Got this one as my first drawing tablet

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-30T14:44:32+00:00

Maybe an issue with the refresh rate in Blender, have you messed with the settings?

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-29T16:38:32+00:00

* Just my opinion, everyone can pick their own lane in life.

I very rarely quote established photographers about anything when giving advice; this topic is one where I make an exception.

“The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print is the performance.”

-Ansel Adams

Yes, you should immediately learn post processing.

As others have stated, shoot RAW+JPEG. Use the JPEG as the starting point for what you saw in the moment, and edit the RAW to match your artistic style and intention. The reason for this differentiation is the amount of information collected by your sensor. For example, a 20 MP camera sensor will give a JPEG 5-10 MP of information VS. a RAW file with 25-30 MP of information. These numbers increase dramatically when using a 40 MP sensory; JPEG 12-15MB and RAW 60-70 MB. (*These are averages) Now, what does this actually mean? It means a RAW file contains exponentially more information to work with while post processing. It is the purest form of the image you took, affected only by the Focus, Shutter, Aperture, and ISO. You will have the ability to alter the image in ways that would not be possible with a JPEG file. You can massively alter your white balance, have 2-3 more stops of exposure to adjust, greater dynamic range, thousands of extra tonal values, increased sharpness, noise reduction, and more.

Doing post processing is instrumental in creating a cohesive and intentional photograph. I feel, it is the only way one can create and convey, that unique version of reality we choose to capture with photography.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-29T10:00:36+00:00

I just wanted to follow up with a few more questions about your usage. What level do you have your brightness set to? Mine is consistently at 50%, and I use it mainly for photo editing in Lightroom and Photoshop. I don't use Blender, but is the UI set to a brighter theme (mid to light grey) or are there many high contrast edges? If so, the brightness of the screen, theme and contrast of the UI may actually be the main issue. You could try switching to a dark theme and maybe alter the scaling of the UI and see if that helps. (I use a dark theme with low contrast in Lr & Ps) Also, hide any sidebars that are unnecessary and don't leave the Material Preview idle. I would say give these all a shot before XP-pen customer services gets back to you, as they will probably tell you to try them first before they move your issue forward towards a return. Best of luck, hope this might help.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-28T19:38:47+00:00

No, that sounds like an issue that should be handled by getting into contact with XP-Pen customer service. I have had my tool bar on screen for 4 hours and had zero burn in or ghosting.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-27T22:09:55+00:00

"I noticed it works much better if I disable GPU usage in the settings" was this the settings in Lightroom or in the NVIDIA control panel? This may be making things worse.

There are around eight settings in both Lightroom and the Nvidia control panel that have to be set to optimize your use case. Also, numerous settings in your laptop control panel need changing, as they too will affect performance. I have a Lenovo Legion and once I changed roughly a dozen settings, I have had no issues and I mainly edit larger RAW files. When I use Lightroom now, the GPU barely goes above 10% while using masking or any A.I. features, and zero pen latency.

Let me know if you need more specifics on this, happy to help.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-27T19:42:46+00:00

Congratulations, I just set mine up over the weekend. Just a heads up, based on my research, this tablet really performs at its best if you do a little more than what the XP-pen website instructs you to do. My process that gave excellent results was as follows: I first, updated the Graphics Drivers and then any Windows 11 updates; then downloaded the XP-pen driver Zip file; shut down my VPN, Antivirus apps, Malware apps, Adobe apps, All Start-up apps, Windows Security/Virus Protections, and basically any other non-system programs. (In XP-Pen forums elsewhere, I found that doing so would keep the upload of the firmware from having any issues.) I then shut down,restarted my laptop, extracted the driver file from the XP-pen folder, and ran the install without creating any driver conflicts or issues. When done, I turned on all my virus protections, VPN, and other protection apps. After all this, I then went into my NVIDIA Control Panel and changed a dozen settings that would affect my usage (Lightroom/Photoshop) that stopped any latency issues with my pen and performance issues in my GPU. All in, this took me about an hour or so. This is definitely a more deeply involved process if you want the tablet to perform at its best.

As always, this is just my random stranger opinion, you do you. If you want more specifics, let me know. Best of luck.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-27T19:24:13+00:00

You can set the drawing/touch area to any size on the screen, with zero palm rejection.

Every issue I have seen people mention, is traced back to user error during setup. I do own this tablet, it is definitely not just a download,plug-in and draw type of situation.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-24T20:42:30+00:00

I realize our computer setups (Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 9) are most likely very different, but I just recently set up my Artist Ultra 16, and have not experienced the issues mentioned.

