Microsoft Surface Pro using Sketchbook Pro 6

[Hangman]

So here is a bit of a review. I had a few options on what to buy and I decided to go with the Surface Pro. I got it about two weeks ago.

Portability: This thing is awesome to bring wherever. I bring it every day to work and end up drawing about 30-45 mins during my breaks. That by itself is about 2 hours more than I used to draw per week. I also plan on taking it camping this week (my GF is not happy with this due to how much it cost) as I want to get some nature drawing/painting done.

Battery Life: Supposedly it only lasts about 4 hours and I believe it. I haven't let the battery go that low as I've drawn at most in 2 hour intervals. after I'm done with it I've been very good about plugging it in.

Keyboard: I went with the slightly cheaper keyboard/cover and so far I haven't used it much. Tend to use the one that pops up on the screen.

Windows 8: Still exploring and I'm sure there's tons of features I need to look into.

Stylus: About half the size in width as my Intuos 3. Feels pretty good since it's closer to the size of a drawing pencil. Still need to set up the button on the side. Drawing requires getting used to only because you have to hold the pen straight up to better tell where the cursor is on screen. Sometimes it looks like it's off but it's just because the stylus tip kinda throws you off when you have it a bit slanted. The eraser is awesome and I constantly use it.

Programs: Prior to this weekend I had Painter 10 and Manga Studio 4 installed. Once the drivers were installed, I found that both programs were okay but were not built for tablet use (newer version of Manga Studio I hear is more intuitive on a tablet). I would need to either use the keyboard for the shortcuts or maybe buy something else so I could assign shortcuts to. Seeing as I wanted this for portability it was kinda a bummer to think that I would have to bring along more stuff or awkwardly use the keyboard cover. Then I downloaded the free Sketchbook Pro Express app.

Sketchbook Pro 6: When I downloaded the free app, it was like beating Manji (PJer) at a Manji street fight all over again (awesome). I could pinch out to zoom in and pinch in to zoom out. They have two " pucks " on the screen that you either click/ click hold with the stylus to adjust different things like brush size,color,etc. Those two features pretty much have allowed me to use this as a tablet and have not had the need to assign shortcuts to a keyboard. It just feels so right. I am constantly zooming in and out to my heart's content. The zooming in also allows me to go in for finer details so I really do not feel as if the screen is small. I though it would but I really feel quite comfortable with the screen size. I also locked the screen so that it doesn't auto-rotate when i turn or flip the tablet. This allows me to get the right angle for a line just like I would when drawing on paper.

I use the layers all the time and saves me a lot of time compared to drawing on paper. I just sketch stuff out, then bring the opacity down and then on another layer draw over the lighter sketch. I may do this a few times until I have a more polished piece. I've also found that I am using a lot of the tools in the tool bar that I used to ignore in say Photoshop. The big one so far is the French curves tool. When drawing traditionally I can count maybe 5-6 times in my life that I have used French curves. I do not know why but I've found the French curves tool so helpful in Sketchbook Pro and will have to re-evaluate why I passed them up so much when drawing traditionally.

Cons: There are a few issues. Some I think will just be because I am not used to the tablet/ program yet and some are actual issues. When drawing I find it may take me a few tries to draw a smooth line due to the smoothness of the tablet. I am sure a lot of that will just require practice. The pinching out/in to zoom in/out may sometimes require 2-3 tries before the tablet responds. This doesn't happen a lot and may also be me having to get the right gesture/pressure right. I also need to get used to the home key on the middle of the tablet as I sometimes hit it by accident. This will bring you to the Windows 8 screen and while you can just go back to what you were doing (the program remains open so you do not loose progress), it can take you out of the drawing zone. The stylus has stopped working on a few occasions. Fixes has been as easy as waiting a few seconds or logging in and out but I have also had to restart (I also read that there are more complicated steps for certain cases). Lastly, I have one crash where I lost about 30 mins of work. Since I have been drawing quite a lot I am not really worried about one crash. It has just taught me to save often.

