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S-Pen, touch & gestures

In Illusion's Simple Mode on a Galaxy Tab, pick a brush and draw with the S Pen. Pressure changes the stroke width, each stroke is saved as an editable vector shape, and pen-only drawing keeps fingers from drawing. Tested on a Galaxy Tab S7 FE in the closed beta.

Sketch with S Pen pressure

  1. Open a document in Simple Mode.
  2. Pick a brush in the tool dock. See Brushes & textures.
  3. Open the arrow next to the size slider to set pressure, smoothing and texture.
  4. Draw with the S Pen. Each stroke stays an editable vector shape.
  5. Switch to Studio Mode for layers and shape tools.

Pen and fingers

By default on a tablet, only the pen draws. Fingers do not leave marks, and still pan, zoom and use gestures. Palm rejection is one of the things the closed beta is checking.

To draw or select with a finger too, turn it on:

  • Simple Mode: the hand / pen button in the tool dock. A green pen means pen only; a hand means fingers can draw.
  • Studio Mode: View → Allow Finger Drawing & Selection.

Gestures

Gesture Action
Two fingers drag Pan
Pinch Zoom
Two-finger double-tap Undo
Three-finger double-tap Redo
Rotate the device The artboard re-fits the screen

A two-finger gesture never leaves a stray mark or pen point, even if one finger lands a moment before the other.

S Pen

  • Pressure changes stroke width and, for Sketch and Charcoal, darkness. See Brushes & textures.
  • Side button: please test whether the S Pen side button opens an object's menu on your tablet and tell us. It is not confirmed yet.
  • With the Pen tool, a quick tap places a clean corner; drag to pull curve handles.

Simple Mode on a tablet

  • The brush size slider sits at the edge of the screen; the arrow next to it opens more options (pressure, smoothing, texture).
  • Side panels tuck away while you draw and come back when you lift the pen.

Speed tips

  • Textured brushes (Sketch, Charcoal) are tuned for tablets; strokes with the same texture share one texture layer.
  • If a very large document feels slow, hide layers you aren't working on.
  • A finished sketch with hundreds of strokes can be turned into one light image: select it and tap Rasterize on the selection bar. See Rasterize.