Wacom has taken the world of art by storm. They incorporated much-needed innovation into their devices, making them very unique and sought-after. Every artist knows that having the right tools to work with is of utmost importance.
Until recently, you weren’t able to have a drawing pad as precise as any Wacom device – you were able to use a computer mouse that lacks precision and control – two of the most important aspects of drawing or doing any other form of art.
With Wacom’s uproar, the game was instantly changed and hordes of artists switched over to these devices.
But, are Wacom tablets really worth it? The shortest answer is yes – they’re absolutely worth it. They offer an amazing user experience, allowing you to be in total control of what you’re doing and how you want to get things done.
Their amazing interface, technology, variety, and ultimate user-convenience are what got them to the top.
User experience is one of the most important aspects when it comes to purchasing literally any device. That’s something that Wacom carefully thought through and that’s what launched their devices into stardom.
If you’d like to know more about Wacom’s amazing features and options, we’ve got you covered. Continue reading (and watching the videos below) if you’d like to find out what are the 35 reasons why Wacom tablets are absolutely worth it.
1. Variety
Art is very subjective and everyone has a different approach. That’s exactly why having variety is highly important when it comes to choosing the correct tools to work with. Wacom offers a lot of different devices – each suited for a certain style or category of needs.
For example, if you’d like to get a tabled that’s made specifically for drawing, then you can choose Wacom Intuos Pro Digital Graphic Drawing Tablet or Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive Pen Display. There’s something for everyone, so don’t miss out!
2. They’re light
No one likes heavy and bulky devices – regardless of the quality. They are difficult to carry around so when you get that spur of inspiration, you might not always have your drawing tablet with you to express it.
Wacom has thought of that, so they made their devices very light, compact, and convenient without compromising the quality.
By choosing to go with Wacom devices, you’ll be able to easily transport it and have it ready at any given moment to express your sudden creativity or inspiration.
3. Control
Wacom takes a lot of pride in having devices that are easy to control and work with. They invested a lot of time and effort into creating tablets that will create the same amount of control you have when holding a pen over a paper.
Many tablets on the market lack that control and precision, so even If a device has a competitive price, that doesn’t mean you have to buy it.
Wacom devices are a bit more expensive in comparison to other tablets, but at least you know you’re getting something that is going to make your digital art journey way easier.
4. Quality
This goes without saying – Wacom is one of the best, if not the best, compared to all the other drawing tablets on the market. Not only is the exterior made out of the best materials you can find, but even the hardware quality is superb.
That means that your Wacom device will last you a lifetime, so don’t be afraid of investing in one.
5. They’re Stylish
This reason might seem shallow, but it shouldn’t be disregarded nonetheless. Everything is about appearance nowadays and smart devices are no exception. All the major companies invest a lot of time, money, and effort into designing the exterior of their devices.
If we bear that in mind, then Wacom is an all-around winner. Wacom tablets are very stylish and attractive, making them a perfect fit for everyone and anyone.
6. Durability
As we have briefly touched on before in one of our previous points, these devices are of the highest of quality. Wacom offers more equipment than just the tablets – they offer various pens, nibs, etc., and each and every one of those will last you a long time.
Their pens are very durable, the exterior is very durable, and you can use the nibs actively for over a year without having to replace it. Of course, you’d still have to take good care of it – no electronic device will survive a high-velocity fall or being thrown around.
7. Easy to Use
Many people think that Wacom devices are only suited for professionals and experts. That’s a common misconception about many high-end devices on the market. Wacom team distinctively wanted to make their devices very easy-to-use, so there’s nothing to worry about.
Their interface is great for beginners as well, and you can easily find information and help online, if needed.
8. Highly customizable
All artists know that style is individual and everyone needs different conditions to work in. That’s where Wacom comes in handy – their devices are extremely customizable. Their software offers application-specific settings assigned by you.
That means that if you select a certain application and choose to change only the pen settings, the changes you enter will apply solely to the pen while using that particular application. Great, right?
