Digital drawing devices have progressed along with technology and customer requirements. We are now entirely in the kingdom of both graphic and digital drawing tablets.
I can't imagine drawing in art programs without using a graphic tablet. As a matter of fact I refuse to draw without a tablet unless it's an emergency.
One of the leading rivals to the famed and revered Wacom tablets is XP-Pen. which is a company born in the Japan country. XP-Pen offer great professional and hobbyist tablets at Affordable Price.
I've been a serious user since the XP-Pen Star 03 . I've enjoyed the Deco 01 V2, and Deco Pro as well as the XP-Pen Artist 24 and their newest Artist Pro 16 display which powered by XP-PEN's new X3 smart chip.
Although I've owned a couple of XP-Pen Artist I find that I used the regular Deco tablets more often.
The Artist line has been great and it's awesome being able to draw/retouch right on screen.
If you're curious about screen drawing pads , this may be the product for you. Easily the most impressive piece of tech I've used yet. Here are my thoughts!
What's in the Box
The moment you open the Deco Pro box, the feeling you get is that of a well rounded product where they have put a lot of attention to every detail.
Power cables, HDMI, USB, and power plugs are all provided; however, Mac users will need an HDMI adapter (not included). Also included are a drawing glove and cleaning cloth.
A potential downside is the absence of a built-in stand. I recommend getting a stand to prop the tablet up at an angle if you want to avoid neck strain.
The installation guide is straightforward. You will need an internet connection to download the pen drive from XP-PEN's website. The Artist Pro 16 is compatible with Windows 7/8/10 and Mac OS X 10.10 (or later).
XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 official site: https://www.xp-pen.com/product/977.html
Design, Quality, Build...
When I tested this drawing tablet the first impression I got was: Quality and Durability. The sleek design elevates the tablet to premium status.
The tablet is light and compact and the materials are smooth and resistant. The drawing surface is smooth, the finish is quite sleek.
The casing is made of aluminium, which you can notice on the front and on the back. Once set up on your desk, the appearance is professional.
The tablet feels light, but at the same time it feels sturdy and you get the impression of a durable product that, well taken care of, will last you forever.
Despite the shockingly thin size (only 9mm), the tablet is durable and hefty. There are no issues with the tablet sliding when lying flat.
The Digital Canvas
The 15.4-inch IPS panel 1080P high-resolution display offers accurate, vibrant colours and an expansive canvas for detailed work.
The Artist 16 Pro really shines in terms of color reproduction, It boasts a massive color accuracy of 133 percent sRGB, which translates to 94 percent NTSC and 99 percent Adobe RGB.
This sets it apart from most other drawing tablets in this price range, and even puts it above a number of more expensive Wacom Cintiq models.
So it meets the high colour standards of photographers, graphic designers, video editors, print departments, and other design professionals.
More importantly, there is an impressive lack of parallax (distance between the pen tip and the cursor) – the winning quality of the Artist Pro 16! because the screen is fully laminated. Experienced pen display users will notice the difference in precision.
This tablet also has a matte anti-glare coating to protect your monitor from dust and damage. which also offer a natural drawing experience.
Stylus Powered by the X3 Smart Chip
The X3 Elite Plus pen stylus is lightweight, with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity – translating to precise pen pressure and quick response. This is thanks to XP-PEN's innovative X3 smart chip technology in the stylus, enhancing the performance across the board.
It produces a 10-fold decrease in initial activation force, bringing the IAF of this pen down to just 3 grams, I was able to draw a thin line with barely any pressure applied. There's also no or minimal jitter when drawing diagonal lines slowly.
Tilt sensitivity is considered a premium feature that can make a big difference if you want to achieve great results when drawing.
It means that the tablet can detect the inclination angle of the stylus and change the brush stroke to achieve a more natural and realistic feeling. This is great for shading but has many more applications.
On the outside, it has two customizable side switches and the usual eraser on the top, the stylus does more than what I was accustomed to.
The chosen thickness of the pen sits comfortably in my hand, affording better productivity. Batteries and charging are unnecessary. It comes with a neat metal case and nine extra nibs.
Shortcuts
The Artist Pro 16 offers eight customisable shortcut keys. The brightness of the display can be adjusted using the buttons on the side of the tablet.
One of the key features of this drawing monitor is its innovative "Double Wheel" design. Basically, its the combination of a mechanical wheel on the outside of the dial, plus a "virtual" (i.e. touch sensitive) wheel on the inside of the trackpad.
I love the two customisable dials on the side. After setting one dial to zoom in/out and the other to brush size, the convenience is a welcome addition to the drawing process.
Configuration
Along with the drivers comes a pen tablet tool. On opening this you are given a whole host of options to play around with to configure the tablet to suite your own needs.
You can adjust the pressure sensitivity and the active area. You can also configure the two buttons on the stylus to do whatever you like, be it a key stroke or a more custom action.
There are also options to configure the express keys, the dial and the track pad. So again, these can be customized to suit your own working style.
There are even sliders so you can adjust the light level on the wheel and the active area.
Drawing Experience
The actual drawing experience on the XP-Pen Innovator 16 was quite enjoyable.
The friction the surface of the tablet gave me was just enough that I felt like I was drawing on paper, rather than glass, which makes for a much nicer experience.
IAF is the amount of force necessary to cause the pen to output a line. Ideally, your tablet will have an extremely low IAF where the pen will output a line with the least amount of force possible.
The XP-Pen Innovator 16 has a low enough IAF which the lines begin right when the nib touches the screen. the tablet is capable of drawing extremely light pen pressures.
I did a realistic portrait drawing using pressure & tilt sensitivity on the Artist Pro 16 in Clip Studio Paint software.
The pen pressure worked as expected for the most part, and no issues occurred during the creation of my drawing.
The pressure came through with each stroke and I didn't notice any lag or jittering when doing straight lines.
I found that the tilt function works great for shading, so you can draw fine lines with the tip of the sylus or you can do soft shades by tilting the stylus, as if you were shading with the side of a pencil.
This saves you time, as you don't have to change from one brush to another all the time. The result is pretty realistic.
The art work made by xp-pen artist pro 16 display tablet:
Final Words
The XP-Pen Innovator 16 is a very good tablet which is certainly worth your consideration if you're interested in its slim and sleek looks.
Especially if you're a pro or hobbyist looking to upgrade or taking the leap into display tablets!
I feel like the 450 USD price tag is somewhat high, but I suppose that's a reasonable price considering the great build quality with its metal alloy body.
It's a bonus that the shortcut keys and wheel feel great to use because of how well they're built.
Check out & Buy Artist Pro 16 from XP-Pen Store:
US Store: https://www.storexppen.com/buy/pro-16.html
US Store: https://www.storexppen.co.uk/buy/artist-pro-16-pen-display.html
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