Wacom Tablets, ... researching before i buy

#9

I suggest you try Intuos instead because its surface has more friction and coupled with a felt nib gives you a better pen on paper feel. Graphire is said to have a more plasticky surface (I haven’t tried one myself though) which you may not prefer.

By the way, I looked at the page where you took the picture from, and it actually says the violin bow grip cannot be used with Wacom stylus. I’m not sure how your drawing grip works, but the Wacom stylus will not work if it’s at an angle smaller than about 30 degrees with the tablet surface.

#10

Someone told me to get the pen on paper feel all you need to do is tape a page on top of the intuos. I tried it and was like “DOH!” , its so simple a solution and it works perfect :slight_smile:

#11

highly recommend their new widescreen tablet. I’ve got one myself. :thumbsup: Getting a regular 4x3 tablet will either mean wasted space on the tablet that you won’t use, or distorted dimensions, where drawing a circle on the tablet will result in an oval onscreen, depending on how it’s set up.

I’m not saying your wrong, every computer works differently (what a pain that is!). But, I have a widescreen laptop and a regular screen desktop. And there is no difference using the pad on either one. There is no distortion or anything. Mabye I’m lucky and didn’t have any problems. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Someone told me to get the pen on paper feel all you need to do is tape a page on top of the intuos. I tried it and was like “DOH!” , its so simple a solution and it works perfect :slight_smile:

That is a good solution, but beware. The paper will wear the nib down very fast and you’ll have to replace it. If your not carful you’ll even get a flat side on one side.

#12

thank you for the explenation. What are the two buttons on the side for then?

#13

The two buttons are an alternative way to left and right click. In fact, if you press the two down at once you get a middle click. So they are really 3 buttons in 2.

#14

Hm interesting, so let me put it this way, since you move the mouse without painting by ‘hovering’ over the tablet… and only begin painting when your pen touches the tablet… then once you start painting, then you click, what is to happen? Nothing right? Or do you simply move the mouse pointer by rolling the pen tip across the pad, and begin painting by pressing down the button?

Also, the more you press, does the brush size begin to get wider? or just increases opacity? Can you have control over which it does or if you want it to do both?

#15

The wacom pen gets pressure reading from the nib but it’s perpenticular from the tip. If you still want the maximum presure sensitivity, you will need to figure out how to setup your monitor and the tablet tilting >45 degree the with overhand grip style.

I would still recommend 9x12 size tablet if you have large monitor. It’s much easier to draw with 1:1 and proportional ratio. (1 inch draw on tablet and 1 inch line on screen). A small tablet and a full mapping of large screen will give feel of “ice skating” which makes even harder for realistic sketch.

#16

The way it works is when you make contact with the surface, the tablet considers that a left click. The two buttons on the side of the pen can be defined to do whatever you want, I have mine set up with middle and right click functions. I guess so I can awkwardly navigate in maya space if need be.

As to if the stroke gets thicker as you press down more, this is largely dependent on what paint program you are using and your brush settings. The simple answer is yes your pressure can determine the thickness of your mark.

Also just a couple recommendations: If you want to hold the pen like that, it can be done, but only on the intous and cintiq lines, both of them support tilt. It’s not perfect but it might be a good compromise. Lastly, judging by your pen grip, you most likely draw on a large scale, meaning not in a 4X5 box? If so I would go for a larger tablet.

#17

One thing that I am still unsure of is this question,

does the brush size begin to get wider? or just increases opacity? Can you have control over which it does or if you want it to do both?

#18

both is possible, depending on the settings in your software.
In Photoshop you can change the parameters that are affected by the pressure.

I am not sure if this has come up yet, but since you seem to be new to tablets and if money is not too limited, consider getting a Cintiq (where you draw directly on a TFT monitor).

You will instantly feel at home if you have not used a “normal” tablet input before but are used to traditional media.

I have one for 2 months now after 5 years of Ultrapad A3 and, what can I say: this is how it should be. Its a bit on the expensive side, though.

