Configuration

MockTab needs two macOS privacy grants on first launch, and a few drawing apps expose driver-side switches that affect how stylus input arrives. This page walks through the system prompts you will encounter, then collects per-application notes — mostly about stylus rotation, which is the one input axis whose support varies app to app.

System permissions

macOS gates tablet drivers behind two privacy prompts. Grant both, then relaunch MockTab. If a toggle won't stick, remove MockTab from the pane and re-add it — macOS binds grants to the binary's path, so moving or reinstalling can invalidate a previous grant.

Accessibility

Accessibility is the grant that lets MockTab synthesize the pointer and modifier events your drawing app actually receives. Always grant it. Without it, MockTab can detect your tablet but cannot drive the cursor.

macOS prompt asking to allow MockTab to control the computer using accessibility features (dark)

Clicking Open System Settings takes you to the Accessibility pane. Toggle MockTab on.

System Settings Accessibility pane with MockTab toggled on

System Settings Accessibility pane with MockTab toggled on (dark)

Input Monitoring

Input Monitoring lets MockTab read raw HID reports from your tablet. On most setups macOS will prompt for this the first time a tablet is attached.

macOS prompt asking to allow MockTab to monitor input

macOS prompt asking to allow MockTab to monitor input (dark)

Toggle MockTab on in the Input Monitoring pane, then relaunch when macOS asks.

System Settings Input Monitoring pane with MockTab toggled on

System Settings Input Monitoring pane with MockTab toggled on (dark)

macOS dialog asking to quit and relaunch MockTab after granting Input Monitoring

macOS dialog asking to quit and relaunch MockTab after granting Input Monitoring (dark)

Application notes

Pressure and tilt are well-standardised and arrive in every macOS drawing app without configuration. Stylus rotation is the outlier: only a handful of pen models — chiefly Wacom's Art Pen — report a true barrel rotation axis, and host apps treat it inconsistently. The screenshots below show where each app exposes its rotation control. Background on the hardware axis itself lives in Wacom Art Pen rotation notes.

Affinity Photo / Designer

Affinity 2 picks up rotation automatically for brushes that have a rotation-driven dynamic enabled. The brush editor's dynamics panel is where you bind rotation to nib angle, size, or other parameters.

Affinity brush dynamics panel with rotation bound to nib angle

Affinity brush dynamics panel with rotation bound to nib angle (dark)

Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator's brush options dialog has a per-brush Angle variation set to Stylus Wheel for rotation-driven nib angle. The control name is the same in every localisation; only the surrounding labels translate.

Illustrator calligraphic brush options with Angle variation set to Stylus Wheel

Illustrator calligraphic brush options with Angle variation set to Stylus Wheel (dark)

Krita

Krita exposes rotation as a sensor under the brush editor's Rotation parameter. Add the Rotation sensor and pick a curve to map raw barrel rotation onto brush tip orientation.

Krita brush editor with the Rotation sensor enabled (dark)

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is the outlier — it does not consume rotation through the standard macOS tablet path the way the other apps do. MockTab includes a driver-side option that adapts rotation for Photoshop; enabling it may improve stylus behavior when working with rotation-driven brushes.

Photoshop brush settings showing rotation behavior warning

Photoshop brush settings showing rotation behavior warning (dark)

Escape Motions Rebelle

Rebelle reads rotation automatically when a rotation-aware brush is selected.

Rebelle brush settings panel with rotation-driven nib enabled

Rebelle brush settings panel with rotation-driven nib enabled (dark)

Application preferences in Rebelle > Tablet > Tablet Options also provide a built-in means to invert rotation behavior.

Rebelle application settings for tablet behavior

Panning

To map a button to a panning action (like the hand tool in many drawing apps), consider Smart Scroll or Smooze Pro.