11 Best Drawing Tablets for Beginners

11 Best Drawing Tablets for Beginners Graphic Design And Digital Art

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Drawing tablets are an essential tool for graphic designers and illustrators, but if you are a beginner designer it might seem difficult to choose the right one for you, but don’t worry we made them work for you and have chosen the best drawing tablets for beginners at different price ranges to help you choose the right one for you.

Wacom Intuos Pro Large (Best Drawing Tablet For Beginners Overall)

Huion H1060 Plus (Best Cheap Drawing Tablet For Beginner Designers)

Wacom Intuos CTL4100 (Great Budget-Friendly Drawing Tablet)

Wacom One Student Drawing Tablet (Best Drawing Tablet For Students)

XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 (Best Portable Drawing Tablet For Beginners)

XP-Pen Deco 03 (Affordable Large Drawing Tablet)

Huion H610 Pro V2 (Best Tablet For Under 100$ For Beginners)

Wacom Creative One Display (Great Value Drawing Tablet With Screen)

XP-Pen Artist 12 (Affordable Premium Drawing Tablet For Beginners)

Apple iPad Air (Best Standalone Tablet For Beginners)

GAOMON PD1161 (Affordable Pen Display For Beginners)

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Top 3 Best Drawing Tablets For Beginners

Best Cheap Drawing Tablet For Beginner Designers

Resolution: 5080 LPI Active Drawing Area: 10×6.25 inches  Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8,192 levels OS: Windows or macOS Connections: Micro USB

Best Drawing Tablet For Beginners Overall

Resolution: 5080 LPI Active Drawing Area: 12.1×8.4 inches  Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8,192 levels OS: Windows or macOS Connections: Bluetooth and USB

Great Value Drawing Tablet With Screen

Active drawing area: 11.6 x 6.5in, Pen pressure sensitivity: 4,096 levels, Connections: USB-C, HDMI, Resolution: 1920 x 1080, OS: Windows, macOS or Android

Resolution: 5080 LPI Active Drawing Area: 12.1×8.4 inches  Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8,192 levels OS: Windows or macOS Connections: Bluetooth and USB

If you are a beginner graphic designer or illustrator who is looking for the best graphic tablet on the market Wacom Intuos Pro is the best choice for you, as it offers you a great drawing experience with 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and an active drawing area of 12.1×8.4 inches perfect to take care of every small detail of your design.

 

This graphic tablet without a screen is perfect for beginners to advanced designers as it offers you a premium drawing experience with fine control of your artwork and it comes with four extra pen color rings and a texture sheet sample card to give you an extraordinary experience. You can find this graphic tablet in 3 different sizes Small, Medium, and Large to fit your work area and budget.

Pros

  • Great tilt sensitivity
  • High resolution
  • The large active drawing area

Cons

  • Weighty

Resolution: 5080 LPI Active Drawing Area: 10×6.25 inches  Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8,192 levels OS: Windows or macOS Connections: Micro USB

The Huion H1060 Plus is one of the best graphic tablets for beginner designers and illustrators offering you a great value for money perfect to improve your drawing skills with a premium drawing feeling with 10×6.25 inches of the drawing area and a great stylus with 8,192 levels of pen pressure sensitivity to give you a great drawing experience.

 

If you are starting into digital drawing and don’t want to invest too much money the Huion H1060 Plus is a great choice being the best alternative for Wacom Intuos offering you a great graphic tablet for an affordable price, a great tablet to consider buying for beginner designers.

Pros:

  • Great stylus
  • Affordable price
  • MicroSD Built-in

Cons:

  • Not the best option for large drawings

Active Area: 6.0×3.7-inches, Resolution: 2,540 lpi, Pen Touch Sensitivity: 4096, Dimensions: 7.87×6.3×0.35 inches, Weight: 230g, OS: Windows,macOS and Android

If you are looking for a great drawing tablet for beginners at an affordable price, Wacom Intuos CTL4100 is your best choice, being a great budget-friendly option for everyday use, and the size of 7.87×6.3×0.35 inches and 230g of weight makes this tablet really lightweight and portable.