I might post some of the art I've done on the Surface Pro in this thread in a few days.

[Dri]

Thanks for the info. I read the stylus stopping momentarily is due to Windows 8. It's actually the wacom service that needs to be restarted with msconfig. I think it was the major downer for me usually the helix and it would do it constantly. Don't have those issues with the other tablet pcs I've used in the past. A workaround from having to reset t is to run a batch file. I don't know the code but I did use one. It's simple. Write the batch file code in notepad and save it a .bat file.

Good thing about tablet pcs is that you can use a wide range of wacom penabled styluses. I don't know if the old ones are limited to the standard 256 levels of pressure sensitivity but what I do know out of all the tablet pc styluses I've used, the toshiba portege stylus is the right weight and size for ergonomics. The small styluses are good for portability but over time I think it will create rsi. Hated the Helix stylus and don't mind the Samsung S pen. I think the microsoft surface pro pen is quite nice to use.

[Dri]

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/microsoft/55516-new-artdock-surface-pro.html

Art dock for the surface pro, Hangman. Maybe useful for you.

[Dualmask]

I know this is an old thread but I'm also a Surface Pro user (PROTIP: Get Manga Studio 5 with it, you'll never look back) and I thought I'd mention that users will likely get much better digital drawing results with a Wacom Feel Stylus http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-S...om+feel+stylus it works like a dream on the Surface's screen, with a softer tip and more accurate sensing where your stylus tip actually is. I bought it and, although the loss of the stock Surface Pen's eraser is missed, the control I get with the Wacom Feel more than makes up for it.

[MassivePenguin]

I know this is an old thread but I'm also a Surface Pro user (PROTIP: Get Manga Studio 5 with it, you'll never look back) and I thought I'd mention that users will likely get much better digital drawing results with a Wacom Feel Stylus http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-S...om+feel+stylus it works like a dream on the Surface's screen, with a softer tip and more accurate sensing where your stylus tip actually is. I bought it and, although the loss of the stock Surface Pen's eraser is missed, the control I get with the Wacom Feel more than makes up for it.

+1 on the Feel Stylus. And the MS5 recommendation.

[Hangman]

Thanks! Any tips on zooming in and out for MS5? the pinching does not seem to be as responsive as sketchbook pro and i have yet to find something i like. i was thinking of buying http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER to assign keys to zoom in and out ( amongst other short cuts) but im still hoping there is something easier like adjusting settings to make it more responsive

[MassivePenguin]

I've mainly used the pinch gesture, or tapping on the scaling slider in the bottom-left of the screen. It's not butter-smooth, but it does the job.

[Ellybobo]

I need to try this out.

[Magma]

I bought a Surface Pro last year and returned it for a refund. I didn't think it was very useful at all.
First, the tablet is more like a slab, it's too heavy and awkward. And I thought it was on the small side.
The keyboard was fairly useless.
As for the pen tool, the screen res was out of range of the pen tool. It wasn't possible to do anything precise with it. And I found it's functionality rather patchy.
When I returned the machine for a refund, the refund was readily given and the store owner said he'd had quite a few returned for similar reasons. It's been heavily promoted online, but not by those who know better. And people who think it's good for drawing, etc, probably haven't tried enough alternatives to realise there are better solutions out there.
The Surface Pro tries to be both a tablet and a desktop/laptop - it achieves neither.
It's also very pricey and totally unjustifiably, in my opinion.
For a far cheaper and decent alternative try a Samsung Galaxy, perhaps.

[50%grey]

Depends on which Surface Pro you are talking about.

The Surface pro 2 of last year is the cheapest windows 8 device out there right now, and is quite good after you calibrate, and download the newest Wacom driver. The I5 version I've seen for less then 500 on ebay, and you are not bound to the Ntrig pen of the newer Surface Pro 3's. The Galaxy note 12 is more expensive, and is just a sketchbook.

I own a Samsung Note 12, and although it is a great sketching device you can not put any type of windows program on it.

The wacom companion 2 is the best of the products, but it is far too big to do anything with. Pretty much defeats the purpose of portable. It is also triple the price.

