I've been kicking around the idea of getting a wacom tablet for a long time now but I'm still undecided

On one hand I'm not a good artist, I don't do graphic designs or anything as a profession, and I write more than I draw.

On the other hand I do love sketching things but scanning and cleaning up has always ticked me off and I do enjoy making logo's and T-shirt designs and crappy comics in photoshop and spray tags for counterstrike.

The biggest factor is that I've never used a tablet before so I just don't know if it's for me or not and I don't understand the size restrictions on them exactly so what size tablet would I need to be comfortable? 12X12 is expensive but not unreasonably so as hell and huge so I thought 12X9 but do I need it that big even? My instinct is for a 12x12 and I have a high-deff 24 inch monitor and a great comp so no worries there.

Also there are hundreds of online and retail stores that sell wacom tablets, for the 12x12 ranging from 340-560 dollars so I'm not sure which sites or places are trustworthy to buy from or if there are good academic discounts from some.

Thought maybe we had some tablet users here who could give me some advice before I committed to anything.

Thx

I would have to say yes, but thats just because with what i do, Architecture design, you can do really cool quick sketchy drawing and diagrams fast, and you dont get that hard feeling you get from straight up photoshop and illustrator things, plus you dont have to go through the hassle of hours of scanning. That being said, i do a lot of by hand work and scan and a lot of straight vector typ work on the comp. The best presentation use all the tools to get the job done.


So yeah, it may be worth the investment, but that doesnt mean it will take the place of everything you do now. It is just another tool for your tool belt so to speak.

my scanners aslo from a few year old mid range hp all in one printer too so, rather rough transition. Just worried that I won't be able to figure out how to use it or something. Been reading and it seems to have a lot of options in of itself not to mention all the program options that use it.

The one time I used a tablet I loved it, but I3lind's right, it's not going to take the place of everything. I would say its not something you buy if you're just a casual artist/designer.

By any chance, an HP psc 1610 all-in-one? o-o

actually just realized that that was my old one, this one is an epson stylus cx5000.

still, anyone know a good place to buy one that might be cheaper than wacom.com but still have the 2 year warranty?

Cause I have an hp psc 1610 all-in-one, and I spent over an hour on the phone with a technician from India, and nothing was accomplished trying to install the stinkin thing. I redownloaded the disc off the web-site. I tried a driver. I even discovered that for some reason copying the install files (for some reason) makes the install run slightly faster. But the problem remains. It starts immediately with the install, no welcome, no intro, no nothin. And the install freezes at either 0% (if I do nothing) or 96% (if I repeatedly copy the install files, which I still don't know how that worked). D:

I can't draw in real life but am good with photoshop, I also do digital photography.

Tablets are nice, but they take some getting used to. You're not gonna open it up and start doing awesome things with it, obviously. I had one and I couldn't use it at all. They're not easy to use. Its not the same as pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil and sketching something.

I wanted a tablet for years and then finally got one and used it a few times before I got sick of it. Then my kid broke the pencil thing that came with it so now I can't try to use it anymore at all. Honestly, I'm much better at drawing with a mouse now, I've had years of practice doing that.

I say.. if you find a good deal on a tablet, go for it. They can be fun, and I guess as long as theres no one around to break it before you have a chance to get some use out of it, then it won't be so bad. They're not easy, but I'm sure they could be if you spend enough time using them.

I don't remember where I got mine at. Or how much it cost. Its been a couple years. I'm sure you can find a cheap one online somewhere though.

ouch dude.

I dunno seems mostly like people are divided bout it.

I'm not sure about anything anymore!

I think it all comes down to what you can afford. If cost isn't much of an issue, you might as well go ahead and get one. However, if you are worried about the price, maybe a cheaper alternative would do - especially if you aren't a serious artist. *shrug* Mine cost $300 when I bought it a couple of years ago. I ADORE my Wacom. It's good for drawing, photo manips and designing in Photoshop. I'm not a for-profit artist or anything, most of what I do is for myself. Still, I find it was a worthwhile investment simply because of how much enjoyment I get out of it.

As a side: THIS will be mine one day. Mark my words. It's the wet dream of graphic tablets. *drool*

Aww. Well, if you manage to find a cheap one, its not so bad. I've heard good things about them, but I guess its different for everyone. You may get it and not like it, or you may get it and love it. But if you decide to get one, I'd find something cheap, that way if you find you don't like it, it won't be a waste of too much money.

They just take some getting used to. I never had much of a chance to get used to mine before it broke. I'm sure that, given time, I could have liked it. I got a relatively small one, and my biggest issue was room. Any time I'd try to draw something, I couldn't keep it contained in the little tablet space and so it'd screw me up.

But hey, I think tablets are awesome if you can learn to work with them. I'd love to be able to work with mine again, just to practice getting used to it. Maybe someday I can replace the parts I'm missing or something.

If you're a very casual user, you may just want to check ebay for a cheap one, although their Bamboo line is an inexpensive (relatively) starter tablet. I think it's under $100.

I love my tablet and had no significant learning curve with it. Other people say it takes them awhile to get used to the disconnect between drawing on the tablet with their eyes up on the monitor. As they say, your mileage may vary.

