If you’ve struggled to decided between a dedicated display tablet for your Windows or Mac computer and the portability of an iPad, then Astropad Studio may give you the best of both worlds. This nifty piece of software turns your iPad into a tablet for your computer that will let you draw and paint in your desktop software. So yes, you CAN use your iPad to paint in Photoshop or create in Blender.
Initially, Astropad was only available to Mac users, but last year (2021) they had the Windows version in public beta which they called Project Blue. Now the official Windows version is out.
Installing and using Astropad Studio
Before we get into the features, let’s cover the basics of getting set up with the program. It’s all pretty straightforward. For this piece, the 12.9″ 4th Gen iPad Pro is being paired with an ASUS laptop running Windows 10 Home.
- From your computer, visit the website, and the Astropad Studio product page.
- Opt to start your 30-day free trial and register. You’ll need to provide payment information but won’t be charged until after your trial ends.
- Download and install Astropad onto your computer.
- Follow the instructions, let it install the necessary drivers, and then reboot your system.
- Download the Astropad app from the App Store onto your iPad.
- Connect your devices over USB. To connect via WiFi, make sure both devices are on the same network.
- Open up Astropad on both devices, then your PC display should show up on your iPad.
Astropad Studio Features
Aimed at creative professionals, Astropad Studio comes packed with some useful features to improve your workflow. There is a lot that you can customize within the well-designed interface too.
Mirror your computer display on the iPad
Firstly, it’s important to point out that Astropad only mirrors your primary display. You can’t extend it. It does this well though with crisp image quality using their LIQUID technology and taking advantage of the Retina display. Expect a refresh rate of at least 60 frames per second.
To use your iPad with Astropad Studio in extended display mode, you’ll need the Luna Display dongle.
Use Astropad with WiFi or USB
As expected, connecting Astropad for Windows or Mac via USB will give you the lowest latency of around 1-2 milliseconds. Over WiFi, it can vary. Sometimes the response time is as low as 6 milliseconds but frequently sits at around 16 milliseconds. That is still really good, but you do notice it after switching. It’s recommended that you connect to a good router in the 5Ghz band for the best experience.
Full Apple Pencil support
Astropad Studio has full Apple Pencil support, meaning that you’re not losing any of the pressure and tilt capabilities of the pen. You can even adjust your pressure curve to suit your needs. By default, the curve is set to soft.
Magic touch gestures
Provided the software you’re using supports it, Astropad has a bunch of magic gestures to take advantage of. There’s the pretty-much-standard two-finger-tap to undo, three-finger-tap to redo, and even a couple that can be customized. One finger on the screen while drawing to activate the eraser is particularly useful.
You can also customize a few of the magic gestures and assign mouse clicks to them.
If you find that the touch gestures don’t work in Photoshop, then you may need to activate them first in the settings. Go to Edit> Preferences> Experimental features.
Customizable shortcuts panel and keyboard support
One panel you’re likely to have open most of the time is your workspace with various shortcut buttons along the side. These are fully customizable and are bound to your specified keyboard inputs. They are also app-specific, so program a different set for each program that you work in.
There is both on-screen and wireless keyboard support. If you have a wireless keyboard off to the side that is connected to your iPad, you’ll still be able to use it for your shortcuts in the desktop app you are using.
Astropad’s Custom Quick Keys
The customizability expands from the workspace shortcuts along the side to a set of quick keys on the bottom of the screen. Initially these were just fixed modifier keys but now you can have up to seven custom keys assigned to different keystrokes.
As with the workspace, these customizations are per-app and will switch depending on the program window you have active.
Using Astropad Studio for Windows
The low latency and customizable shortcut bar definitely make for a very useful and convenient piece of software. The drawing experience was smooth, and both the pressure and tilt response was fantastic. For best results, definitely connect with a high-quality USB cable.
In full-screen mode, matching a laptop’s display ratio meant that a portion of the iPad display is unused and the toolbars of your desktop software get a bit small. You’ll feel this more on the 10.4″ iPad but Astropad has made it easy to zoom in the image to use the full display area of the device. By pushing and holding the floating red button, you enter the display adjustment settings where you can pinch to zoom in and out as necessary.
There was a bit of a pen calibration issue with the first official version, meaning that the pen tip and cursor weren’t aligning. At the time of writing this though, they’ve delivered a couple of updates and that issue is solved.
It’s recommended that you get a good stand as well to prop up your iPad so that you can maintain better posture. Check out Astropad’s own Darkboard.
Astropad with Blender
Astropad appears to work well enough with Blender. The workspace can be customized to have as many shortcuts as you need, along with modifier keys. The shortcuts can be single keystrokes or combinations as well. You can’t create a shortcut on the toolbar for mouse clicks but you can set your magic gestures to them. So for example three fingers on the screen while drawing could be your middle mouse click for rotating around your model.
Scaling and moving objects that adjust as you move your mouse may be tricky as there’s no cursor tracking with the Apple Pencil hovering above your screen. But, you can set a magic gesture like one finger on screen while drawing with the pencil to activate hover. Your computer mouse may still come in handy quite a bit for modeling.
Astropad is working to improve Blender support at the moment.
Can you use Astropad with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator?
Yes, definitely. Depending on your version of those, certain touch gestures may not work.
Can you use Astropad with Krita?
You can, though it is not as smooth as with Photoshop or Clip Studio Pait.
While in beta, Project Blue was unusable with Krita. With the official release of Astropad for Windows though, Krita does work. Make sure that you switch from WinTab to Windows Ink in the Krita tablet settings.
Can you use Astropad with Blender?
Yes, you can do 3D work in Blender using Astropad. Keep in mind that Blender is quite shortcut key-heavy so you will need your keyboard or other controller on hand. Although, you can also have a significant number of shortcuts set up in the Astropad sidebar or Workspace.
Can You use Astropad to extend your display?
You can only mirror your display with Astropad Studio, not extend it.
BUT…
To extend your display, check out their other product, the Luna Display adapter. With Luna display, you can work in a few different combinations. Of course, there’s the ability to turn your iPad into a second display for your Mac or PC. Then you can also use it to connect Mac to Mac or Mac to PC. Lastly, your iPad can be used in headless mode as the main display with a Mac Mini.
How much does Astropad cost?
The monthly plan for Astropad Studio on Windows costs $15 per month.
If you go with the annual plan, it works out to $8.33 per month, saving you 45%.
For the option to extend your display, the Luna Display dongle costs $60 (HDMI) or $80 (USB-C)
Should you get it?
Overall, the experience was definitely a positive one. An iPad is no small spend for many people, so having the added versatility in how you can create with it through an app like Astropad is a solid plus. If you were struggling to decide between a display tablet for your desk setup and the portability of an iPad, this could be a solution for you. The limitation may be the screen size but 12.9″ gives you a good amount of space to work with and it does depend on how you use it.
Astropad Studio for Windows and Mac will make your iPad feel like a small Wacom Cintiq Pro with multi-touch and a high degree of customizability.
So:
Yes. Buy it if you want to give your iPad added versatility as a drawing tablet for your PC.
No, if you don’t have an iPad, want a larger screen to draw and paint on using your desktop software, and portability is less of a factor for you.
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