iPad Pro Apple Pencil and a screen protector?

[fenjen]

Hi guys,

I'm really looking forward to the new iPad pro and apple pencil combo as an aid for my lectures, but as this is a really big purchase for me and as I will be constantly putting my arm on the screen I really want to put a glass screen protector (thinnest I can find is 0.33mm) on my iPad. What concerns me however is how the apple pencil will work with this. Since there is no hover cursor I don't really want to introduce too much parallax so that it becomes hard to pinpoint where I want to write on the screen. I also wonder if it will change the feel of the tip much.

Any word on this from someone who already has it and uses it with a screen protector?

 

[Atomic Walrus]

I don't have a screen protector, but I just tried putting a ~0.5mm piece of plastic between the screen and Pencil and it didn't seem to harm the performance in any way. It increases the parallax a bit, but it's still better than a Cintiq (of course the Cintiq has a OS hover cursor). It didn't seem like it would really be a problem.

 

[Tsuchiya]

When using the Pencil, I found that you need to apply a fair bit of pressure in sketching apps to get darker/thicker lines. Over time, I'm not sure how a screen protector will fare given how much force you may be putting on the screen when using the Pencil. Probably harmless, but it was considerably more force than I've ever applied to one of my iPhones or iPads.

 

[tekchic]

When using the Pencil, I found that you need to apply a fair bit of pressure in sketching apps to get darker/thicker lines. Over time, I'm not sure how a screen protector will fare given how much force you may be putting on the screen when using the Pencil. Probably harmless, but it was considerably more force than I've ever applied to one of my iPhones or iPads.

That's what makes me a little nervous just drawing on the screen without a screen protector -- I just got my Pencil and spent about 15 minutes tinkering through a few apps. I feel like I have to press much harder than I'd like to get the range of line variation. In Procreate, I can adjust the pressure curve, so I can make it respond to a much lighter touch, but I haven't seen that option in any other apps yet.

I'm probably going to order a relatively inexpensive tempered glass screen protector from Amazon (one of the 0.33mm ones) and see how it fares.

 

[billyripkin]

I have a glass screen protector on mine and the pencil works perfectly

 

[Lobwedgephil]

What screen protector do you guts use, never used one on an iPad?

 

[tekchic]

What screen protector do you guts use, never used one on an iPad?

I just ordered a glass Skinomi from Amazon, but won't get it until Nov 24th-27th. Meanwhile I'll keep drawing, but probably be a little OCD about screen scratches.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0155PLEUO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00

 

[EdisEdward]

Get xtremeguard and find. 91% off coupon. Will be like $10 total

 

[Atomic Walrus]

When using the Pencil, I found that you need to apply a fair bit of pressure in sketching apps to get darker/thicker lines. Over time, I'm not sure how a screen protector will fare given how much force you may be putting on the screen when using the Pencil. Probably harmless, but it was considerably more force than I've ever applied to one of my iPhones or iPads.

A lot of that is just because most apps haven't really had the time to make their pressure setups work well. They've added some pressure sensitivity, but not tuned it well yet.

I found in Procreate that I needed to make lots of adjustments to the default pressure responses (and sometimes disable stuff like speed-based brush scaling). After some adjustments I found the pressure range of the Pencil was very reasonable (but you still might feel like you're using more force than you'd expect if you're not used to Wacom/similar pens).

This is using customized version of the studio pen brush and it didn't require particularly hard presses to get a wide pressure range. I didn't change the actual pressure curve at all.

In Procreate, I can adjust the pressure curve, so I can make it respond to a much lighter touch, but I haven't seen that option in any other apps yet.

Procreate is the only serious art app I've found on iOS so far, but after a couple days with it I'm not sure I really need much else. Vastly superior to Sketchbook even on Windows, and I'm finding it to be better than Photoshop as a pure painting/drawing engine.

 

[WilliamG]

A lot of that is just because most apps haven't really had the time to make their pressure setups work well. They've added some pressure sensitivity, but not tuned it well yet.

I found in Procreate that I needed to make lots of adjustments to the default pressure responses (and sometimes disable stuff like speed-based brush scaling). After some adjustments I found the pressure range of the Pencil was very reasonable (but you still might feel like you're using more force than you'd expect if you're not used to Wacom/similar pens).

