical, scroll down to "Tablet PC Input Service".

Double-click on it, a small window will appear showing the current status of the services, as well as the option to enable (start), stop (stop), or disable (disable) these services. We are only interested in stopping and disabling these services.

First, click the “stop” button. Wait for the program to stop running, then click Apply at the bottom of the window.

That's it! Tablet PC services are now disabled. From now on, you can get 100% pleasure from working with Wacom, forgetting about the “glitches” of Windows. For artists, this is simply an ideal condition, because... this ensures that the pen responds as quickly as possible.

(If some Tablet PC services are still running, try restarting your computer.)

- Prepare a good work area!

The way you sit and hold your tablet has a huge impact on how you use it. For many people, placing the tablet at an angle is most convenient, because... this minimizes the difficulty of transferring horizontal motion to vertical motion, and also simulates a drafting table. Many people place the tablet on their laps, resting the corner of the tablet on the edge of the table (this, of course, can only be done by owners of a fairly large tablet). Other people use things like coolers and laptop stands to somehow keep their tablet at a certain height. For those who have the opportunity to visit an IKEA store, I want to tell you that they have a great laptop stand for $2 that is also great for tablets of any size.

Of course, you can always place your tablet vertically on a table surface. Just remember to keep the monitor a little closer to the tablet, and if your monitor has height and tilt controls, lower it and tilt it towards you.

It may seem to you that Cintiq tablet users have it much easier in this regard, because... They have built-in retractable stands that automatically give them the most comfortable position for working, but you can still improve your work area with the tools at hand.

:: Everything seems to be going well! Now what about actually using the tablet?

So, regarding the use of the tablet, the first thing you need to do is open the Tablet Properties window and think about how you would like to configure it with certain software. I know, I know, you want to get started right away. maximum settings and capabilities - but trust me, you need to understand how to use your tool effectively first!

Windows users can find tablet properties in two places:
- Start menu – All programs – Wacom Tablet (sometimes Pen Tablet) – Wacom Tablet Properties
- System control panel – Wacom Tablet Properties
Users Mac computers can find the properties of their tablets directly in the System Preferences menu.

When you open this window, you will see the following:

Please note that in order to change settings on your tablet, it must be connected to your computer. The program for changing parameters will not work without a tablet. Also please note that if the tool you want to edit is such as a pen or mouse with increased accuracy, is not displayed under the Tools list, you probably haven't registered it in your tablet yet. Wacom tablets register all the tools it interacts with by simply bringing it within range of the tablet to detect the signal. This means that you can use more than one pen, or any other tool, and each will have its own settings. The Features tool relates directly to tablet hardware, such as ExpressKeys and areas active work, etc.

However, each person will have their own preferences regarding the settings of their tablet, so I won't say much about what is best and what is not - simply because if one thing is true for me, it does not mean it will be true for you that's right. In addition, all tablet models differ from each other in their capabilities and settings. However, I will tell you, as an example, about the settings that I usually use myself. We will look at just a few of them. The rest will be touched upon in one way or another later in this article, but to a lesser extent.

- Profile your software!

Notice how your tablet's properties window should have a [+] button at the end of the Applications list? It allows you to add a program in order to have special installation configurations ONLY for the selected program. This is very useful when you are using several programs in parallel, each of which has its own hotkeys and functions. It may seem like there's no point in profiling your software, but remember, this step will help you improve your productivity.

The properties program allows you to create multiple profiles for each tool, just like the settings for the tool itself. Your pen may have completely different profiles than your tablet's features. So first of all, remember to select the tool for which you want to create a profile.

A good example of things that are most often profiled differently are hotkeys for undoing and redoing an action (for example, in Photoshop the keyboard shortcut is ctrl+alt+Z, and in Painter ctrl +Z), as well as changes to some features that are clearly missing in other software.

A good tip to help you install your software: First open the program you want to profile, and only THEN add it to the list in the Tablet Properties window. Running program will appear in the list of programs you're most likely to want to add.

- Place only the most frequently used functions on the Express Keys!

Your Wacom tablet has an Express panel. Older models such as the Bamboo have at least two of the three buttons on this panel; Cintiq 21UX tablets have as many as 16 express buttons. To make your work easier, you should assign the most frequently used functions to these buttons.

