Hey to all apple fellows using the Apple Pencil to design their work.
The new iPad model with Apple Pencil support got me excited. I always wanted to get to play with stylus and now with this cheap entry in the apple ecosystem I was wandering what the experience is for the people using their iPad Pros to design things for carving. I browsed through a couple of old posts about iPad Pro users but their all seems to be posted right as they got their new toy. Is anybody still using it?
I find it always not so intuitive to design things on the computer with a mouse and had some hard time with Inkscape and just playing around with v carve. I believe drawing with the pencil on the couch while watching tv would be great. I saw such incredible looking apps like Autodesk graphic but even more thrilling shapr3d with stl export for free and all this with the cheapest line iPad. I always wanted an iPad and was saddened the lag of an stylus then the pros came around and where just to expensive to justify next to my iPhone.
So befor I jump into it does anybody has an opinion on it (except the obvious „uhh thes apple users are always so …“ or „apple is still to expensive for what they deliver“ comments, I’m super happy with the apple eco system and will stick there, or even then try to convince with that there is a better option with the capability I see in the pencil combination)
Thanks in advance
It all comes down to experience and practice. If it feels uncomfortable it’s simply a lack of practice. When I started any design programs I felt lost. Then I started practicing and gaming it a little and before I know it I didn’t have to think. I also use the John Saunders trick which is to speak out loud as you do things. It helps with memorization. (L for line, C for circle, D for dimension).
When I started gaming I gave up on using a keyboard and mouse pretty quickly and got some controllers since I was used to my old PSP. Then it wasn’t enough so I bought the most expensive controllers on the market and eventually just muddled through with a keyboard and mouse once again. Now the controllers feel foreign to me.
As for the apple aspect I use the iPhone as a daily driver but pc master race all the way.
TLDR; I have no idea about iPad design but if your issue is keyboard and mouse u need practice.
It is not that I don’t like keyboard work (I’m a professional software engineer also working with 3D engines) I just think that drawing would benefit dramatically from a stylus. Plus I would love to be a little creative on the couch while watching tv and I don’t like the laptop on my lap with a mouse on the head rest 
I appreciate the hint with the practices and you are totally right every new software needs a lot of them bevor it becomes second nature.
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As a person who has used digital styluses for a very long while (started with a Koala Pad on a Commodore 64), and whose high-water mark of computer experience was an NCR-3125 running PenPoint as a mobile device and a NeXT Cube for a desktop, the Apple Pencil seems very promising. It’s especially important since Microsoft has crippled styluses in Fall Creators Update — it’s now necessary to have a side button which one must use to select text, which was never necessary previously. I’ve seriously been considering getting the pair of a Mac Mini (set up a desktop / home media server) and an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil (which I use to remotely control the Mac Mini when at home using a hardware device which allows it to function as a display and graphics tablet).
A number of folks use it and Shapr3D on an iPad Pro to do 3D modeling (usually paired with running MeshCAM on a Mac for CAM) — if there’s a 2D CAD or Bézier curve drawing program which supports it well and allows one to save an SVG, then it would work well with Easel — Easel ought to support it well if it doesn’t require too much cursor / hover interaction.
There are a couple of iPad apps listed at Shapeoko CNC Router, Rigid, Accurate, Reliable, and Affordable and a few more at: Shapeoko CNC Router, Rigid, Accurate, Reliable, and Affordable
I misunderstood that part. And you are correct
A also have looked into astropad https://astropad.com
For connecting with my Mac. For design software I am looking at https://www.graphic.com wich works on all apple devices I still will use v carve for toolpathing.
I have eyed an iPad Pro for a long time but it’s to expensive for I would used for the most parts. And the new iPad seems preaty powerful (its got better benchmarks as the original iPad Pro) for a good price. And my birthday is approaching so I may pull the trigger this time.
Yeah, if AstroPad just had a third tier of licensing which was perpetual and had some reasonable number of features, I’d be more likely to go this route.
As I see it the normal astropad is a one time purchase for a reasonable 30€
And the reviews I have seen, look for a good set of feature set for what it is (with limited view of me never worked in such a setup)
