Wacom's Frequently Asked Questions

Finding all the answers in one place can be difficult, hopefully this FAQ list of common issues and links can be helpful in finding the right answers you're looking for.

If you still need more assistance, you could contact Wacom for professional help. And if you are looking for a helpful community to turn towards, you could check out r/wacom on Reddit.com! We have staff, Wacom techs, and many knowledgeable volunteers there to help you solve the most difficult issues. They also have a Wiki and FAQ page, similar to below, that's easily accessible in the subreddit.

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FAQ Index

Q: How Do You Pronounce "Wacom"?
Q: Where Can I Contact Wacom Support?
Q: Which Pen is Compatible with my Cintiq/Tablet?
Q: Can I Lower the Fan Speed of my Cintiq Pro?
Q: Why Do my Pen Nibs Wear Down so Fast?
Q: What’s a Good Program to Start Learning Art?
Q: Does Wacom Have a Linux Supported Tablet Driver?
Q: How Do I Uninstall and Reinstall Wacom Drivers?
Q: How to Fix 'No Tablet Detected' - Restart Drivers?
Q: How Do I Remove/Restore User Preferences?
Q: 0000?

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Q: How Do You Pronounce "Wacom"?

A: "Way-COM", "Way-CUM", or "WAH-come"?
Wacom is pronounced "wah-come" and is derived from the Japanese symbol for harmony ("wah") and the first syllable of computer ("come"). The tag line of the company is, "Toward the harmonious development between man and technology."
We can see the pronunciation if we look at how it is spelt in Japanese: ワコム. 'ワ' is "wa", similar to the way an American might pronounce "water". 'コ' is "ko", pronounced more or less as in "copper" in standard English. 'ム' is "mu", pronounced more or less like the sound cows make ("mooooo"), this gives up "wakomu".

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Q: Where Can I Contact Wacom Support?

A: This will depend on your Region and method of contact. 

US Customer Support: +1 (855) 699-2266

Other Regional Numbers and Contact Forms:

• Americas
• Asia Pacific
• Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Wacom Regional Website List

Warranty and Product Manuals

Wacom has a full list here of their warranties. It can be hard to sift through each PDF for the exact warranty length, so after downloading the appropriate PDF, I recommend hitting “cmd/ctrl+f” to search for the word “Year”. Then you'll find it under your specific Region.

Also, Wacom's list of downloadable Product Manuals.

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Q: Which Pen is Compatible with my Cintiq/Tablet?

A: Check out our comprehensive list of Cintiqs/Tablets and Compatible Pens, listing many current and older Wacom products with SKUs and links to purchase (if available).

All those Pens listed under the tablets above are also shown here in our list of Wacom Pens.

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Q: Can I Lower The Fan Speed Of My Cintiq Pro?

A: With the updated video firmware (Ver. 1.0.5 and later), you can set your tablet’s fans to Auto (Default), or Low fan speeds, through the Wacom Desktop Center, then Display Settings. [Instructions] 

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Q: Why Do my Pen Nibs Wear Down so Fast?

A: Newer tablets and Cintiqs have rougher surfaces to give a more natural feel when you draw. This has the side effect of wearing your nibs out faster. Personally I’ve noticed drawing with a lighter touch helps a lot. It’s a bad habit to put too much pressure on your pen/hand anyways. And the 2017 Intuos Pros have alternate surfaces you can swap out for a much smoother material. 

Wacom does sell replacement nibs here. Alternatively, some users have tried 3D printing them, like these Grip Pen generation nibs, or these for the Pro Pen 2 generation. I'd suggest using these at your own risk, I've heard good things, but they are't exactly 'Wacom Certified.' Theres also some extra work involved in getting them to fit correctly, like sanding.
[More Info]

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Q: What’s a Good Program to Start Learning Art?

A: Autodesk Sketchbook and Krita are both free and easy to use drawing programs. You can always upgrade to a more “professional” software later on, like Photoshop or Corel Painter.

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Q: Does Wacom Have a Linux Supported Tablet Driver?

A: Wacom does not offer a Linux driver directly, but there is a Linux driver available for most Wacom devices at the Linux Wacom Project on Github.
Many Linux distributions come with the driver pre-installed, so first try attaching your device to your Linux machine to see if it works. If it doesn’t, visit the Github repository to download drivers and get more information.

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Q: How do I Uninstall and Reinstall Wacom Drivers?

A: When troubleshooting your device, or upgrading to a newer OS or Cintiq, it’s best to completely wipe and reinstall the Wacom drivers.  

For Mac OS (abridged) : 
1. Disconnect Tablet/Cintiq and open Wacom Tablet Utility. 
2. Click 'uninstall' and restart computer.
3. Download newest drivers and restart again.
4. Reconnect Tablet/Cintiq, check Tablet Properties, and test before reinstalling your user prefs.

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For Windows (abridged) : 
1. Disconnect Tablet/Cintiq then open your 'Control Panel' and access 'Programs and Features'. 
2. Uninstall any Wacom entries listed and restart computer.
3. Download newest drivers and restart again.
4. Reconnect Tablet/Cintiq, check Tablet Properties, and test before reinstalling your user prefs.

1. You could also try uninstalling from 'Device Manager'.
2. Under Device Manager, click View>Show Hidden Devices.
3. Find any Wacom Drivers in each section and uninstall them.

NOTE: If you notice any malfunction after reinstalling your user preferences, the old file could be corrupt, thus you need to uninstall preferences again and recreate those settings from scratch.
And If you still have trouble, you might need to manually go in and try to remove some files that the uninstaller might have missed (check link below).

[Full Walkthrough]

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Q: How to Fix 'No Tablet Detected' - Restart Drivers?

A: If you are having issues with your Wacom driver, and you don't want to reinstall your drivers quite yet, all you might need to do is restart the Drivers! This fix is most commonly used when you get an error that says something to the effect of "Tablet Not Found/Connected", but could fix a few other issues.

For Mac OS (abridged) : 
1. Find 'WacomTabletDriver' listed in your Activity Monitor and quit the process.
2. Restart it by finding it in this folder path: /Library/Application Support/Tablet/. Then double click 'WacomTabletDriver' to Run it.

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For Windows (abridged) : 
1. Type "Run" in the start menu and open that app.
Then type "services.msc" and press Enter.
2. Scroll down the list in that new window to locate and select a service that either says, "Wacom Professional Service" or "TabletServiceWacom". 
3. Click Restart in the left panel Or Stop, then Start.

[Full Walkthrough]

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Q: How Do I Remove/Restore User Preferences?

A: Anytime a setting is changed to the Wacom Tablet Properties, the setting is auto saved as a user preference. Sometimes it may be needed to delete user preferences when troubleshooting an issue. To remove all user preferences, follow the instructions below for your operating system.

For Windows: 
1. Go to All Applications> Wacom Tablet > and open the Wacom Tablet Preference File Utility.
2. Under “My Preferences” a user can click the button to Remove, Backup or Restore preferences. Click Remove to remove only your user’s preferences.
3. To remove preferences for all users on the computer, click Remove under “All User Preferences.”

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For Mac OS: 
1. Open the applications folder on the computer and go to the Wacom Tablet Folder.
Open the Wacom Tablet Utility.
2. A user can Remove, Backup or Restore preferences along with removing the tablet software.
3. To Remove preferences, select “Current User” under the preference section and click Remove to remove only your user’s preferences.
4. To remove preferences for all users on the computer select “all users” under preferences and then click Remove.

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