7 things to do with a drawing tablet (that isn’t Illustration or Graphics design)

If you think that drawing tablets are made mostly for illustrators, graphic designers, and people who like to draw digitally…

Then you are right 😉

But just like a pencil and paper, the tablet is a tool that anyone can use. I repeat, Anyone!

So I’m going to show you 7 things you can start doing right now with your drawing tablet whether it’s a pen tablet or a tablet with a display.

#1 Animate

You can get into animation! Enter into a new world of creating animation with a drawing tablet!

You don’t have to be a picture-perfect animator and sometimes you don’t even need to know how to draw to start animating.

Just have the desire to create.

If you’re like me and you have an overly active imagination, you can draw out your own characters on your tablet and bring them to life with animation software like the ones listed below.

Try it out. Make a funny character with little feet laughing his heart out or a grumpy guy with a huge mustache fuming. Have them tell a story. Literally, anything can be done with animation, the world is your oyster.

Now if you’re not that great at drawing, you can still attempt animating in 3D. In 3D animation, you just need to know how to move a character in a believable way. Kind of like moving a puppet.

With the tablet, you can do both 2D and 3D animation with the right software. There are various animation software that you can use like Blender (3D), Synfig (2D) Toon Boom Harmony (2D), Pencil2D, TVPaint, the list goes on and on.

For more info on animation, check out this video.

#2 Photo Editing

If you’re into photography or some other creative job that deals with pictures, you’d find it great to know that you can edit your pictures easily with a tablet.

Imagine doing an intensive picture touchup on Photoshop and instead of taking like 3 hours, you do it in 50 minutes and still have time to binge on Netflix. Awesome right?

With a drawing tablet, you work quicker, make more precise and accurate editing to your pictures.

Drawing tablets come with pressure sensitivity and this allows you to create finer and more authentic changes as you edit.

A bunch of photo editors or retouchers who use tablets, love to use it with tools like ‘dodge and burn’, ‘layer masks’, and ‘exposure blending’ tools. They’re much faster and precisely done with a tablet than a mouse.

Maybe you’ve never done photo editing but you want to give it a try. With your tablet, Adobe Photoshop, and a few tutorial videos on YouTube like the one below, you’re well on your way.

#3 Note-taking

When your notebook’s away, your tablet can save the day.

I’m sorry, I just wanted to make something rhyme.

But seriously though, your tablet can serve as a personal digital notebook. It’s like a notebook with endless pages so you can get creative with it.

Pen tools in software like PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat Reader allow you to make marks and writings on documents.

With that, you can take notes in class, write personal study notes, note those ‘aha’ moments. You can also annotate PDFs, sign signatures and make notes on PDFs.

You can even make a mind map for certain projects or plans you’re working on with Mindomo or Ayoa.

Moreso, if you don’t like those boring monochromic notes, you can make yours a lot colorful with the color palette and give it a creative look.

This link shows how you can sign a signature using a pen tablet.

#4 3D Sculpting

First of all, what is 3d sculpting?

This is synonymous with sculpting or molding with clay. The only difference is that it’s done digitally on a computer.

You know those realistic characters in video games like Assassin’s Creed? Well, they’re made with 3D sculpting.

You can make something similar with your tablet by sculpting in 3D.

There are tons of sculpting software out there like Zbrush, Mudbox, and Blender. Excluding Blender, they have a price tag attached but you can check out the free trial.

If you’re already a 3D sculptor who’s a mouse lover, throw in a  tablet as you work! You can create exquisite details that you won’t easily get with a mouse.

If you want to get started with 3D sculpting, check out 3D sculpting YouTubers like FlippedNormals.

#5 Take a Break From Your Mouse

Have you ever had a serious wrist injury from using your mouse? If you have, you’ll know that it’s VERY discomforting.

Repetitive Strain Injury or RSI is a common problem people get from overusing their mouse and that’s tough in the long run.

Give your body a strain break by replacing your mouse with your tablet. Using the tablet is a more ergonomically easier way. Like I say always, it mimics a pen and paper so your body will work more naturally with a drawing tablet.

You can click, open, scroll, drag, delete or do any basic function a mouse does with the tablet. I’m not saying to throw your mouse away, it’s not utterly useless but give your arm a break.

#6 Have Fun

Your tablet should not always be for work or serious business. You can entertain yourself and have some leisure time 😉

For game lovers, give your tablet a go. Play computer games like Minecraft Dungeons, Osu, House of the dead, see how it goes. In this video, a YouTuber gamer called Star Rain uses his tablet to play like an FPS (First-person shooter).

Not into games, no problem. You can watch funny YouTube videos to have a good laugh, go on social media to stalk your exes, or stream Netflix or Disney+.

#7 Any Other Thing You Can Think Of

So, we’ve looked at some things to use a tablet for, now let’s get a little crazy. I have some weird but useful things you can do with a tablet (if it’s old or broken and you have no intention of using it to draw again).

Use it as a tray, I mean it’s flat so why not? Or make it a Frisbee. You can use it as a flat surface for writing or placing your laptop. If the tablet came with a stand, use it as a mini-easel for painting.

This is just me being inventive, but you can think of other weird but useful ways to use a tablet instead of just throwing it away. You never know, you might end up trying it out sometime.

Conclusion

The tablet is NOT just a tablet. It’s a creative tool that I think anyone who loves creating should have. Now don’t get me wrong, if you can’t afford a tablet, the world won’t come to an end. You can still do fine but you should aim to get yourself one.

With that being said, use your tablet for these things stated above and have a blast while you’re at it.