Ask Cerena: A Quick Guide to Graphics Tablets

22 min read

Deviation Actions

cerena's avatar
By
Published:
4.9K Views
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

So you want to buy a graphics tablet, do you? Congratulations! You will soon be taking your digital artwork to the next level.

I see lots of people coming into #DigitalMedia asking about tablets, so having done lots of research when purchasing my own (a wonderful little Intuos 2 6"x8"), and having interacted some with the Wacom company, I figured I could be of some help!

I created this guide to answer general questions about tablets, tell you some tablet-buying secrets, and give you my personal advice about tablet purchases. I have owned my Intuos2 for five years now, and am extremely pleased with my purchase, so I want everyone to experience the same! If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to answer all I can!

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:


First, when purchasing a tablet, there are some things to consider:
:bulletpurple: What am I going to be using this tablet for?
:bulletpurple: What is my budget for purchasing a tablet?
:bulletpurple: What size tablet do I need?


The answers to these questions will help you determine the model and size of your future tablet!


:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:


:bulletpurple: What am I going to be using this tablet for?</i>

Traditionally, people think of graphics tablets as a resource for digital painters or illustrators, but in reality this is only one function out of hundreds for tablet users. Whether you are doing digital photography, taking vigorous notes in meetings, or just doodling in your spare time, a tablet can be a great asset. I only recommend one brand of tablet, and that is Wacom (for why, see below). Now, Wacom has several models available for different price ranges and to suit different kinds of tablet use.

:bulletgreen: Bamboo and Bamboo Fun ... anyone can own a tablet now!...
:thumb73880805::thumb71533272: BAMBOO FUN by Lyurii

For the average consumer, Wacom has a new model called Bamboo. The Bamboo tablet is intended for use by "everyday people." These tablets have lower pressure sensitivity than the professional grade tablets (512 levels vs. 1,024), and are best used for casual browsing, light sketching, marking of documents or taking notes, and photo editing. There is no pen tilt recognition, no application specific settings, and no alternate pen types. The Bamboo also has a lower resolution.

The Bamboo comes in two types: the Bamboo and the Bamboo Fun. The Bamboo Fun is essentially the Bamboo with added software, an option for a "medium" size (Bamboo only comes in "small"), a mouse, and color options. There is a comparison chart here that indicates the differences between Bamboo and Bamboo Fun, also compared to the Intuos model.

The Bamboo starts at $79 (small) direct from Wacom, where the Bamboo Fun starts at $99 (small) or $199 (medium). The small size is roughly 6"x4", the medium roughly 8.5"x5". This is a good option if you are looking for a tablet to "goof around with" or to primarily take notes, but would not be a good option for those looking to do quality digital graphics (other than light photo editing).


:bulletgreen: Graphire BT ... the tablet next door...
:thumb63399302: Multiracial Computer Dating... by ferretworld

For those of you who own a Graphire, you'll notice Wacom has updated it's design lately. The GraphireBT now comes with BlueTooth(R) technology standard, allowing you to use your tablet wirelessly--no chords to get in the way of your frantic scribbling! The Graphire is a great purchase for the artist looking for a cost-friendly alternative to a professional grade tablet. The pressure sensitivity, however, is the same as the Bamboo, so this tablet is not nearly as sensitive as the Intuos model (512 levels vs 1,024 levels). It comes with a standard pen (no grip), but does not feature application specific settings, pen tilt recognition, accessory upgrades, or touch strip. However, Graphire users get access to software deals, including some free software. Overall, the Graphire is a good tablet for the casual user, or for one under budget constraints, however the lower pressure sensitivity means the artist has less control with this tablet than with the Intuos. This limits the effects you can get out of the tablet, but most users may not notice the difference. Many successful artists use graphire tablets, although they often upgrade once they can afford it.

The GraphireBT only comes in one size these days, 6"x8", which is just fine (see below on sizes). It starts at $249 direct from Wacom, and comes in steel gray.


:bulletgreen: Intuos ... sexy and sophisticated...
:thumb12851562: Intuos by b4silio

This is the mother of all tablets, in my humble opinion. Okay, so maybe not, but it's pretty close. The Intuos line is intended for use by graphics professionals. This tablet works specifically with many programs that are designed for its use--Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, and "over 100 other leading software applications." With the Intuos, you have the ability to customize settings on your tablet to coincide with various programs. This is huge, because if you (like me) have a dual-monitor set up, you want to be able to set your tablet to work across both or part of both screens relative to the program you are working in (more below on application specific settings).

