CLIP STUDIO TABMATE for GLOBAL

This is NOT a sponsored review…I’m a professional illustrator and graphic designer and, simply put, this device is a game changer for me. I’ve been using Clip Studio Paint (formerly Manga Studio) for over ten years now. My working method has always been to have my left arm outstretched with my hand hanging over my keyboard tapping away at all my many shortcuts. Even when using a Wacom Cintiq that has express keys on the side of the device (which I do program) I still always find myself right back at the keyboard. However, I recently got a Cintiq 22HD which pushed my keyboard off to the left even further and this made for a tired arm at the end of the day.Then recently I opened up CSP and a pop-up asked if I want to see what is new. I never click this button but for some reason that day I decided to actually see what they’ve got. Right there on the screen was a picture of this odd looking remote called a “Clip Studio Tabmate.” It had the CSP logo on it and I was immediately intrigued. After researching it further I decided it was worth the money to at least give it a try.After it arrived I had it up and running in less than five minutes. Two minutes after that it had miraculously changed and improved my interaction within Clip Studio Paint! Two days after that I ordered a second one!MASTER OF ONE (i.e. CSP only):Unlike other express key remotes, the Tabmate is built ONLY for use with Clip Studio Paint. While some reviewers have noted this as a weakness, it is actually one of the strengths of this device. It’s not trying to be all things to all programs. So rather than having to go through the process of programming keyboard shortcut functions and assigning them secondarily to the remote buttons in a separate window, CSP has a dedicated preference tab under File>Clip Studio Tabmate that contains every single option within CSP. I can’t stress this enough, every single Menu, Option and Tool that you can navigate to and access in CSP is available to be programmed into the Tabmate. Obviously not everything available you will need to program. We all have our different working needs. But the unlimited freedom of customizing is there so if you can think of it and use regularly you can program it.COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZABLE:The Clip Studio Tabmate has 14 clickable buttons plus a wheel. The wheel can spin forwards and backwards and also be pushed down as one of the clickable buttons. With so many options and features within CSP I questioned how the small number of buttons be useful? As it turns out, each button can be set up to do multiple functions. Even being clicked up to four times for a different tool or function with each click. (Example: Quickly change from pencil to pen to brush to lasso tool with each click of the same button.) Tools and popup menus can be set to change or appear temporarily when the button is pressed and released. Buttons can be set to modifier keys like Alt, Ctrl and Shift. Or instead of multiple clicks one can set a button to be single-clicked for a tool and then have a long press on that same button to open an option menu. Even the “trigger” button underneath can be set up for multiple uses such as quick clicks for Undo or a long press for the History palette, as an example.In addition to the top buttons and wheel being completely programmable there is the logo button at the bottom of the device that serves two functions. One is as the (long press) power on/off button. The other function is for changing modes with a single click. There are four modes indicated by the power light at the top of the device; Solid Red, Solid Blue, Flashing Red, Flashing Blue. With each click you select a new mode and each of these modes can be a new customized set of buttons. For example, I have Mode 1 (Red) set up for drawing. I like my pencil and pen settings as is and rarely change their tip sizes and I like to rotate my canvas when drawing to get different angles. So I have the wheel set-up to rotate the canvas clockwise and counter-clockwise. My Mode 2 (Blue) is set up for painting. When I’m painting I do change brush sizes quite often but rarely rotate the canvas. So I have the wheel set-up in this mode to easily scale my brush size up and down. I also have most of the buttons programmed for other painting/coloring specific functions in this second mode. I’ve found this purpose specific approach to work very well for me.With the multiple uses of individual buttons and the four different modes the device can be customized for literally dozens of uses.CONSTRUCTION AND ERGONOMICS:I’ve read in other reviews that the Clip Studio Tabmate feels “light and cheap.” While the device is definitely light-weight this is not at all a negative attribute. As a working professional that is at my desk for many hours at a time I don’t want a remote to be heavy which then becomes a burden to hold onto. The heaviest part of the Tabmate is due to the single AA battery which is perfectly placed at the base of the device so that the weight of it anchors in your palm. The portion of the device with the buttons that fits in your fingers is very light and never tires out your hand while working. The construction of the device is light-weight plastic but it is solidly built with no flimsy creaking or bending of panels when pressed on. This is not a device that needs to hold up against being in your pocket or possibly dropped on the floor or sidewalk like your phone or tablet that costs a heck of a lot more. It is built for a working environment (like a Wacom Pro Pen) and its construction is designed for that. I don’t see this as “cheap.” I see it as not only keeping costs low for us consumers but also keeping it at a reasonable weight for daily use.The buttons of the tabmate are made of the same plastic material as the body of the device. However, the wheel does have a textured rubber ring on it for added grip. Each button, with the exception of the “Trigger” button, has an audible click when pressed and released. There is never any doubt when a button has been pressed. So one can rest their thumb on a button and unless you give it a purposeful amount of pressure you’re not going to accidentally activate it. The buttons also have very slight lateral “wiggle” that add to the criticism of being “cheap.” I can’t disagree with this critique but it also doesn’t bother me.The shape of the Tabmate within my average size hand have proven to work fine for me. At first I was surprised at how small the device is. As I began using it I thought maybe it should’ve been built slightly bigger. But with regular use I think the size works pretty well. I do have to shift it around in my hand very slightly when moving my thumb from the wheel down to the center “Q” button or directional pad. But this is a minimal complaint. Overall I’ve been happy with the size of the Tabmate and find it easy and comfortable to use. Due to everyone having different sized hands all I can pass on is my experience which has been largely positive.WHY TWO OF THEM?!:Earlier in this review I mentioned that I ordered a second Tabmate. I have two work stations, one is at my desk and the other is mobile. When I switched from one computer to the other I had to go into my Bluetooth settings, disconnect the Tabmate and re-discover it in order for it to work on that device. Then vice versa. This isn’t really that big of a deal but I found it to be tedious and I didn’t want the hassle. I quickly decided that I liked the Tabmate enough that it was worth it to have a secondary device that’d always be connected to my mobile workstation and just stay in my computer bag. This has proven to work perfectly for me. In fact, I would even say that the strength of the Tabmate becomes even more apparent when using it “out in the field.” No longer is that tiny coffee shop table (or no table at all!) with no room for your keyboard an issue. Resting your non-drawing arm in front of you on the table or at your side while working, the Tabmate is fantastic.CONCLUSION:If you’ve read this far you can tell I’m extremely happy with the Tabmate and you’re probably very interested in it as well. In fact, this entire review probably reads like a sales pitch but it was born from honest and sincere appreciation for a device that I think is awesome. If you use CSP on a daily basis as your primary illustration program I highly recommend the Tabmate. I do still use my keyboard when necessary and obviously in Photoshop or Illustrator. But when using the CS Tabmate in tandem with on-screen menus accessed through the Wacom Pen buttons, it has created an incredibly fast and intuitive Clip Studio Paint environment that keeps me completely immersed in creating my artwork.