Don't be put off by a smaller size too. The 4x5 tablets are very comfortable to work on and don't take up a huge footprint on your desk. The larger tablets are better geared for more technical work and draughtsmanship than illustration.

Again though, if you're a casual user, perhaps a quality scanner might be more your speed and you can pencil and ink a piece before scanning it. Drawing with a mouse is possible (I know, I've done it) but it'll take you longer to learn than using a tablet!! However, colouring with a mouse is fairly doable, even if you get into shading and blending techniques.

Good luck!

Yeah, i think i just creamed a little.......

Thanks kelly

seriously I saw those, wicked sick. Saw a cool trick though where a dude mimicked that with a wacom by placing a projector overhead so the "monitor" was on the tablet, pretty nifty trick.

anyway

I'm still kicking the idea around because I have tons of ideas I sketch out like greeting cards, t-shirt designs, little comic spoofs, abstract concept art for my writing, things like that. But scanning was always a bitch since I draw lots, and lots, and lots of lines over each other as I go along and drawing with the mouse is ok but I dunno, really bothers me. I can't make curves with a mouse to save my life. shading, coloring, cleaning, I've done thins like that and enjoy it very much so and I've even taken a few videos and clipped them into gifs (minor background in video and audio editing) so I love playing around no doubt about it.

I've also taken some painting classes so I understand basic color theory, video classes gave me understanding of angles and lighting and I've taken animation so I've practiced rough sketching to inking and creating motion. I can't remember which class, animation I think, we were forced to do sketches without looking at the pad or taking the pencil off for the whole thing and I'm on my computer all the time with a nice big monitor so my coordination is fairly good.

And if I do get the wacom 12x12 from them directly it's more expensive, comes with the standard bundle, and a 2 year warranty (limited but most are) but it's got a 30 day no question asked return policy.

I guess my chief concerns are if I'll know if I want to keep it in under 30 days, or if a smaller one would work fine, or if there's somewhere that offers the same thing for cheaper but still has all the perks.

It's a weird balance since I've never been an amazing direct artist for painting or coloring but I'm a ok drawers but my fascination with computer based arts (forgot to mention took some 3d design as well) is just really drawing me towards it. No rush on it, checking out some forums, asking some questions, trying to be patient. Hopefully I'll know in the next week or so.

My sister is an artist, and she loves her Wacom. She says A4 is ok for her as it would be too unwieldy/too cramped otherwise. She has no problem scrolling the work area as needed.
Oh, and I borrowed it on occasions to clean up book scans (free distribution, limited run publications on nuclear physics, so it's legal). Works great.

I've tried Cintiq too - it's awesome because it does not require adaptation at all; but it costs half again as much as my PC, and I'm tired of wiping smudges off my laptop display already - Cintiq is more of the same fun for $3500 (damn import taxes). Though maybe I'm just too picky because I cannot fit it in my stuff-buying schedule.

As for choosing between 12x8 and 12x12: go to a shop and ask to see both, then decide.

I think that, if you'd like to get one and you think it'd be advantageous in some way in the long run, then go for it, fo' sho. They're great fun to use, very easy to get used to. If you can draw with a normal pen you can draw with a wacom pen.

I've just semi-recently received a wacom of my own, and I can tell you honestly that they're a great buy. Although I've not used it much, since the Highschool art program I'm in is very much focused on traditional media (Silly IB. 'Superior' my flabby white ass :|), but the few times I have used it its been a delight.

I'd recommend an intuos3 in 6x8 format, because it wasn't redonk expensive, only about 200 euros so...I dunnoez. Convert to dollars, yes? It works great, and the screen size is great for someone who uses them as casually as you're going to.
Don't go for anything more expensive and DON'T go for a bamboo or whatever they're called. Supposedly they're not so great.


Also, the intuos3 is fuckin' sexy. In appearance and in function. Fo srs.

So there, I've spoken my mind.
<3 May teh fwoosh be wiff joo.


Edit: Scratch that. Your monitor's much too large for such a small tablet. Here I was thinking everyone's computer was as sucky as mine. If I were you I'd go for something a leetle beegur.

I'm not very good myself. I have a very unsteady hand and tend just to do illustrations as I'm a horrible designer. (You can click link below for the very best of my recentish stuff).

I used to have a cheapish 12" tablet because I decided I was too cheap for a Wacom. I used it for years before it finally broke and let me tell you: It was shit. I mean it reeeeeeally wasn't very good.

When it broke I got a Wacom. The Wacom is very nice, and has all sorts of functions I still don't understand after owning it for almost 2 years now. The pressure sensitivity can be very hard to figure out at first.
Also, the Wacom is a lot smaller than my original tablet, which I find to be just fine. In fact it's nice that it's not so bulky. I think I have a 6"x8". Anything bigger is just enormously expensive. My hand can't stay controlled for a distance longer than that anyway so there really is no need for anything bigger unless you're looking at a professional tablet pc or something.


Summary: I reccomend a Wacom for the amature doodler, just get a smaller one so that it doesn't cost you the earth.

heh ya that's what I have (see previous post).