GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Windows
GIMP Experience: New User

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Hello!

My first Post!

I recently got a Lenovo Yoga 500 - a notebook hybrid which can transform into a tablet. It unfortunately doesn't seem to support active digitizing pens. I used to use Photoshop but have encountered problems even using capacitive styluses for drawing on touch screen (which is strange because it works perfectly fine as a paintbrush in MS Paint), which is why I recently shifted to GIMP (that and a friend from deviantart had been recommending it to me for ages). I'm still getting used to the slightly different interface (from Photoshop), but so far it looks great. Plus the capacitive stylus works for drawing on the touch screen.

Now I just need a finer point for drawing (the current capacitive stylus I'm using has a tip the size and shape of a pencil eraser). I've read someone mention mouse pens here (which is how I discovered this forum), and I've read mentions of fine point capacitive styluses (stylii?!) online. So:

Has anyone tried using a mouse pen on a touch screen? Does it draw accurately? Does it work like an active digitizer pen (sans the pressure sensitivity and palm rejection)?

How about fine point capacity styluses? I notice while using my current thick-tipped stylus that the lines sometimes skip but I'm thinking maybe this is because of the soft rubber tip shifting. I am hoping that a finer tipped stylus avoids this issue. Also, if there is some sort of calibration needed to avoid the lines breaking/skipping, in terms of the touch screen or panning or mouse pointer speed, or even with GIMP brush options, etc - not really a techie here, I'd really appreciate and welcome inputs.

And just to add: I have no issue if these two options do not have pressure sensitivity built into them. I am used to drawing and coloring via mouse (which does not have pressure sensitivity) - have done so for over a decade now, and have even incorporated this quirk in my art/took advantage of it.

Thanks!

-Ly

EDITED TO ADD: These two options also do not offer palm rejection - and I also have no issues with that. I currently use drawing gloves (the ones used to avoid pencil smudges on your hand) and they seem to work fine with the touch screen - the screen recognizes the stylus but not my gloved hand. This workaround might be helpful for those who want to manually simulate palm rejection on touch screen devices.

Blue Toy, Welcome to this forum. I can't help you about the matter you say, but here there are many people who will help you for sure.

Thanks for the welcome!



Thanks for the suggestion, Wallace. I have encountered the Jot Pro while researching for pen alternatives for the yoga 500. The reviews I've read of it said that it was great for precision although there were also reviews saying that the clear disk at the tip had a tendency to trap minute debris between the disk and the LCD screen which ends up scratching the screen. A bit of a shame since it seems to be really good for precision work for a capacitive stylus.

-Ly

While we do have Dollar Stores here in the Philippines - American counterparts of Daiso and Japan Home Center stores - I don't think I've ever encountered styluses being sold there. though I've never really looked around them, mostly because I tend to gravitate towards the Japanese ones because they have really weird/interesting stuff. But this gives me an idea. I'll visit some dollar stores and maybe even the Japanese stores to look for fine point styluses.

-Ly

Is this article about your model of Yoga tablet?
Lost your digital stylus? Just write on Lenovo's new Yoga tablet with a pencil--or a fork

Hi! No, that's referring to a tablet. The yoga 500 is a touch screen laptop - runs on a computer OS not a tablet OS. The screen can do a 360 flip and act as a tablet running on windows 10. So no, forks won't work on it. :-(

-Ly

You may want to check out Griatch's post about making your own nibs for your pen using weed-trimmer plastic wire.

http://www.gimptalk.com/index.php?/topi ... fx-tablet/

Wow. Thanks for pointing out the tutorial. Looks interesting. What is weed trimmer wire made of? I had the impression that only rubber materials are used for capacitive stylus tips.

Also, I am referring to non-powered styluses, if that is a valid/necessary distinction?

-Ly

I believe it is probably nylon, like fishing line.

Hmmm. Not sure if it will work on the touch screen. I have an old genius pen tablet. I tried using the pen directly on the touch screen and it wasn't recognized. If the material is anything like the tip of a pen tablet's pen, then it might not work. :-(

My tutorial is for Wacom tablets and pens, which use magnetic resonance. For a Wacom pen + screen there is no need for the tip to be anything fancy (as exemplified by the nylon wire). A capacitive touch screen on he other hand requires you to use a nib that is an electric conductor (like your finger). In principle you could try with a metal nib (not aluminium but something in steel, copper or iron) but that will of course stand the risk of damaging the screen since it's so hard.

I wonder if your touch screen is actually capable of better precision however. There is a reason touchscreen pens are as wide as they are - the screen is built for finger input and has no need to accommodate more precision than that. If the pen was narrower I suspect you'd quickly go frustrated over the pen tip not exactly matching the input.

The ultimate in non-powered precision here is a Wacom pen but unfortunately a Wacom pen will only work on a screen or surface actually built for it. Outside of the professional Wacom graphics tablets/screens, only a few laptops/tablets/phones have that (for example the Samsung Galaxy Note series of phones).

I think you may be better served by going for a powered bluetooth pen. This communicates its position via bluetooth to the OS somehow and is thus supposedly not dependent on the quality of the screen in the same way. I never used one so I can't recommend a brand nor am I fully up-to-date on how they work. But I know that many artists use bluetooth pens with iPads (which have the same finger-limited input problem) and seem happy with the precision. Worth to look into at least.
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Griatch

Thank you for the detailed response! You are right, the capacitive styluses are there to simulate human touch. Having thought on my question some more, I've come to realize that the finer tip i am looking for is more of an aid to me - me seeing the point of the tip touching the screen as opposed to having a finger-like tip blocking out exactly where it touches the screen. Although I also think that a fine tapering tip would be more precise - the soft, eraser-like tip of the stylus i have tried using tends to move about a bit - as i draw, different parts of the dome-like tip touch the screen because of the pressure of my hand and because the material is soft and rubbery (as opposed to just a pointed tip).

Thanks for the bluetooth pen suggestion. I will research on that. Hopefully, others here will also share their experiences with said pen.

Thanks again.

-Ly

EDITED TO ADD: The bluetooth pen is the same as a mouse pen, right? Or is it something else altogether?

I don't know what you refer to with "mouse pen". Any useful input device for art must have pressure sensitivity. Here is Wacom's bluetooth pen for iPad's (same company but it's not the same technology used in professional magnetic resonance tablets): http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/sty ... e-stylus-2
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Griatch

Thanks for the clarification. As for mouse pen, from my understanding, it is a bluetooth mouse shaped like a pen? I actually found this forum while doing a search on styluses - one of the Google results was a thread here on suggestions for a mouse pen, or something like that.

Also, like what I said earlier, I am not looking for something with pressure sensitivity. In a way, I guess I am looking for a pen that does function like a mouse, only with a touch screen in mind.

-Ly

All pen inputs could be said to be a "mouse shaped as a pen" but you'll need something active if you want multiple mouse buttons. I missed the bit about not needing pressure sensitivity, without that requirement I imagine your possibile options should widen considerably.
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Griatch

So true. I guess I am just looking for the compromise suited for my needs. Any recommendations or suggestions for non-pressure sensitive devices?

Also, I think I can work with "no buttons". I mean, with the "eraser-head" stylus in GIMP, I just press on the touch screen and it starts drawing (which doesn't happen in Photoshop). It's more of me seeing where exactly the pen's tip's points, as well as the rubbery tip of my current stylus resulting in broken lines which are the main issuez.

Thanks.

-Ly