Repairing scratches in pen tablet screen?

Adam Thornton 0

Hi folks,

I was listening to Illustrating Children's Books part 1 recently and heard Will comment on the scratchy sound of Jake's pen tablet screen. Mine is also like that. It's got lots of tiny scratches in it from the pen.

I wipe it free of any dust with the little cloth that came with it every time I use it (I read that dust can make it worse), but it's still scratched. It's still usable though.

Does anyone else have this problem, and also has anyone found any product that can fill in the scratches and it will still function perfectly? Some sort of glass repair or something?

Thanks!
Adam
Sheffield, UK.

carlianne

@Adam-Thornton-0 I'm not sure about fixing the scratches, but for the future- I use a screen protector on mine so if any damage occurs I can just replace the protector. I also change my pen tip when it gets worn down like that

davidhohn

@Adam-Thornton-0 Out of curiosity what specific kind of screen are you working on?

Adam Thornton 0

@carlianne
Thanks very much for your reply, Carlianne.

Yes, after posting my question on the forum I actually thought to contact the manufacturer to ask them. They also didn't know about repair, but told me that it came with a screen protector already applied. However, remembering back to when I got it 3 years ago, I think I actually removed it - assuming it was just one of those films they put on to protect it in transit. I'm sure it had one of those 'peel off here' labels in the corner though.
Anyway... Oopsie-daisy!
They sent me a link to a replacement twin-pack.

Adam Thornton 0

@davidhohn
Hi David,

Thanks for your reply. It's a XP-Pen 22R Pro screen

davidhohn

@Adam-Thornton-0 Sounds like you've got the problem solved with getting a replacement screen protector.

My solution was a bit of a shot in the dark. I had a similar problem with a 2003 era cintiq. It was a model that came with a screen protector applied in the factory.
This was a new feature that was supposed to make drawing on the screen more like paper, and less like older models that were akin to drawing on glass.

Trouble was the film got scratched after a while. Cintiq worked great! -- except for the annoying scratches.

Anyway I was chatting with a guy at the Wacom store in PDX and he whispered in a super shifty way that it was possible (but NOT recommended) to remove the film on the screen.

I avoided it for ages because the cintiq was still working fine and I didn't want to ruin it.

A few years later it was bad enough that I was eyeing a new cintiq and thought "Eh -- why not give it a go?". A few very sketchy YouTube video views later I started gently and carefully peeling the film off.

Worked great! It was like I had a brand new cintiq. Smooth glass surface. No scratches. Perfect!
I kept using that same old cintiq for another 5 years. Only finally replacing it when the Wacom Cintiq Drivers for that model were no longer supported by the Mac OS.

Adam Thornton 0

@davidhohn
It was good of the guy in the Wacom store to tell you that. Great customer service.

So once you peeled the film off and painted directly on the glass, did the glass not eventually get scratched too?

I probably should get the replacement screen protector, but I'm assuming it's going to be made out of some thin plastic material so will inevitably scratch considerably sooner than the glass I've been using and I'll find myself buying more and more screen protectors. Hopefully one day built-in obsolescence will be a thing of the past. Not sure how the planet can sustain it.

davidhohn

@Adam-Thornton-0 Nope. The glass never scratched. My new cintiq has just the glass screen and that hasn't scratched at all during the 5 years I've been using it every day.

Adam Thornton 0

@davidhohn Wow! That's pretty good. I should save up for a cintiq.

davidhohn

@Adam-Thornton-0 Cintiqs are on the pricey side. But my experience is they just keep working no matter what.

Adam Thornton 0

@davidhohn One day I'm gonna be wealthy and am gonna get me one!

davidhohn

@Adam-Thornton-0 Go used. I'm seeing them between $300 - $500 for a 22" display. (comparable to a new XP-Pen price)
Like I said they are workhorses so used is a great deal.

Adam Thornton 0

@davidhohn
Thanks very much for that tip, David. Will definitely do that.