John,
I would echo the comments that other have made regarding graphics tablets, I
also cannot imagine using Photoshop without one now. I have used two
generations of Wacom's Intuos line, the current one I have being a small
size Intuos 4.
When I switched from my old 3 series to the 4 series I was especially
interested in the scroll wheel on the tablet itself as I found the older
scroll strips to be occasionally unpredictable in use. The scroll wheel
didn't let me down and I wouldn't want a tablet without that feature now.
The wheel also has center button that lets you toggle through four
programmable functions. The Wacom control panel lets you customize pretty
much any function on the tablet, pen and mouse. A neat feature is you can
have multiple pens setup on the Intuos with different tools assigned
allowing one to simply pickup a different pen to switch functions/tools.
There are also program specific customizations in the control panel.
Regarding size it's a bit of a personal choice between juggling desk space
and hand/arm movement. The latter is important as with pen use the tablet is
typically mapped to the screen, i.e. if you want the cursor top left you put
the pen top left. For me the small size works best though I will note that
in comparison the Intuos 4 is quite a bit larger on the desk for the same
active area than my old series 3. When I switched I initially picked up a
medium size but despite it boasting built in OLED scribble strips to remind
you what is mapped to the buttons but I quickly found I didn't like the size
of the unit and the scribble strip wasn't as useful as I expected (I work by
touch a lot and found larger number of buttons for modifiers harder use so
the temptation to look and see what was on the buttons actually slowed me
down). That said I am now tempted to get the new wireless Intuos which last
time I checked is only available in the medium size. Losing the cord would
be a nice option on my current desk.
As far a price goes I suspect you won't beat B&H by much unless you go with
an eBay seller who may not be an authorized dealer. Should the price point
of the Intuos be too high for you I would imagine the Bamboo line would be a
good option. They don't appear to sacrifice much outside of pen pressure
sensitivity range.
Dan S.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Hudson
Subject: [OM] graphics tablets
Does anyone on the list use a graphics tablet in conjunction with Photoshop
or Elements to help with freehand drawing, dodging and burning and cutting
out ?
If so, are there any recommendations as to brands, price to pay, product
features, etc ?
jh
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