Hi - I wasn’t sure where to begin with this search so I figured the good people of the Dope would know the answer.
For Christmas my 12 year old son got this Manga/Comic Illustration software and we have been playing around with it a bit. One thing we realized is that it would be way cooler if we had a pen tablet for our PC so he wouldn’t have to try to draw with the mouse.
So I went to Newegg and Tiger Direct and looked around a bit, and I realized that I don’t have a clue what to look for in something like this. The price range is really wide on these things, from under $50 to over $350.
So what should I look for? Can I get a good tablet for $50 to $75? We wouldn’t need anything too fancy (I’m assuming) but would want something that is good for graphics work as opposed to a business-oriented one for taking notes, etc. Can that be had at the low end of the price range? Is bigger better? Anything special we should look for that would be a good fit for this particular software?
The industry standard for graphic designers is the Wacom tablet. They sell the 4x6 version for a little over $200 as I recall. I have one and for bitmapped coloring it’s unbeatable. Other cheaper ones may not have the sensitivity of a Wacom.
Wacom is the ONLY choice. Don’t even look at any alternative brands, they all suck. Only get a Wacom. The Bamboo is probably what you need for the level of work you’d be using it for.
Thanks for the replies – I paid a visit to the Wacom web site and checked out the Bamboo. It looks like what we would need.
One question for anyone who knows: the Bamboo comes in two flavors – the regular Bamboo and the Bamboo Fun. It looks like the difference is the inclusion of a mouse and some graphics software (I’m thinking the software wouldn’t be necessary. We’ve already got Paint Shop Pro and my son’s new illustration software). Can I assume that besides the extras, the two tablets would be identical for graphics work? Or are there differences between the pens, etc. that would make the Fun the better choice (it’s more expensive, but not by much).
Is the small size of these tablets OK for drawing & illustrating?
There isn’t really any difference in terms of use between the two. Choose either one that suits. The small size of the tablet doesn’t seem to affect sensitivity, there is plenty of resolution to spare.
Wow, this thread is timely. A friend was talking about getting one of these this weekend, but she didn’t know what brand to go with. I’ll pass along the recommendations from this thread
I’ve had a 4x6 Wacom for about a year now, and I’ll admit that the size does come into question when doing larger projects. Really, though, it’s only been a problem on my graphic art projects that got a little excessive If the kid is really into perfecting his craft, though, then I’d consider getting the best pressure sensitivity you can afford. The default pen for my 4x6 has around 500ish, and it’s really quite frustrating sometimes.
The default software package that came with my 4x6 was actually pretty invaluable. There are a few tricks I can pull off with the Corel art suite that I haven’t been able to reliable duplicate in Paint Shop Pro.
I don’t know if it’s the same with all the Wacom tablets, but when I bought my Graphire4 it came with Photoshop Elements (that’s about a $75 value) and Corel Painter Essentials , another chunk of money’s worth. The tablet in total was about $75 on Amazon, so plus the software that is a dang good deal.
If the kid is really into perfecting his craft, though, then I’d consider getting the best pressure sensitivity you can afford. The default pen for my 4x6 has around 500ish, and it’s really quite frustrating sometimes.