You can get a lot done with a “normal” graphic tablet, but drawing directly on the screen is a whole different story.
If you cannot spend the moey for a Cintiq, dont try it out, because you will know what you are missing after having tried it out :wink:

Olli

#19

I went into BestBuy yesterday and tried out a graphire 4x5, instantly i noticed two things it was WAY too small for me, (big surprise) and i felt like the PEN just kept skating all over the place. Holding the pen with my usual grip when using a pencil/paper, 100% did not work at all. but that was posted earlier. I will have to try out a Intous tablet and see how i like that, i’m trying to find a locel reseller here in Toronto where i can go and test them out before buying anything. Man if i could afford one of those Cintiq i would buy one in a heart beat :slight_smile:

What size do you guys recommend me going for?. considering i like to draw on a large scale, should i go right into the 9x12 widescreen? Or can i get away with a smaller size…

as posted before… i dont mind buying a used one if available :slight_smile:

#20

get one as big as you can afford-- I have the same “problem” (like to draw from wrist, not from finger, thats why i had to wait until the Cintiq became 21" before jumping on that wagon).
Wacom Tabletts are practically indistructible, so used ones are no problem (but it might be hard to get the widescreen then as its pretty new).

Olli

#21

Assuming that you’ve kept your pen in “pen mode”, as opposed to “mouse mode”, then this isn’t possible. Either there’s a part of the tablet that you aren’t using, or the distortion just isn’t bad enough to notice.

#22

Thanks to all the questions that I’ve also had.

Though, I have one more question I believe.

When you actually have the (i.e. 4x5 tablet) and configure it to your computer. Is that space a ratio to the entire display of your computer? For instance. Let’s say we put out pen to the ege of the space, and move it around the entire space from corner to corner, on the screen will it only paint in a 4x5 box? or will that box be the size of your screen? I hope you know what I am asking, is the actual 4x5 space a definitee 4x5 space on the computer or does it fit the entire screen’s size making it a ratio?

And in terms of the Graphire, once you begin sketching, is it smooth or is it jittery? How happy were you with your actual movements come out on the computer?

#23

Yes the tablet will match your screen. the 4 corners of the tablet will match up with the 4 corners of your monitor, allowing you to paint on the entire screen. the problem with a small tablet is, if your like me who draws on a large scale, using a 4x5 tablet you are forced to draw these small strokes on the tablet, but on the screen it comes out larger/longer. Due to of course the difference in scale…As far as jitters and lagging using the graphire i didnt notice anything like that at all, it ran perfectly fine for me, updated as i touched the pad. but 4x5 is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small for anyone i think, it took me some time to get use to it, but after about 20 min it felt great. but was just too smalllllllllllllllllllllllll …

hope that helps…

#24

thanks alot :slight_smile: that’s perfect. is there an option, perhaps, that will alow me to only paint in a 4x5 square on a 1:1 ratio? and then if i want to hover i can hover up then pick it up and bring it back down and hover up some more to go to other areas…

#25

Tell you what, go grab a Graphire to test if the tablet works the way you want it to. After all, at $80+ (street price) bundled with Photoshop Elements and Painter Essential, it’s a steal. It’s not as great as the higher end ones but still very capable, and the working mechanism is the same.

#26

that’s very true, i’m also happy about the painter essentials portion of it :slight_smile: i am going to buy one today

#27

Got my graphire 4 today :thumbsup: Playing around with the settings right now. Did feel somewhat awkward at first.

#28

If you are going to do any realistic drawing, get at at least 6x8. The trick is to use it in portrait mode. Although 8 inch vertical is still less than the 9x12, but it’s still pretty close when you can map it to 3/5 of of the screen. Just do some calculation to make sure that you have 8/6 or 1.333 aspec ratio. ie if the vertical resolution is 1200, set 1200*6/8=900 as width. If you don’t intend to carry the tablet around and the price is not concern, 9x12 tablet is still a good choice.

As for 4x5, gosh… imagine that you have that tablet and a 19 inch monitor. Every 1 inch draw on tablet is almost 3 inch line on screen, a 3 inch draw shows 9 inch line… The tablet is great if you intend to use it for mouse and fixing some picture. But forget about any realistic sketch.