Intuos 4 Small.. too small?

[biliousfrog]

Tablet size is not relevant to monitor size, it's about how much space you need to draw and how large you generally feel comfortable drawing. For occasional use and moderate texture/photoshop work a smaller tablet is often preferable. Have you considered the larger Bamboo?

[RoboPencil]

I figured that a larger resolution monitor would mean that the smaller strokes fill up less space, but I guess that's a non-issue.

I'll look into the bamboo. Thanks!

[CKPinson]

Bamboo is not the same as an Intuos- especially intuos 4- Bamboo is for youth or ppl not serious about their art=cheap. The small Intuos is fine- it's mostly about preference

[cgbeige]

Tablet size is not relevant to monitor size, it's about how much space you need to draw and how large you generally feel comfortable drawing. For occasional use and moderate texture/photoshop work a smaller tablet is often preferable. Have you considered the larger Bamboo?

That's not really true. I have two Intuos 3 tablets that I use (one 4x6 for MacBook Pro/café work and one 6x11" for Mac Pro workstation) and you definitely feel the resolution loss/gain if you reverse them. Trying to use a 4x6 tablet on a 1920x1200 monitor feels awkward.

But if you're looking for a bargain, get a new Intuos 3 on eBay and go larger. Intuos4 is sort of overkill IMO - nice but overkill. Don't get a bamboo.

[Jettatore]

Bamboo is not the same as an Intuos- especially intuos 4- Bamboo is for youth or ppl not serious about their art=cheap. The small Intuos is fine- it's mostly about preference

IRT #1. Bamboo or even a generic tablet will work just fine if you're on a budget.

Wacom makes great products, and their Intuos lines come backed with a great warranty, and their tech support is great if you ever run into an issue, just email them and they get back to you quickly. Their no batteries needed pens are also quite nice.

With that said, a tablet, is a tablet, is a tablet. Pressure sensitive strokes, with no drawing lag is all you need to match the actual functionality of a Wacom. There's all sorts of numbers, bells and whistles between the different Wacom models, but at the end of the day they all achieve exactly the same thing. Actually the only thing I don't like about my Intuos tablet is the extra buttons and stuff they put on it, I wish it was just plain as I have no use for them and it takes up desk space.

[jipeg]

Try to avoid Bamboos. I did try a bambo and honestly unless you are buying it for your kids it will be a waste of money.

For your resolution i would suggest a Wacom 4 or 3. A medium size is really enough for almost any resolution. Think of it as draweing on a paper, you don't need a big paper to get a good draweing. You need a size which you just fill confortable with.

[Jettatore]

"I did try a bambo and honestly unless you are buying it for your kids it will be a waste of money."

Would you explain your reasoning behind this statement? The only Bamboo that I can see the logic in avoiding is the Bamboo Touch because it appears to be pen-less. Something like the current model Bamboo Fun has pretty much everything you could ask for and is quite a good size.

[GnaReffotsirk]

Its too small. Small intuos4 will cause your hand some pain. Your strokes will be short, and you can feel the cramp. If you really want an intuos4, go for the medium size. As a hobby, you would want the least strain, this goes for serious artists as well.

I suggest going for the medium.

Bamboo is alright too if you plan to use the keyboard for shortcuts.

Personally Im going for the medium size Intuos4 over the bamboo since it has buttons for shortcuts. I sit, tablet in hand, and my left hand can freely, quickly, and effortlessly press the intuos4 keys and ring. I dont want to get disturbed because I have to go and press the keyboard or click tools and settings. I work in full screen mode too, gives me space and less visual clutter -- helps a lot.

So, with this in mind, go for the medium. You wont regret it.

[KG]

I use a small 4X6 Intuos 3 with a 1900 x 1200 monitor. I don't have any issues with it but I guess it's because I use it for 3d modeling/ general use. I do only little drawing/texture work. I have a friend who uses the large Intuos 3's for drawing comics, and I guess for doing such work, the small one's wouldn't cut it.

[CKPinson]

Bamboo is the old Graphire with modern features- it is junk for skilled to pro art! Bamboo is for beginners/kids fooling around. Intuos may cost more up front but it's worth it to use the Bamboo money and to save until you can afford an Intuos! It will last longer, be more responsive, more pen pressures and just all around better! You can use a small Intuos for a large screen- res doesn't matter, I've used 3 different sizes and the Cintique- honestly I use the mid size but often would prefer the small one as even the mid gets too cumbersome in my lap and find myself avoiding the far reaches of the surface. Imagine the large one!

[CKPinson]

Also about res for the small one using a mid to large screen- it doesn't matter because in PS you just zoom in anyways regardless of the real estate you have!

[Jettatore]

"it is junk for skilled to pro art!"

Can you give some specific reasons to support your claim? Digital Painting is about what you can see, and your level of experience. Not the fanciness of your tablet. If you can get a pressure sensitive line from the tablet, without lag, then the tablet is good enough for the most sophisticated of paintings. With that said, the Intuos line is quite nice, I have one myself. A 6x11, it's the Intuos 3 widescreen version. I do love it well. But before that I had a generic tablet from Aiptek, and besides needing batteries and not having nearly as good of a build quality as the Intuos, it worked fabulously, and still does to this day after 8-9 years. There is nothing you couldn't paint with it.

