Michal Ždanský This week brought two interesting news for all artists and graphic designers who use the iPad to create their works. FiftyThree, the developers behind the popular Paper app, will release an update to its Pencil stylus that will bring surface sensitivity. Developers from Avatron Software have come up with an application that turns the iPad into a graphics tablet that can be used with popular graphics programs.
FiftyThree Pencil
The Stylus Pencil has been on the market for three quarters of a year and, according to reviewers, is one of the best you can buy for the iPad. The surface sensitivity feature will not be part of the new version of the stylus, but will come as a software update, which means that the creators were counting on it from the beginning. Surface sensitivity will work similarly to drawing with a normal pencil. At a normal angle you will draw a normal thin line, while at a higher angle the line will be thicker and the texture of the line will change as you can see in the video below.
The other eraser side serving as an eraser on the pencil will work just as well. Edge erasing erases anything drawn on thin lines, while full-width erasing removes more of the artwork, just as it would with a physical eraser. However, surface sensitivity has nothing to do with pressure sensitivity, as Pencil does not support this. However, the new feature will arrive in November with the Paper update for iOS 8.
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AirStylus
The word tablet has not always been synonymous with iPad-type devices. A tablet also refers to an input device for graphic work, which consists of a resistive touch surface and a special stylus, and is mainly used by digital artists. The developers from Avatron Software probably thought to themselves, why not use the iPad for this purpose, when it is practically one touch surface with the possibility of using a (albeit capacitive) stylus.
This is how the AirStylus application was born, which turns your iPad into a graphics tablet. It also needs a software component installed on the Mac to function, which then communicates with desktop graphics programs. So it is not a drawing application as such, all drawing takes place directly on the Mac using an iPad and a stylus as a substitute for a mouse. However, the software does not only work as a touchpad, but can deal with the palm placed on the display, is compatible with Bluetooth styluses and thus allows, for example, pressure sensitivity and some gestures such as pinch to zoom.
AirStylus works with three dozen graphic applications including Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator. Currently, AirStylus can only be used with OS X, but support for Windows is also planned in the coming months. You can find the application in the App Store for 20 EUR.
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It's just sad that the FiftyThree Pencil can't officially be shipped anywhere other than US/CAN.
Yes, but it was possible to get it through ebay or with the help of an assisted purchase - I practically bought the stylus before it went on sale and cleared the customs declaration myself
Graphics tablet only from Wacom. In the article, there are only smiling promo videos where retouching can also be seen :) The reality is different and working with bambulem and crayons is desperate, at most for drawing mind maps. The sad part is that Apple didn't include Wacom's technology in the iPad like Samsung did with the Galaxy Note and S Pen. This is how something is invented here, which has been working precisely for a long time... and without wifi and batteries
Thanks for the message. For general drawing and graphics, I want to buy an iPad Pro 12.9″ 128GB or a graphics tablet with a 12″ XP-PEN Artist 12 Pro monitor: https://www.xp-pen.com/product/479.html . I am interested in what is more appropriate.