Aside from my computer and Photoshop, a graphic tablet is probably the sole piece of equipment that gets used for every single image I shoot. It plays an indispensable role in processing – specifically, for precision dodging and burning, and masking and retouching on more involved images. I've been a big fan of the XP-Pen Star series since 2015; every one of years or so, I have to buy a new one because I wear through the surface – that should give you an idea of just how important they are in my photography. I also use them for design work and illustration, too. My Star03 has been with me since 2015 .
I did a lot of research into tablets and displays alike, trying to determine which would best suit my needs. The use of Photoshop was my primary concern. Portability and OS compatibility were further down my list, since I didn't foresee carrying a tablet around with me all the time, and I have both a Apple and Windows based computers. I looked into the Surface Pro, iPad, and XP-Pen and ultimately went with a Artist 13.3. I won't go into pros and cons of other options here, but having used the Artist for a few months now, there are definitely things I like and dislike about it.
The XP-Pen Artist 13.3 V2 is a new 13.3-inch interactive pen display. Aimed at creative professionals working in areas such as design, art and image editing, the Artist 13 HD combines a 13.3” HD screen, slim and compact design, simple setup, an adjustable stand and an improved pen for creating directly on the screen. The new XP-Pen Artist 13.3 V2 will be available for £299.99 in Amazon UK : https://www.amazon.co.uk/XP-Pen-Artist13-3-Interactive-1920x1080-Battery-free/dp/B075D7NWHV .
Boasting high quality HD resolution with advanced control and comfort, the new Artist provides an immersive experience consistent with XP-Pen's family of interactive pen displays .Aimed at creative professionals working in areas such as design, art and image editing, it combines a 13.3” HD screen, slim and compact design, simple setup, an adjustable stand and an improved pen for creating directly on the screen. Easily integrated into any environment, the Artist 13.3 is the ideal tool to support creativity and enhance productivity, offering a natural and immersive experience.
Artist13.3 V2 Technical Specifications
Screen resolution:- Full HD 1920 X 1080.
Maximum colors for the screen:- 16.7 million.
Screen Aspect Ratio:- 16:9.
Contrast Ratio:- 800:1.
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Color Gamut:-75% Adobe RGB.
Pen Tilt Sensitivity:- ±60.
Screen viewing angle (according to XP-Pen's website):- 178°, ±89 Horizontally, ±89° Vertically.
Comes with pro, and an additional 8 nibs inside the case.
Active drawing area- 293.76×165.24 mm.
Product Dimension:- 389.0×250.7×14 mm.
Supports precision mode, which allows you to temporarily map the whole screen to a small portion of the canvas with a press of a button, which allows you to add details more easily.
Allows you to enjoy the natural creative experience of working directly on screen.
Has a passive pen doesn't require charging.
Pressure (8192 levels) XP-Pen P03S Pen performs like traditional brushes, pencils and markers.
Easy shortcut access with our six time-saving, customizable Express Keys .
Simple set-up to PC or Mac with 3-in-1 cable. Bear in mind that you will need an adapter for Mac.
Comfortable, compact, lightweight design.
Windows compatibility:- Compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 & Windows 10.
Mac compatibility:- Compatible with Mac OS / Mac OS X 10.8 and above.
Artist 13.3 V2 Official Site: https://www.xp-pen.com/product/59.html
Superior IPS glass screen in HD quality
Perfect for professionals such as artists, graphic designers and photographers, the Artist 13.3's best-in-class screen displays 16.7m colours to ensure life-like colour quality. In addition, the wide-format HD LED display offers a wide viewing angle of 178° and a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels that is particularly beneficial for handling intricate graphics.Some artists prefer higher resolution to draw with, but that can make the icons smaller in some programs.
With the same level of pressure sensitivity 8192 Levels and 6 ExpressKeys . artists, designers, photographers and creators of all kinds can immerse themselves in the pen display's 1920x1080 pixel canvas to work intuitively, naturally and efficiently across 16.7 million colors.
The screen is so responsive. And there is a little chance you will feel any lag while drawing with it. Kudos for XP-Pen for that. The screen is bright it looks sharp and good.
Oddly though, I found drawing on the screen itself very odd – not just for the above reasons – but because my hand would often block the area I was working on. There's still some distance between pen tip and cursor – the pressure sensitive layer has to go somewhere – and this does hamper precision slightly. I admit it felt a bit more natural to use the tablet in the normal way, The good news is that the Artist13.3 can be used both directly as a display/tablet combo – i.e. as primary display, where your pen position corresponds directly to the screen – or in the same way as the non-display tablets, where the area maps to your primary display, but the screen itself remains active and can continue to be used as a secondary display for things that don't require pressure sensitivity – your email window, for instance.
The full Artist13.3 Usage experience
As with all XP-Pen interactive pen displays, the Artist 13.3 Graphics Drawing Monitor enables users to create directly on the screen for an immersive and seamless process that feels natural and saves time.
The new and improved cordless and battery-free P03S Pen offers advanced pen performance, superior comfort, precision and control. With 8,192 levels of pressure and tilt sensitivity, it is perfect for precision work and is ergonomically designed. The Artist 13.3 comes with a convenient case to securely store the P03S Pen and everything else an artist needs at their fingertips including spare nibs.
