Problems with the Wacom pen in Windows? Try this

[Guerreiro64]

I had an old Wacom Bamboo and a few months ago the pen started behaving strangely. No problems with stroke and pressure, but it would no longer allow me to drag files from one folder to another: I had to use the Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V shortcuts.

Sometimes when I left-clicked on the pen, it would behave as if I had right-clicked, showing pop-up menus. Selecting text, whether in a document or on a website, became a difficult task: it was simply not possible to drag to select.

As I said above, the stroke and pressure were normal, I could draw as usual. This month I bought a small Wacom Intuos and retired the Bamboo… and, surprise: the problems continued!

Today I discovered what was to blame for these instabilities with the pen: Windows Ink. I noticed that it was activated in the pen settings… and, when I deactivated it, everything went back to normal!

==>> Note: I had already disabled the “Pen and Touch” settings in the Control Panel, under “Hardware and Sound”, a long time ago. In fact, these settings are what cause that annoying ring to appear every time you click with the pen.

If you have disabled Windows Ink and want to get rid of it too, disable those options and be happy.

[Michelist]

For me, this fits better into our Hardware Advice category or maybe into the Tutorial category, but it is not a request for support, because your issue was already solved before posting.

Michelist

[Guerreiro64]

If you want, you can move the topic to another location. I considered what I wrote more as a simple tip, as I don’t know if my text was clear enough for someone, for example, who was purchasing their first graphics tablet and faced this problem…

There was also a need to provide better clarification about the “rings” that I mentioned in my note. These rings are called “penflicks”… and in Wacom support, there is this page giving more information about it.

[AhabGreybeard]

@Guerreiro64

a few months ago the pen started behaving strangely.

It sounds like a Windows update tried to do something ‘helpful’ for you.
The more ‘helpful’ it tries to be, the more annoying it is.

[Guerreiro64]

In fact, the problem was Windows… and in trying to solve it, I must have accidentally activated this “Windows Ink”.

[YRH]

Hey, I also wanted to share a small tip, in case anyone is bothered by it too. I tested it on Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860), but perhaps it also applies to other models.

Micro-stutter with small strokes

Sometimes, when starting a new, very light stroke, the cursor would “glitch” or “lag” ever so slightly. It didn’t happen every time, but I couldn’t help but notice it. I was wondering if I’m going crazy or what, but it really was happening.

I fixed it by turning down the setting “Tip Double Click Distance”, all the way to the left:

[Guerreiro64]

I haven’t noticed this problem on my wacom, maybe because I haven’t tested it enough yet. If it happens to me, I already know where to fix it, thanks to your tip. Thanks!

What I noticed, initially, is that I need to increase the size of the pencil a lot, to get the line thickness that I used on the previous table. It might just be a matter of getting used to it: my old Wacom Bamboo had much fewer pressure levels and didn’t even support pen tilt.