9. Online Tutorials
When getting a new device, you’re more than likely going to need some help while adjusting the pen, tablet, or the settings. But fret not, Wacom’s got you covered. They offer various tutorials on their website on how to use and setup your device.
Also, since the Wacom user community has been rapidly growing, many people are also uploading various tutorials online. You’ll get a grip in no time!
The video below is just one of many examples that show you how to use your Wacom tablet properly.
10. Different Models and Accessories
There are various different forms of art and Wacom offers something for everyone! You can choose your model and accessories based on your needs; there are many different screen sizes, display footprints, and pen nibs – the felt nib, the stroke nib, the flex nib, standard pen nibs, etc.
Having variety is very important when it comes to art because not all effects can be achieved by using the same tool nor are everyone’s needs the same. Wacom has a wide variety of options available for you to enjoy and customize to your needs.
11. Ergonomics
All artists have used pens before, and they know how amazing it feels to be able to hold and control a pen with their hands. It almost comes naturally. Using a mouse has a longer learning curve and it’s always more difficult to control.
Wacom offers Stylus pens that are, as the name suggests, similar to regular pens. They will give you more control and are superior to using a mouse.
12. Great for Creating Illustrations
Wacom tablets have been specifically created to mirror your moves in the most accurate way possible, allowing you great control.
Since it’s very compatible with Adobe software, such as Photoshop and Illustrator, they allow you to quickly choose your canvas size, easily correct mistakes with a precise eraser and create multiple layers.
Their pressure-sensitive features will make the line control and width easy to manage and manipulate.
13. Great for Fashion Design
Many art and design schools started incorporating Wacom tablets into their curriculum. Artists and designers love Wacom because they can add in a lot of details, textures, etc. with high precision and ease.
The most popular Wacom tablets in this area of expertise are the Cintiq pen displays and Wacom Intuos Pro creative pen tablets.
14. Great for Drawing Comics and Manga
Can you believe that there’s a Wacom device created specifically from drawing comics and manga? Yes, you read that right. Wacom created a device named Intuos Manga.
Thanks to their amazing pressure sensitivity, the pen gives you a natural, controlled brushed stroke with a wide variety of brushes, colors, and effects.
Another great thing is the fact that you can make changes very easily without having to start all over again – you can rearrange the panels, copy the panels, etc.
15. Great for Animation
Wacom offers many professional-level products that have 2048-8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt rotation.
Many famous software applications used for this type of art support Wacom’s pressure sensitivity and pen recognition, making it a perfect match ready to take on all your animation dreams. Intuos Pro tablets are usually recommended by experts working in this field.
Because of its precision, it’s one of the best devices on the market for commercial animation and even motion design.
16. Great for 3D Sculpting and Modeling
A streamlined workflow is a must if you want to produce true-to-life characters. Games are very interactive and should be instantly ready to respond to user command.
Wacom tablets will allow you to fully design a vast motion range – walking, jumping, running, flying, etc. By using Wacom tablets, you’ll be able to mold your characters with incredible detail – almost like you’re working with clay.
Cintiq creative pen display is favored by many in this industry.
17. Great for Digital Sketching
Pen and paper used to be the go-to for sketching, even during the rise of digital drawing tools. Why? Because it’s very hard to control the movement with a computer mouse. It limits your motion range, hence negatively impacts the overall end-result.
That’s when Wacom took over the game by creating incredible tablets with an amazing pen that’s almost like a regular pen, and made it even better. Now your pen isn’t just a pen – it’s a brush, spray paint, marker, etc.
18. Great for Photo Editing
By being compatible with many amazing editing software, Wacom tablets will make your editing journey a breeze. We all know how difficult it is to edit a photo with precision and without it being noticeable.
That means that you’d have to have a lot of control over the editing software you’re using. You will be able to easily enhance photos, crop them, change backgrounds, retouch, and elevate the photos by adding your own artwork or handwriting on top.
People who are in this niche especially love the Intuos line of Wacom’s devices. Not only can you edit photos, but with Intuos, you’ll be able to create holiday cards, posters, calendars, etc.
