Screen Mirroring!! A guide for dummies, by: a dummy. (Patreon)

Hey there! Here I am, finally posting to show you what Screen Mirroring (aka Sidecar?) is all about. 

I am NOT a video person, but I thought a video would be a smart idea. It's over 10 minutes long and the video quality's mediocre and I fuck it up the first go-around, but maybe you like video better than just a bunch of images and text. (I'm including images and text below, too, in case  you like that better.)

I'd heard about "Sidecar" for years, where you can mirror or extend your laptop/desktop Apple computer to your iPad, but my devices were all too old to utilize it... until now. **sound of ✨NEW LAPTOP✨ creaking open** (jk, it doesn't creak, it's new)

Turns out this feature is just called Screen Mirroring, and it's really easy (when you do it right)!

First of all, here's a list of which Apple products can use Sideboard (aka Screen Mirroring). My 2013 Macbook and 2014 iMac, for example, are not on that list. Luckily all iPad Pros are.

Next step: put your Macbook/iMac and iPad next to each other in a way that pleases ya. Make sure both devices are:

on (the screen is lit up)

connected to the same wifi network

bluetooth activated 

Now on your main computer, click on this little icon at the top right (I called it a white worm on top of a black worm), and then click on Screen Mirroring.

Next, choose the device you want to mirror to. (And as my video illustrates, make sure you choose the CORRECT DEVICE if more than one appears.)

Fingers crossed, your device connects instantly! You'll see there are two options below the devices list: Mirror, and Use As Separate Display. I believe the default setting is Separate Display, so don't be alarmed if your iPad isn't mirroring right away.

If you'd like to mirror the screen, choose that one. You'll have an experience like this below:

Whatever you do on the iPad shows up on the source computer IMMEDIATELY, and vice versa. You're basically controlling the program via both the iPad and your keyboard/trackpad!

If you'd like to use your iPad as a separate screen (my personal cup of tea), keep it on Use As Separate Display.

If you're a lefty, or you want to set up your iPad above or below the source computer, you can do that in the Display Settings at the bottom of that menu. It'll bring you to this menu:

Here's a photo of my setup using the Separate Display option, so show you why I like it so much:

This is all explained in the video, around 8:26. And here's a video from an artist that I found really helpful to show me how she uses it, too.

I hope this helps at least one of you! I'd love to hear if any of you have already been using this (I'm aware that I am VERY late to this party!), and how you prefer to use it. Oh, and here are some of the brushes I tested out & liked last week (warning: I tweaked almost all of them, so YMMV). They're all free brushes available from Adobe. 

How many of y'all work primarily on Photoshop? If you have a favorite brush (or favorite brush-making company/artist), share it below!