Best Drawing Tablets for Linux in 2023

A Graphic tablet or drawing tablet has become a useful tool for our day-to-day work. Whether it’s for painting, sketching, whiteboard tutorials, online classes, taking notes, annotating documents or productive zoom meetings. Having a drawing tablet next to your PC can help you a lot.

Now, you may have a wide range of options while looking for a drawing tablet for Windows or Mac. But not so much when looking for a drawing tablet for Linux.

Not all drawing tablets work with Linux out-of-the-box. Most manufacturers don’t provide support for Linux-based distributions. Therefore, Linux users have to face a lot of driver and compatibility issues.

However, thanks to community projects like Linux Wacom and Digimend, major Linux distros have in-built support for drawing tablets. These projects provide drivers and libraries which makes it easy for an average user to configure and run drawing tablets on Linux.

Update: Included XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro drawing Tablet to this list.

Here is a summary of the best drawing tablets for Linux.

Before Proceeding:

I want you to consider the following things before proceeding with this post:

1. There are many Linux based distros available out there. The drawing tablets mentioned in this post may not work with every Linux distro.

2. On some distros you may have to install the drivers manually to make the drawing tablet work properly. You can find drivers and compatibility information for drawing tablets on Linux Wacom Project and DIGImend Project.

Also, check the official site of these drawing tablets or contact the manufacturer for detailed information.

Best Drawing Tablet for Linux

I have also written a guide on setting up Wacom tablet on Linux, you can check that guide for further assistance.

Now, let’s look at the best drawing tablet for Linux.  

1. Wacom Cintiq 16 (DTK1660K0A) Drawing Tablet with Screen

The first on this list is Wacom Cintiq 16 (DTK1660K0A) drawing tablet with a screen. It has a 15.6 inch Full HD Display with a scratch-resistant and anti-glare surface that provides you with clarity to see every detail of your work without any distracting reflections.

As for the pen, it has 8,192 pressure levels and “tilt recognition” to provide a natural drawing experience. The pen also has programmable buttons for easy access to your favourite shortcuts.

Wacom Cintiq 16 is not a standalone unit. It ships with a 3-in-1 cable that requires a power socket along with a free USB port and HDMI port on your PC to work. It also has inbuilt foldable legs which can be adjusted to 19 degrees.

This tablet is quite pricey, but it is a great choice for casual artists and art students.

Technical Specs Wacom Cintiq 16:

Features of Wacom Cintiq 16:

• Pen with 8,192 pressure levels and tilt recognition.
• Scratch-resistant and anti-glare surface.
• Battery-free Pen.
• Full-HD Display with vibrant colour.

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2. XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro

XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro is a drawing tablet with a 15.6 inches full-laminated IPS Display. The screen has an anti-reflective coating to provide crisp and clear visuals even in bright light conditions.

The tablet supports 60-degrees of tilt function and ships with a battery-free pen that has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity. The pen also has programmable buttons for easy access to your favourite shortcuts.

Moreover, Artist 15.6 pro has a red dial interface designed for a smooth workflow. It can be used for scrolling or zooming in and out of the canvas. Also, you can easily adjust the brightness of the screen using the provided brightness buttons.

XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro is not a standalone unit. It ships with a 3-in-1 cable that requires a free USB port and HDMI port on your PC to work. It also ships with an easy-to-use stand to prevent shaking or sliding while using the tablet.

The best thing about XP-Pen tablets is that they are Linux friendly. You can download the latest Linux drivers for the tablet from the XP-Pen website. This makes it one of the best drawing tablet for Linux.

Technical Specs of XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro:

Features of XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro:

• Pen with 8,192 pressure levels and tilt recognition.
• Scratch-resistant and anti-glare surface.
• Battery-free Pen.
• Red Dial for scrolling or zooming easily and accurately.
• Full-laminated IPS Display with 178 degrees of visual angle.

Shop now at Amazon

3. Wacom One (DTC133W0A) Digital Drawing Tablet

Wacom One is a budget-friendly digital drawing tablet with a screen. It has a 13.3 inch HD display with natural surface friction.

The pen has 4096 pressure levels and tilt recognition without the need for any batteries. Moreover, this pen uses software to act as multiple pens and brushes in a full range of colours, with superb accuracy.

Wacom One is a great tablet for beginners. One can easily sketch or paint directly on screen, draw diagrams, annotate documents, enhance photos and videos with ease using this tablet.

It also offers the freedom to delete, edit and share your creations with ease. Therefore, making it a great tablet for remote working and distance learning.

Note that, Wacom One is not a standalone device. You’ll need a USB port, HDMI port on your PC and a power socket to connect the AC adapter.

Just like Cintiq 16 model, this one also has inbuilt foldable legs which can be adjusted to 19 degrees.

Technical Specs of Wacom One:

Features of Wacom One:

• Pen with 4096 pressure levels and tilt recognition.
• 13.3 inch HD display with natural surface friction.
• Battery-free Pen.
• 8-bit Color Depth.
• Connect to Android (Only supported on selected devices).