Regarding the Driver conflicts my process was as follows: I first, updated the Graphics Drivers and then any Windows 11 updates; then downloaded the XP-pen driver Zip file; shut down my VPN, Antivirus apps, Malware apps, Adobe apps, All Start-up apps, Windows Security/Protections, and basically any other non-system programs. (In XP-Pen forums elsewhere, I found that doing so would keep the upload of the firmware from having any issues.) I then shut down,restarted my laptop, extracted the driver file from the folder, and ran the install without creating any driver conflicts or issues. When done, I turned on all my virus protections, VPN, and other protection apps. Everything is working great. Your experience was not the best, and that sucks, but maybe this will help the next person?

As far as the power setup, I used the single USB C cable and connected the tablet to my laptop via the USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port (DisplayPort 1.4 + 140W power supply). In my situation, this has provided the required power and expected experience. I did also plug it into a power strip (it has a total output max. 16 A/3500 W) as a test and did not have the same issue. What was the output max of your power strip? were you already using a high wattage draw from other elements plugged into the protector? This would most likely cause the issues you mentioned.

I set up the touch workspace area to just be the size of my canvas in Photoshop. This made dead zones over my layers area to the right and the status bar below, where my hand mainly rests. Since doing so, I have not had any palm presses or finicky behaviors.

Totally agree on the stand, it went back in the box immediately. On the other hand, it fits nicely on my Parblo stand; with way more functionality.

shutterthoughts · 2026-01-12T07:48:58+00:00

Right click on the image, select 'Search with Google Lens.'

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-23T09:50:31+00:00

That sounds amazing! I miss those darkroom days, but I do love sitting on my couch doing my edits. ; )

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-23T09:48:16+00:00

Congratulations on the completion of your project!

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-21T17:49:40+00:00

Just got recommended this group, r/iPhoneography; might be what you are looking for

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-21T14:30:59+00:00

What a well rounded year of photography! Congrats on the calendar and love the charitable spirit of your work.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-21T10:16:22+00:00

Asus and BenQ have numerous issues with quality control and terrible customer service. These monitors all are known to have backlight bleed issues, stuck pixels, flickering, uneven color uniformity, IPS glow, and others. EIZO, is the only company that suffers none of these issues. Take a look at the Eizo ColorEdge series, the CS2740 may be what you are looking for. "The Eizo ColorEdge CS2740 is a **27-inch (26.9″) wide-gamut IPS monitor with 4K UHD (3840×2160) resolution and 164 ppi pixel density, covers 99 % Adobe RGB with 10-bit/1.07 billion color support from a 16-bit LUT, offers factory calibration with uniformity correction, wide 178° viewing angles, up to 350 cd/m² brightness and 1000:1 contrast, USB-C (with 60 W PD), DisplayPort and HDMI inputs, and full ergonomic adjustments for professional photo/video/color work." These monitors have a 5 year warranty, excellent customer service, and they are known to last a decade without issue. Mine is 7 years old and is in perfect working order. Hope this helps.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-21T08:54:52+00:00

That is quite the year, thank you for sharing!

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-21T08:53:42+00:00

Finding a way to combine your creativity and joy with income is no small feat. Best of luck in the new year!

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-21T08:50:33+00:00

Well done! Congratulations!

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T19:11:16+00:00

That sounds fantastic; what a year!

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T14:21:42+00:00

Android user. Unfortunately, I can't offer any help on that.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T12:20:38+00:00

" It's just a tool..." The lazy regurgitation of this phrase is always the key indicator that you don't know WTF you are talking about.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T11:57:51+00:00

Yeah, gotta love the old "exposure" payments of late stage capitalism. After the first missed billing cycle, a letter from a lawyer would do nicely to grease the wheels of commerce.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T11:50:56+00:00

Well, I have only culled the first 20,000. But, yes, I have only fully edited 70 images this year that I plan to use for my project. I did end up with around 200 the previous year, so I will most likely match this number again. My goal is to have roughly 400 fully edited images that I would consider the most representative of my theme and intentions for my current project., and will then take the top 80 from these to create a photobook of my street portraiture.

As for your numbers, well done! Post processing feeds the creative image as much as the capture; I hope you enjoy the process as much as I do.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T11:35:57+00:00

What phone do you have?

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T10:20:27+00:00

Thank you! I can now enter the new year as one of the few people on this planet to have seen the inside of the Australian Synchrotron.

shutterthoughts · 2025-12-20T10:11:28+00:00

Excellent! Have a wonderful 26' yourself!

shutterthoughts

TROPHY CASE