 

The Wacom Intuos CTL4100 is great for graphic designers and artists with the limited desktop area who are looking for a small tablet as it has an active area of 6.0×3.7 inches, apart from the size and weight, this Wacom tablet has a great ergonomic design to give you comfort while drawing and pen-on-paper feeling. 

Pros

  • Affordable price
  • Portable
  • Nice drawing experience

Cons

  • No Tilt Sensitivity

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Active Area: 8.5×5.3 inches, Resolution: 2,540 lpi, Pen Touch Sensitivity: 2,048, Dimensions: 10.9×7.4×0.3 inches, Weight: 432g, OS: Windows, macOS and Chromebook

If you are a graphic design student looking for great quality and affordable drawing tablet, Wacom One is a great option offering you a great drawing experience for a really cheap price, and the quality associated with Wacom, which is one of the best brands for drawing tablets.

 

This drawing tablet is a great option if you are looking for a budget-friendly tablet as its price tag is really low being a great option for beginner designers who don’t have a big budget to spend, but if you are looking for something more powerful, this drawing tablet can get a bit short for you. 

Pros

  • Very cheap
  • Work with Chromebooks
  • Easy setup

Cons

  • Low pressure-sensitivity

Active Drawing Area: 10×6.25 inch Dimensions: 13.82×8.54×0.31-Inches Pressure Level: 8192 OS: Windows 7/8/10, Mac 10, and Android 6.0 Weight: 700g

If you are a beginner graphic designer who is looking for a portable drawing tablet and draw everywhere, XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 is your best choice, as it has a slim and sleek design with 8mm thickness and only weights 700g being a very lightweight and affordable tablet perfect for beginner graphic designers and illustrators.

 

This drawing tablet from XP-Pen is also a great investment if you are looking for an accurate drawing experience as it has the High Tech IC technology improving the drawing feeling and making it smooth, also this budget-friendly drawing tablet comes with 8 customizable keys being a great buy for beginner designers.

Pros:

  • Very portable
  • Affordable price

Cons:

  • No eraser with a pen

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Active drawing area: 10 x 5.62in, Pen pressure sensitivity: 8,192 levels, Connections: USB-C and wireless, OS: Windows or macOS

If you are looking for a large graphic tablet at an affordable price, the XP-Pen Deco 03 is a great choice for beginner graphic designers and illustrators, you can use this drawing tablet wired and wireless making it really easy to carry everywhere, this a great value for money for beginner designers.

 

This graphic tablet has a pen pressure sensitivity of 8192 levels and six customizable buttons to offer you a great drawing experience for beginner graphic designers and artists at the same time that this tablet has a 10×5.62 active drawing area that will give you a great surface of drawing at a really affordable price.

Pros

  • Good Price
  • Large Drawing Area
  • Comfortable Pen

Cons 

  • Not the best option if you need a pen rotation function
  • Less smooth with some software

Active drawing area: 10 x 6.25in, Pen pressure sensitivity: 8,192 levels, Connections: Micro USB (USB-C adapter included), OS: Windows, macOS, or Android

If you are looking for an affordable drawing tablet under 100$ then the Huion H610 Pro V2 is the best ultra-cheap drawing tablet you can buy right now, as this drawing tablet has a highly affordable price it makes it easy for any novice graphic designers or student to buy this one giving you the best drawing experience on that price range.

 

Some of the best qualities of the Huion H610 Pro V2 drawing tablet are the large drawing area, great drawing feel with a pen pressure of 8,192 levels and of course, the price, the only disadvantage of this graphic tablet is that it’s not supported with iPhone or iPad, instead, it’s only compatible with Android, PC or Mac with OS versions higher than 6.0.

Pros

  • The best cheap Drawing Tablet
  • Great Drawing Feel

Cons

  • The pen has no eraser integrated
  • Could cause lag problems with some software

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Best Drawing Tablets with Screen For Beginners

If you want to improve your drawing skills with a drawing tablet with a screen and have more budget to invest in this graphic design tool, these are the best drawing tablets with screens for beginners.