If your tablet has a lot of buttons on the Express panel, don't bother assigning a function to each button. Assigning functions to buttons that you rarely use can actually hinder your work rather than help it. Over time, you may forget which functions are assigned to which buttons, and it is quite possible that you mistakenly press the wrong button, which can lead to undesirable consequences.

If you need to do something, such as Undo, zoom in, etc., there should be a button on your tablet that you press most often - like "home position" . This "subconsciously preferred" button should enable your most frequently used feature. For me, this is the Shift button modifier. Don't be surprised if you don't find your starting position right away. You will understand when you discover it for yourself when, wanting to perform a certain function, you press the wrong button on the tablet. If this happens, you need to change the button with which you made a mistake and put in its place the one you intended. Immediately after the starting position should be the second most frequently used function. For me it's "undo". With these two buttons located next to each other, there is no need to guess where to point - everything is already at hand.

Note the picture above - these are the settings I use on my Cintiq. It can be seen that the main buttons here are the two express buttons closest to the center, because they correspond to the Shift function. I also found that I used the bottommost button a lot, so I gave it the Alt function. Note that I also placed my second most used function above Alt - Undo. This allows me to quickly undo my actions if I make a mistake while drawing.

- The only necessary setting for your pen:

The Express Bar is great for quickly accessing frequently used functions, but don't forget that your pen also has two buttons. They can significantly speed up the process of working on a graphics tablet.

Unlike the buttons on your tablet, the buttons on the pen should be used as access to certain actions, and not as hotkeys. Therefore, I recommend one of the buttons to Right click (a frequently used and necessary function), and the second to Pan/Scroll.

Pan/Scroll is probably one of the best features because it works in almost all programs. In almost all image-based programs, it allows you to scroll through the canvas—essential for quickly accessing different parts of the canvas to continue drawing. It also allows you to scroll through lists of folders, web pages in your browser, basically anything that can be scrolled down and up.

Although the express panel may be different for everyone, I guarantee you that specifically for pen buttons you will not find more suitable functions than these.

- So, how about real, serious use of the tablet now?

You'll find out soon.

STEP 3: TAKE YOUR SEATS

Please note that this article is not a lesson on drawing, improving your skills, or anything like that. The purpose of this is to expand your knowledge of your Wacom tablet, and help you find your own style of working on it.

Before you begin, you should know that there are some special differences in graphic drawing that you need to get used to. There are many things that can give you some advantages that you can't achieve on paper, so let's look at some of them.

- If you have a tool, make the most of it!

Graphic canvases do not have physical limitations like paper. However, they still have physical limitations in relation to your computer. Try working on a canvas of several thousand pixels. If you have a computer, PC or Mac purchased after 2007, you should not have any problems working with large files until you exhaust 2GB system memory to the minimum possible.

You shouldn't be afraid to work with paintings that are, say, 5000x3500 pixels in size. You'll be surprised how small this huge file will be when printed, despite how big it looks on your monitor. But remember that it all depends on the scale - if you are painting on a large canvas, reduce the scale by half and use a thicker brush. And then you will see that the canvas is no longer so “deceptive.”

- Use layers. But don’t overdo it so you don’t get lost in them!

Most image processing programs such as Photoshp, Painter, Tool/SAI, PhotoPaint, and SketchBook Pro support the ability to work with layers.

Rule #1 graphic drawing says: Never draw on a background layer. The background layer is an unchanged, completely opaque layer. You can't place anything underneath this layer, so the first step you should take when opening a new file is to create a new layer on which you will draw. In this case, the lines you draw will be on a transparent canvas, and you can add other details or colors underneath this layer if you need to exclude any other action or fill a void. Working on new layers is like having an endless supply of blank fields to work in. But know that if you use too many layers, you'll spend more time finding the right layer instead of spending that time painting. Cluttered layers can also lead to incorrect results, which can interrupt all your work.

It's best to keep things simple to a certain level. Break your work down into a series of basic layers, such as sketch, detail, light and shadow, base colors, etc. It would be good to train yourself to add new details on new layers, and only then combine new layer with one of the base layers, if you are sure that everything turned out as planned. So, for example, always reduce all rough sketches to one layer, instead of keeping all 10 with different small details on each of them.