So for size, and portability the Surface Pro 2 still remains the king, and you can 100% do precise work on it after is calibrated properly. The drawback is of course it's size, but that is the whole point of portability.

Really you have to ask yourself what am I using this for?

Is it for a digital sketchbook? Then the Samsung note 12 is by far the greatest device ever created.

Is it a device I need for work with my windows programs that is very small form factor that I can use while I travel, airports, hotel rooms etc? Then the Surface Pro 2 is the king.

Do I need something that Is basically a portable Cintiq, but may not be ideal to wip out for sketches? Then the Companion 2 is your answer

[Dri]

Samsung note 12 as a digital sketchbook? I'm intrigued. I loved drawing on my note 8. A much more pleasant drawing experience than the Surface Pro 2.

I bought Surface Pro 2s at a really good price but I didn't like it as a drawing device. Other than that it's really fast and portable. Just so damn small lol. Very hard to do more finished work because of lack of real estate imo.

You raise some good points Fiddy but I think you are asking the wrong question. It should be what is the best drawing device? I'm talking about the feel of the device. While the pro 2 was the most fastest tablet pc I've used with the exception to the Cintiq Companion, the pro 2 was a tablet I rarely drew with.

Best feel and personal experience would be the Cintiq Companion. Even took it life drawing one time. $2k is pretty ridiculous though.

Oh, and any tablet pc user should get this pen. Ugly as hell but sooo comfortable. I was given one by my sister's room mate and I've used it to draw on my Modbook. It's better than the Bamboo stylus feel because it feels very similar to the nicely weighted intuos pens.

[50%grey]

Yeah, the Cintiq products are by far the best drawing experience for a home studio. There is no doubt on that.

The Note pro 12 is the best sketchbook for on the go, and you can technically send your roughs to your home computer later.

Note 12 has a really good battery life, it's very light, absolutely no heat, very fast, really good apps, and a huge amount of real estate. The perfect go get coffee, and draw type of device, or work on some roughs while traveling.

You can buy one for 500 when Samsung puts them on sale. Which is quite often, and the SD card expansion slot you can use for cheap storage, and just load it up. You can pretty much put every drawing, and reference book you own on it.

What I really like is all the multi tasking on that unit. Can have reference in one corner, and still be drawing. Pause Movies to study action etc. And there is a screen write function where it takes a screenshot, and lets you draw over it. Excellent for studying new subjects, like animals etc that would never stay still in real life.

And can we talk about a comic reader? Holy Hell, I have never seen anything so gorgeous.

If you can tell I like it haha.

[Dri]

That guy takes stuff onto his Cintiq Hybrid and so forth. Not that it's bad but maybe not the true indicator of quality. I did the same thing when I had the note 8 and the Cintiq 21ux last year.

I'm a Samsung fanboy but dropped the interest in the note pro 12 because I'm waiting to hear how the Cintiq Companion 2s are faring. I'll give the note pro 12 a go because that's exactly what i want in a comic book and pdf reader. The companion 2 is a heavy bast.ard and the surface pro 2 was a tad small. Too many choices but I want to limit myself to the devices I have.

Glad you touched upon heat not being a problem with the device because everything else in the market generates a lot of heat. Can't be helped with such a small form factor.

[50%grey]

Well yeah, you won't get quality as far as inking or painting on that device.

It's just a really good digital sketchbook for studying etc.

I like the new pen they are putting on the Samsung units. The old ones slid across the surface too easily, and this one has a little bit of a texture to it.

My problem with the Companion is just the sheer size of it.

It's make it pretty impractical for anything other then working at home, and if you are going to work at home I would just get the 21-26 inch Cintiq.

[50%grey]

Earlier I recommended the Samsung pro note 12. Even tho it is an amazing machine, I can no longer recommend it because of one glaring software, or hardware fault.

The screen flickers like crazy under 40% battery. Mine just started to do this over the weekend so I'll have to send that in for repair now.

It is effecting a large amount of people so buyer beware.