7 Best Drawing Programs for Wacom Tablet (2024)

From its modest origins, drawing software has made a lot of progress. While early drawing programs were severely limited, their modern equivalents are far more capable, providing a wide range of capabilities as well as a lot of additional tools. 

Several of these excellent drawing programs simulate watercolors, pastels, oils, charcoal, and other media in a realistic manner. Some even allow you to work in 3 dimensions, permitting you to design your own textures, models, and paint effects, then mix them with 2D drawn parts to create sceneries and even print in 3 dimensions. 

These apps work great with a mouse, but they're even better with a touchscreen or stylus because you have full creative control over your digital pens and brushes. 

There are many drawing tablets on the market, but Wacom is one of the best. Having a great Wacom drawing tablet is only half the battle. You should also look for Wacom drawing software that is completely compliant with this device. 

It's critical to consider your drawing requirements when shopping for Wacom drawing software. You can choose between basic and advanced drawing software based on what you really want to draw and whether the work will be digital-only or printed.

These are our picks for the Best Drawing Programs for Wacom Tablet :

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Krita
• Corel Painter

1. Adobe Photoshop 

• Processor: Intel® or AMD processor with 64-bit support; 2 GHz or faster processor with SSE 4.2 or later 
• Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit or later; macOS Mojave (version 10.14) or later 
• RAM: 8 GB (minimum); 16 GB or more (recommended) 
• Graphics card: GPU with DirectX 12 support (1.5 GB of GPU memory) (minimum); GPU with DirectX 12 support (4 GB of GPU memory for 4k displays and greater) (recommended) 

Adobe Photoshop is a graphic design, image editing, and digital art software that is widely used. It employs layering to add depth and versatility to the design and editing process, as well as strong editing features that, when used together, can accomplish almost anything. 

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For more than 30 years, Adobe Photoshop has provided users with cutting-edge digital picture alteration capabilities. While its show-stopping prowess is undeniable, its market-leading position is being threatened by Luminar, Affinity, Lightroom. 

The software has been hailed as one of the image editing applications available since its beginnings, but it is now only available in a subscription model.

While this may annoy individuals who like to pay for their program in advance, the benefit of this arrangement is that customers receive the most recent version and improvements as soon as they are published, without having to pay any update costs. 

Because of its extensive management of file types, layers, and connectivity with other Adobe programs, Adobe Photoshop is a fantastic option for creative professionals, website and graphic artists, as well as video editors. 

Adobe Photoshop should be installed on a capable computer with at least 8GB of RAM and 4GB of free hard drive space. You will also require a display with a resolution of at least 1280 x 800 pixels. 

It's compatible with Windows 10 (64-bit) and macOS Mojave (version 10.14) or later. On Apple's iPad, Adobe Photoshop is also accessible as an app. 

Adobe Photoshop is only accessible as a monthly or annual subscription; however, this includes automatic upgrades to the most recent version. 

Pros 

• A lot of photo-editing and alteration tools. 
• The capacity to design in 3D. 
• Comprehensive sketching and typographic toolset. 
• Easy-to-use UI with plenty of support. 
• Mobile and web design tools 
• Cloud Documents and Synced Libraries 

Cons 

• High-quality assets aren't cheap. 
• There is no option for a perpetual license. 
• At times, the user interface can be overpowering. 

Adobe Photoshop Scoring:

We have to give Photoshop a 9 out of 10. It is definitely our favorite software when it comes to Photo editing and concept creation. The subscription can be a bit annoying, to be honest, but it also has some positives as you cancel anytime you want.

2. Adobe Illustrator 

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor (with 64-bit support) or AMD Athlon 64 processor 
• Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit) versions: V1809, V1903, V1909, and V2004; Windows Server versions V1607 (2017) and V1809 (2019) 
• RAM: 8 GB (minimum), 16 GB or more (recommended) 
• Graphics card: OpenGL version 4.0 or greater 

Adobe Illustrator CC is a graphic design program that works with Wacom drawing tablets seamlessly. It is a vector software that allows you to create drawings, sketches, and artwork on a Windows or macOS device. 

Graphic and web designers, professional illustrators, and visual artists utilize Adobe Illustrator to produce high-quality artwork all over the world. This software provides a number of advanced drawing tools that can help you save time when creating graphics. 

It's used to make cartoons, diagrams, logos, graphs, charts, and illustrations, among other digital and printed pictures.  

Illustrator lets you take an image and use it as a guide to drawing an object or element. That could be used to recolor or give a photograph a sketchy look. 

Adobe Illustrator also allows you to modify text in a variety of ways, making it ideal for designing postcards, banners, and other graphic designs that combine images and text.

Check out this Illustrator Essentials Course - Link Here

The ability of Illustrator to put text around a curve is extremely handy for logo designers. This tool is also used to create icons for apps and websites, as well as mock-ups that depict how the site will look when it's finished. 