The more you use layers, the more fascinated you become with them. The list of layers in the picture above is one of my more complex paintings. Sometimes, cluttered layers are inevitable, and I agree that I could probably cut 70% of those layers to free up space. However, when creating this painting, I did not want to do this. So it took me a lot of time to find the necessary layers in this booth.

Unlike traditional painting, layers allow you to group elements of your work to make it easier to correct mistakes later without damaging other parts of the image. But this can significantly slow down the speed of your work if you don't organize your layers wisely. This is why graphic artists must be mindful of their traditional sensibilities, and remember that a problem area in a painting can be solved by erasing it and painting the detail again, rather than using filters and transformations to “fix” the problem. And in general, in the graphic world, you can erase problem areas as much as you like and the canvas will not suffer from it.

It’s much easier to work with a list like this (picture above). This set of layers allows you to work on the painting more freely, unlike many small groups with layers.

I advise beginners in the field of graphic drawing to use no more than three layers in their drawings, simply because it will allow you to work more naturally. You'll definitely benefit from using layers, but don't overdo them or you'll lose all touch with the traditional approach to drawing.

STEP 4. PENCIL DRAWING LESSON

:: I'M READY. Teach me some techniques!

Glad to see you're still with me. Because this is where your training in techniques for using your tablet to draw with pencil and paint begins. Let's start with simple pencil drawing.

- Move the canvas towards the feather. Not the other way around.

Your tablet, like your monitor, is only a window. It allows you to work on a specific area that is visible at a specific moment. Therefore, learn to move your canvas freely. If you need to draw something in the corner of the monitor, don't move your pen to that corner and don't draw in that limited piece of canvas - pull that part of the canvas to the center of the monitor so that you can freely draw on as much space as possible on your tablet. By working in the center of the monitor, you can make larger lines with your pen, and this makes it easier to rotate the canvas if you need to. This is why the Pan/Scroll feature on the pen is so important.

Modifier keys are the names of the keys on your keyboard, such as Ctrl, Alt, Cmd, Shift, etc. These keys modify the functions of other keys and even how tools in the software operate.

The most important modifier operations you need to know for drawing are the same for most image editing programs, and the only modifier you need to know is the Shift key.

- Shift key: By holding down the Shift key with the Pencil or Brush tool selected, you can create a straight single line. Depending on the direction initially set for the line, the Shift key will switch to a vertical or horizontal line. Some programs or tools can also switch by 45 degrees. In Photoshop, you can hold down the Shift key to create a straight line by specifying a start and end point. Click in one place, then in another, and a straight line will immediately stretch from the first point to the second. This is a particularly useful feature when creating perspectives in a freer style of drawing, because... you can create beautiful straight lines from any angle.

- Keys [ and ]: Although these are not modifier keys, they are important to know. Most image processing programs use these two keys as hotkeys to change the brush size. Especially for pencil drawing, you may find these keys useful to get different lines on different parts your painting. Using [ and ] keys is much easier than opening brush properties every time you need to make changes.

- Be spontaneous, work quickly, don’t be afraid. Everything can be remade.

Graphic work is cleaner than traditional drawing media, but that doesn't mean you should force yourself to create the purest, most perfect work ever created by man.

If you don't maniacally scribble your idea onto the canvas, you will never make any progress in your drawing. You will simply draw and erase one small part that you are trying to insert and the overall picture, and then you will realize that you cannot continue it because you do not see this very THE BIG PICTURE. Unlike traditional drawing tools, your monitor can show so much at once. As you work, you can't always see the whole picture, and you may lose sight of how the work will look from afar. That's why you should work quickly and not worry about little things. Work at a reduced scale, then zoom in and clean up when the baselines are complete. This is how you would work on paper, so you should work exactly the same in graphical form.

Rough sketch. Be spontaneous, don't worry about extraneous things.

Start erasing the excess when you are sure that the sketch is correct.

Come up with a composition, correct it when everything is ready.

Later, refine what fits into the work, then delete the extra lines. Add details.

- Use zooming to your advantage.

