What’s the best drawing tablet for left-handed people?

 

The best drawing tablets for left-handed people are the Huion Inspiroy Ink and the Huion Dial.

In this post I will talk a little bit about drawing tablet companies’ practices and, most importantly, about why the Ispiroy Ink and the Inspiroy Dial are the best options available today.

 

Drawing Tablet Companies and Left-Handed People

My best friend is left-handed, and I’ve seen firsthand (pun intended) how tiny details can be a pain for him sometimes.

Not long ago, no drawing tablet company cared much about their left-handed customers. Most tablets had a standard design that could be comfortably used by anyone, no matter right or left-handed.

Over the years, as drawing tablets became more complex and companies started adding buttons to the drawing board, that neutral experience changed to a right-handed-based design.

At a certain point, when companies could no longer fit all the buttons into the upper part of the drawing tablets, they started moving them to the left side in order to leave the right one free to accommodate the artist’s hand.

Needless to say, those buttons were placed exactly where our left-handed friends were supposed to rest their dominant hand, the one responsible for drawing.

Since most people are right-handed, companies were able to get away with this for a long time although generating a lot of trouble for some of their customers.

Can you imagine how many left-handed people received drawing tablets as gifts just to realize that they couldn’t draw without mistakenly pressing a bunch of buttons?

Anyway, this situation was at least alleviated within the past few years when companies started adding a “left-hand mode” that somewhat helps left-handed people use certain graphics tablets.

The left-land mode is not always optimal and sometimes works as a hack just to justify to customers that “something is being done about your complaints”.

My tip to you is the following: if you are left-handed, get a drawing tablet that was made with left-handed people in mind.

 

The Best Drawing Tablets for Left-Handed People

 

Huion Inspiroy Ink: one of the best drawing tablets for left-handed people

(Click here to read reviews on Amazon)

 

Like I said at the beginning of this post, the Inspiroy Ink is the best tablet for someone who is left-handed and there are a few reasons for this.

 

  • This drawing tablet has one of the most neutral designs you will find in the market. The drawing board is perfectly flat, and the buttons simply don’t stay on the way of the artist’s hand. It doesn’t matter if you are right or left-handed, the drawing experience is virtually the same.

 

  • The Inspiroy Ink is unbelievably affordable. You will definitely like this device, but if for some reason you decide that this is not the best option, you don’t really have much to lose.

 

  • This is a pretty solid drawing tablet, it’s the most portable device you can find, and it simply gets the job done.

 

  • You an connect it to your Android cell phone or to any other android device and start drawing right away.

 

  • You can read everything about it by clicking on the following link: Inspiroy Ink

 

Huion Inspiroy Dial: great wireless drawing tablet

The fact that this is wireless device allows the artists to flip the drawing board around, turn on the “left-handed mode” and have exactly the same drawing experience that a right-handed person has.

While this one is not as cheap as the Inspiroy Ink, it gives the artist the best possible user-experience.

Wireless drawing tablets are still not that common, let alone wireless drawing tablets that still manage to get everything else right. This is the case with this one.

 

Here are some of the advantages of this specific device:

  • Wireless connection

 

  • Left-handed mode

 

  • Dial button (helps zooming in and out faster)

 

  • Android compatibility (can be used with Android phones and other devices)

 

  • Rather large active drawing area

 

What about those who are left-handed and already have a drawing tablet?

If you already have a drawing tablet, make sure to download its driver from the manufacturer’s website. Once you install the driver, it will allow you to play with the tablet’s settings. This is the place where you’re supposed to look for a “left-handed mode”. By choosing this option, the software will make some modifications to your device and it will become slightly easier for you to use.

In case your tablet does not have a left-handed mode, you should still download the driver and go to the settings panel to turn off any buttons that stay in the way of your left hand while you’re drawing.

 

Drawing tablets that are not made for left-handed people actually present two issues:

  • There are physical features that stay in the way of the hand of those who are left-handed, like buttons and other shapes

 

  • While drawing, the artist’s bump into these buttons that are on the way and click them by mistake, which end up opening unwanted tools and causing unnecessary trouble.

 

Unfortunately, depending on which tablet you currently own, there’s nothing to do about the first problem. Physical features will remain there.

That being said, even if there’s a bunch of buttons in front your hand, you can still turn them off. You will still feel the bumps while drawing, but if you press anything by mistake you won’t have to worry about any weird behavior from the software you’re using.

 

Conclusion

We’re living in an age when being left-handed is not much of a big deal anymore. You have numerous options to make sure that nothing will stand between you and your creativity.

I strongly suggest that you try to get a drawing tablet that completely fits your needs. It can be a Huion Inspiroy Ink (see it on Amazon), a Huion Inspiroy Dial (see it on Amazon) or any other that makes you feel comfortable while drawing.

In case you can’t buy a new device right now, simply look for the driver of your current drawing tablet and make all the necessary modifications. It’s totally worth it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, make sure to leave a message.

 

Keep on creating,

Bruno

Bruno Brasil

Hi! My name is Bruno. I'm a web developer/designer based in Toronto, Canada. I've been working with drawing tablets for over 20 years and I'm among the Top 10 Most Viewed Writers on Quora in the Graphics Tablets category. Do you have any questions? Just leave a comment =)

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Dave

    I could never use non-screen tables (I can use cintiqs just fine), even after many hours of practice, and I think left-handers have a harder time using them, because we use the mouse right handed and so don’t have the same level of screen-based hand-eye co-ordination with our left hand, whereas right-handers get that co-ordination naturally from years of using a mouse.

    I wonder, if a study were done on groups of people who can and can’t use these devices, whether left-handers would be over-represented in the ‘can’t’ group. I suspect they would be.

    1. Bruno Santos

      Hi, Dave!

      Being right-handed, I could never have offered such a clear insight like you did. It’s really nice to get the
      perspective of someone who actually has to deal with this challenge on a regular basis.

      Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!

      Have a wonderful day 🙂

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