Adobe released its Sensei tool for Illustrator not long ago. It can extract colors from photos instantly, apply them to your layout, convert hand-drawn drawings to vector graphics, and much more. 

With smart glyph snapping, you can quickly place text and other elements accurately and snap to critical points such as the x-height and baseline. Adobe has updated the text tool with new upgrades, permitting you to position text vertically to the frame's bottom or middle. 

Pros 

• The best vector design program available. 
• Free Transform tool that has been simplified. 
• Touch Type is a fantastic feature. 
• The powerful Puppet Warp function allows you to modify specific parts of your illustrations. 
• Multiple page outputs/exports are supported. 
• There have been numerous enhancements to older functions. 

Cons 

• It has a steep learning curve, and it will take some time for novices to get acquainted with the program. 
• With Photoshop and InDesign, there is no consistency in essential commands. 
• There is no option for a perpetual license. 

Adobe Illustrator Scoring:

We have to give Illustrator an 8.5 out of 10. When it comes to vector creation illustrator is the way to go.

3. Krita  

• Processor: 1.6Ghz Dual-core CPU (minimum); 2.0GHz+ Quad-core CPU (recommended) 
• Operating system: Windows 8.1 or Higher; OSX 10.12; Linux 
• RAM: Recommended 4GB or higher 
• Graphics card: OpenGL 3.0 or higher 

Krita is one of the best art software applications for painting and drawing available today. It includes several capabilities that allow it to compete with some of the most well-known software on the market.

Professional-looking graphics, sophisticated brush programming for creating realistic media, and compatibility with a broad range of drawing formats are just a few features. 

Krita can be used for any type of drawing or design, but it's especially well-suited to manga and comics. In addition to the standard brushes, pens, and fills, there are halftone filters, panel templates, and viewpoint tools.

Each brush may be completely customized, and you can save your customized brushes to use in the future. 

You may choose a hue in a matter of seconds, which is far more convenient than navigating through menus and options. Vanishing points, straight lines, and smooth forms can all be drawn with the help of drawing aids. Masks, layers, HDR support, numerous transform tools, and complex selection features are also available. 

The best thing about Krita is that it is absolutely free, which implies that you don't have to waste any cent to learn everything there is to understand about art software.  

Pros 

• It's open-source and free. 
• It is updated regularly. 
• The layout is simple to use. 
• It's quite customizable. 
• In a tiled view, editing is simple. 

Cons 

• Touch controls are poor. 
• There is a lack of documentation. 
• Working with text is not a pleasurable experience. 

Krita Scoring:

We have to give Krita an 8 out of 10. With all the tools that Krita offers for FREE, I think the developers are doing a great job painting this software.

4. Corel Painter 

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor, equivalent or newer 
• Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit) or 7 (64-bit) with the latest updates; macOS 10.14 or OS X 10.13, with the latest revision 
• RAM: 2 GB (minimum); 8 GB (recommended) 
• Graphics card: OpenCL 1.2-capable graphics card 

Corel Painter is a professional painting and illustration program for photographers, designers, and artists who want to reach their full potential and create true works of art. The application comes with a wide range of tools and customization possibilities, making it appropriate for any artistic style. 

We may freely mix colors and experiment with a large selection of brushes, materials, and textures in this powerful application, combining them until we obtain the desired outcome.

It features sections for controlling palettes, retouching, cropping, and vector alteration, as well as compatibility with the majority of the most popular and widely used picture formats. 

We'll have complete control over the canvas, with the ability to easily move, zoom, rotate, and add lighting and textures, as well as bring our canvas to life using papers, flow maps, textures, and gradients.

We can make a great color palette with your color wheel and mixer. It also has depth control panels that allow us to manipulate the brush's size, shape, angle, and flow. 

Pros 

• It comes with a variety of brushes and other creative supplies. 
• Replicate genuine art materials such as paints, drawing materials, and so on. 
• The user interface has been improved to make it less confusing and to make controls more accessible. 
• It features a setup that may test your system at first to examine and improve performance. 
• Significant improvements in color selection. 

Cons 

• The amount of performance improvement you get is mainly determined by your hardware. 
• The GPU isn't available for all brushes. 

Corel Painter Scoring:

We have to give Corel Painter a 7.5 out of 10. Corel Painter has always been known as the software that replicates how traditional art is made through its interface and brush sets and has, through the years, reserved its spot among the best art software.

5. SketchBook 

• Processor: 2.4 - 2.9 GHz of Intel or AMD CPU 
• Operating system: Windows 10; Mac OS X Mojave (10.14) and above.; Android OS 5.0 and higher 
• RAM: 4 GB  
• Graphics card: 256 MB Graphics card with OpenGL 2.0 support 

Sketchbook is a raster graphics program that allows you to express yourself through concept drawing and sketching.

The software was originally created by Alias Systems Corporation as StudioPaint, before being purchased by Autodesk and subsequently spun off as Sketchbook, Inc. It began as commercial software and then evolved into a subscription system before being released as freeware for public use. 

