input-wacom 2.0.0

Wacom tablets have a driver in the kernel, and it lags new hardware. input-wacom is the same driver maintained out of tree, backported so a tablet newer than your kernel works.

Do you need it

Try the tablet first. If pressure, tilt, and buttons all work, your kernel driver is new enough and installing this gains you nothing.

xsetwacom --list devices          # X11
libinput list-devices | grep -i wacom
dmesg | grep -i wacom

If the tablet is detected as a generic mouse, or pressure does not work, or the express keys do nothing, that is when this driver helps.

Installing

sudo apt install input-wacom-dkms      # Debian and Ubuntu
sudo dnf install input-wacom           # Fedora, via RPM Fusion

Or from source, which is what you do for very new hardware:

git clone https://github.com/linuxwacom/input-wacom.git
cd input-wacom
sudo ./autogen.sh && sudo make && sudo make install

It builds through DKMS, so it rebuilds on kernel updates. Check dkms status before rebooting.

The other half

The kernel driver reports the hardware. Configuration is separate:

xf86-input-wacom for X11, with xsetwacom for mapping and button assignment.

libinput for Wayland, where configuration goes through your desktop’s tablet settings. Both GNOME and KDE have panels for mapping the tablet to a display and configuring buttons.

# X11: map the tablet to one monitor
xsetwacom set "Wacom Intuos Pro M Pen stylus" MapToOutput HDMI-1

Mapping to a single display matters on a multi-monitor setup, because by default the tablet area spans all screens and the aspect ratio is wrong.

Wayland

Tablet support under Wayland is good and configuration lives in your desktop settings rather than in xsetwacom. Applications need to use the tablet protocol, which Krita, GIMP, and Inkscape do.

Our Wayland explainer covers why the tooling differs.

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