19. Great for Video Editing
Video editing is an ordeal in and of itself – you have to go through dozens of hours of footage over and over again, making it very time-consuming and stressful. Wacom’s Intuos Pro Creative tablets, as well as Cintiq tablets are perfect for video editing.
Since they’re compatible with all the major software that is in charge of video editing, you’ll have a way easier time navigating the programs. With a Wacom pen, you can easily trim, cut, and rearrange the sequences in a matter of seconds!
Using a Wacom tablet will help you speed your workflow without compromising the quality of your work.
The video below gives you a good idea of how you can work with a Wacom tablet when editing videos. It is amazing!
20. Amazing Pressure Sensitivity
We’ve mentioned Wacom’s pressure sensitivity a couple of times throughout the text. Now, we will go a bit more in-depth about why it’s so awesome. Some devices have a staggering 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity for both tip and the eraser.
Why is pressure sensitivity so important? Well, just like with regular drawing, different levels of pressure create different effects and results. By having that many levels of pressure sensitivity, you’ll be able to fully control the outcome and the process.
21. Express Keys
Express keys are something that makes digital drawing much easier and way more convenient. You can assign certain functions to the express keys and they will be at the tip of your fingers anytime you use your tablets.
These express keys are application-independent, making it very useful. That means that you’ll be able to assign different express keys in any application.
22. Natural Movement
Wacom tablets have been designed with artists’ needs in mind. Being able to use their hands to draw without any restriction is important because that’s what actually makes their art personal and just great.
With Wacom, all the hand motion range you have in real life, you can apply to your tablet and get exactly the same result. Just like in the old days, you’ll have a pen and a canvas – just this time it will be way easier to customize, change brushes, and erase mistakes.
23. Touch Strips
Touch strips are located on the back of the left and right bezels and they allow you to easily zoom in and out, make additional changes, scroll up and down – all by sliding a finger over the Touch Strip.
Convenience is something that Wacom takes pride in; hence why all their devices are so easy to use.
24. Precise Positioning
Many other brands on the market offer various digital drawing tools. However, most share the same issue – a mismatch between your strokes and what is shown on the screen.
By offering absolute positioning, Wacom devices literally copy what you do – wherever you decide to put your brush on the device, the results shown on the screen will be in that exact same location.
25. Amazing Stylus
Everyone is raving about Wacom’s amazing Stylus pens. First of all, they offer many different types and styles. Then, there’s their amazing ergonomics – you’ll get that amazing feeling of holding a pen, even though you’re actually drawing digitally.
They are also very customizable and precise.
26. The stylus is Also Battery-Free
Yes, you read that right. Wacom is the brand that has finally eliminated cords, batteries, and magnets by creating this amazing self-sufficient pen. Even though it has four buttons, it still doesn’t require nor use any traditional power sources.
Wacom takes advantage of electromagnetic resonance technology that was actually created by them. Amazing!
27. Radial Menu
This is an often-overlooked Wacom gem that will make drawing way more convenient and faster for you. Wacom’s radial menu is basically a circular menu that contains all your hot keys. But what’s special about it is the fact that it’s automatically displayed around your cursor.
That means that it doesn’t use up a large portion of the screen when not used – it’s always exactly where you need it to be.
28. Pinch and Zoom
Ever since the smartphone era began, we’ve all become addicted to zooming in the pictures. However, unless you have a touchscreen laptop or PC, most of the normal laptop/PC devices don’t offer this option.
With Wacom, you can apply this feature to your computer as well, turning into the ultimate convenience. If you want to enlarge an area, all you need to do is simply put two fingers on the screen, pinch, and zoom – that’s it.
If you want to rotate an image, just put your index finger and your thumb on the screen and then twist.
29. Other Multi-Touch Features
We’ve already talked about the Pinch and Zoom feature, as well as the Rotating feature. However, since one of Wacom’s main characteristics is outstanding convenience, we have a couple of more cool features to talk about.
For example, if you swipe from left to right on your device using four fingers you can change the desktop. Or, if you swipe from left to right with three fingers, you can drag the items and move them around.
If you just do a pinch, your Launchpad will open, etc. All the features are extremely customizable, which is really cool and very helpful.
