Drawing Pad For Mac Photoshop

drawing pad for mac

Frequently used by graphic designers and illustrators, drawing pads are the perfect way to instantly digitize your creations, and exploring a new medium can be fun if you have the right equipment at your fingertips.

Getting a drawing tablet is usually the second purchase for many graphic designers and digital illustrators, after a computer of course, and for many is an essential part of the artists "toolkit".

Here we take a look at the best drawing pad for mac operating systems and will help you to discover, over a range of budgets and designs, which one is best to start your digital creative juices flowing.

Best Drawing Pad For Mac:

1 | Wacom Intuos S
2 | GAOMON M10K
3 | XP-Pen Deco Pro
4 | HUION Inspiroy
5 | HUION H610 Pro
6 | UGEE M708 V2

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1 | Wacom Intuos S

drawing pad for mac

Pros:

Screen-free design
Good pressure sensitivity
15 Hour Battery Life
Good for beginners
Battery-free stylus

Cons:

The surface can show scratches over time
Intuos S active surface area may be too small for some creative work

Our Thoughts

If you are on a budget or you are just starting in the world of digital illustration, the Wacom Intuos S (not to be confused with the Intuos Pro) is a fantastic choice. The pressure sensitivity featured on the Intuos is on par with some of the more high-tech, pricier drawing pads from Wacom and tablets on the market in general. In addition to this, there are some great extras such as the customizable tip feel or adjustable pen pressure sensitivity levels. Even though the active surface area may be a little small for some creative work, at one of the most affordable on our list, you still get a lot for your money.

Although the Wacom Intuos is a wired drawing pad for mac, there is also a Bluetooth version that costs a fraction more if you need something wireless. In terms of compatibility, the Intuos S (the most basic model) comes with an option to choose 1 of 2 software packages, either Corel Painter Essentials 8 for illustration or Corel Aftershot Pro 3 for photo editing. If you require both, you can pay a little more to upgrade to a Bluetooth model giving you the option of 2 software packages along with some other additional features.

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2 | GAOMON M10K

drawing pad for mac

Pros:

Large active surface area of 10" x 6.25"
Mappable hotkeys and smooth scroll wheel
Lightweight battery-free stylus with good pressure sensitivity
Good for beginners

Cons:

At 2.87lbs it is slightly heavier than other drawing pads on the market
The surface can show scratches over time

Our Thoughts

Often seen as a good alternative to Wacom's Intuos, the GAOMON M10K also features a battery-free stylus but with the bonus of a larger active surface area. Comparable to pen-on-paper when it comes to precision, the M10K has impressive pressure sensitivity and the stylus, made from a lightweight matte plastic finish, feels pleasant to hold and makes drawing smooth & natural lines easy.

Simple to set up for both right and left-handed artists, the GAOMON M10K is great for beginners on a budget. We love that the M10K is compatible with most artist & photographer software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchBookPro, and so on. There are some great bonus features such as the mappable hotkeys and smooth scroll wheel that overall make this piece of kit well worth the money.

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3 | XP-Pen Deco Pro

drawing pad for mac

Pros:

Excellent value for money
Useful scroll wheel
8 responsive & customizable shortcut keys

Cons:

Software is more clunky than the Wacom alternative

Our Thoughts

As you may have already noticed, the XP-Pen Deco Pro has clearly taken some heavy inspiration from the Wacom Intuos, even when it comes down to logo design and packaging. We can look at this two ways, one that it is a blatant rip off and get annoyed by it, or two, admire the fact that the XP-Pen Deco Pro actually does a pretty good job of replicating the function of the Wacom Intuos at a fraction of the cost.

That being said, it is true that there are some downsides to the XP-Pen Deco Pro and the problems we found with the software are increasingly apparent when using this drawing pad on Mac. Whilst these problems weren't exactly deal breakers when you take financial savings into consideration, the software was noticeably more clunky and the drivers unreliable making this a good option for a beginner artist on a budget who intends to upgrade at some point, maybe when there is a little more money in the bank.

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4 | HUION Inspiroy H640P

drawing pad for mac

Pros:

Battery-free stylus
Programmable shortcut keys
Good pressure sensitivity
Compact size

Cons:

Software doesn't run as smoothly as other pads
Not as solid in construction or as strong USB connection ports as other devices
Small active area

Our Thoughts

As Huion's first drawing pad for Mac to feature a battery-free pen the H640P is definitely keeping up with some of the other big players in the game. At a small active area of 6.3×3.9inch the H640P is miniature in comparison to some of the larger drawing pads on our list. This could be an issue for some digital artists who prefer working on a larger scale but could also be a big plus for those with limited desk space available or those looking to travel with their digital art setup.