These days, the Intuos is even sexier. It has a high pressure sensitivity setting (1024 levels), allowing for dynamic control of brush opacity and size (and more). It has express keys for quick programming of shortcuts, as well as a touchstrip which allows you to tap on the function you need (open, cut, copy, undo, etc! even changing the pressure or mode of the pen). The ability to tap part of your tablet for a quick undo is unbeatable. The Intuos comes with a grip pen for all your ergonomic concerns, as well as a fancy mouse (you put the mouse on the tablet, and it works, unsurprisingly, like a mouse). The driver for the Intuos is easy to customize to your own unique needs. The tablet's pressure sensitivity also extends all the way past the edges of the touch area, so that you can maintain nice lines all the way to the edge of your screen.

The Intuos comes in sizes from 4"x6" to 12"x19", and now comes in special "widescreen" sizes such as 6"x11". The 6"x8" model I recommend starts at $329. It comes bundled with software including Photoshop Elements 4, Corel Painter Essentials 3, and Nik Color Efex Pro 2 IE (WTF?), as well as a quick start CD guide. This is the tablet I can't recommend highly enough for anyone serious about digital media.


:bulletgreen: Cintiq ... ooh shiny new (and sometimes useless)...
:thumb63786723: la ninia y la morza by 00mrz

I suppose I have to talk about the Cintiq as well. Personally, the Cintiq seems like a far too expensive option even for a professional user. This is because the Cintiq is really just an Intuos with the ability to work on screen. The ability to work on screen is great for those wanting to avoid the inevitable learning curve of tabletude--you don't want to waste your time learning hand-eye-coordination of tablet to screen for three weeks, so you purchase the Cintiq because you'll be able to "see what you're doing." Fantastic. The Cintiq, however, has the same amount of pressure sensitivity, and exactly the same features as the Intuos, with the exception of working on screen and a 21.3" width. So you are essentially paying over $2000 for a fancy monitor. Okay, you're a technowhore with cash to throw around, and so that works out for you. But there are problems with the Cintiq that arise.

Because the Cintiq is a screen system, the pressure sensitivity must be constrained to the area of the screen--there is no way for Wacom to make the pressure sensitivity expand beyond the edges. One user reported drawing lines on his Cintiq with a ruler as a test. The lines curved strangely towards the edges of the screen. Extension of the pressure area past the edges on the Intuos guarentees uniform sensitivity over the whole tablet area, so the Cintiq is crippled at the sides of the screen. This isn't a huge deal, since you probably are drawing toward the center anyway, and the wobbliness is constrained to the edges of the screen where you won't be working. But it still forces one to reconsider a $2000 increase when the Intuos just kindof works better (there is always the risk of dead pixels with Cintiq). The Intuos isn't a monitor substitute like the Cintiq can be, however, so there is that to factor in. But I wanted to make you aware of the Cintiq's limitations before the "ooh shiny new" factor carjacked your wallet. Don't get me wrong, it's a blast to use--I'm just not willing to spend the extra two clam on a "good time" when my Intuos is so sexy. The Cintiq is a good option for professionals interested in shiny desk-bling, and for those wanting to work on screen.


:bulletpurple: What is my budget in purchasing a tablet?
This is important to consider. If you want a tablet, right now, can't wait, but you don't have money for a higher quality tablet, you have to consider how you are using the tablet. If you want high quality graphics, you have to look for a high quality tablet, and thus the price will be higher. But you also don't want something completely outrageous (*coughcintiqcough*). Be aware that you are making an investment in this tablet. Wacom tablets are superb in that they last a very long time (see about Wacom below), and the higher quality tablets will do you more good in the long run. So if you are wanting to buy a good tablet, you may just want to save up your money and do the whole "delayed gratification" thing, because it will pay off in the end.