So again, I re-iterate, and ask you to explain yourself and your specific objections with the Bamboo.

[InfernalDarkness]

With that said, a tablet, is a tablet, is a tablet. Pressure sensitive strokes, with no drawing lag is all you need to match the actual functionality of a Wacom.

I can't help but disagree with this statement. I have a Cybertablet 6400; it's crap. It's the worst tablet ever made. The Intuos blows it away, and I only use the Cybertablet sometimes as a gimmick for playing old-school RTS games with a pen. It's actually fun!

[mister3d]

I work with bamboo fun and I can produce anything from texture painting to sketching to retouching without problems. Actually, I don't feel any urge to upgrade to intuos. Genius tablets are bad, wacom bamboo fun is great. They can produce very precise diagonals. The limitation is not sensor, but my hands in this case. Despite I draw for 20 years. And I work with A6. Though I would like to see if people can produce more precise lines with intuos? Maybe I'm wrong about its precision, but it's enough for me... kinda.
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/1641/linesu.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/linesu.jpg/)http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/linesu.jpg/1/w1280.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img14/linesu.jpg/1/)

[jipeg]

"I did try a bambo and honestly unless you are buying it for your kids it will be a waste of money."

Would you explain your reasoning behind this statement? The only Bamboo that I can see the logic in avoiding is the Bamboo Touch because it appears to be pen-less. Something like the current model Bamboo Fun has pretty much everything you could ask for and is quite a good size.

No pen angle on the Bamboo
Less levels of preasure and the strokes are not as smooth as the intuos.
With the intuos its easier to work on details, they have a better and easier control and they are more durable.
To me, the Bamboo seems to be built for fun, and less for more detailed tasks.

Probably the last generations of bamboo are better than those i tried before but i do really think that its worth to add few dollars and get an intuos. Besides if you decide that you do not like it, it may be easier to sell an Intuos than a Bamboo.

It's not easy to feel confortable with a draweing tablet. Better spend a bit more on something you'll actually use, than to spend a bit less on something that will quickly become a dust collector.

Cheers

[mister3d]

Your arguments are correct, but saying that fun is for kids... no, it's pretty much better than "serious" tablets of another manufacturers. It's positioned as for kids, but it shouldn't mislead people.

[GnaReffotsirk]

A pro can work with the Bamboo of course. The intuos4 has a higher precision value. This means a lot to people who want precision and would like to have their tools give them more control per square inch of their tablet. Which directly translate to a more comfortable tool-to-user relationship.

I have a bamboo and an Intous3 and 4 and there is a huge difference. It IS very much smoother to work with an Intuos4 than a bamboo. And I'm just a hobbyist. The Pros would feel the difference more, I think.

Now, if less cost means more to you now, and you really spend only say a maximum of 5 hours a week with drawing/painting, go with a Bamboo. But if you know within yourself that you are going to improve in your drawing/painting, you're going to be doing more, and that you will (before next year) be spending more hours a day drawing/painting, get the Intuos4 Medium.

Why the Intuos4? Because you will eventually have to do more per hour with your tool. Thus, you will want a tool that helps you, not resist you. Yes, though the disparity cannot be identified unless one gets to try the better product, the resistance of the machine is there. :D

It doesn't matter if you are a pro or a hobbyist. We all know the Intuos4 is much better than the Bamboo right? So the question is, "is it worth the cost?"

I say, I regret even having to buy the Bamboo. I should have gone and bought the Intuos4 without hesitation. Why? Because it's so much worth it.

I'm now assigning my bamboo to my 4 year old daughter who loves to draw. Why? because it's cheap, and she really doesn't need all the functions and precisions the Intous4 provides.

Is the Bamboo for Kids ONLY? By all means no. If there was no Intuos4 or 3, every pro would be using the Bamboo, and they can live with it. Maybe they can work with it better than hobbyists even. But having an Intous4 makes working a lot easier.

I won't let my daughter touch it, though. Why? The risk-to-benefit-to-cost ratio just doesn't add up for it to be a reasonable thing to be doing. :D It's more of a product life thing, and how long until it is still needed vs cost of repurchasing.

But a hobbyist will not just suddenly decide to smash the tip against the board because he/she can't get the cursor to pick the right color, right?

So, it is more reasonable for a hobbyist to get an Intuos4 over a bamboo, IMO. Go Medium size. The small one doesn't cut it. It's too small. But if per experience throughout your life your hands are much more comfortable working with small movements, constrained spaces, etc., go with the small by all means.


How to test which size fits:
Cut a piece of paper with the sizes of Small and medium. Draw 24 lines to create equal sized squares for each paper. The squares will then be relative to each paper's size. Take a pencil and draw the same picture on each paper. Say a 180 degree arch. Do this 10 times, stroke the line 10 times. Use only a 2x2 area of each paper's grid. Which one feels better? Go for that size.


(sorry if this is a thread necro)

[fazigu]

i have intuos3 4 x6 , and if u want the wacom for sketching and drawing , get a bigger one, its really hard to get clean lines on a 22 inch monitor. of course u can always adjust the area, but its not ideal. 1 inch line will transfer like to 3 in, just guessing, and shakes in ur hand will also transfer, small shake = a big shake on screen, so its hard.

for 3d modeling and sculpting its great, but i would go for the largest you can afford.

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