drawing tablet

Great thread! I too am looking for a tablet for both SL projects and hopefully replace a lot of the other things I use a mouse for.

By the way, for those with problems of carpel tunnel or other strain issues, especially from computer use I would recommend this book:

Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome : And Other Repetitive Strain Injuries

I bought a Medion tablet for 30-40 bucks at this cheapy store called Aldi or something like that and I haven't got any complaints on it.

Ive had that very same medion tablet for a long while now. They are fantastic and great for the value. Yes the wacom tablets are better but im not paying £200 for a tablet tyvm.

Let me give y'all a pice of advice. Buy the best Wacom you can afford. It will be cheaper in the long run, trust me on this. I spent $300 on cheap pads trying to find one I was happy with. The Arpik is ok but 9 x 12 is too big. I spent another $200 in my Wacom Intuos 4 x 6 so that brings the total to $500 on pads to find one I really like. I could have gotten the 12 x 12 for that. Cheap isn't always cheaper. Also, if you decide you don't want the Wacom, you can easily sell it compared to a cheap pad.

I think it depends on how much usage you plan to get out of it. I have a Graphire 2 (the smaller version), and I haven't considered upgrading it yet. But then, I don't use it on a daily basis either.

I would agree with the Graphire 3, though. Graphire pads are excellent in quality and price, and if the 3 is anything like the 2, it's well worth the investment.

The Graphire 2 or 3 are not cheap pads at all. If you have no need of tilt and if pressure sensitivity isn't all that critical then the Graphire pads are great. The Intuos pads are better and you pay for it. I am only offering advice from my experiences. Most any digitizer can make a mark on the screen, its the control, feel and smoothness that sets them apart.

Just watch out for cats, if you get a Wacom tablet. Cats seem to love biting Wacom pens.

Small dogs, too. I bought a graphire 3 for my mother last holiday season. It lasted about 3 days before Peach the poodle turned the pen into plastic spaghetti.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000C4DWQ/ref=pd_cps_e_2/103-2685424-2202244?v=glance&s=electronics&n=541966

im looking into getting this one...can you guys help and tell me if this is good, bad?

I have the same one works like a charm. I highly recommend it.

Oh and longtime no see, DC!

I have both a wacom graphire and a cat

I love both of them.

The tablet - I use very little else nowadays (even pack it with my laptop when i go places )

The pen is fantastic for art work and both the mouse and pen are incredibly comfortable.
(Admitedly the pen takes a little gettng used to - that forefinger toggle button seem a tad too little to start with - but after a few atempts you are up and running )

Add to that all the functions you can put into them (right click menus for preset text - having mouse relative or real etc )

I swear by them.

(The cat I just swear at - constantly - saying "Right where have you hidden it this time" - when I forget to dock the pen - she doesnt like the mouse )

The graphire is a nice tablet -- it is made by wacom, btw.

I still a mouse user, tho. I've tried them and just like the precision of the mouse. And, yes, as some friends tell me, it's like drawing with a potato!!! I LIKE my potato drawings!!! hehe

For me (and for every other tablet user I know), it's not just that the mouse feels "like a potato." It's that the mouse has no built in way to control brush size, angle, rotation, opacity, etc. on the fly. Every time you want to change how your brush paints, you have to stop and physically change the settings. Whereas with a tablet, all you need to do is press harder or softer, tilt or rotate the pen differently etc., just like you would with a real pencil or brush.

The attached doodle was made in about 5 seconds on a tablet. To do the same thing with the mouse would take several minutes because you'd have to change brush sizes several times, and then you'd have to erase in places where 2 sizes meet to make everything look like a smooth fluid stroke.

Also, for tools besides just painting, like clone stamping, healing, burning & dodging, etc., you literally spend hours with the mouse, going over and over your work with multiple strokes, to acheive what would take seconds with a tablet using just single strokes. There's no way around that.

I recently decided I was doing enough graphics work to justify a tablet. Graphire 3 was the way I went for a mix of reasons.

I have to say I still mix and match a mouse and a tablet a bit, although I'm becoming more and more a tablet person, certainly it's now my default tool for PS, click the icon in the dock, make sure the tablet is immediately to hand.

That said I know a professional graphic designer who uses some ancient mouse still, built like a brick - I guess it's all a matter of what we're used to and what feels good for us.

It took me, oh, 3 minutes to get used to the basics of using the tablet, and I'd say, for me, it doubles or more my workrate. For some things it's probably 100 times faster, but for others it's about the same speed, but still more comfortable. Feels odd to be holding a pen/pencil again though lol. I had to handwrite something a couple of months ago, about 4 sides of paper worth, it was the longest I'd held a pen in years, but no longer.

I would highly recommend any of the tablets that Wacom makes. I use mine every single day, and they've never let me down. I started with the Graphire (which runs new for about $100) and worked my way up to the Intuous 2 (It was $250 when I bought it, but I'm not sure what the price sof the Intuous 3 is).

While you can do anything on a mouse that a wacom can do, you can do it -easier- and more effectively with a wacom. Some benefits include pressure sensitivity (which with programs like Photoshop you can use it in a variety of ways), button customization, faster and more effecient use of your time (instead of switching fading settings, you can do it automatically with pressure and tilt sensitivity. A lot of the newer wacoms even have programmable buttons.

The big differences between the wacoms are the sizes and the sensitivity. The graphires are usually smaller, and don't have the sensitivity of the more expensive wacoms. If you're not trying to be a professional artist or digital painter, or you're just starting out, the graphire should be just fine.