30. Pen Variety
Every experienced artist knows that when making an art piece, a single pen won’t cut it. You have to use a wider variety of pens and tools in order to achieve different effects.
Wacom has thought of that and created an abundance of different Styli to choose from – there’s one for everything and everyone. For example, there’s an airbrush pen that is pressure-sensitive and it will provide you with an unbelievably realistic spray paint simulation.
There’s also the 6D Art Pen which has a chisel-shaped nib and rotation sensing technology, or a Bamboo Sketch Stylus with pressure sensitivity, which is especially great for sketching and drafting up ideas. Those are just 3 types out of 22 they’re currently offering.
31. Duo-Switch
Many of Wacom pens feature the duo-switch option. That basically means that you’ll be able to use the backside of the side switch and assign a certain function to it – it can be used as an eraser, a specific keystroke, scrolling, panning, etc.
The duo-switch option is completely programmable, allowing you to be the decision-maker when it comes to what you’d like it to do. This is very convenient since it’s often bothersome to scroll through the menu and look for options or functions you’re in need of.
By incorporating duo-switch, Wacom has allowed you to totally optimize all your devices and accessories that go along with them.
32. Pen Mode Mapping
Wacom allows you to map your devices in pen mode and mouse mode. Let’s talk about the pen mode first.
We’ve been raving about Wacom’s Styli throughout this whole article. In pen mode, instead of the mouse, you’ll be using the pen just like a regular pen interacting with the device as if it were a piece of paper.
Every point on your device maps to a precise point on your monitor. When you place the pen anywhere on your device, the cursor will move to the corresponding point on the monitor.
33. Mouse Mode Mapping
When it comes to mapping in mouse mode, you will basically use your pen as a regular mouse. The interaction with your device will be exactly the same as if you were operating a trackpad or a computer mouse.
There are a couple of sub-options, such as mouse height – where you can move the slider to adjust how high you have to lift up off the tablet in order to continue moving the cursor across the screen, mouse acceleration – by moving the slider you can adjust the distance the cursor will move based on the speed that you’re moving at, or mouse speed – where you can adjust the slider and decide how far should the screen cursor move as you move across the device.
34. Collaborations
There are so many communication tools nowadays, but not all of them are instant nor very convenient.
Many Wacom devices, such as the Wacom Bamboo line, offer a collaboration option where you can simply send over the image or a drawing to your friend and ask for feedback, advice, or to simply share a laugh.
That allows you to have a more personal communication which is also visual and more interactive. You can also attach notes, doodles, or anything else that comes to mind.
35. Classroom Transformation
Although Wacom devices are usually marketed and widely-used by artists, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways of incorporating their tablets into your everyday life.
If you’re a teacher wanting to introduce innovation and fun to your classroom, then wait no more – Wacom’s got you covered. Whiteboard and even worse, chalkboard days are over.
You will no longer have chalky hands, stained clothes from markers, nor will you need to turn your back on students while writing.
With Wacom tablets, you can write an equation or another visual representation of what you’re discussing and have it instantly project onto a screen for all your students to enjoy.
You can also save all that classroom data and send it over to your students. That way, productivity will increase and learning will become fun.
Related Questions
What is the best software to be used with a Wacom tablet? The options are literally endless. Many companies have noticed the amazing features of Wacom devices, so they decided to adjust their software to Wacom tablets. Some of the most famous apps are Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, ArtRage, Clip Studio Paint Pro, etc.
What is Wacom tablet used for? Wacom tablets are mostly used for graphic design, photo-editing, video editing, and digital drawing. However, only the sky is the limit. Recently, Wacom devices have been incorporated into classrooms, creating a more fun and interactive environment for both teachers and students.
Does Wacom tablet come with software? That depends on the tablet you want to get and the offer. Sometimes you’ll have tablets that come with a bundle of 3 bonus software, sometimes you’ll get none. Some of the software is always free, such as the Marketplace, Inkspace, and Bamboo paper. However, they also offer location-specific bundles – for example, there are certain Intuos devices that come with bonus software for US residents only.