I have been idly looking online at Wacom graphic tablets for use with Adobe Photoshop, and was wondering what people thought of them. Mostly I use Photoshop for photo manipulation, but would like to be able to do more drawing on the computer. From what I hear, the Wacom Intuos2 sounds like the best model to buy, however, the price range (around $300) makes me nervous.
Are tablets really a big improvement over just a mouse? If so, what sort of learning curve do they have?
I’m not exactly an artist, but I dabble; I bought the cheapest graphics tablet I could find (£20 on eBay), just to try out the technology and I am hooked - they are a huge improvement on a mouse, at least they are for freehand drawing(you might be able to do object-related stuff like flowcharting or Powerpoint better with a mouse).
There’s no learning curve (at least not with this particular tablet and Windows and Corel Paint) - you just use it and it works.
Even though my cheapie tablet only has 512 pressure levels, it’s still really impressive when used with an art package that can translate this into force on the brush.
I concur completely. My experience almost mirrors mangetout’s. I do art from time to time, and I’m considering going into the graphic design field. I saw the WACOM graphire tablet (their cheapest model) on sale for around $50 or so. It’s amazing.
In Photoshop (and probably most other higher-end programs), you can set the pressure to control different things, such as the size of the brush, the opacity of the brush, or even the COLOR of the brush. It feels a lot more natural, and I seem to have a much greater degree of precision than I am when using the mouse, even though my tablet’s drawing area is only about 4"x5".
There is basically no learning curve, for me at least. You install the drivers and software, do a few tests in the setup utility so the computer knows how hard you normally push and what’s soft and hard, and you’re good to go. You can even use your graphics tablet to do other computing functions, like playing solitaire.
As an added bonus, I’m left handed, so when my right hand gets tired from using the mouse, I can just switch over to use the tablet, and vice-versa. Perhaps you should buy a cheap model, and see if it’s right for you before you spend $300.
Professional artist here. Use a wacom every day. Recommend it highly.
I’m a cartoonist, so mostly what I do is scan in drawings to the computer then color and tweek the drawings via photoshop w/ a wacom tablet & pen.
Having the beginings of carpal tunnel makes me use the wacom even more. I can hold the tabet in my lap and draw which is much easier on my wrist than any mouse set up.
I’ve had a few emergencies where I’ve had to use the mouse only and honestly, it feels like I’m drawing with a dinner roll by comparison.
Takes a day or two to get the feel for it, but you’ll never go back once you get the hang of it.
(Incidentally, if the art you’re doing is super-precise, a wacom might be a little… sloppy for you. A mouse is easier to hold still- make small precise movements. So to make an analogy: Working with a wacom is like drawing with a pencil. Working with a mouse is like drawing with an etch a sketch.
I absolutely love my tablet. It was bizarre when I first started using it—I sent some jpg files of some drawings I’d done to my sister (who is used to seeing my doodles and drawings) and she went, “yeah, okay, I’ve seen this all before.” She missed the part where I told her that I’d done it all on the computer. I used Corel’s Painter Lite (or whatever you call it) and the end result looked like one of my pastel drawings. She couldn’t see any difference between the computer-generated drawing and my “real” traditionally-rendered drawings. That impressed her.
It’s awesome. I use the tablet whenever I am doing heavy retouching on my photography (just zoom in really really tight in Photoshop) and I draw things straight into Photoshop or Painter. Also, like seriousart, I’ll scan a drawing and color it in with the tablet.
I cannot recommend this tablet highly enough. It will rock your world.
I’ve got a cheap Wacom that I use, and it’s very cool. I suspect that using a tablet computer, where you see the output on the same pad that you write on will be a huge improvement, but I haven’t tried those out yet.
Definitely. Like the others, there’s no way I could draw, paint, or retouch anything decently with a mouse. I think the biggest thing to get used to is the feel of the stylus moving ovet the tablet- it’s “looser” than pencil/pen on paper, but it didn’t take me long to get over it.
I recently (last Friday) upgraded from a Graphire to an Intuos2 (4x5)- which I bought for about $160 (this price may be more palatable than $300). Besides the price, I prefer the smaller tablets for more control over the the work area.
Thanks for all the advice!
Ok, it sounds like a graphic tablet is worth buying. Does anyone have any recommendations for what size of tablet I should buy? I would have thought that a small tablet (4x5) would be hard to use, however that seems to be the size that a number of you are working with. Is a 4x5 tablet as good as a 6x8? The price is closer to what I can afford, but how does it compare to the larger tablets?
Oceans_11 can you tell a difference between your old Graphire and your new Intous2? Obviously, being a cheapskate, I would rather save money and buy the graphire, however, I am worried that if I do I will end up buying a Intous anyways.
Drool Of course, who has $2,500 to drop on a graphics tablet? No seriously, who has $2,500 to drop on a graphics tablet and could they buy me one?
Heh- I actually struggled with finding this information before I bought, too! Officially, it’s 1024 levels of pressure vs. the Graphire’s 512. Not that there’s a level meter showing that you’re using exactly 968.2 levels of pressure, but it just “feels” nicer. Little nuances in the marks you make, more control over over the pressure you use, etc. Also, it seems the texture of the tablet overlay is nicer (of course, the Graphire I was using was about 3 years old). The stylus also has a cushy, rubber grip thingy which makes it nicer to hold! 
(Here’s a quick drawing I did for a friend using the Intuos2- I think it looks just like pencil, I never could have done that with a mouse!)
When it came down to making my decision, I went with the more “pro” model. And after actually playing with it over the last several days, I’m glad I did. After all, no one ever wishes the purchased less horsepower for their money- especially in tech!
As far as 4x5 vs. other sizes, as I mentioned earlier, I prefer more control over a smaller space. I’ve used a 6x8 before, and found that I wasn’t using more than 4x5 of the space at any specific time anyways, however- YMMV.
I’ve only used the 6x8 myself and I wonder how comfortable I would be going smaller…
You’d probably be OK, though… I don’t think I really use much of the tablet, just the center portion.
Nice drawing, btw, oceans 11!
I’ve done just fine with the inexpensive Wacom 4x5 tablet myself. I have a small workspace so getting a larger tablet (while nice) probably would make things more cramped than they already are.
Thanks, serious- it’s gotta be the tablet!
josh- I found another plus to the Intuos2! In addition to pressure, velocity, and direction, the tablet also recognizes tilt if the software you’re using supports it (such as Corel Painter).
