A graphics tablet (also known as a digitiser, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images, animations and graphics, with a special pen-like stylus, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper.
Note
This guide was written based on tests done using an XP-Pen Star G640 drawing tablet on an Arch Linux based desktop running on the X11 graphics platform.
This briefs how to set up an XP-Pen drawing tablet on Linux and addresses an issue with using it on a multi-monitor setup.
The XP-Pen drawing tablet works out of the box on Linux. However, the tablet's active area is mapped to the entire combination of screens, which is not ideal for multi-monitor setups. The following steps address this issue:
-
Install the
xp-pen-tablet
package usingyay
.[!TIP]
An alternative to thexp-pen-tablet
driver is theopentabletdriver
driver which is also available on the AUR. However, said driver has not been tested and might work differently. -
Reboot the system.
-
The
xppentablet
utility should now run in the background by default upon boot. Open the application window. -
From the left pane, select the Work area tab.
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In the Work area view, select the Screen option.
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From the Screen drop-down menu (which should be set to All monitor by default), select the monitor you want to use the tablet on.
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Click the Save button and close the application window by clicking the X button.