How to use Medibang Paint or Painstorm Studio with Drawing Tablets?

[yomielf]

Hello, i am not sure how drawing tablets work exactly, i want to use the programs such as Paintstorm Studio and Medibang Paint for anime/manga drawing and such (both for academic and personal purposes), and i would like a drawing tablet instead of using the laptop but not sure how drawing tablets work.

Do they have windows or some other operating system installed and can you install programs into them? Like can you install programs such as Paintstorm Studio and Medibang Paint (common manga/anime drawing programs) in drawing tablets such as Watcom Intous and Huion Kanvas?

Additionaly, in the Medibang Paint website it says that it has its own tablet? (https://medibangpaint.com/en/news/2015/06/mbp_tab_release_ver-1-0/) How does that work exactly, can you also install other programs there or is that exclusive for that program only?

Thank you for your time,

[VibrantFox]

Long time user of medibang paint with a pen tablet and it's actually pretty simple depending on the kind of tablet your looking for.

to start purely for clarity's sake medibang doesn't have its on tablet but a mobile app that can be downloaded on ipads or other tablets, though it's best to check the required specifications for functionality.

following up there's a couple different tablets you can get: pen (or pen and touch) tablets like the wacon intuos, screen tablets like the wacom cintiq or compact tablets like the ipads and samsung note tablets.

personally i use a pen and touch tablet, the wacom intuos small, on my laptop computer and medibang paint. the functionality is really simple in that you draw on the tablet and stuff shows up your laptop/computer screen. i've been using it for about 5 or 6 years give or take but it's worked for all my creative needs.

i know there are folks who use other tablet types so opinions and suggestions in the replies will likely vary. if you're looking for more specific recommendations or tutorials i'm aware that you can look them up on youtube but you'll have to ask other folks for the best channels or creators to visit or watch. hope it helps

[yomielf]

@VibrantFox hello, you said that you use the tablet wacom intuos small on your laptop computer? isn't the tablet a seperate device on its own? how do you use it on the laptop? Also did you install medibang paint on the tablet wacom intuos small? I am confused on how to install programs on the drawing tablets (not the smart phones i mean the actual drawing tablets like wacom intuos)

Also on the webstite of medibag paint it shows a drawing tablet called "MediBang Paint Tablet" which is similar to the wacom intuos tablets, not a smart phone or just an application, isn't that a drawing tablet? i am a little confused

[VibrantFox]

Yes. So hoping that this makes sense but i have a small hp laptop and a wacom intuos small which connects to the laptop via usb so any software is downloaded to the computer not the tablet itself. the set up would look similar to this image:

the way the tablet works is similar to a mouse but you're using the pen to draw digitally on the computer

as for the name "medibang tablet" it's just referring to the tablet release version of their app which can be downloaded on phones and tablets like iphone or android and not an actual drawing tablet.

specifically in terms of downloading medibang i just get the software from their websites main page here:

MediBang Paint

and just clicking download for the operating system i'm using (which in my case is windows). opening the downloaded file will take you through all of the proper steps for installation but it's mostly a lot of clicking yes.

as for operating the tablet itself wacom gives it's default explanation on connecting he tablet, installing the driver and setting up the device on their website here:
https://www.wacom.com/en-us/getting-started/wacom-intuos

but this video from phlearn gives a more clear and in depth breakdown here:

i'm not the best at explaining things so i'm sorry if any of this is confusing but hopefully that helps clear some things up

[Kaydreamer]

Okay, so 'tablet' has a dual meaning these days, which is partly why I think you're so confused.

There are tablet devices, such as iPads, Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and the Wacom MobileStudio. These run iPadOS, Android, or Windows, respectively. You don't plug these into a computer. They're self-contained devices.

There are also drawing tablets. There are peripheral devices, meaning you have to plug them into an existing computer. There are two main kinds - the kind without a screen (meaning you see your drawing on your laptop screen, while using the tablet works a bit like a pen-shaped mouse) and the kind with a screen (which you draw on directly, but still needs to be plugged into a computer.)

So, now that we have that distinction out of the way, to answer your question:

Most drawing tablets will work with any PC or Mac drawing software. If your computer can run it, the tablet will work with it.

However, this is not the case with tablet devices, other than the Wacom MobileStudio. (Which is a crazy price, so it doesn't really bear mentioning.) Tablet devices don't run Windows, so they're limited to what's available in their app stores. iPads have Clip Studio Paint, Procreate, and a number of others. Android-based tablets, like those from Samsung, are much more limited in high quality art programs, as well as having poorer pen accuracy; I wouldn't recommend getting an Android tablet.

Also do not get a Microsoft Surface Pro. Been there, done that, lost a good two years of artistic progression struggling with that thing. It has terrible pen accuracy, and it's a laggy, slow device after only a few months of use.

Personally, I use an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil, and a drawing app called Procreate. I adore this setup. It's powerful, portable, and I can create large volumes of nice-looking art with it. If you're after a recommendation, that's mine.

I've also used Macs and PC's with Wacom Graphire and Wacom Cintiq tablets, all of which worked wonderfully. (Graphire tablets aren't a thing anymore, but Bamboo and Intuos are good equivalents.) I mostly used Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint back then. I preferred the Cintiq tablets, I find it nicer to draw directly onto a screen, but they're also extremely expensive - I did fine with the Graphire for years as a beginner.

I hope that clears a few things up!

[yomielf]

@Kaydreamer Hello, thank you for the answer, i have just one last question, is it possible to simply use a stylus pen on the touchpad of the laptop to draw that way in medibang paint and paintstorm studio? Otherwise if that does not work i will simply purchase the wacom intuous small.

[Kaydreamer]

No, it's not. Laptop touchpads are designed for use with fingers, stylus's use different tech.

[joannekwan]

[joannekwan]