Touch and dynamics¶
The Designer reads pressure, tilt, rotation, velocity, altitude, distance, and random input channels and routes each into per- parameter dynamics curves. This page covers the input pipeline, the default mappings, and how to customize them.
Supported devices¶
| Device | Channels |
|---|---|
| Mouse | Velocity only |
| Trackpad | Pressure (Force Touch / Magic Trackpad 2+), Velocity |
| Apple Pencil (any gen) | Pressure, Tilt, Altitude, Velocity |
| Wacom (Intuos, Cintiq, MobileStudio) | Pressure, Tilt, Rotation, Velocity, Altitude |
| Surface Pen | Pressure, Tilt, Velocity |
| Huion | Pressure, Tilt (model-dependent), Velocity |
| XP-Pen | Pressure, Tilt (model-dependent), Velocity |
| Generic HID stylus | Pressure, Velocity |
The Designer auto-detects connected devices and lights up the matching channels in the dynamics grid. Channels the active device does not provide are grayed out.
OS pipelines¶
| OS | Pipeline |
|---|---|
| macOS | NSEvent tablet event mask + Multi-Touch |
| Windows | WM_POINTER (Pointer Input Stack) with WM_TABLET fallback |
| Linux X11 | XInput2 |
| Linux Wayland | wp_tablet_v2 (where supported), libinput direct otherwise |
The Windows pipeline prefers WM_POINTER because it gives lower latency and richer data than the legacy WinTab path. WinTab is used only when WM_POINTER is unavailable.
Default mappings¶
When a tablet is detected the Designer auto-binds the most common channel-to-parameter pairs:
| Channel | Default target | Curve |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure | size_px | Ease-in (floor 0.1, linear to 1.0) |
| Pressure | opacity | Linear (0.0 to 1.0) |
| Tilt | angle_deg (Bristle, Pattern) | Linear (-45 to 45 deg) |
| Rotation | angle_deg (Bristle, Pattern) | Linear (-180 to 180 deg) |
| Velocity | spacing | Inverse (fast → wider spacing) |
| Altitude | hardness | Linear (low altitude → softer) |
| Distance | None by default | (unbound) |
| Random | None by default | (unbound) |
Override any of these in the Brush Studio dynamics grid. New presets default to these mappings; existing presets keep their saved mappings.
Curve editor¶
Each channel-target binding has a small editor: x = channel value (0 - 1), y = multiplier applied to the target parameter (0 - 1). Click to add a point; drag to move; right-click a point to delete.
Curves must be monotonic on x (no folding back). Non-monotonic shapes are auto-clamped to their monotonic envelope on save.
Calibration¶
Preferences > Tablet > Calibrate Pressure opens a small dialog
where you draw three test strokes (soft, medium, hard). The
Designer measures the actual pressure range your hand produces and
remaps the channel so 0% and 100% match your typical light and
firm strokes. Calibration data is per-user and per-device.
Multi-touch¶
Two-finger pan + pinch zoom is on by default on Mac trackpads,
Surface touchscreens, and Wacom touch-strip tablets. Configure in
Preferences > Tablet > Multi-Touch:
| Gesture | Default action |
|---|---|
| One-finger swipe (drawing area) | Brush stroke (acts like primary mouse) |
| Two-finger pan | Pan view |
| Two-finger pinch | Zoom view |
| Two-finger twist | Rotate view (Off by default; cause of accidents) |
| Three-finger tap | Undo |
| Four-finger tap | Switch menu set |
Disable any gesture per app by unchecking it in Preferences.
Per-app smoothing¶
Stroke smoothing is the difference between "natural" and "polished" output. The Designer's smoothing is a low-pass filter on the input samples; values 0.0 to 1.0. Defaults:
| Engine | Default smoothing |
|---|---|
| Round Stamp | 0.30 |
| Airbrush | 0.45 |
| Bristle | 0.20 |
| Texture | 0.30 |
| Pattern | 0.10 (preserves stamp positions) |
| Wet Mix | 0.40 |
Override per preset in the Brush Studio.
Diagnostics¶
Help > Tablet Diagnostics… opens a live readout window showing
all incoming events: position, pressure, tilt, rotation, altitude,
velocity, timestamp. Useful when:
- A new tablet is connected and you want to verify the driver provides the channels you expect.
- A specific channel is acting unstable; the readout exposes raw noise levels.
- You are filing a bug; the diagnostics window has a "Copy last 10 seconds" button for attaching to a ticket.
Per-OS quirks¶
- macOS: Apple Pencil tilt and rotation work natively on iPad- hosted screens (using Universal Control or Sidecar). Mac trackpad pressure is reported but lower resolution (a 0-3 integer); the Designer rescales to 0-1.
- Windows: Surface Pen rotation is supported only on Surface Pro 9+. Older models report 0 for rotation.
- Linux: Wayland devices require
libinput1.20+. Some compositors (older Sway) limit tablet events to the focused window only.