Wacom Intuos Pro Medium — The Professional Drawing Tablet Most Creatives Choose
The Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660) is not a pen display — there is no screen on the device itself. You draw on the tablet surface while watching your monitor, and the pen translates every movement directly onto your canvas in real time. For many professional creatives, this is actually the preferred way to work — the tablet sits naturally in your workspace, your eyes stay on the full monitor, and your drawing hand moves freely across a surface that responds with more sensitivity and precision than any alternative input device available.
With 8,192 levels of pressure, ±60-degree tilt recognition, Pro Pen 2 accuracy, 8 programmable ExpressKeys, a Touch Ring with four assignable modes, and optional Bluetooth wireless connection, the Intuos Pro Medium is the most widely used professional drawing tablet in the world — and the most commonly purchased Wacom product by working designers and illustrators across Africa.
Pen Tablet vs Pen Display — Understanding the Choice
The question that comes up most often is whether to buy a drawing tablet like the Intuos Pro or a pen display like the Cintiq 16. They are different tools designed for different working preferences, and both are used by professional creatives every day. A pen display shows your canvas on the device itself — you draw where you look. A pen tablet like the Intuos Pro has no screen — you draw on the surface while your canvas appears on your monitor. Pen displays feel immediately natural for illustrators transitioning from paper. Pen tablets keep your eyes at monitor level, are easier on the neck over long working sessions, and keep your drawing hand close to your keyboard and shortcuts — a significant practical advantage for designers who switch frequently between tools and applications.
The Intuos Pro Medium is the professional pen tablet choice. If you want to draw directly on a screen, the Cintiq 16 is the entry point into that experience. If you want the fastest, most ergonomic professional workflow with the highest pen precision available, the Intuos Pro Medium delivers that at a price considerably lower than any Cintiq pen display.
Why Medium Is the Size Most Professionals Choose
The Intuos Pro comes in Small, Medium, and Large. The Medium (PTH-660) is by far the most popular configuration globally and across Africa — and the reasoning is practical. The active drawing area is 224 x 148mm — large enough for natural arm movement and wide canvas navigation, small enough to fit comfortably on any desk without dominating the workspace. The full device measures 338 x 219 x 8mm and weighs 680g, which means it also travels easily for creatives who work across multiple locations.
The Small Intuos Pro has an active area of 160 x 100mm — noticeably constrained for natural strokes and full-canvas illustration. The Large (PTH-860) gives 311 x 216mm of active drawing space, which benefits artists working across very large monitors or in styles that use wide, arm-led movement. For most professional graphic designers, illustrators, photographers, and educators working at standard monitor sizes, the Medium is the size that fits the workflow without compromise.
The Pro Pen 2 — Why It Matters for Professional Work
The Pro Pen 2 is what separates the Intuos Pro from every other drawing tablet at any price point below it. Eight thousand, one hundred and ninety-two levels of pressure sensitivity means the difference between a thin confident line and a thick expressive stroke is entirely in the pressure of your hand — exactly as it is on paper. The sixty-degree tilt recognition adds another dimension: tilt the pen and the stroke shades and widens as naturally as a tilted brush or pencil would. The pen is battery-free, drawing power electromagnetically from the tablet surface — no charging, no weight from a battery, no interruption to a working session. Two programmable side buttons handle the most-used shortcuts without lifting your hand from the surface.
ExpressKeys and Touch Ring — Shortcuts That Stay With Your Hand
Eight programmable ExpressKeys sit on the left edge of the Intuos Pro Medium, with a Touch Ring in the centre that has four assignable modes — scroll through layers, adjust brush size, zoom in and out, rotate canvas, or any other function your software supports. The key advantage over clicking toolbar shortcuts with a mouse is speed: the hand that holds the pen stays on the tablet while the other hand controls application functions without looking away from the canvas. For designers and illustrators who work across multiple applications with different shortcut sets, the Wacom driver stores per-application profiles that activate automatically when you switch programs.