Sketchbook includes drawing and illustration tools such as pencils, brushes, and markers, as well as a radial/pie-menu interface. It creates effects comparable to traditional materials by using pressure-sensitive characteristics of digital drawing tablets, tablet computers, and mobile phones.

A screenshot feature for comments is also included, allowing users to exhibit information during conferences and make notes for later study. 

This software supports layers and can import and export to Adobe Photoshop format. It can also generate flipbooks or animations. Rulers, canvas rotation, and brush modification are among the other functions. 

Pros 

• Both pros and amateurs will find it simple to use. 
• Brushes are varied. 
• It's quite adaptable. 
• The user interface is fantastic. 

Cons 

• For children who aren't already accustomed to professional-level digital creative tools, there is a learning curve. 

Sketchbook Scoring:

We have to give Sketchbook a 7 out of 10. The simplicity that Sketchbook has provided ever since the launch of this software makes it unique and special.

6. Clip Studio Paint Pro 

• Processor: Intel and AMD CPUs with SSE2 support 
• Operating system: Windows 8.1, Windows 10 
• RAM: 2 GB (minimum); 8 GB (recommended) 
• Graphics card: GPU with support for OpenGL 2.1 

If you're just getting started with comic painting and illustration, Clip Studio Paint Pro is a great option to start. It's a stripped-down version of Clip Studio Paint EX that costs a tenth of the price of the full edition, but it's packed with features.

It provides a wide range of paint tools and color possibilities and access to a free library of over 10,000 elements. It's also simple to use, particularly if you're familiar with PhotoShop's latest editions. 

These toolbars can be moved, minimized, and hidden in Clip Studio as needed. Shortcuts can also be used to quickly change settings like brush size. You can also adjust the interface's hue from dark to light, as well as the strength of the darkness and light. 

Clip Studio's website provides a lot of great tutorials to help you get started with your first animation or drawing. However, if you're comfortable with drawing software, there won't be much of a learning curve. Those tutorials will come in handy for additional distinctive features like asset rendering and 3D model posing. 

Pros 

• It has fantastic Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. 
• There are a lot of animation options available. 
• The 3D feature is available. 
• Vector Toolkit's Advanced Ranges 

Cons 

• There isn't a letter-writing font available. 
• Problems with keybinding. 
• Versions are priced differently. 

Clip Studio Paint Pro Scoring:

We have to give Clip Studio Paint Pro a 6.5 out of 10. Few art software has incorporated AI technology and Clip Studio Paint Pro is one of them as it always strives to add new and upcoming technologies to its software.

7. Artweaver Free 

• Processor: Pentium 4 compatible processor, 1000 MHz or greater (1500 MHz recommended) 
• Operating system: Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10 
• RAM: 512 MB (1024 MB recommended) 

Artweaver Free is a free drawing program that may be downloaded from the Internet. It's a Wacom-based drawing tool that lets you draw on your screen much like you would with paper and a pen.

While this sketching software may be used on any computer connected to the Internet, you will need a Wacom driver to utilize it. 

It is appropriate for beginners as well as advanced users. You can record all of your actions and play them again later or share them with other users. There are also other tools and capabilities, such as layers and effect filters. 

One of the most appealing aspects of Artweaver Free is the ability to share your artwork with others, as we have indicated previously. That is done by selecting "shared" from the "Properties" menu when tapping on a drawing.

Other individuals can now see your work and make their own recommendations and comments. Your artwork will have a greater chance of being viewed by a large number of people, and if it is excellent, it will spread on the Internet and be used as original and real art. 

Artweaver Free comes with a large number of pre-made brushes. However, you can customize each brush separately or develop new custom brushes.  

Pros 

• A large number of brush options. 
• Support for plug-ins. 
• Transparency and layers. 

Cons 

• The free edition comes with a limited set of photo editing features. 

Artweaver Free Scoring:

We have to give Artweaver Free a 6 out of 10. It's decent software with lots of brushes and to top it all up it's free.

Best Drawing Programs for Wacom Tablet FAQ 

What is the compatibility of the programs with Wacom tablets and displays? 

The pen tablet connects to a computer through a USB connector. When you slide the pen tip across the device, it detects the pressure sensitivity of your movement and displays it on the screen as line width and transparency. 

Wacom works extensively with its software partners to incorporate pen identification and pressure sensitivity into their programs, as well as optimize brush settings and bring out elements in the software that wouldn't be visible if our pen tablets weren't connected. 

Is there a learning curve when using software on Wacom tablets? 

Working with a stylus on a tablet while gazing at the screen may feel strange at first, but it's easy to get used to after a day or two of frequent use. Working on a Wacom pen tablet will become second nature within a week or less of constant use.

It's neither better nor worse than previous ways; it's simply a fantastic new choice that enables you to get started soon with no set-up or clean-up and an infinite amount of possibilities to satisfy your creative passions.