When you clean up your painting, the margin of error will decrease dramatically, because... you are trying to make the image look more ideal. If you work at a remote scale, you are likely to encounter some problems along the way. You won't get very far in your work until you zoom in and fine-tune the finer details.

Wacom tablets have a significantly higher resolution than your monitor. This means that when you zoom out, the pixel density of the canvas increases. For example, if an image is 1000x1000 pixels, at 50% scale it will be 500x500 pixels, doubling the density of each visible pixel. If your tablet has a resolution of 2000x2000 pixels on the active area, it will still draw with high precision, as if you were working at 100% scale, even though your screen will not be able to show those tiny little movements. However, if you continue to zoom out, the resolution of the tablet will become much lower compared to the increasing density of the canvas. So when you draw at such distant scales, detail becomes impossible.

This is why you zoom in when you want extreme image accuracy. The more you enlarge your image, the higher resolution your tablet has to work at, giving you a larger margin of error - allowing you to clean up the image more accurately.

As you can see in the picture above, where I tried to draw a circle at different scales, the details of the detected pen movements are lost after 50%.

The image on the left is a screenshot of the canvas at 100% scale.
The image on the right is a screenshot of the canvas at 300% scale.
If you needed to draw the pupils in the eyes of this heroine, at what scale would you do it?

STEP 5. PAINTING LESSON

No, I'm not here to teach you how to paint, use a color scheme correctly, or any of that sort of composition curriculum. I have already created enough other lessons to explain these things. Everything I'm going to teach you here revolves around the basic technique you need to master in order to start mixing and manipulating colors for the purpose of painting.

- Know how modifier keys can help you draw.

As before, there are also certain useful modifier keys for painting with paints. One of them that you should remember is the Alt key, or Option as it is called on Mac computers.

- Alt key: When you hold down the Alt key while the Brush tool or any other color tool is selected, that tool changes to the Eyedropper. This is the most useful Alt function when painting with paints, because... it allows you to quickly select a color and use it to blend with a nearby color. You can think of the Alt key as a key that allows you to “dirty” your brush with new tones created by overlaying two colors. The more you use Alt key to select colors in intermediate areas, the more these shades mix, smoothly flowing into each other. You can, of course, use Alt to pick new, unmixed colors from the canvas to use elsewhere. If you paint with paints, the Alt key simply must be on the express panel. Especially because almost all image processing programs use this modifier with this function.

- Use pressure for opacity and low opacity for blending colors.

Most image processing programs with a pressure function can adjust the brush so that when you apply more pressure to the pen, the lines become thicker instead of wider.

In Photoshop, this setting is most easily found in the Other section of the Brush Settings panel. (Although in CS5 this section was renamed Transfer, so keep that in mind if you're on CS5.) With the Opacity Jitter set to Pen Pressure, you'll see that if you press lightly on the pen, the lines will be light, translucent, and a stronger impact on the pen will result in hard, thick lines. I would advise you to disable the section called Shape Dynamics while drawing, because... you don't need the lines to become lighter at the ends. This opacity setting can be applied to any kind of brush and can be very easy to get used to, so try it out and see how it makes blending colors easier. Note: In some programs Opacity is called Density.

Now that your lines have a certain level of transparency, apply some paint to the canvas and choose another paint to paint over it. You will notice that the colors mix as... visible through each other. Changing the pen pressure can help you control things like the gradation and volume of objects. When you pick up a new color from the in-between area you just painted, you can use that new color at a low opacity to further blend the colors in the given area and create shape.

1) In this picture you can see that we are starting with a simple cut where two walls and the floor meet. One wall is yellow, the second is gray, the floor is also gray.

We're going to draw the light coming from the source on this object and apply shadows accordingly.

2) On next stage I used the Alt key to select with the eyedropper gray floor and lighten it a little. I painted a small area of ​​the floor with this color to create the appearance of a falling shadow.
In the same way, I picked up the yellow color of the wall and darkened it a little to draw an extension of the shadow.

Who has never tried to draw? Such people probably don’t exist at all. People usually start drawing in early childhood because it is such a fun activity. You just need to take something that has color and start coloring everything around. Modern technology, despite its complexity, has greatly simplified this process by connecting artists to a computer using a graphics tablet. Today, there are many different models of this type of device on the market from completely different companies, so it makes virtually no sense to describe each one separately.