Active drawing area: 11.6 x 6.5in, Pen pressure sensitivity: 4,096 levels, Connections: USB-C, HDMI, Resolution: 1920 x 1080, OS: Windows, macOS or Android

If you are a beginner graphic designer looking for a good value drawing tablet with a screen to practice your skills, Wacom One is a great option, being an affordable option from Wacom, which is the most known brand for tablets, offering you a great drawing feeling at a great price.

 

The Wacom One has an active drawing area of 11.6×6.5 inches, 4,096 levels of pen pressure sensitivity, and a Full HD screen to take care of every detail and is one of the best tablets for under 400$ being a great option for beginner graphic designers looking for a tablet with screen and get the Wacom drawing experience at a great value.

Pros

  • Wacom’s economical alternative
  • Perfect for Beginner graphic designers
  • Wacom quality for an affordable price

Cons 

  • Low sensibility
  • Low screen resolution
  • The pen has no eraser included

Screen Size: 11.6 inches Resolution: 1920×1080 Active Drawing Area: 10.09×5.67 inches Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8192 leves 

XP-Pen Artist 12 is the best choice for beginner graphic designers and artists looking for an affordable pen display without spending too much, but despite its price, this drawing tablet offers you a premium drawing experience being perfect for designers and digital artists looking for a budget-friendly tablet.

 

This drawing tablet offers you a screen size of 11.6 inches with an active area of 10.09×5.67 inches and a resolution of 1920×1080 being a great investment for beginner graphic designers looking for an affordable pen display.

Pros

  • Portable tablet
  • Great value for money
  • Responsive and precise stylus

Cons

  • Screen size can be uncomfortable for some designers

Specs: Active drawing area: 9.74 x 7in, Pen pressure sensitivity: Requires Apple Pencil, Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Resolution: 2350×1640 OS: iPadOS 15.4

Apple has made really great tools for graphic designers over the years, and the new Apple iPad Air offers you the most powerful tablet, your best choice is the iPad Air (5th Generation, 2022) with the M1 Apple CPU makes this tablet a really powerful tool for any designer giving you a really fast and smooth drawing experience and performance with the 2360×1640 IPS LCD screen.

 

Apple iPad Airs is not the most affordable option on this list for beginner graphic designers and illustrators, but what makes this drawing tablet great for beginners is the fact of being a combinational tablet you can use to watch Netflix, play games, and by downloading a drawing app and buying the Apple Pencil 2 you can convert it to a really powerful drawing tablet you can use many years as it is a great option for professional designers and artists.

Pros

  • Powerful M1 Chip
  • Great Screen Quality
  • More functions than a conventional drawing tablet

Cons

  • Apple Pencil is not included
  • A refresh rate of 60Hz

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Active drawing area: 6.5 x 4in, Pen pressure sensitivity: 8,192, Connections: HDMI, OS: Windows/Mac OS

If you are a beginner graphic designer or artist who wants to start working with a pen display but you are looking for an affordable pen display, Gaomon PD1161 is a great choice offering you an excellent drawing experience by seeing what you are drawing directly from the screen at an incredible price.

 

The Gaomon PD1560 offers you a full HD 15.6-inch monitor and an active drawing area of 6.5×4 inches perfect for an excellent drawing experience while you are looking at your design directly on the display. This drawing tablet is great for graphic designers with 10 shortcut buttons and a 178-degree viewing angle for a really great price.

Pros

  • Widescreen
  • Affordable price
  • 10 Shortcut buttons

Cons

  • The battery could have been longer

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How To Choose The Best Drawing Tablet For Beginners (Buying Guide)

When you are a beginner graphic designer looking for a new drawing tablet to start practicing your drawing skills might seem difficult to choose one, but with the wide amount of great tablets for beginners it’s not too hard, but here are some useful tips that can help you choose the best one for you.