The more pressure sensitivity a tablet has, the more variation of pressure you could apply with the pen, which can allow to quickly draw thin or think lines, or transparent & opaque lines, depending on how much pressure you apply with the pen.Pressure sensitivity is what allows you to vary the width or opacity of your lines by applying more pressure on the tablet surface.
Offers great accuracy and is very responsive, with no lag at all. It is more accurate than any regular graphics tablet you will ever get. The same can be said about all pen displays in general.
The 6 Hot Express Keys
The Artist 13.3 offers six fully customizable ExpressKeys , users can take complete command of their favorite software by hand and by pen simultaneously.Making use of these shortcuts can save valuable time by minimising keyboard dependency.
Capable of connecting to both Mac and PC computers, users can make the most of all of their favorite software, including the Adobe Creative Suite, Manga Studio5/Clip Studio Paint, Autodesk's SketchBook Pro, Corel Painter, Pixologic's ZBrush and more.
A Versatile 3 in 1 Cable
Do you like tangled cords in your carrying case, or the narrow portability bottleneck of setting up cords? Me neither, that's why I like the Artist 3 in 1 cable.
I've been struck by the urge to draw on a long commute many times, but given up due to the hassle required to even get started.
Since wireless connection is unfortunately not yet a viable option for this kind of tablet, XP-Pen tackle this issue with a clever 3 in 1 cable that handles all video and power through one slot.The USB type-C is the only cable that's connected to the pen display. The whole setup is quite clean.
There are 3 cables you have to attach to the XP-Pen Artist 13.3. USB, HDMI and Power cables. The Artist comes with a 3-in-1 cable than contains all the 3. Which makes it more convenient. But keep in mind that sometimes one of these 3 cables can gets wobbly. Which causes the screen to go all black for you. So you better be careful with that if you placed this Artist on your lap.
The XP-Pen Artist 13.3 is compatible with both Windows & Mac. If you are a Mac user, you will need to get a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable to be able to use the Artist. Or whatever is compatible with your Mac. As some older Macs comes with a mini display port instead of Thunderbolt. In that case. Mini display port to HDMI adapter will be offered by free costs.
Bear in mind that XP-Pen Artist13.3 doesn't come with a stand. I don't think that's a deal breaker for many artists, you can buy XP-Pen's stand, buy a 3rd party stand, or make your own.
Produst warranty is defined as how long the drawing tablet lasts. This is important to the product because artists want a tablet that will last a long time. The XP-Pen Artist 13.3 has a limited warranty of 1 years .
The Driver
With the driver, you can change the pressure sensitivity, assign functions to the side and physical shortcut buttons, calibrate the screen to compensate for parallax offset and switch to left-handed mode if you want to.
When you're using it for the first time, there's going to be parallax. The glass is close to the screen but there's still a distance. There's parallax so you'll definitely want to calibrate the screen.
There isn't much difference between Windows and Mac drivers except that with the Windows driver, you can change the pressure curve but the Mac driver uses a pressure slider dial.
If you use dual monitors, the driver also allows you to click a button to switch between monitors to use.
Drawing performance
My testing involved using the Artist as a second display and as a working tablet. It's a nice display but smaller than a usual desktop. Screen resolutions are limited to 1080p, 720p and 1600x1200. Default is 1080p which is nearly illegible for my eyes. I've set mine to 1600x1200 and it's ok, 720p makes a Photoshop an exercise in moving around so that doesn't work for me. I would prefer more resolution choices than are offered.
That stand is also quite annoying if you don't get the screen positioned just right, tending to fall over a lot. The price of portability I guess.
As a tablet the Artist 13.3 works very well. I found it gritty at first but more use smooths the nib out and it now rides smoothly. I got used to working on big displays so I have had to relearn zoom and move keystrokes in Photoshop to move around on images. The big deal for me is the ability to engage the pressure sensitivity as a brush function and this worked flawlessly. I was able to control filters and masks not just by drawing but also handle flow rate and such using just pen pressure. Just like you should be able to do.
Conclusion
If you are an illustrator or graphic artist of any sort, I think you're going to love the XP-Pen Artist 13.3 Drawing Pen Display tablet unconditionally – unless you need a much larger monitor. If you're a photographer and need a decent monitor and a tablet, and don't mind the relatively small area, then you'll love it, too. If you're a photographer on the go, you'll appreciate the added screen real estate and tablet-in-one; just make sure you don't forget any of the cables or doodads, or the thing will be useless. If you're used to a big screen…this is where I have trouble: you have to think very carefully about whether you can either live with working off a small screen for the draw-direct effect, or find a use for an extra display when you use the tablet area mapped to your primary.
In case you don't want touch, or want to save few bucks and get the Artist series for cheaper, it may worth it to get this Artist 13.3 model. like the 8192 level of pressure sensitivity, the HD screen, the 3-to-1 cable. And the P03S Pen with 8 replacement nibs.XP-Pen Artist13.3 is one of the most affordable Cintiq alternatives out there, price-wise. It's really a good choice if you're cash-strapped, as long as you don't mind drawing on a smaller screen .
Ps:
Technology is just a tool, and we have to be updated with it, it is very easy to become obsolete in no time within this times, but…..without skills, knowledge and craft, they are just merely tools.
