Use your tablet as a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet for Krita

What this setup actually does

Krita runs on the Mac or Windows computer, where it opens and saves the artwork. Pad turns a separate tablet into the screen and pen surface: the host sends the selected desktop view to the client, and the client returns stylus input as tablet events. That distinction matters because Krita can respond to pressure only when it receives tablet data rather than ordinary mouse movement.

You can use this workflow now with PadDroid, the free client for Android 9 or later. Pair it with the free PadMac host on an Apple-silicon Mac running macOS 15 or later, or with the free PadWin beta on Windows 11. PadPad for iPad is coming soon and remains in App Store review, so the iPad steps are preparation until its listing is live. The Pad product page has current availability and downloads.

Install the two halves

Prepare the computer

Install Krita on the computer, confirm that you can create a document and draw with a mouse, then install the appropriate Pad host.

On macOS, PadMac needs Screen Recording to capture the canvas and Accessibility to inject pen input. It runs from a menu-bar icon. Grant both permissions, then quit and reopen the host. On Windows 11, PadWin is a beta with additional runtime and capture requirements. Follow the Pad setup guide rather than skipping a component; a missing ffmpeg.exe, for example, can leave you without the expected picture.

Prepare the tablet

Install PadDroid from Google Play on an Android tablet and use an active, pressure-sensitive stylus for painting. A finger or passive capacitive stylus can still move the pointer and may suit a signature, but it cannot report pressure levels the device does not generate.

For iPad, check the iPad drawing-tablet guide and wait until PadPad is shown as available on the App Store. It is useful to install PadMac or prepare PadWin now, but there is no public Pad iPad client to complete the connection yet.

Connect and simplify the first test

Open the Pad host, then the tablet client, with both devices on the same trusted local network. Select the computer and stream only the Krita window or a compact canvas region for the first test. A simple one-display arrangement is easier to diagnose than a large multi-monitor desktop.

Pad uses a direct local connection between your devices. It does not require a Codonic account, and Codonic does not relay the canvas or pen traffic through its cloud. The host can require a pairing code if you choose; the code is optional. Pad preferences are stored locally, and iCloud settings sync is not currently active.

In Krita, create a small blank document with a light background. Select the Freehand Brush Tool and choose a basic preset that visibly changes size or opacity with pressure. Avoid testing first with a brush whose design intentionally produces a constant line.

Verify that Krita sees tablet events

Draw several strokes from very light to firm pressure. If the width or opacity changes smoothly, the essential path is working. If marks appear but do not vary, use Krita’s own diagnostic before changing Pad settings.

Open Settings → Configure Krita → Tablet Settings → Tablet Tester. Menu wording can differ slightly by Krita version. Draw inside the test area. Krita’s official manual explains that the tester distinguishes basic mouse events from tablet events and shows raw values such as pressure. In the current tester, a blue tablet-event line is the useful sign; a mouse-event line alone means Krita is not receiving the tablet path it needs.

The tester reports raw input. It does not apply every Krita curve adjustment, so it answers “is pressure arriving?” rather than “does my favourite brush feel perfect?” Keep those two questions separate.

Windows: choose the matching input API

Krita on Windows offers tablet-input choices under Settings → Configure Krita → Tablet Settings. Its official documentation identifies WinTab and Windows 8+ Pointer Input (Windows Ink). PadWin injects through Windows’ pointer path, so Windows 8+ Pointer Input is the relevant option to try when Pad strokes act like a mouse or pressure is absent.

Restart Krita after changing the tablet API, then repeat the Tablet Tester check. Do not keep an old test window open and assume the result updated.

On macOS there is no equivalent WinTab-versus-Windows-Ink selector. If the tester receives no tablet events, return to PadMac’s Accessibility permission, relaunch the host, and retest.

Tune pressure without flattening your range

Once raw pressure works, make the pen comfortable. Pad can shape a host-side pressure curve, and Krita also has an Input Pressure Global Curve. Begin with one neutral and adjust the other. If both curves are aggressively softened or hardened, it becomes difficult to know which setting is causing a jumpy response.

A useful calibration exercise is to draw three rows:

1. Faint lines without forcing the stylus.
2. Medium lines at your natural writing pressure.
3. Lines that move from light to firm and back.

If faint lines never appear, soften the active curve or reduce its minimum threshold. If nearly every stroke reaches maximum size, harden the curve slightly. Make small changes and repeat the exercise. The software should adapt to your hand, not make you press uncomfortably.

Arrange Krita for a smaller tablet screen

The full Krita interface can feel crowded when mirrored to a tablet. A practical two-screen layout keeps docks, references, and file management on the main computer display while placing a cleaner canvas on the streamed area. If you prefer the whole interface on the tablet, collapse nonessential dockers and use Krita’s canvas-only mode when drawing, then return to the regular workspace for layer changes.

Troubleshoot by symptom

Pad cannot find the computer

• Start PadMac or PadWin before the client.
• Confirm both devices use the same ordinary local network.
• Avoid guest or managed Wi-Fi that isolates connected devices.
• On Windows, allow PadWin on private networks in the firewall.
• Restart both apps after changing networks.

The tablet shows Krita, but the pen does nothing

On Mac, check Accessibility, not only Screen Recording. The latter can give you a picture while the missing former prevents input. On Windows, verify PadWin’s prerequisites and make sure the Krita window is active. Test a plain desktop pen or drawing app to see whether the failure is specific to Krita.

The pen draws, but there is no pressure

Use the Tablet Tester. If it shows only mouse events, select Windows 8+ Pointer Input on Windows and restart Krita. Confirm that the Android stylus is active and pressure-capable. If the tester shows pressure but the canvas does not, change to a known pressure-sensitive preset and reset extreme pressure curves.

The cursor is offset from the Pencil or stylus

Temporarily stream one Krita window on one display, match tablet orientation, and remove display scaling complexity from the test. If that fixes the mapping, reintroduce the desired multi-display arrangement one step at a time.

Strokes feel uneven or delayed

First pause large local downloads and backups, move closer to the network access point, and reduce the captured area. Then compare a plain brush with Krita smoothing disabled or kept low. Network inconsistency and heavy brush smoothing feel different, but changing both together makes them hard to distinguish. Avoid choosing settings based on a claimed universal latency number; test the actual computer, network, brush, and document size you use.

A repeatable five-minute validation

1. Open the host and connect the tablet on the local network.
2. Stream a single Krita window and make a small blank document.
3. Confirm pointer position with a constant brush.
4. Confirm tablet events and raw pressure in Tablet Tester.
5. Confirm a pressure brush changes from light to heavy.
6. Save, close, and reopen the test document on the computer.

After this passes, tune curves, shortcuts, display layout, and complex brushes. If your main goal is lecture notes, PDF markup, or signatures rather than painting, the computer handwriting and signing guide gives a shorter workflow. The same free Pad components can serve both uses; only the desktop application and the amount of canvas space change.