How To Choose the best drawing tablet for beginners

Size

When looking for size in a drawing tablet might seem that bigger is better, but it depends on what you are looking for, if you want a large drawing surface and you have space in your desk you can go for a large drawing tablet, but usually these type of tablets cost more than smaller options.

 

On another hand, if you prefer to take your tablet everywhere and be able to draw in your office, park, or coffee shop then the best option for you is to look after a small and lightweight drawing tablet that will give you the chance to take it everywhere.

Pressure Sensitivity

Pressure sensitivity is an attribute in drawing tablets that control the thickness of your lines based on the force you put on your stylus, and when this number is higher then it will better allow you more variety in lines, 2,048 levels are fine for beginner designer, but the best is 8,192 levels.

Screen size

If we are looking for a good monitor it’s important to take care about the screen size as when working with images with high details and high resolutions it’s key to have a good screen size, but it’s also necessary to know the limitation of our workspace to choose a monitor with the correct size.

 

When we talk about screen size we can go with a UHD or WQHD monitor between 27 and 32 inches range, but if your workspace allows you to have two screens you can go with two 29-inch, ultra-wide WQHD monitors.

Connectivity and OS

Another important feature you need to look at when choosing a drawing tablet is to check if it’s compatible with your OS, usually, most drawing tablets will work fine with macOS and Windows and some portable tablets can also work with Android. There are some tablets that you don’t need a computer, these types of drawing tablets are called standalone but they tend to be more expensive.

 

Also talking about compatibility you need to see how you will connect your drawing tablet with your device, there are some tablets that work with Bluetooth, but the standard is to use HDMI or USB cable to connect to your computer.

Price

Price is really important when choosing a tablet for beginner designers, as it will have a big impact on your choice as you can find drawing tablets for 50$ to 3000$. For beginner designers, it’s not necessary to go for high-end tablets and invest in a budget-friendly option to practice your drawing skills.

 

By another hand if you have more budget to invest in a drawing tablet, it’s a good idea to buy a drawing tablet with a screen, as it will be a great investment in the long run as it will last you for a long time, I have a post dedicated to the best drawing tablets for graphic designers that can be useful for you to choose the best one.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the best budget-friendly drawing tablet for beginners?

The best budget-friendly drawing tablet for beginners is the Wacom Intuos CTL4100 offering you a drawing experience at an affordable price.

Which is the best drawing tablet with a screen for beginners?

The best drawing tablet with a screen for beginner designers is the Apple iPad Air, as it will give you a great drawing feeling at the same time you can use this tablet for other purposes.

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Should a beginner use a drawing tablet?

For beginner graphic designers the best option is to invest in a budget-friendly drawing tablet without a screen to practice and improve your drawing skills without investing a high amount of money.

Is it worth getting a drawing tablet?

Yes, as a graphic designer or illustrator, drawing tablets are really useful tools to make different tasks like hand-drawing designs and elevating your artwork to the next level.

Is Wacom one good for beginners?

Yes, Wacom One is a great drawing tablet for beginner and intermediate artists and designers offering you Wacom quality at an affordable price.

Is Huion good for beginners?

Yes, Huion is a great brand of drawing tablets offering you high-quality tools at an affordable price is a great option for beginner designers that want to get a good tablet for a great value. The best Huion tablet for beginners is the Huion H1060 Plus being a great value option.

Is it difficult to use a drawing tablet?

The short answer is no, but you need to learn how to use it as it is less intuitive than a pencil and paper, and drawing tablets with screens are much easier to use.

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Conclusion

Learning how to use a drawing tablet for graphic design can be very useful for designers and artists as it will let you elevate your artworks to another level, and if you are a beginner designer in this post we have shown you the best options for you, you can start for budget-friendly options to start practicing your drawing skills or invest on a drawing tablet with screen to get used to them and use it in a long-term.

 

Hope you find this post useful and find the best drawing tablet for you and start practicing your drawing skills, and if you want to check my other articles about drawing tablets you can read these posts.

best drawing tablets for beginner designers

If you found this post useful you might like to read these posts about Graphic Design Inspiration.

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