Set up sidebar shortcuts to common application tasks.įurther customization is possible through Magic Gestures, actions that involve both finger touches and Pencil drawing. Those are the defaults you can set up any menu item in that space. However, you can also control everything from the iPad using an onscreen keyboard, shortcut keys (Command, Option, Shift, Control) that are easily displayed, and quick access to basic commands such as Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, and Paste. If you’re using Astropad Studio and the iPad Pro as a digitizer, you’ll probably have one hand poised over your keyboard and the other using the iPad. The Pencil becomes your mouse pointer, with the ability to pass along Pencil-specific gesture data as needed. It’s important to note that Astropad Studio isn’t limited to specific applications, nor does it require plug-ins or other hooks. Instead of shrinking the application window, you could focus Astropad Studio on areas and move the view as needed. Jeff CarlsonĪstropad Studio on the iPad Pro and a resized Lightroom Classic to fit Astropad’s visible area at 100 percent. Switching between views and repositioning the active area is simple and quick, however.
Use your ipad pro as a wacom tablet mac#
You can also view the entire Mac screen on the iPad by holding Astropad’s main button and tapping the Fullscreen button, but that means you’re not working 1:1 with the app you’re controlling, which may not be as accurate when drawing. When set to 100 percent view, the iOS app reveals only a section, necessitating some window resizing.
How much you see depends on your screen resolution. When connected-via a Lightning-to-USB cable or with both devices on the same Wi-Fi network-the iPad Pro displays a portion of the Mac’s screen, which you can control using your fingers or an Apple Pencil. The Astropad Studio app runs on the iPad Pro and communicates with a sister application on the Mac. The company also sells Astropad Standard, which works with non-Pro iPad models and costs $29.99 as a one-time purchase.
(Wacom tablets that don’t incorporate a screen start at around $60.)Īstropad Studio does the same on the iPad Pro you already own, wired or wirelessly. If you want to spend at least $800, the Wacom Cintiq provides a touch-sensitive screen on which to work. Most Wacom tablets incorporate a pen-sensitive surface that transmits strokes and taps over a wire. More often than not, it’s usually on my desk at home or in my bag at a coffee shop.Īstropad Studio ($79.99 per year) turns that iPad Pro into a digitizer. It turns out, though, I already have an excellent pen-based touchscreen device: an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil. I know photographers and artists who swear by them, but it would be a significant expense for my comparatively modest editing needs. As a longtime Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom user, I periodically consider buying a digitizer, such as a Wacom tablet, to better take advantage of editing with brushes and other tools that work with pen-based input.