This tablet is completely independent and doesn’t need to plug into a computer or
laptop to work.
Made by Simbans, the PicassoTab is a 10 inch tablet computer designed for hobby artists
and art students.
If you’re not familiar with tablet computers, they’re basically giant phones.
This one runs on the Android system.
The downside to the “giant phone” thing is you can only install apps to draw with
- you’re not going to get a full version of Photoshop or SAI or Toon Boom on here.
The upside is there are tons of good free apps for drawing on the Google Play store,
plus any other apps or games you might want for work or for fun.
Let’s get the stats up on screen.
Professional artists will find the PicassoTab pen’s low pressure sensitivity limiting.
This style of artwork is especially hard to make - I’m using an example I drew with
a different tablet.
Sketchy art styles like this are much easier to do.
If you’re a professional you’re probably only going to use the PicassoTab for sketching.
Turn the sketches into final artwork on a desktop computer tablet.
Let’s go over how to set up the PicassoTab, then show some of its features and my experience
drawing with it.
You get the tablet, a really nice case that doubles as a tablet stand, a pen with an AAAA
battery inside, extra battery, pin for opening the SD card slot, drawing glove, USB charging
cable and end, European power converters, quick start manual.
There are no extra pen nibs, so you may want to order some because that tip will wear down
over a year of heavy drawing.
When you open the package the tablet screen might be smudgy from storage and shipping
like mine.
Use a dry microfiber cloth to wipe it off.
Or use one of these.
No regular towels or cleaning sprays on computer monitors please.
The tablet has a screen protector already on it.
Do not peel this off.
If over time you scratch the protector a bunch, you can remove it and replace the protector
with a new one.
Before you use the PicassoTab, you’re supposed to fully charge it, that takes about four
hours.
Plug the USB cable into the tablet’s side.
Plug the USB end into the wall charger.
You can use the USB itself to charge but it’s slower than the wall charger.
You can also use the USB cable to transfer files to your computer.
If you’re in Europe, close the wall charger and slide whichever outlet you need onto the
end.
It takes some hard force to get the converter off once it’s on, but it is built to come
off.
The USB cable is quite short so finding a place to set the tablet while it charges or
transfers files might be a challenge.
After it’s charged, unplug.
Press and hold the power button to turn on.
The first time you might have to try this a few times with different lengths of press
and hold.
If it still won’t turn on after a bunch of pressing, holding, and releasing, go to
the back of the tablet and put the pin it came with in the reset hole.
Then charge the tablet all over again and go from there.
Sign in with your Google account or create a new one.
You might be able to avoid having one but it’s easier to just give in.
Sign in to your wireless internet.
Pick your settings.
Aaaand welcome to the default wallpaper.
Yep.
The very first thing you want to do is update all of the apps on the tablet.
If you don’t do this, a lot of things aren’t going to work right.
So with your finger, flick down along the top of the screen for quick settings.
You need to be connected to the internet: if you’re not press the first button along
the top to connect.
Once connected you’ll see a message “number of updates available.”
Select it.
Update All.
You’re all set!
The PicassoTab is fully rotatable.
To use the SD card slot, use the pin the tablet came with and put it in the hole.
There’s also a spot for headphones and a micro HDMI port.
The case is really awesome.
Slide the tablet in, power button side first, and secure it by pushing the velcro strap
back inside the case.
There’s a holder for the pen on the side.
Magnetic closures on the flap corners keep it shut.
Turn the case into a tablet stand by pushing the flap edge into the tab.
The tablet rotates so you can prop it up either way.
I didn’t realize it until later but right now it’s upside down.
Stand it up on the other edge.
The PicassoTab works with your fingers and with a digital pen.
It has palm rejection so it knows when you are using the pen and stops your hand from
painting on the screen.
That’s the theory anyway - I find with any touch screens it can still be a hassle to
draw without activating touch functions.
That’s why a lot of the drawing apps let you turn on a pen drawing mode so only the
pen is allowed to draw.
The tablet’s battery drains faster depending on what you are doing.
I installed everything and drew with screen recording on for about 6 hours to get the
battery down to 30%.
During that time the tablet didn’t even get hot.
As for the battery in the pen, it should last a few months before it needs replacement.
You can draw and look at reference images or watch videos or take notes at the same
time with split screen.
Press and hold the square button for split screen.
Because it’s an Android system, all of your programs will probably come from the Google
Play store.
When you first use the tablet it has Autodesk Sketchbook installed.
You need to make a free account to get the full version.
I found it to be a versatile drawing program with a lot of tools and brush options, but
if you don’t like it or it’s too complicated or it keeps crashing on you, go to Google
Play and pick from the many, many choices.
You can find reviews of what apps are the best to try by searching online.
I tried out Adobe Sketch and found the line control a lot better than Autodesk Sketchbook
but the brush options way more limited unless you make your own.
I notice some people saying they experienced lag in some situations like trying to draw
tiny lines while zoomed in, but the only time I had any lag was when I ran a screen recording
app while trying to draw.
Without screen recording I put down 15 layers of various types and still wasn’t getting
lag.
Lag is related to both the app and the tablet’s hardware, so maybe try a different app if
it becomes an issue.
Overall, this tablet is great for sketching, and if you end up getting one, you will become
good enough with it to make finished pieces of art.
The PicassoTab’s real strength is its portable, no-computer-needed independence.
If you don’t have a laptop or computer but want to draw digitally, this is the only tablet
I’ve reviewed so far that will work for you.
For more drawing tool reviews, visit the episodes page of ScribbleKibble.com and click the product
reviews button!