USB Devices
Share a tablet or signature pad over USB. Open
Using the App
Pens and Drawing Tablets
A pen, drawing tablet or Apple Pencil works on your workstation with pressure and tilt. A pen’s side button and eraser work too. No setup is needed. Use the pen as normal.
What carries across
Section titled “What carries across”| Pen feature | What reaches your workstation |
|---|---|
| Position | Where the pen tip is, including hovering above the surface on Windows and Mac |
| Pressure | How hard you press |
| Tilt | The angle of the pen |
| Side (barrel) button | Pressed or not |
| Eraser end | Drawing with the pen turned over erases, in applications that support it |
Applications on your workstation that support pen input respond to pressure and tilt with nothing extra installed on the workstation.
Any pen or tablet Windows recognises as a pen works, including the pen on a pen-enabled laptop and a drawing tablet with its maker’s driver installed on your PC. Remotle reads position, pressure, tilt, the barrel button and the eraser from Windows.
A drawing tablet with its maker’s driver installed on your Mac works, with pressure, tilt, the side button and the eraser. Hovering the pen above the tablet moves the pointer on your workstation.
A tablet your desktop recognises as a stylus works, with pressure and tilt. Remotle keeps pen input separate from the mouse, so the pen never becomes a plain pointer.
Apple Pencil works with pressure and tilt. Touch continues to work alongside it, so you can draw with the Pencil and scroll with two fingers. See iPad and iPhone.
Tablets as USB devices
Section titled “Tablets as USB devices”Pen tablets and signature pads can also be shared as USB devices, so the tablet’s own driver on your workstation sees the tablet directly. Use this when an application needs the maker’s driver, for example to map tablet buttons or to capture a signature. See USB Devices.
| Use the pen directly when | Share the tablet over USB when |
|---|---|
| You want pressure and tilt with nothing to install on the workstation | An application on the workstation needs the tablet maker’s driver |
| You are using a laptop pen or Apple Pencil | You are capturing signatures on a signature pad |
| The tablet is on a Mac or Linux device without its own driver on the workstation | You want the tablet’s own buttons and settings |
Mouse buttons 1 to 5 work on every platform, including the back and forward buttons on the side of a mouse.
Questions
Section titled “Questions”Do I need to install a driver on my workstation?
Section titled “Do I need to install a driver on my workstation?”No, for a pen used directly. Your workstation sees it as a Windows pen. If an application needs the tablet maker’s driver, share the tablet as a USB device instead.
My pen draws but pressure does not change. Why?
Section titled “My pen draws but pressure does not change. Why?”Check that the application on your workstation has Windows Ink or pen pressure turned on in its own settings. If you are using a drawing tablet, check that its driver is installed on the device you are using. The workstation needs no driver for a pen used directly.
Can I use the pen and touch at the same time on an iPad?
Section titled “Can I use the pen and touch at the same time on an iPad?”Yes. Draw with the Pencil and scroll with two fingers. See iPad and iPhone.
iPad and iPhone
Apple Pencil, touch modes and gestures. Open