Wacom Bamboo. What am I doing wrong?

<p>I recently bought a Bamboo Create to help with photo editing. I'm having a horrible time with it, and based on all the glowing descriptions, I figure I must be missing something.</p>

<p>It seems like dragging the pen across the tablet surface is like dragging the mouse with the left button clicked and dragging the pen a bit above the surface is like moving a mouse without the button clicked. So whenever I'm doing an edit and get to the end of the usable area, I lift the pen to move it and end up pulling the point far away from where I need it. Trying to get it back where I need it takes me beyond the usable area so it's just frustrating.</p>

<p>It seems to pick up the pen from more than an inch above the surface when I just want to move the pen and not the cursor. It acts like sometimes the area I touch matches up with an area on the screen but other times it's just relative positions.</p>

<p>When I try to position the pointer and lower the pen to touch the surface the pointer on the screen jumps several inches as i lower the pen and ends up nowhere near I need it.</p>

<p>I'm left handed and use a mouse right-handed, so it's at the point where i use the mouse to position the pointer and then start moving the pen to actually edit the image, but that's very cumbersome and I'd rather just use the mouse for everything.</p>

<p>I haven't found anyone else describing this issue and people seem to love these tablets so I must be missing something, but it feels like the tablet is totally unusable. </p>

<p>I also find it very annoying that there's no edge for the sensitized area, I just slide the pen as I edit and it stops working when I hit the arbitrary boundary. Shouldn't there be a lip or at least a change in texture?</p>

<p>Can anyone off suggestions of why it behaves this way for me or how they actually use the thing?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Obvious question here: have you gone through the preferences panel to set it up the way you want, especially the Hover Click vs. Click and Tap modes?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>" It acts like sometimes the area I touch matches up with an area on the screen but other times it's just relative positions."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This is not normal, it should always match the area on the screen.</p>

<p>A pen doesn't work like a mouse. You can't pick up a pen and reposition it and keep the cursor from moving.</p>

<p>Every spot on the screen is mapped to a place on the tablet and you need to get used to where those spots are. One thing I learned was that the tablet needs to be farther from your body than your mouse pad. Otherwise when you are touching to bottom of the tablet, you elbow gets too close to your body and your movements become awkward.</p>

<p>Frankly I never got used to it and gave up the tablet after 8 or 9 months trying to use it.</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

<p>My Intuous 4 pen acts sort of like a mouse, as I have it set to Click and Tap mode. The pen does not move the cursor when it's more than about an inch above the tablet. So, if I pick the pen up, and place it on another part of the tablet surface, the cursor jumps just like picking up a mouse.</p>

<p>Not everyone loves these tablets. I don't have the Bamboo, I have the Intuos 3, but I've never had any great love for the pen. I doubt that I use it more than a couple times a year. I'm not knocking Wacom tablets, especially since I don't own the latest version, just saying love for them isn't universal, it's universal minus one at least.</p>

<p>I would recommend book "The Photoshop and Painter ARTIST TABLET Book"<br>

Subtitle: "Creative Techniques in Digital Painting",<br>

Author: Cher Threinen-Pendarvis.<br>

Published by Peachpit Press.<br>

Dedicated to Watcom tablets and examples for Photoshop and Painter.</p>

<p>With using tablet is like with teaching to play violin. For the first year it is a drudgery, but then after that, you will love it.</p>

<p>Or it is like moving to Alaska. The first 5 years is difficult, but once you get used to, you will not want to live any place else.</p>

<p>Silly question, do you have "Touch" turned on or off?</p>

 

<p>you never need to drag the pen on the surface (common beginner mistake) you need to lift your pen and draw *in the air* or move your pen across the tablet without touching it (you can rest you hand on it) basically its exactly like using a real pen.. you put your hand on the tablet, move the pen in the airto move where you need, press and write.</p>

<p>if you want to move something, you move over the air, press the tablet with the pen to touch your folder, and while pressing the tablet you move your file, then you lift your pen and the file is drop.</p>

<p>After a couple of hours you should get the concept, after a day or 2 you will be way better. If my little 6years old daughter got the concept, you should too ; )</p>