Tilt affects pressure

This section has nothing to do with using tilt to draw strokes. This refers only to how the tilt of the pen affects pressure detection.

Overview

The pen's physical tilt angle affects how pressure behaves.

• When holding the pen vertically, the pen is the most sensitive to pressure.

• When holding the pen tilted, the pen is less sensitive to pressure.

This is a NORMAL behavior of drawing tablet pens.

Why this happens

Inside the pen, force from the nib is transmitted to a pressure sensor.

• When vertical, all the force on the tip of the nib hits the pressure sensor

• When tilted:

  • some of the force hits the pressure sensor

  • some of the force is transmitted to the barrel of the pen and thus is not detected

For more information about how pressure is detected, see: EMR pressure detection

How you might notice it

When you draw a stroke with the pen held vertically, you might see a thicker stroke. At an angle, you will notice a slightly thinner stroke.

This can be useful

Most pens are "over-reactive" at low physical pressure and give very blobby strokes at very low pressure. If you encounter that, you can tilt the pen more to minimize those blobby artifacts. More here: Drawing at low physical pressure