Curious about graphic tablets

Hi all,

I have been working my way slowly (due to lack of time) into photography and

graphic design. With time my attention has been caught by the idea of graphic

tablets as a input device for when working with photos and graphic elements.

Basically I have 3 questions:

1) one of the reasons why i keep thinking about graphic tablets is that even

though I am an avid pc user and feel more than comfortable with a mouse, I

still feel that I would have a greater control over the movement of my curser

if I were working with a pen. Is this the case for you people? or is this

just an mind trick that makes us think that its easier or more intuituive?

2) Now I have looked into who makes graphic tablets, and one name that does

keep popping up is Wacom. They seem to get great reviews however they are

farely expensive. I have also come accross the companies UC-Logic and Aiptek,

which seem to have interesting products at a much nicer price.

As a side note, I have a windows PC and Mac compatibility is not an issue for

me in the forseeable futur.

Has anyone had experience with these other companies, for someone that is not

a professional but would spend a few ours using the product is there any

reason not to go for UC-Logic or Aiptek, instead of the expensive Wacoms?

3) (promise last one for now:P) I heard somewhere that it is important to have

the Graphic tablet dimensions be in the same ratio as those of your monitor.

I.e. if i have a wide screen monitor I need a widescreen format graphic

tablet. Is that correct?

Thanks for all the great info that you all will provide:)

Robert

Even a small graphic tablet gives remarkable precision and control over cursor movement. It is not a mind trick. The cursor motion is also very smooth. You will find any lasso type selections to be much easier. The Wacom tablets are also pressure sensitive, with different levels of sensitivity depending on model.

I use a 4x5 with a widescreen monitor (only small one available at the time) and a 4x6 with a 4:3 monitor. The tablet software has a setting through which you can map the monitor's dimensions to the tablet surface. At first I thought I'd swap tablets, but the mapping is painless. So, no, it is not necessary to have a tablet match the aspect ratio of the monitor.

I use the Intuos3 model, and highly recommend it. I use it instead of a mouse, for all pc activities. Much less strain on my wrist than a mouse (and I've had a lot of different ones), and little shoulder strain because of the small tablet size.

A graphics tablet offers absolute positioning (the same position on the tablet has the same position on the screen every time)and pressure sensitivity, and the tool is used like a pen. Consequently, a tablet makes best use of the fine motor control you would use when writing or drawing. A tablet is essential if you perform masking and compositing beyond a very elementary level, and works very well for spotting dust (hand-eye positioning). You can use a tablet at the same time as a mouse, which I find better for menu selection (less hand/arm motion is required).

Wacom is the gold standard for graphics tablets. It is compatible with every operating system and all of the major graphics software. The pen (mouse and digitizing) tools are wireless - a great convenience. The cursor appears just by approaching the tablet with the pen, so you can position the pen without the possibility of inadvertent actions on the image. The resolution is very high - nearly 2600 lines/inch at the tablet, much higher than the screen - there is no jerkiness in its action.

In the real world, there are no bargains - you get what you pay for. You might get lucky and find another brand works for you. A wrong decision is not only expensive, by can be physically and mentally painful.

You can map the Wacom to any screen or combination of screens. AFIK, the horizontal and vertical action is always symmetrical. You can also use the Wacom in relative position mode, like a mouse - the pen then moves the cursor from its current position. I can't imagine why you would want that - you would be sweeping the pen across the pad continually to get the cursor where you want it. That's what the mouse is for.

Actually, I prefer a track ball to a mouse. You can put it next to the keyboard or tablet, and it stays put in operation. Get one that works with your hand, not thumb, unless you want to be crippled in a month or two.

I'm glad to here the the Wacom tablets work with all types of screen sizes, because I received the 9 x 12 for my birthday last friday. Its widder than my laptop! Only issues I'm having with it, is when I open a photo up, it says to re-install the tablet software. Anyone know what thats about? Robert the tablets are less expensive through costco.com, and as everyone knows Costco has a great return policy if it doesn't work out for you.

Happy New Year

Andrea, I wish I knew. I get the same message with PS and PSE.

I think it's bogus. I have installed the latest Wacom drivers downloaded from their site.

If you find your arm getting tired of moving around the 9x12, remember you can try mapping to a smaller portion of the pad.

Check on the resolution of the off-brand tablets; they may not be up to image editing. Some of these tablets - including the Wacom Volito line - are more for digital handwriting than PS work. The Wacom tech support guy suggested that an older, serial Graphire would be better than a new Volito2 for PS work. I picked up a serial Graphire for ?15 (GBP) on eBay, and I'm now learning to work with it.

Wacom has Techs to answer questions on their forum. You might want to have a look before you buy.

RE: Dimensions. I use a monitor that turns into portrait mode, but the tablet doesn't seem to recognize it and won't work with the entire area.

Andrea - "I received the 9 x 12 for my birthday last friday. Its widder than my laptop!

I built a special set of hinges for a friend's laptop. They attach to the bottom of the Wacom Graphire and the laptop with two large strips of 3M double sided tape, and open to the right. The pad has four rubber feet on its top so the laptop can be used with the pad folded under it (it's face down when folded under the laptop). I tried to design hinges where the pad would fold on top of the laptop, over the closed screen...

He then stuck a folding copy holder on the screen, so it unfolds to the left, and some folding speakers. He gets a kick out of unfolding this "workstation" at client sites...

I may be the dissenting opinion here but i do not like graphic tablets. My school had a nice

8x10 wacom tablet and i just couldn't get used to doing my work with it. I am much better

with a mouse than i am with the tablet. For the most part though, the corrections i make

in photoshop are color or conversions tot he whole image. I rarely do touchups these days

but even when i did, i liked the mouse more.

I know a lot of people swear by them because of the more natural hand position and the

absolute positioning but i found it to be annoying and awkward.

Maybe it is just me. Do you know anybody who owns one or a place where you can try one

before you buy?

I have used the Graphire4 and the Intuos3.

The Graphire is in my opinion a better tablet. The problem with the Intuos3 is that you have to press really hard to cover 100%, or else you will be surprised with a 80-90% opaque fill. and the surface is a bit too smooth for me and the precise editing I like to do. So putting a paper on the Intuos3 doesn't solve anything either, since the tip of the pen wears out way too fast and less natural. And on the scroll bars, for the larger sizes than 4x6, they are way too far, even the 4x6, the scroll pad is less tackile and harder to use than the nice physical bar right in the middle of the Grapphire4.

You wont miss any resolution with The Graphire4. I wish someone had the numbers and the response time, etc, but I used both and it was not an issue at all. Besides thegraphire4 has a removable face(trace), and a built in pen holder so you have it right at hand. What you might miss is the hot key buttons, but I have the Popmenu programmed to the upper pen button and all of my shortcuts are a click away, and likely faster since the tablet keys are a reach. If all this doesnt matter to you and you want a sleek looking tablet on your desk, then you likely don't do enough editing. One thing I was hoping to see is being able to SAVE the Popup menu shortcuts created, and being able to slow down the pen move...but that would be against the purpose of the tablet 1:1 ratio idea. Anyone know where these settings are so we can save them, since it is such a easy delete, on the pop menu?