# Surface wear on pen tablets

## Overview of surface wear on pen tablets

All pen tablets (those without a screen) will experience some form of wear. The amount and type of wear will be affected by:

* The material of the surface
* The texture of the surface
* The material of the nib
* How you draw
* Other sources of damage not related to normal use of the pen tablet

In general, surface wear is not a problem, unless it interferes with your pen. Typically this means a deep scratch which deflects the tip of the pen. This deflection may be strong enough that you will get little "bumps" if you try to draw a line across the scratch.

## Types of surface wear

* **Texture erosion** - where the surface texture starts getting a little smoother as you continue to move your pen over it. More here: [Texture erosion on pen tablets](/drawtab/guides/maintain/texture-erosion-pen-tablets.md).
* **False scratches** - False scratches are things that look like scratches but are really the result of a tablet surface that isn't clean. More here: [False scratches](/drawtab/guides/maintain/false-scratches.md)
* Scratches - permanent grooves cut into the surface. More here: [Scratches on pen tablets](/drawtab/guides/maintain/scratches-pen-tablets.md).

## Protecting the surface

There are options to help protect the surface

* Maintain your pen nibs so that they don't develop a flat edge
* Use a felt nib which is softer than a plastic nib.
* Don't press down so hard on the tablet
* Use [Surface protection](/drawtab/misc/surface-protectors-obsolete.md)
* When traveling with the tablet, make sure you put it inside something to prevent something from scratching the surface


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