How to use Let's try to understand the basic principles of working with it, and as an example we'll take the most common models today.

Basic principles

Any graphics tablet consists of a so-called pen, which is a kind of pencil or pen, and a working surface, which, as you might guess, will be the artist’s canvas. The feathers, even in weight, are as similar as possible, which is done, of course, for ease of use, and the canvases vary in size and shape. One way or another, all the changes only affect the convenience of drawing, and not how to use the graphics tablet. Any tablet will capture your monitor completely, so that with the help of a pen you can reach any corner of the interface. The pen works like a regular one. computer mouse, but with greater accuracy, since for a person to draw in the format offered by the tablet is much more convenient.

Wacom tablet

How to use a Wacom graphics tablet? Very simple. First you need to connect the tablet to the computer, let the first one install everything necessary for work. Next, you need to decide on the program in which you will work. Once the program is running and the tablet is successfully connected, all you have to do is figure out the features and let your inner Picasso come out!

It is worth noting that all Wacom models have features such as:

• eraser- allows you to immediately make changes without searching the program for the required function;
• multi-touch- allows the tablet to determine the coordinates of more than one touch point, which allows you to work with the tablet by moving your fingers;
• work through paper- Very convenient feature, allowing you to draw as if through tracing paper, which opens up a huge number of creative possibilities.

Wacom Intuos tablet

Now let's talk about how to use the Wacom Intuos graphics tablet. Let's go a little deeper into the details, because we have already discussed how to use a graphics tablet in a broad sense. Wacom's Intuos line is divided into two types: Intuos and Intuos Pro. Each is broken down into four more models, which differ mostly in size. The first contains such convenient functions as:

• sensitivity to eraser pressure is a useful thing that opens up the possibility of using special drawing techniques “on the go”;
• pen holder;
• programmable hot keys;
• multi-touch;
• on the pen;
• connector for connecting a wireless receiver.

In the second you will find almost the same thing, only with everything else:

• will add pen sensitivity to a sixty-degree tilt;
• there is a programmable touch ring for four modes;
• more programmable keys;
• sensitivity and accuracy are higher.

Wacom Intuos is perfect for those who want to do drawing, illustration, sketching design, photo editing, animation, storyboarding, 2D, 3D sculpting, etc.

Bamboo tablet

Let's discuss a little how to use the Bamboo graphics tablet from Wacom. This device has a very convenient function, thanks to which you can control your fingers: press one - it’s like pressing left button mouse, press with two - as on the right one, spread your thumb and forefinger - zoom in on the picture, twist with your finger - the picture will turn the way you want.

The main difference between Bamboo tablets can be seen in the name. Let's take as an example such models as Bamboo Touch, Bamboo Pen, Bamboo Pen&Touch, Bamboo Fun Pen&Touch.

• Bamboo Touch is a black tablet with a working surface of 10x15. IN this device There is only multi-touch, so there is no stylus included. Of course, it is not suitable for photo processing, but it is quite suitable for viewing photos.
• Bamboo Pen- all the same plus pen input. You can now perform simple photo processing.
• Bamboo Pen&Touch- we are going progressively, because programmable keys are being added to all the functions that were in previous models.
• Bamboo Fun Pen&Touch- a silver device, available in two versions: 10x15 and 21.6x13.7. Here, in addition to everything else, an eraser is added.

Genius tablet

It's not just professionals who buy graphics tablets. Perhaps you'd like to just try what it's all about, so we'll switch things up a bit and talk about how to use the Genius graphics tablet. The fact is that Wacom is the undisputed leader, which leaves its mark on the price of the goods it produces. If you want to save money, then you can, for example, turn your attention to the products of the Genius company. It is usually recommended as an introduction to the younger generation, since the price is low and the basics of use are the same as those of competitors. If the models are similar, the obvious conclusion is that almost everything that was described above about working with other tablets also works here. The only difference is additional functions. Everything is the same: we connect to the computer, select programs for image processing (“drawing software”), install drivers - and off we go.

Now you know exactly how to use a graphics tablet, no matter what it is.