Bluetooth Wireless — A Clean Desk Without Sacrificing Anything
The Intuos Pro Medium connects wirelessly via Bluetooth — a genuine quality-of-life improvement for creative professionals who value a clean, uncluttered workspace. The wireless connection introduces no perceptible lag. The tablet charges via USB-C and can also be used wired when the battery is low or when a cable connection is preferred. For agency creatives, design educators, and freelancers working at different desks throughout the week, Bluetooth removes one more cable from a workspace that often already has enough of them.
Who Uses the Intuos Pro Medium Across Africa
The Intuos Pro Medium is used by a wide range of creative professionals across the continent — from individual freelancers building their practice to large agencies equipping design departments.
- Graphic designers and brand identity professionals in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya who need precise vector and raster input for client work at production quality.
- Digital illustrators creating editorial illustration, character design, and visual storytelling for African publishing, advertising, and social media audiences.
- Animation students and professionals at African design institutions producing frame-by-frame animation and rigged character work in Toon Boom, After Effects, and Clip Studio Paint.
- Photographers and retouchers who do detailed masking, skin retouching, and compositing work where a mouse cannot provide the fine-motor control the work demands.
- Architecture and product design professionals who produce hand-drawn concept sketches, annotate technical drawings, and create presentation visuals at speed.
- Creative educators at African universities and design schools who use the Intuos Pro for live demonstrations and teach industry-standard digital drawing workflows to students.
- Nollywood and African film production creatives — storyboard artists, concept artists, and VFX designers — who need a professional drawing input device in a production environment.
Intuos Pro Medium vs Intuos Pro Small and Large
| Feature | Small | Medium (PTH-660) ★ | Large (PTH-860) |
| Active Area | 160 × 100 mm | 224 × 148 mm | 311 × 216 mm |
| Device Size | 248 × 179 × 8 mm | 338 × 219 × 8 mm | 430 × 284 × 8 mm |
| Weight | Approx. 370g | Approx. 680g | Approx. 920g |
| Best For | Travel, small desk | Most workflows | Large monitors, wide strokes |
| Pen | Pro Pen 2 | Pro Pen 2 | Pro Pen 2 |
| ExpressKeys | 6 | 8 + Touch Ring | 8 + Touch Ring |
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Frequently Asked Questions — Wacom Intuos Pro Medium
Does the Intuos Pro Medium have a screen?
No. The Intuos Pro Medium is a pen tablet — a drawing surface that connects to your computer. Your artwork appears on your monitor; the tablet is the input device. If you want to draw directly on a screen, the Wacom Cintiq 16 is the pen display equivalent.
What does PTH-660 mean?
PTH-660 is the model code for the Intuos Pro Medium. Use this when downloading the Wacom driver, sourcing replacement nibs, or searching for compatible accessories.
Is Bluetooth included or an extra purchase?
Bluetooth is built into the Intuos Pro Medium — no dongle, no extra purchase. It pairs directly with your computer and charges via USB-C. It can also be used wired at any time.
How do I download the driver for the Intuos Pro Medium in Africa?
The Wacom driver is a free download from wacom.com/support. Search for ‘Intuos Pro’ or enter the model code PTH-660. The driver is compatible with Windows and macOS and is updated regularly. Install it before connecting the tablet for the first time.
Does the Intuos Pro Medium work with all creative software?
Yes — any professional creative application that supports pen input works with the Intuos Pro Medium. This includes the full Adobe Creative Suite, Clip Studio Paint, Autodesk SketchBook, Toon Boom Harmony, Blender, ZBrush, CorelDRAW, and many others. The Wacom driver enables per-application shortcut profiles for the ExpressKeys.
Is the Intuos Pro Medium a good choice for photo retouching?
It is one of the best tools available for photo retouching. Precise masking, dodging and burning, skin retouching, and composite work all benefit enormously from 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and natural pen movement. Most professional retouchers consider it indispensable once they have used it.
Where can I buy the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium in Africa?
Contact eTOP Africa for current pricing and availability of the PTH-660 across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, and the wider African market.