If you\u2019re thinking about getting into digital illustrations, you will quickly realize drawing with a mouse is impractical. The solution to this is drawing tablets. Most industry standard tablets can cost over $300 USD, with the Wacom Cintiq Pro costing well over $2000 USD. This guide is for those either on a budget or getting started with a price range around $70 to $130 USD. The first two tablets I have used myself and still use today, while the other two listed as other alternatives. Although I may not have personal experience using the alternatives, I would still recommend them due to the features they provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The XP-Pen Star06C is an upgrade to the Star06 (my previous tablet). The C is the upgraded version with one of the biggest changes being the pen style. Its previous iteration had a pen without a rubber grip. The new stylus pen is much more comfortable, and the redesign makes the shortcut buttons much more identifiable. The wheel is rather smooth and works with 2 functions. I use it for rotation and zoom. The overall feel of the surface is the standard matt finish, however I\u2019m not sure on its resistance to scratches or wear and tear so for this (and many other tablets I\u2019ve owned) I use a gloss adhesive I\u2019ll share below along with another useful accessory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The HUION Inspiroy Dial Q620M is my currently most used tablet, and a rather recent one. It\u2019s both light weight and portable, but I will say it takes some time to get used to if you\u2019re upgrading from something like the XP-Pen Star06C. The 8 vertical shortcuts are both helpful for their purpose and as an added bonus there\u2019s a light indicator that will let you know how much battery power you have left. My only complaint is that the wheel dial sits on the very top left instead of the center. Left-handed users might find it more comfortable since its orientation is on the bottom. The dial is capable of having 3 functions that can be used for page zoom, brush size change, and page rotation. The stylus pen is very comfortable however the price point is around $30 USD more than the Star06. If you have a bit of a higher budget, I recommend this over the Star06C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Star06C caught your eye you may want to take a look at the HUION HS610. It is vastly similar to the Star06C with the same middle dial. The major difference here is the additional 12 buttons on the bottom giving you the capability to have 24 shortcuts. Although I can\u2019t speak for this tablet personally after using the HUION Inspiroy Dial Q620M for some time I can vouch for their build quality. This tablet is a solid alternative to the Star06C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I\u2019m being completely honest, I wish I would have waited for this one before purchasing the HUION Inspiroy Dial Q620M. If you don\u2019t mind a slightly smaller tablet, then for nearly the same price point of the Star06C you can grab the XP-Pen Deco Pro small. For about $30 more you can get the larger medium version. The dial works for both left and right-handed artist and there are 4 short cut buttons on both the top and bottom of the dial. The dial seems to have a great function as there is two dials in one. The outer dial and the inner virtual dial. The inner dial can be used as a track pad with its touch capabilities. It functions like the external dial with the added functionality of a touch pad that simulates finger gestures like a touch screen. If given the opportunity I\u2019d love to give this tablet a try. This is Definitely a solid alternative to the HUION Inspiroy Dial Q620M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019re thinking about getting into digital illustrations, you will quickly realize drawing with a mouse is impractical. The solution to this is drawing tablets. Most industry standard tablets can cost over $300 USD, with the Wacom Cintiq Pro costing well over $2000 USD. This guide is for those either on a budget or getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyhi.com\/tdh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}