Wacom pens do not require charging because they are charged by electromagnetic resonance from the tablet.

If you're tired of wires, Wacom tablets offer wireless options. To do this, you will need to purchase a wireless module.

Wacom offers a wide range of devices to suit every taste, and Genius gives you the opportunity to get to know graphics tablets without breaking the bank. It is useful to take this into account when choosing a device.

Not everyone knows how difficult it is for artists to create paintings. Thinning paints, preparing the canvas, a whole bunch of other tools. For some, such preparation discourages any desire to seriously engage in artistic drawing. Today this is no longer a problem. With the current development of technology, drawing has become much easier and more convenient. Any computer or laptop is suitable for this, but it is better to use a special graphics tablet for these purposes. Today in the article, I will tell you about the best programs that you can use for drawing on a graphics tablet.

The Gimp program is free analogue Adobe Photoshop. It has almost all the tools that its paid counterpart has. Graphic editor Gimp is one of the most powerful, feature-rich graphics tablet programs. It is perfect for experienced users who have already dealt with other graphic editors. You can download the software with a Russian-language version on the website http://gimp.ru/download/gimp/, there are versions of the program for Mac OS and Linux. There is also documentation for working with the editor, which you can also install on your PC after installing the main program.

Working in the drawing editor is quite convenient; the difference between Gimp and other graphic editors is its separate windows. When launched, 3 windows open on the desktop - a working window in the middle, a block with tools on the left, and an auxiliary panel on the right, which contains modes, filters, layers, etc. The size of each block can be reduced or increased.

Clip Paint Studio Pro - graphic comics editor

This graphics software was originally specially developed for drawing Japanese comics (manga). But over time, Clip Paint Studio gained great popularity and the program began to be used in many other areas of fine art. One of the features of this editor is the presence of special human figures that are depicted in a certain pose.

To try your hand at drawing comics on a graphics tablet, download the program from the link https://www.clipstudio.net/en/dl and click the yellow “Download” button.

Corel Painter X3 - raster graphics editor for working with digital painting

Corel Painter X3 was designed for painting with a brush. She can simulate dry and wet brushes, textures and other elements in detail. All this makes the process of creating a picture similar to an artist drawing with real paints. For the creator, there are over a hundred tools that are easy to set up and use. There is a search by brush name. If you are great at canvas in real life, then you simply must try this program.

Working in the editor is similar to others professional programs. On the left in the panel are the main tools, on the right are layers, settings, functions. Corel Painter X3 can only be purchased, free version No. Official page The developer is located at http://www.corel.com/ru/.

Livebrush - drawing app for graphics tablets

The Livebrush graphic editor was designed for painting with brushes. Some users may be confused by the fact that it runs on the notoriously unstable Adobe Air engine. But this program is an exception to the rule. Works great RAM consumes in small amounts. The editor's set includes a huge number of different shapes and types of brushes. Drawing graphics on a tablet will delight you with pressure and tilt functions. Each pattern can be easily modified by choosing a pencil.

Livebrush is more suitable for beginners and intermediate users. Although the application has many tools and functions, it is not capable of everything.

Art Flow - with the program painting or drawing becomes more accessible

Art Flow is an editor that you can use to draw on Android devices. This program has more than 80 different brushes in its arsenal. All the basic tools are under your control - fill, blots, eraser, text, etc. The editor has absorbed the most necessary tools and functions from the rest. The application understands the pressing force, you can cancel up to 6 recent actions. It's very convenient. Moreover, all this can be available in your graphics tablet or even in mobile phone!

The application is distributed free of charge, but there is also a paid version that offers more advanced features. You can download this application in the store Play Market upon request with the name of the editor.

Graffiti Studio - free application for drawing graffiti

The Graffiti Studio program is a highly focused software that was created for fans of the youth genre - graffiti. When drawing on a graphics tablet, you can choose different backgrounds on which to create your stylish creations. You can choose the backgrounds yourself; there are many of them in the program. You can decorate a bus, a building wall, a railway carriage and many other objects with your imagination. Although the volume of the installation package is small, the editor has many settings; create drips, use all kinds of markers, change the distance to the object, do everything that a writer does in real life.

