All About The PenPad

We’re insanely grateful that you got the PenPad! We appreciate your support in helping us bring a new feeling and experience to digital art on the iPad. This page is to help you get set up if our instructions from the manual didn’t already help you get there. Let’s get straight into it!

Getting started

On the back of the device, you'll find an ‘on/off’ switch. Switch it to ‘on’. Go to your Bluetooth settings and tap ‘PenPad’. Don't see it there? Press and hold the ‘Pen.Tips’ + ‘Settings’ buttons on your PenPad to put it into pairing mode again. We deliver PenPads pre-charged, but it could be that the charge has depleted during shipment. If your PenPad does not show any light indication, you may need to charge your device for 30 minutes before use. Otherwise, you can head straight to Procreate.

Functions

We've stored over 20 functions for you on PenPad, and even added some Easter eggs. If you want to increase or decrease your brush size by 1%, then press and hold ‘Pen.Tips’ + ‘decrease/increase brush size’. However, this may not work yet with every device, this is a known bug in Procreate's software that we're working together on to resolve. Are you looking for the Smudge tool? Press the ‘Actions Popover’ button, then tap ‘Prefs’ before heading into ‘Gesture Controls’. Where it says ‘Smudge’, you can opt for different options as to how your iPad will respond to Smudge. The square you see there can be found under the Eyedropper button on PenPad. Now it's up to you to decide which shortcut works best in your workflow!

 

Light indicators

There are 3 indicators on the top of your device. From left to right, you'll see the power on/off light, the Bluetooth light, and the charging light. When you turn the device on, the first light will turn green. After a few seconds, it will turn off again. Don’t worry, your PenPad is still on–this is just to save on battery power. Depending on if your device has previously been paired, the Bluetooth button will switch on momentarily. To pair PenPad with your iPad, press and hold the ‘Pen.Tips’ + ‘Settings’ buttons for 5 seconds. The Bluetooth light will start blinking, signaling that your PenPad is in pairing mode. The last light indicates the charge of your PenPad. When you plug it in, the light will turn red. It will turn off when fully charged. If you leave the PenPad charging too long, this light will start blinking.

How do I charge PenPad?

In the box, you'll find a USB-C cable (or a micro-USB cable for earlier PenPad versions). A maximum of 20-watt charger is advised.

Common challenges and solutions

Our PenPad will only work under the American English input method on iPad. On the bottom left of your keyboard on iPad, you can see a globe button. Hold this button and make sure to set your keyboard to ‘English (US)’. If you don’t see this option, you can add it by going to Settings > General > Keyboards. There you can ‘Add New Keyboard’. Browse through the list and select ‘English (US)’. Now you will be able to tap the globe button and choose ‘English (US)’.

If the Eyedropper key is not working in your Procreate app, please press the ‘Actions Popover’ button, tap ‘Prefs’, and head into ‘Gesture Controls’. Tap ‘Eyedropper’ in the bar on the left, and activate ‘SQUARE + Apple Pencil’. 

If you need to activate your onscreen keyboard, please go to a field where you can type. In the bottom right of your iPad, you will see a small microphone and two letters. If you tap on those letters, a popover will present you with the option to "Show Keyboard". Tap this and your keyboard will appear.

Still experiencing issues?

If you have any questions or remarks, please email us at write@pen.tips.