Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2019 August 21

= August 21 =

Digitizing tablet you can use with pencil and paper ?
Is there such a thing as a digitizing tablet that doesn't require that you use a special stylus ? I'd like to tape some paper down on it, draw on it with whatever writing implement I choose, and have it sense the pressure and simultaneously draw my image on the PC attached with a USB (I realize the colors wouldn't match). I know I could either scan a hand drawing or print out an online drawing made with a normal digitizing tablet, but I want the two to both be instantly available. Ideally the drawing area would be 8.5" by 11" and the tablet would be powered by the USB only, so there are no batteries or power cord to worry about. What keywords should I use to search for such a tablet ? SinisterLefty (talk) 23:26, 21 August 2019 (UTC)


 * If you mean purely pressure sensing at the tablet, I don't think that exists. The sensor is usually in the pen, which means you have to use a special one.  You could look at digital pens.  There were pressure sensitive resistive digitizers but they sucked and I don't think they worked very well through paper, and you generally still had to use a stylus rather than a random writing/drawing instrument. 67.164.113.165 (talk) 01:39, 22 August 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the info. SinisterLefty (talk) 19:33, 22 August 2019 (UTC)


 * It looks like the Moleskine Pen+ can do something like this. CodeTalker (talk) 21:51, 22 August 2019 (UTC)


 * That existed back in the very early 80s. It was called the KoalaPad. At the time, it wasn't USB because that didn't exist. But, what you describe did exist. You had a black pressure pad. You could trace a picture on it and it would send the x/y/z data to the computer (z being pressure). You could then have a program use that data to recreate what you traced. I attached a light and photo sensor to a stylus to create a prototype color scanner. I got x/y from the pad and r/g/b from the photo sensor. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 23:02, 22 August 2019 (UTC)


 * I wonder why this concept was never updated to USB and made into a full-sized tablet. Sounds like it would be ideal. I'd put clips on it like a clipboard, but at both sides to hold paper securely. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:26, 23 August 2019 (UTC)


 * CodeTalker, the Moleskine pen is a digital pen and it works really well (I've tried it), but it's a special pen, and OP wants something that works with an ordinary pen. It also requires special paper, though that's just ordinary paper with a particular dot pattern printed on it.  67.164.113.165 (talk) 09:59, 23 August 2019 (UTC)


 * Wow, at $179 for the device and then $30-$35 for each paper pad, that would really get expensive. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:30, 23 August 2019 (UTC)