Inkscape - a simple vector graphics editor

Simple and intuitive, Inkscape differs from other drawing programs in that even a child can understand it. Another advantage can be considered its Russian-language interface. Despite its simplicity, it has many tools - pencils, brushes, pens. You can even create your own animation in it. Top panel contains parameters for all tools, at the bottom there is a palette. This editor vector graphics available for free download at https://inkscape.org/ru/release/0.92.2/, you only need to select your platform.

MAXON Bodypaint 3D - program for three-dimensional graphics

A new level tool – MAXON Bodypaint 3D. This editor is capable of creating 3D graphics, Matte Painting, UV layout, animations, digital sculpting, rendering and much more.

The purpose of this program is to create bright textures and special sculptures, which are later used for animated cartoons and computer games. Here you will find a lot of tools for designing spatial images. It is possible to connect most plugins from Adobe Photoshop and other professional raster editors to MAXON.

The program is paid. Available in Russian. To download the demo version, follow the link https://www.maxon.net/en/try/demo-download/. Before downloading, you will have to fill out a user questionnaire so that the system can determine whether the software is suitable for your device.

Paint is a feature-rich editor from Microsoft

The most common editor on which you can draw anything on a graphics tablet. This is one of the entire list of drawing programs that doesn’t really need any introduction.

Paint editor comes bundled with the most popular operating system Windows system to this day. It has all the standard tools - brush, eyedropper, pencil, eraser, fill, etc. In it you can cut, copy, paste, trim and much more. If you use Windows OS, you don't even have to download it, open the Start menu, select Accessories from the list and launch the Paint editor.

Drawing with a Wacom graphics tablet gives Illustrator a ton of benefits, quick drawing shapes, ease of application compared to drawing with a mouse, width ratio and pressure on the stylus, and finally creating with a more natural and unique graphic style. In this article, we'll look at how to set up a graphics tablet for ease of use and customize Illustrator's vector graphics tools to create the correct bandwidth for your illustration. I will also describe several practical exercises that will allow you to quickly master a graphics tablet. So let's get started!

Pen customization

Install a stylus for ease of use. The main tools for creating an image path are the Paintbrush Tool (B) and the Blob Brush Tool (Shift + B). The differences in their use will be discussed a little later.

In the Brushes panel (Window > Brushes), open the artistic calligraphy brush library in the drop-down menu (Open Brush Library > Artistic > Artistic_Calligraphic) and select any round shaped brush.

Double-clicking on the brush icon in the brushes panel brings up a window with settings. Set the brush diameter to a slightly larger diameter (for clarity), set the brush diameter dependency on the pressure on the pen and the variation value, which is equal to the maximum diameter of the brush.

These parameters will allow us to change the thickness of the path from 0 to twice its thickness (in my case it's 60 points). Take the Blob Brush Tool and set the points by varying the pressure on the pen as shown in the image below.

The goal of this exercise is to make sure you can easily control the diameter of your brush. You should create as many circles of different diameters/sizes as possible. Particular attention should be paid to pressing the stylus with minimal pressure. You should try to achieve a very small brush diameter as this allows you to create variable path widths without interruption.

If this exercise seemed difficult for you, do not worry, since the issue is not in your hands, but in the stylus settings. To access their settings, Macintosh OS users must open System Preferences or the Dock, from the Apple menu, or from the Applications folder. Then click on the WacomTablet icon. Windows OS user must click on the Start button and select All Programs. Then select your Wacom Tablet and select Wacom Tablet Properties. Now adjust the pressure sensitivity settings using the slider, rather than closing the Wacom tablet in the properties window, repeat the exercise.

We should have made the stylus stronger from the default setting. But it depends on your preferences, but, nevertheless, this is a very important parameter. You can learn about other tablet settings from the user manual, but in most cases the default settings are acceptable.

Setting up drawing tools

Paint brush Tool (B)
To access the configuration tool, double-click its icon in the toolbar.

Let's look at the brush tool options...

Precision controls how far you should hover your mouse or stylus before Illustrator adds a new anchor point along the path. For example, a Fidelity value of 2.5 means that tool movements of less than 2.5 pixels are not registered. Accuracy can range from 0.5 to 20 pixels; The higher the value, the smoother and less complex the path of the lines. The figure below shows two curves that were created with different meanings this parameter (4 and 0.5).

