Use Android Tablet As Drawing Tablet

How to Use Android Tablet as Drawing Pad for PC

Let's admit it: Wacom and those professional drawing pads come a tad bit pricey nowadays. Not that they're not any good. In fact, they all work great. They always deliver. In most cases, your digital art masterpiece comes out fascinating with the convenience of the drawing pad. Achieving all those difficult lines and curves, and blending colors is so much easier.

Man using a tablet

However, if you got an Android tablet, where on some moments of convenience, you practically do your studies using a drawing app or any kind of art app, maybe it just makes sense to use your existing Android tablet as drawing pad when you're finally going to start creating your digital masterpiece on the PC.

How? Well, there's always a way with that. But, come to think of it, if you're going to be able to use your existing Android tablet as a drawing pad for PC, imagine how much money you're going to save compared to buying a professional drawing pad. Now, if you're a beginner, this would be a mind-blowing cost-saving alternative.

What you'll need

To make your Android tablet work as an alternative drawing pad for PC, you will need to the following:

Android tablet
Java
Drawing tablet app (in this example, we're using Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app available in Google Play)
Windows desktop or laptop

With all 4 things ready, you're set to hooking up your Android tablet to your PC as a drawing pad. You can install any drawing and/or art software in your PC to test. In this case, the Windows Paint app will do.

Steps to using your Android tablet as a drawing pad for your PC

The first thing you got to do is check if your Windows desktop or laptop has Java installed. If you're using Windows 10, here are the steps to check if it has Java or what version of Java is installed.

Click the Windows button on your screen or press the Windows key on your keyboard
Navigate through the Programs and look for a folder named Java
If there's no folder named Java, then your PC doesn't have Java installed
If you find a folder named Java, expand it and look for the app called About Java
Click About Java and it will open a dialog box that shows the Java version

If you don't have Java installed yet on your PC, you'll have to download and install the software by going to Java download page. Follow the steps to complete the installation.

If you have Java already installed, there's no need to download the most recent version. The Android app doesn't require any recent Java version. By far, it works for as long as the PC has Java installed.

Next step is to download the drawing app on the Android tablet as well as on the PC. Follow these quick steps.

Go to the Google Play app on your Android tablet and search Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet
Download and install the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app on your Android tablet
In your PC, open up a browser and go to https://play.google.com/
Look for the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app in the store and download it on your PC

Make sure to save the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app on your desktop to make it easier to find later when syncing the Android tablet.

As soon as the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet has been completely downloaded on the PC, open it up and configure your Windows firewall and security apps to allow the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet to run. In most cases, if the Java app will be run for the first time because of opening the drawing app, you'll be prompted with Windows firewall prompts. When you get this, just click on the two boxes in the dialog box to allow the Java to communicate on Private and Public networks.

Once you've allowed access for Java to work, the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app dialog box will remain open and will show you some important information you'll need when syncing the app to the Android tablet.

First thing you'll notice is the list of Network adapters (IP address) listed on the dialog box. One will say Wi-Fi network adapter IP and the other one will say VirtualBox Host-Only network adapter IP. You'll need to validate the IP address shown with the Wi-Fi network adapter matches with the actual IP address of your Wi-Fi network.

To do this, open the network settings of your Windows PC and check the IP shown on your Wi-Fi network. If that matches with what the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app shows, then you're good. Take note of this IP address because you'll have to copy that and/or type that in into the app.

Digital drawing pad with keyboard and sketchpad

The third step is to open the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app on your Android tablet. Navigate to the Settings of the app and enter the IP address shown on your Wi-Fi network adapter of your PC (which should be the same as the IP address shown on the app on the PC) in IP address fields. Tap the OK button to save the settings.

With the IP address synced between the Windows PC, the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app on the PC, and the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app on your Android tablet, you're now ready to test if the Android tablet communicates to the Windows PC through the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app.

Go back to the main panel of the Wi-Fi Drawing Tablet app on your Android tablet and click the Draw button. Wait for the circle on the Windows PC app that says Receiving Input to turn green. Once it turns green, it means that both devices are communicating.

Open MS Paint and start drawing. Any stroke or selection you do on your Android tablet should reflect on the MS Paint. Now you can begin creating your digital art masterpiece on the PC using your Android tablet as a drawing pad. No need for fancy Wacoms or any professional drawing pads that cost a ton of money.

Conclusion

Ultimately, using the Android tablet as a drawing pad is an absolute hack for beginner graphic artists. No need to invest so much in a decent version of Wacom or pretty expensive professional drawing pads. On top of that, if you're used to using your Android tablet in creating masterpieces, then why not take advantage of its convenience and comfortability as an alternative drawing pad.

BestInTech 2020-10-19T05:54:43-05:00

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