The intuous series has a much higher sensitivity for it's pressure, tilt and some of it's other options that escape me right now. I think the Intuous comes in larger versions than the graphire (don't quote me on that though). The Intuous also has function buttons at the top of the tablet that will do things like open new images, open existing images, saving images, closing, deleting etc.

I do have to say that if you want to be serious about your art, get the largest one you can afford. Size does matter as far as a tablet goes. They won't make your art -better-, but it will make it easier to use. A large, clear montior would help as well.

Here's some examples of the works I've done with my wacoms:

Intuous 2 and Photoshop: http://www.deviantart.com/view/8681869/
Graphire and Intuous 2 (upgraded the wacom before I finished this one) http://www.deviantart.com/view/12962258/
Graphire: http://www.deviantart.com/view/5433180/
Graphire: http://www.deviantart.com/view/5042262/
Intuous 2: http://www.deviantart.com/view/13356711/
Intuous 2: http://www.deviantart.com/view/12383221/

These should give you an idea of what you can do with a tablet, which makes it much faster and easier than a mouse. Most of these images were done without the use of any filters, just old fashioned painting know-how. So they do show what the tablet is capable of as opposed to what the program is capable of.

Hope that helps.

I've been thinking about a Wacom Cintiq. Drawing right on the screen would be incredible.
However, for the price, one can buy a complete Tablet computer with pressure sensitivity.

Is there any reason to buy one or the other?

I got a smaller Wacom one for about $70 about 3 years ago and used it a lot, the pen ended up breaking (Tho I stepped on it, user-error not manufacturer)

I used it and loved it, but I had minor problems drawing EXACTLY where I wanted to, had about 90% of the accuracy of a mouse for me. Might be the particular tablet I was using, who knows. I have been thinking the same thing tho myself, might just save up and get a pen/pressure sensitive monitor setup instead of another stand alone tablet, because not only would it be more accurate to draw exactly where I want to on the screen, it would be cool.

If I could afford a Cintiq, I'd have one. It's so cool.

Never having used one though, I do have a few hypothetical concerns about it:

1. Hand prints. I gotta wonder how you can work with your pen hand right on the screen without smearing prints all over it.

2. Viewing. When working off the screen on a tablet, your hand doesn't block your view of your work. When drawing right on the screen though, your hand will be in your way much of the time. This isn't a problem with natural media because you can kind of feel what you're doing, but a stylus and a glass screen don't give much tactile feedback.

3. Video performance. I think it goes without saying that the Cintiq probably shouldn't be your primary monitor, which means if you're already a dual monitor user like me, and you like your workspace the way it is, you're gonna now have to have 3 screens. For most of us, that means using a splitter since most video cards only have 2 outputs. Splitters can greatly impede performance.

I'd still get one if I had the money because I think it's just such a cool peice of equipment, but I do think my concerns are important. Out of curiosity, anyone have a Cintiq? Any comments?

Beautiful work, Jakkal!

I used to have a Wacom A4+ at work and absolutely loved it, but when I went out on my own I had so many expenses that the Wacom had to fall away.

I eventually missed it so that I got a Genius 8x6 tablet. It will never beat the Wacom, but for a 1/6th of the price it was a good investment.

If you want to do serious painting etc, I'd say don't even think of anything other than a Wacom, but for the drawing I need to do as well as deep etching etc, the Genius works like a charm.

I got my laptop last week and is already thinking of getting a Genius for it, cause I am already bored of having to swop it between machines.

and I forgot to say...

The Genius is also a good investment for cat owners, since my two cats pay no attention to it. I think they think a Genius is beneath them.

A wacom on the other hand...

http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13191

The link above is to an interesting forum discussion dated May 2004 on this question, and containing links to further information. In particular, check out the "I am an artist. Will the TabletPC work for me?" link:
http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12320

I'm not very conversant about current tabletpc feature sets, but the issues raised in the first thread would seem to remain relevent as questions to consider when comparing a tabletpc to the Cintiqs.

The basic issues appear to be:

1. How much pressure sensitivity do you require?
Depending on the model Cintiq you're looking at, you can get 1024 or 512 levels. At the time the thread above was posted, the best a tabletpc could offer was 256.

2. Screen Size.
Cintiqs measure diagonally 21" or 17", compared to a typical 14" on a tabletpc.

3. How long until this $1500-$2500 purchase becomes obsolescent?
With the Cintiq, you're getting an input peripheral which will likely remain state-of-the-art for a long time. With a tabletpc, you're buying a computer.
At first glance, a tabletpc would appear to be the more immediately versatile choice. However, if the tablet cannot be easilly upgraded to remain current with studio requirements in CPU, RAM, ports, etc, over the course of several years (and I'm thinking here, maybe half a decade or so), then the Cintiq would actually be the more versatile long term.

The consensus from most of my reading is that a tabletpc is OK -- but only just OK -- for occassions where mobility is required, but the Cintiq was regarded as preferable for completed studio work.
To my thinking, much of the decision would rest around whether the primary motivation for the purchase is to acquire a long-term professional artist's tool, or to acquire a mobile computer with ancillary capabilities inviting to an artist. In many respects, it's reminiscent of the question, "Why should I buy a digital camera when I can get a handheld that includes a camera?"

I haven't gotten around to buying one yet, but eventually I'll be purchasing a Cintiq, mostly for the size and obsolescence issues.

Tablets...very satisfied

I love my tablet too. I purchases the 9 X 12 , but you don't really need one that large to draw. I use mine for graphic design school.

Jasmine Paz