Drawing pads

[Steve Grisetti]

I know WACOM is the gold standard, as far as computer drawing pad interfaces are concerned. And those pads start at around $200.

But is there a more casual brand someone knows that does a comparable job at, say, under $100?

Adesso, for instance? or Genius?

[jackfalbey]

I can't speak to the other brands, but my Wacom Intuos3 4x6 is a tremendously useful tool for Photoshop and Illustrator. I could never go back to using a mouse for precision selections or drawing. I still use the mouse for regular program interactions, though; I know some others have switched completely to using the tablet for everything, but I'm too old-school for that!

You should take a look at the Wacom Bamboo tablet, $69.99 at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6823100045

[Chuck Engels]

I just bought the Wacom Bamboo for $99 a month or so ago.
I looked at all of the brands, large ones, small ones, and determined that for me this was the best over all.
It is a 4 x 6 pad with a pen, all I need. Excellent features, works great and takes up little room

[Steve Grisetti]

Wow! That's very helpful, Jack!

[Bill Hunt]

I've been using the Wacom tablets, since the ArtZII (serial 12x12) and have a handful up to the Intuous 3's. I only have one smaller one (4x6), but it sees little use. Some like the smaller size, especially if they draw with their fingers, and not their arm and also for "in the lap" use. I'm a bigger fan of the large tablets with PS, AI and Painter. I hardly ever use the Wacom mouse (all seem too light in my hand) and two are still in their boxes. I would not trade these for anything else that I have tried.

For NLE work, however, I use the mouse for 99% of my work, even Keyframing. If I have to pick a little "handle," even in AI, I'll use the mouse. If I do any "drawing," I will grab a tablet and hook it in (like with my laptop), rather than fight any mouse.

Though I've used mine for decades, I also have to say that I have never considered owning any other brand. I've only used them on others' systems and always am glad to get back to my Wacoms. Other than sing their praises, I can't really help with Steve's question - sorry.

Hunt

[Bob]

There is one other factor going for Wacom that no one has mentioned yet, and that's the driver. Wacom is very aggressive about getting their driver to work with new releases of both the OS and Photoshop. When Photoshop added more tablet support to the brush engine in CS, a new tablet driver was required. I recall seeing messages in the various forums from users of other brands complaining that their tablet didn't work wiht the new functions. Wacom was there with the new driver, others had to wait.

I'm like Bill in that I've used a tablet a long time and I prefer to use a standard mouse rather than the Wacom mouse. But, I draw from the fingers and wrist and prefer the smaller Wacom tablets. The overall dimensions of mine are just sightly larger than a standard mouse pad.

[Bob D]

I think I have a 4X6, but I don't use it that often. I did find it harder to use in a 2 monitor setup. Essentially, the 4X6 covers both screens so making movements on the pad had to be very precise. I also found that if I just leave the mouse on the pad, certain wired mouse functions would not work. I forget exactly what they were, but I had to be sure the mouse was not left on the pad.

Bob D

[jackfalbey]

I don't know about the Bamboo, but with the Intuos you can map all of the tablet to part of the screen, part of the tablet to all of the screen, or any other layout that works for you. And I don't like the Wacom mouse either; it's too light and "mushy" in its response. I love my Logitech G5 laser gaming mouse for its adjustable-on-the-fly sensitivity.

[Chuck Engels]

The Bamboo lets you adjust the pad to any part of the screen, or a single screen of a dual setup, or it can cover both screens.
It also has function buttons that can be programmed to perform any shortcut or action.
I am still working on using the pen alone and not using the mouse at all, it is a tough road though.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I have the Wacom Intuos 6x8.

When I first got it I tried for two or so weeks to use it in total replacement of my (wireless) mouse then gave up.

For NLE work the mouse prevails. In PS the tablet is useful as an additional tool but I still use the mouse about 80% of the time. I suppose it's just that old habits die hard?

[Bill Hunt]

@john,

You are correct about the Wacom drivers. Even back in the ArtZII days, they were right on top of all issues and advances. They seem to always have the latest features in a new driver. Thanks for mentioning that.

@Bob D,

Ah, I had never really thought about my dual monitors and my large tablets. My foray into the 4x6 was for a single monitor setup, but I never felt comfortable with it. It's still around someplace, but even for my laptop, I have a 9x12 (+/-) that I use when I have any PS work to do. Even with it off to the right (in my case), it's still so much easier for me, than a mouse. Most of my systems are dual monitors with the tablet in the V between them. Only problem that I ever had was with an Intuos I (IIRC) and the RF interference with my 21" CRT's. I shielded the heck out of everything, and still got cursor jitter. As soon as the newer Intuous came out, I got one and all was perfect. That tablet just found a home on a single monitor system. All the while, Wacom worked with me on my problem and the necessary improvements were found to be in their (then) latest model. I had one of the first ones shipped. They even made me a good deal on its purchase, because of the time we spent troubleshooting the earlier model. Don't find support like that often these days.

Now, I just need to get a new workstation, so I can buy the latest Wacom!

Hunt

[momoffduty]

Have the Wacom Graphire and coudn't live with out it. Don't use the mouse tho, feels like a time delay to it. Just happened to see it one day at Best Buy and had one for 1/2 off at $50. They were going to discontinue selling them in store, and have online only sales.

How often do you need to replace the nub?

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, I guess the message is clear: It's WACOM or nothing at all.

Now can I ask a very naive question?

How much does size matter? I mean, if you're drawing on a 6" x 4" pad, does that limit your drawing to only a 6" x 4" drawing, or does your pad only represent a small portion of a larger drawing? And how small could you reasonably go before it was no longer useful? (Price, as you know goes up geometrically as the size of the pad increases.)

[nkummer]

Steve,
Under the default settings, the entire tablet area maps to the entire screen area. So if you had a 6”x4” pad, and your monitor was 18” x 12”, then for every inch you moved on the tablet you would move 3 inches on the screen. Because of this, obviously the larger the tablet area then better it is. Of course the trade off is cost. In the last month I got (or more like my wife bought for me) a Bamboo Fun Medium size which is 8.5” x 5.5”. For the work I do it is great. I am sure that if you need it more for a living then larger may be better. When I work with PSE I use it almost exclusively. It sits in front of me and the keyboard is moved away, but still in reach as it is faster to use for some short cuts.

There are several options in the tablet that allow you the remap only a portion of the screen to the tablet, so for instance just the photo area itself. The draw back to this is that you then must either use the keyboard or mouse to select your tools. I do not find this practical.

So in the end I would say that size doe matter.
Norm

[Chuck Engels]

Mine will map to an entire screen, two screens if dual monitor setup, or just a portion of a screen.
I think it really depends on if you will be doing a lot of fine, pixel by pixel editing, or larger projects.
The smaller and more detailed work you will be doing the smaller you want the tablet to be.
I use mine for creating graphics and photo touchups, the small size tablet is great for that.