This is using customized version of the studio pen brush and it didn't require particularly hard presses to get a wide pressure range. I didn't change the actual pressure curve at all.



Procreate is the only serious art app I've found on iOS so far, but after a couple days with it I'm not sure I really need much else. Vastly superior to Sketchbook even on Windows, and I'm finding it to be better than Photoshop as a pure painting/drawing engine.

Care to share your pressure settings? I'm new to sketching and find Procreate a little confusing as to how its settings work. Cheers!

 

[Jmschultz22]

What screen protector do you guts use, never used one on an iPad?

Pencil works perfect with the screen protector. This is the one I snagged and I love it. Matte finish is great!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015BOKLO4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Thanks guys!

 

[Kal-037]

I had the same question and was told by a fellow artist that there's no issue at all. So I bought a Zagg Glass cover. I called them up first just to be sure, and they assured me it works fine. I also have been told by numerous other people that the pencil still works great with their screen protector.

To OP I'd buy a Zagg as if for some reason it doesn't work... or you just don't like it you can return it. Their customer service and products are top notch, (no I don't work for or get paid by them) I just like their stuff.

 

[veryangrybirds]

Got the bodyguardz pure glass screen protector for the Ipad Pro. Works great with the Pencil, no difference when I used my pencil on the screen bare.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

Care to share your pressure settings? I'm new to sketching and find Procreate a little confusing as to how its settings work. Cheers!

Sorry, didn't spot this until today. What I did for that brush is start with the Studio Pen and just disable all the standard dynamics (taper, speed, etc) and turn the Pencil pressure size effect to max. Then I went to the general settings for the brush and turned the size limit up to 100%. Now you can control the max size of the brush with the main size slider and should get a nice wide range.

I can post shots of the brush settings if that would help, let me know.

You'll get some erroneous fat stroke starts right now with this setup when you use low pressure. It's a known issue that the Procreate devs are working on (not a hardware problem, just devs getting used to dealing with predictive input).

 

[arftech99]

What screen protector do you guts use, never used one on an iPad?

Don't know about the other screen protectors but what I do know is the Zagg InvisibleShield Glass is one hell of a product! I'm using it on both my iPad Air 2 and IPP. I paid a premium price for both devices and want the best protection available. The Glass cost more but it is worth it. Installation was a breeze and seamless for both.

Good luck in your quest!

 

[arftech99]

I had the same question and was told by a fellow artist that there's no issue at all. So I bought a Zagg Glass cover. I called them up first just to be sure, and they assured me it works fine. I also have been told by numerous other people that the pencil still works great with their screen protector.

To OP I'd buy a Zagg as if for some reason it doesn't work... or you just don't like it you can return it. Their customer service and products are top notch, (no I don't work for or get paid by them) I just like their stuff.

Their products costs a bit more but you're getting quality and great customer service.

 

[WilliamG]

Sorry, didn't spot this until today. What I did for that brush is start with the Studio Pen and just disable all the standard dynamics (taper, speed, etc) and turn the Pencil pressure size effect to max. Then I went to the general settings for the brush and turned the size limit up to 100%. Now you can control the max size of the brush with the main size slider and should get a nice wide range.

I can post shots of the brush settings if that would help, let me know.

You'll get some erroneous fat stroke starts right now with this setup when you use low pressure. It's a known issue that the Procreate devs are working on (not a hardware problem, just devs getting used to dealing with predictive input).

Thank you for that. Very helpful!

 

[maxsix]

I have a glass screen protector on mine and the pencil works perfectly

This seems like an excellent solution.

 

[hagalah]

I have tech armor antiglare screen protector on with my pencil. Works like a charm.

 

[fenjen]

Ah it's nice to hear that it works fine. I'm really excited for the pencil!

 

[Haribo22]

It works for me

 

[john.spirou]

Techarmor matte screen works nice. It feels like wacom ....

 

[milhaus]

Does it really make the screen less clear, though? The matte protector, that is ...

 

[john.spirou]

Not really.... Its perfectly clear , i have no reflections, only little "rainbow" effects in total whites...