I won't reiterate what everyone else has already said. It is incredibly useful to have if you draw with any sort of frequency in Clip studio, however the wheel itself is very cheaply built and very hard to repair without a full wheel replacement.For me the wheel is a major design flaw that clip studio has yet to fix. Every time you use it to zoom/rotate/etc or activate a function bound to the wheel click you are putting a stress on where the wheel is attached. This is the 2nd tabmate I've had to buy because of the wheel snapping off and trust me, I am very careful with it after the first one broke. Now I have to buy another one and these are not cheap.Buy this because it truly does add alot to your drawing efficiency, but expect to replace it if the wheel ever breaks.

I love this little thing to death. I am an avid Clip Studio Paint user, and this device is a must have if you use CSP as your main art software. I don't know how well this device works for other programs, but if you use CSP, it will streamline your workflow significantly while also being ergonomically superior to most other similar control options.Using a keyboard tends to keep your wrists pronated all day during long sessions, which adds a lot of stress over time. Having the freeform nature of the remote alleviates this form of stress excellently.I also absolutely love having a scroll wheel mapped to altering my brush sizes. This alone makes me recommend this over other remote alternatives that lack this function. Otherwise, it has plenty of buttons to map to your desires, and it has numerous profiles that you can shift between for your own custom needs. I like having one for doing line art and another for painter styles. And the built in support for mapping the buttons in Clip Studio is perfectly easy and intuitive.My only criticism is that I wish it had a removable/rechargeable battery. I wound up buying rechargeable AA batteries, which is a fine alternative, but I would generally prefer being able to plug the device in to recharge it. Maybe future iterations will go that route.Otherwise, this is a 10/10 digital artist companion, and it is miles better than their older tabmate devices which were completely underwhelming.

One of the buttons already stopped working.... A bit flimsy for 50 dollars. Button broke and I didn’t even drop it or anything. It just stopped working.

I like how it feels but the device doesn't feel sturdy enough to justify the price.