XP-PEN Artist 12 (2nd Gen) Drawing Tablet with Screen, Graphics Pen Display with 11.6 Inches Full-laminated Screen, X3 Elite Stylus, Supports Windows, Mac OS, Android, Chrome OS and Linux (Pink)

Product Information

While I found the Artist 12 (2nd Gen) to be a fully functional tool for creating digital art, its limited workspace was difficult to adjust down to after having spent so much time with a much larger pen display. However, for a beginner artist or a hobbyist who is just looking to dabble with digital art, the XP-Pen Artist 12 could be a perfect addition to their workflow. The pen display excels at providing on-the-go creativity that can connect to a myriad of devices from laptops to tablets and cellphones, as well as working well with a variety of digital art apps. Under the Work area tab, you’ll adjust things like calibration, display area, primary monitor ,etc. You can also tweak brightness, contrast ,and color temperature here. The driver will run automatically after being installed. If it does not run automatically, go to the driver folder to run it manually. The sensitivity of pressure can be adjusted by adjusting the Output and Pen Pressure curve or moving the slider on the progress bar.

XP-PEN Drawing Tablet with Screen Artist 12 (2nd Gen

To the left of the screen, on the front surface, there are eight buttons in a vertical row. These are broad and rubbery, and easy to operate with one hand while you’re drawing with the other. On the right side of the outer frame, you’ll find the power button, along with a pair of brightness buttons. There are also a pair of USB Type-C ports for connecting to your computer. I didn’t experience any lagging, even when scribbling away quite fast. Drawing ever-so-sloooooooowly did produce a slight ‘wobble’ in straight lines, but to be fair, you’re going to get that on most tablets. The end of the lines also tapered very nicely. The anti-reflective coating greatly reduces glare for eyes protection. Making your screen look clear and beautiful, even if it’s bright out. Everything is covered by XP-PEN’s 18-month manufacturer’s warranty. This means you don’t have to worry about any defects in materials or craftsmanship.That said, the screen resolution is only 1080p. On the one hand, that’s technically all you need on a monitor of this size. Unless your eyes are uncomfortably close, the pixels will be too tiny to see individually. That said, particularly when you’re doing artwork, you might want the confidence of a higher-resolution display. If that’s what you need, take a look at the XP-PEN Artist Pro 16TP. It has a 16-inch screen, as well as 4K UHD resolution. Then again, it’s significantly bigger and bulkier than the Artist 12. The Artist 12 2nd gen has 8 customizable express keys along one side. Six of them have braille-like bumps on them to give a slight feel at your fingertips for which button is under them. The Artist 10 2nd gen has only 6 express keys, while the Artist 16 has 10 keys. You can set a combination of multiple keys such as Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. When you press the combination key, the set shortcut keys will all run once. Due to the latest product improvements, content may differ from the final product and is subject to change without prior notice. The 2nd gen Artist 12 has some key improvements over the first. The display is better with a wider color gamut and contrast ratio. It also has a laminated display which means that the distance between the pen tip and the cursor is much less.

XP-Pen Artist 12 (2nd Gen) review: Budget-friendly creativity

Flip it over and on the reverse are the four rubber feet in each corner to keep it stable on your desk – note there is no stand supplied with this tablet (or pen holder for that matter!) 😊 The sweet spot for drawing tablet sizes though is between 13 and 16″ without compromising on portability. So if you are are able to gather a few extra dollars, it may be worth going one size up for a more comfortable drawing experience. The driver software is nicely laid out and is easy to understand. It’s here you can change and/or edit things like pen pressure, change the display settings, re-map the shortcut keys etc. I tend to find most shortcut key commands on these devices already have the best/most used options already set, but it’s great you can amend if you so wish (I tend not to use them as I’m so used to using a keyboard!).The new Artist series brings an immense leap to the stylus drawing experience with the new X3 chip giving you the realistic feeling of traditional pen and paper. Explore a brand new CG world with the X3 chip technology. Multi-function, multi-size, multi-color, our new Artist comes with upgrades for an all-new experience.