Shop now at Amazon

4. Wacom Intuos Graphics Drawing Tablet

Wacom Intuos is a great budget device and has great support from the Linux community.

It ships with a 4k pressure-sensitive battery-free pen and has a compact size which is perfect for limited desktop areas. It also has 4 customizable Expresskeys for keyboard shortcuts such as undo, copy/paste etc.

You can use this device with your favourite drawing apps like Krita, Paint Pro, Corel Painter and Adobe Creative Cloud apps.

Desktop Environment such as Gnome already has an inbuilt Wacom drawing tablet configuration tool to configure and customize Wacom tablets without the need to install any third-party software.

This tablet is available in small and medium sizes and also has a Bluetooth variant for both sizes.

Technical Specs of Wacom Intuos (Small):

Features of Wacom Intuos:

• Pen with 4096 Levels of pressure sensitivity.
• Small Compact size.
• 4 customizable keys for shortcuts like undo or copy/paste.
• Battery-free pen.
• Connect to Android (Only supported on selected devices).
• Tested and certified as “Works with Chromebook”.

Shop now at Amazon

5. HUION Inspiroy H950P

HUION provides a cheap and great alternative to Wacom when it comes to drawing tablets for Linux distros.

HUION Inspiroy H950P is a compact tablet and has a large working area (8.7 x 5.4inch) along with 8 Programmable Press Keys for handy shortcuts. It also has top-notch 60-degree tilt support.

The battery-free pen has 8192 pressure levels and 5080 LPI resolution. It also has 2 programmable buttons; therefore, you can set a total of 10 shortcuts for an efficient workflow. 

Huion Inspiroy H950P is ideal for online tutoring, distance education, zoom meetings, editing of documents, photos, videos etc. It works without any hassle with PowerPoint, Word, OneNote and image editing tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and GIMP.

Digimend project provides necessary drivers for the HUION Inspiroy H950P model, in case you have compatibility issues on your particular Linux distro.

Technical Specs of HUION Inspiroy H950P:

Features of HUION Inspiroy H950P:

• Pen with 8192 Pressure Sensitivity Levels.
• Battery-free pen.
• 8 programmable press keys (+2 on Pen) for handy shortcuts.
• Connect with Android.
• 60-degree tilt support.

Shop now at Amazon

6. One by Wacom Student drawing tablet

One by Wacom tablet is the cheapest model Wacom has produced yet. It is ideal for students who just want a cheap tablet for taking notes or for teachers seeking a digital pen for their computer to draw, express ideas & interact in online classes.

This tablet is simple to set up, you don’t need any external power adapter, just plug it in the USB port of your PC using the USB cable provided and you are good to go.

One by Wacom tablet itself doesn’t have any customizable buttons. However, the pen has 2 buttons that you can customize for tasks such as scrolling or erasing.

The battery-free pen has a 2048 pen pressure level which is comfortable to use and feels like a pen on paper.

The tablet itself is compact and portable and can be configured for both left or right-handed use. It is available in 2 sizes – small and medium.

Technical Specs of One by Wacom (Small):

Features of One by Wacom:

• 2048 pen pressure levels.
• Battery-free Pen.
• Compact and portable.
• Simple, quick, and easy to set up.
• Tested and certified as “Works with Chromebook”.

Shop now at Amazon

7. HUION Inspiroy H640P Graphics Drawing Tablet

HUION Inspiroy H640P is the cheapest Linux drawing tablet on this list. It is compact, portable and has a working area of 6.3 x 3.9 inches along with 6 Programmable Press Keys for your favourite shortcuts.

The battery-free pen has 8192 levels of pen pressure sensitivity and 5080 LPI pen resolution. It also has 2 customizable buttons which you can set to undo, erase, pan/scroll or any other handy shortcuts that can improve your workflow.

Huion H640P graphics tablet is a convenient tool for note-taking, editing PDF files and annotating diagrams thereby making it ideal for e-learning and remote teaching.

It is also perfect for kids and beginners for drawing, animation, photo-editing or design work in most programs including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel draw and many more.

The tablet itself is easy to set up and most Linux distros will have drivers included. However, if face compatibility issues then you can get drivers from the Digimend project.

Technical Specs of HUION Inspiroy H640P:

Features of HUION Inspiroy H640P:

• Pen with 8192 levels of pen pressure sensitivity.
• 6 programmable Press keys.
• Battery-free Pen.
• 5080 LPI pen resolution.
• Connect with Android.

Shop now at Amazon

Conclusion

XP-Pen provides Linux drivers on their official website for their drawing tablets. Whereas, Wacom has great Linux support due to the Linux Wacom project. Desktop environments like GNOME and KDE have built-in support for most Wacom drawing tablets.

However, with little tweaks using the Digimend drivers, Huion tablets can become a great alternative without emptying your pockets.

If you are an artist, you can always go for the KDE desktop environment as it has support for drawing tablets because of their famous painter app – Krita.