Graphical tablets

[PlainName]

Anyone using schematic/layout tools with an 'atistic' graphics tablet, such as the XP-Pen or similar? This is not the kind of tablet where you basically replace the mouse, but one where you use a pen on a touch screen (although it's not quite like that).

I am wondering if it's more natural for accurate positioning and stuff, and also if the pen pressure sensitivity finds a use of any sort.

[ElectronRob]

I have often wondered the same, would be quite nice for casual routing.

However my software required mouse and keyboard input, perhaps if you could setup certain stylus buttons as keboard input it would be ok.

Also I use keyboard short cuts heavily, for example PP or PT would be place part or place track, I would find pressing tiny buttons using the stylus annoying. Im amazed non of the big EDA companies have released something nice to do this.

I believe some software allows you to draw a wobbly line for a track, the software then places the track trying to follow your path + whatever rules and glossing - that might work well enough.

[free_electron]

waaaay too small. you would be constantly zooming in and out. real cad work requires large monitors with many pixels.

[asmi]

waaaay too small. you would be constantly zooming in and out. real cad work requires large monitors with many pixels.

I agree. I remember when I upgraded my monitor from 1080p to 2K (2560x1440), that made a HUGE difference!

[ElectronRob]

You can get some pretty huge tablets for doing artsy stuff on or even something such as the Microsoft Surface Studio etc.

[PlainName]

waaaay too small. you would be constantly zooming in and out

I think you might be missing some aspects of it. Sure, the screen is smaller (physically and in pixels) than your standard desktop, but think of it as a trackpad or digitiser and it is HUGE. And some people find a pad better than a mouse. Those (and the mouse) suffer from not being attached to what you're looking at, though.

These pen tablets could (and I don't know if they do) simply replicate the part of your main screen that you're working on. They wouldn't be THE screen, just a view of the working portion of the real screen. You could continue using them without ever looking at them, but if you did look at them then you would see them as you would writing on a bit of paper. I can imagine doing major things as one would with a normal digitiser, but then when you get to a tricky bit instead of having to zoom right in you just look down at your pad and see exactly where you're putting your dots. A reason you need to zoom in a lot on a normal screen is because of the mismatch of what you're looking at and what your hand is doing. With better visual feedback you might not need to do that.

But I don't know. I am reluctant to splash the dosh to find out it's nothing like that at all, hence why I am asking if anyone has tried