One frustration that many face when using the H6040P stylus is that the stand is not weighted enough, this can cause the stand to fall when the pen is mounted. Other than this inconvenience, the battery-free stylus works well, both to draw with and to switch between shortcuts efficiantly. Overall, the big plus points to the H640P are the high pressure sensitivity, the customization options and also the compact physical size for those with limited space.

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5 | HUION H610 Pro V2

drawing pad for mac

Pros:

Very affordable
Large Active area but still portable
Battery-free stylus

Cons:

Unreliable connection
Pressure sensitivity levels do not work well with some programs

Our Thoughts

We need to start of by prefacing that the H610 Pro V2 is an absolute beginners drawing tablet, at the very low end when it comes to budget drawing pads, this model by Huion is certainly for those who are just testing the waters in the world of digital art. We will say that while the functions are basic, the construction is pretty solid and this drawing pad does a good job for the price.

The biggest downside we could find was that the pressure Sensitivity levels can be a bit glitchy when using certain programs such as Clip Paint Studio and Photoshop, otherwise, the customizable settings work well. An added bonus is of course the free plastic screen protector which is a life saver if you are a little heavy-handed when drawing. In comparison to the Non-Pro model from Huion, the H610 Pro V2 has a larger drawing/active area and a higher resolution and report rate.

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6 | UGEE M708 V2

drawing pad for mac

Pros:

Battery-free stylus with battery status light
10" x 6" Active area
Feels durable
8 Customizable hotkeys

Cons:

USB Charge cord for pen could be longer

Our Thoughts

It's safe to say that Ugee has been in the drawing pad/tablet market for quite some time, so it's natural for us to expect a lot from this budget option. We are happy to say that we weren't disappointed when it came to the features of the Ugee M708 V2, despite the low price tag.

Similar to some other drawing pads on our list, we love the papery textured surface which makes the drawing process smoother and more streamlined. Unfortunately, we did find that the customization of the hotkeys worked far better on Windows than Mac but that the overall compatibility across all operating systems with software such as Illustrator, Photoshop etc. worked well.

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Things to Consider

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Pressure Sensitivity

When looking at a drawing pad for Mac, or any drawing pad for that matter, pressure sensitivity is one of the most important specs to look for. Many of the drawing pads we have featured on our list have adjustable pressure sensitivity levels allowing for an accurate translation from stylus to screen.

Pressure sensitivity is simply how your drawing pad determines how thick or thin your lines are. Similar to working with pencil and paper, pressure sensitivity is controlled by how hard to push your stylus on the active surface of the drawing pad.

Stylus

A stylus is a pen-like device that is usually connected by either a USB or wirelessly to your drawing pad. Whilst stylus' do come in all shapes and sizes, the ones that work best are those that closely resemble the shape, size and feel of an actual pen. This makes them comfortable to use and eases the transition period from pen & paper to the digital alternative.

Size

Equally important is the size of the active area on your drawing pad. "Active area" basically means the area that you can use the stylus to draw, so be sure to check that it is the active area size you are looking at rather than the overall size of the drawing pad.

To give you an idea, A4 paper is 8.3" x 11.7" so if you are used to this size drawing space you should look at some of the larger drawing pads on our list.

Shortcut Keys

Most drawing pads and sometimes stylus' will have customizable shortcut keys, these are buttons on the drawing pad that allow you to quickly change between brushes, textures, or a variety of other adjustable presets.

Although you may not find shortcut keys to be useful at first, once you are more familiar with your drawing pad, these shortcuts will likely become an integral part of your drawing process.

Connectivity

When we mention drawing pad connectivity, we are most likely looking at whether a drawing pad connects to your computer using a cable (usually a USB) or via a wireless connection (typically Bluetooth).

Undoubtedly the best and most reliable connection, especially in more budget drawing pads is the wired kind. Unfortunately, we still commonly see some connectivity issues when it comes to Bluetooth in more affordable devices.

Check out some more of our content:

| Drawing iPads |

| Android Tablets for Drawing |

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related resources:

https://www.wacom.com/

https://www.xp-pen.com/

https://store.huion.com/

https://www.ugee.com/

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