# IPad instead of Wacom Tablet ?



## tjcadwalader (Jun 12, 2018)

Can one use an iPad Pro or the newest iPad ( both use a pencil) be used like a Wacom Tablet to do editing task like brush strokes etc? 
I have not seen or
 Read this being done but wondering g about it as I comptenpete getting a tablet. I am a Mac user.


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## mcasan (Jun 13, 2018)

There are no programmable buttons on the iPad to take the place of the ones on a Wacom.   Those can set up for each app such as Lr, Ps, or other.   I have not found my iPad Pro in any way a replacement for my Wacom tablet.

But iPad did replace a MacBook Pro in the field.   Back home I use an iMac for editing.


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## PeteGB (Jun 14, 2018)

I use an iPad Pro 12.9” with an Apple Pencil and LR to do initial culling and edits.

Obviously the pencil operates as a mouse/cursor so you can access the on-screen touch controls using the pencil.

If using the adjustment brush you can ‘paint’ with the pencil and the effects are pressure sensitive, so the harder you press the greater the effect. So from that point of view it could be likened to using a Wacom.  Because the iPad interface is based on touch sensitive screen comparing a laptop/Wacom workflow with an iPad/Pencil isn’t really like with like.

I use a desktop as my main machine, but that ties me to being where it sits. I find the iPad invaluable for culling a shoot, adding basic ratings, doing initial cropping and adding profiles. Pics I want to finess are tackled on the big calibrated screen of main machine.

In summary, using an iPad/Pencil does give you the brushlike capability of using a Wacom, but it provides non of the other functionality, programmable buttons, rotating wheel etc.

Cheers


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## tjcadwalader (Jun 15, 2018)

Thank you for the feedback. 
 mcasan and or PeteGB...  As far as your work flow goes are you using Lightroom CC  on the iPad and the iMac's ?
And how are you getting your images from camera to iPad?  I asume it's a wireless transfer from the camera ?


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## PeteGB (Jun 26, 2018)

I use Lightroom CC on the iPad and Lightroom Classic on desktop Windows PC. Images are downloaded from card to PC using card reader and collection created that is set to sync with Lightroom Mobile. The images essentially sit on the PC, ‘versions’ are copied to the Adobe Cloud and from there to the iPad. Changes made on iPad are sync’d back to the PC.

I can in theory transfer directly from camera (Canon with WiFi built in) to the iPad and from there to PC but in practice the data volumes are far to large to make it of any practical value.

Hope that’s of some help.


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## mcasan (Jun 26, 2018)

Import to iPad is via the card reader running at USB3 speed.   Wifi is too slow and takes battery life from both camera and iPad.  I do not use Lr CC as it does not remotely have feature parity with Lr Classic on my iMac.   The only editing I do on the iPad is initial culling for composition, focus...etc.    If and when we not only have a full featured Lr CC on iPad....but.....a real and proper Photoshop and all the plugins I have on my iPad......then I could do all editing on the iPad.   I don't see that happening for several years.


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## SteveA (Jun 26, 2018)

Have a look at DUET on the app store, this may help you use your iPad as part of an "additional" screen setup for both mac and/or windows. I have not tried it as a tablet but it would be used as a touch screen addon. Works great in music programs
Look here  Duet Display


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## Conrad Chavez (Jun 27, 2018)

This is a tricky area, because some solutions only work with specific combinations of tablet, stylus, and desktop OS. Many solutions let you use an iPad as an external touch display for a Mac, and these work great with a cheap basic stylus. But those fall far short of what the Wacom tablet can do.

The combination of iPad Pro + Apple Pencil, mentioned in the first post, has special Wacom-like capabilities and performance that go beyond  a regular tablet and Bluetooth stylus. The Duet Display suggestion above is a good one, except that it will not take full advantage of the special capabilities of the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil used together. To take that combination to the level of a Wacom tablet, you need Duet Pro, which is a premium level. The alternative is Astropad Studio, which is the premium level of Astropad. Both of these premium levels are subscriptions.

If you don't want to pay a subscription, you can use the basic one-time-payment version of both apps, but they will operate at a basic level that will not take full Wacom-like advantage of the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil.


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## PhilBurton (Jul 7, 2018)

PeteGB said:


> I use an iPad Pro 12.9” with an Apple Pencil and LR to do initial culling and edits.
> 
> Obviously the pencil operates as a mouse/cursor so you can access the on-screen touch controls using the pencil.
> 
> ...



How important is the Wacom functionality that a new iPad+Pencil does not provide?  Why?

Phil Burton


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