Smoothness controls the amount of anti-aliasing that Illustrator applies when using the tool Smoothness. Smoothness can vary from 0% to 100%, the higher the percentage, the smoother the path.

What Fidelity and Smoothness values ​​should I set? I personally think the optimal Fidelity value is 4 pixels and Smoothness is 0%. Of course, this depends on your drawing style and the goals you have set to achieve.
Fill New Brush Strokes refers to the fill in the path. This option is especially useful when developing closed paths.

Keep Selected Allows you to configure an existing line.

Edit Selected Paths determines whether an existing path can be modified. For example, you can continue the created path.

The: [x] pixels determines how close the mouse or stylus should be to the existing path to edit the Paintbrush Tool. This option is only available with the Edit Selected Paths option.
The last three options are usually disabled during most illustrations, but you should be aware of their existence to solve specific problems.

Blob Brush Tool (Shift + B)
The Blob brush tool differs from the Paintbrush Tool (B) in that it creates resutant strokes by creating a closed path into the desired shape. It can also automatically connect previously drawn areas into new strokes in a manner similar to the Pathfinder toolkit. Also, note that there is no Bezier Spline center for the Blob Brush Tool, which does limit fine editing later, but it does allow for more precise editing using the Eraser Tool (Shift + E).

To access a tool's settings, double-click its icon in the toolbar.

You are familiar with some of the options. Let's meet new ones.

Merge only with Selection specifies that new strokes merge only with existing ones in the selected path. If you select this option, the new object does not merge with another intersecting path that is not selected.

As you'll notice, the size, angle, and roundness can be set directly in the Blob Brush Options dialog box, without creating a new brush or using a library brush, as was done with the Paintbrush Tool (B). It's more convenient.

Now let's understand the calligraphy brush options that can allow you to access the full range of brush capabilities. Fixed creates a brush with a fixed angle, roundness, or diameter (default without using a tablet).

Random creates a brush with random variations in angle, roundness or diameter (this is without using a tablet). Enter a value in the Edit field to specify the range over which the brush's characteristics can vary. For example, if the diameter is 15 and the Change value is 5, the diameter could be 10 or 20, or any value in between. The two strokes in the image below were made using a brush with random settings. The diameter of the brush depends on the distance to the lines, but not when creating a path.

Pressure creates a brush that changes angle, roundness, and diameter based on the tablet's pen drawing pressure. This option is most useful when using diameter. It is only available if you have a graphics tablet such as Wacom's Bamboo, Intuos and Cintiq series. Enter a value in the Change field to specify how much the original brush characteristic value will change. For example, when the Roundness value is 75% and the Change value is 25%, the lightest stroke is 50%, and the heaviest stroke is 100%. The lighter the pressure, the more angled the brushes.

The Stylus Wheel creates a brush that changes in diameter based on manipulation of the stylus controls. This option is designed for use with an airbrush pen that has a wheel stylus on its barrel and a graphics tablet that can detect that it is a pen.
Tilt creates a brush that changes angle, roundness, and diameter based on the tilt of the stylus drawing. This option is most useful when using roundness. It is only available if you have a graphics tablet, which can detect how close the pen is to vertical. The figure below shows two vertical lines with different levels of inclination.

Bearing creates a brush that changes angle, roundness, and diameter based on the size of the pen. This feature is very useful when used to control the angle of a calligraphy brush, especially when you are using a brush like a brush. It's only available if you have a graphics tablet, which can detect which direction the pen is tilted. The image below shows a horizontal line, when creating I tilt the Stylus in a different direction.

Rotation creates a brush that changes in angle, roundness, or diameter depending on whether the stylus pen tip is rotated. This feature is very useful when used to control the angle of a calligraphy brush, especially when you use brushes like flat pens. It is only available if you have a graphics tablet that can detect this type of rotation.

I think that's enough theory for today. Let's practice. Exercise 1 First, let's learn how to create lines of variable thickness, the shapes most commonly used in graphic works. The brush settings should be as simple as possible (brush diameter depends on pressure).