Students, however, are miserable and starving and can't pay rent, let along afford a tablet. But I have good news! If you are a registered student (high school or college), you might be eligible for discounts as a student. Check your campus store to see if they sell Wacom tablets and what the student discounts are. Also, Academic Superstore is a fantastic place to save tons of money on software and hardware, including Wacom tablets bundled with extra software! An Intuos3 6"x8" ($329) bundled with Corel Painter (well over $400) goes for around $289 on AcademicSuperstore.com, for instance. All you have to do it provide proof of being a registered student (and many colleges are already in their database, so it is often easy to verify online now!). That's the tablet buying secret for the day. :3


:bulletpurple: What size tablet should I buy?</i>
This is the question I hear the most, and the answer I am most ready to give. The size of your tablet depends on your needs, but this is my take on it: Huge tablets are UNNECESSARY. Hugely so :D You do not need a 12"x12" tablet to do high quality, high resolution work! In fact, the larger tablets can be a pain, because they are unwieldy (so not as portable) and you have to swing your whole arm around to get across the screen, which makes it hard to use as a mouse (and for graphics). Size does not guarantee worth, in this instance. However, you also don't want a tiny tablet. I can't imagine using a 4"x6", for instance, because I would feel like my hand was bigger than the tablet. A nice happy medium is the 6"x8", or the 9"x12" (the latter is still too big for me). The 6"x8" is very nice because it is extremely portable (it will fit in many laptop cases--mine sits on top of my laptop in the case), and is very useful for high res images (I do work at 600DPI). If you want a huge tablet to have a huge tablet, go for it, but trying to work on my ex's 12"x12" was ridiculously silly for me, and even though I could afford a large tablet, if I upgrade to a more modern Intuos I will still likely purchase the 6"x8" size, which is a solid endorsement of its usefulness.

Of course, I love my Intuos 2, and it works so perfectly after 5 years ( SOOOO PERFECTLY), I would feel a little guilty buying a newer tablet for the heck of it. Doesn't make financial sense. But there you are.


:bulletpurple: My personal recommendation...</b>
... is the Intuos series, 6"x8", obviously. I bought that type of tablet myself because after all the research and the asking around, that was the tablet that made the most sense to me, and five years later it still makes sense. It is portable, easy to use, and the level of pressure sensitivity still makes me all warm and fuzzy inside after all this time. There are many options for choosing a tablet, and this is just my preferred option, but it's the one I stand firmly behind, both from an owner standpoint and from hearing about others' tablets in the Wacom forums. Yes, larger tablets are sexy, yes Cintiq's are sexy, but I'm the kind of artist who believes you should make the most out of your materials. If you can accomplish the same (or more) with something cheaper, why wouldn't you? Just makes better sense to me. Regardless, Wacom is hard to go wrong with. :)


:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:


FAQ</i>

:bulletpurple: Why Wacom?
Wacom has been making graphics tablets since the 80s, back when home computers were a funny idea, let alone graphics tablets. It is one of the largest producers of tablets, and it focuses on tablets rather than spreading its expertise across many kinds of products, so Wacom knows tablets inside and out. Wacom is considered an industry standard, holding 70% of the worldwide market share on tablets (thanks Wikipedia!), but more importantly, they really freaking care about their customers. I didn't expect to actually talk to anyone, when I called Wacom to ask about pen nibs (I lost mine, because I am a tool). But I spoke with a very nice man named Carlos, who not only told me all about Wacom's history with their tablet users, but also sent me a whole set of pen nibs free of charge, tucked into a nice thank you card (thanks for choosing Wacom!). They go above and beyond for their customers, including in their forums where users can go to expect a prompt response to any questions or comments one may have. Carlos told me that some of the original tablets, sold back in the 90s, are still experiencing daily use--he assured me that if I took good care of my tablet, I could possibly expect lifetime use. That's a pretty big deal, for me. And he's right so far--five years and I still use my baby every single day. I even set my dishes on it while I am eating, which I probably shouldn't do, but the tablet doesn't seem to mind. Why would you purchase from anyone BUT Wacom, when Wacom is so good at what they do?

:bulletpurple: What is pen tilt recognition, and why is it important?
This just means the tablet knows when you are tilting your pen (up to 60 degrees) in a certain way. This is important for brushes that are affected by pen tilt (like in Photoshop). Photoshop gives you the ability to use pen tilt to your advantage by making painting and inking more natural. With pen tilt, your ink lines come out more like they would with traditional inking, because the tilt of the pen would affect the line width etc in real life. It's not vital, but it does make a bit of a difference in handling.

:bulletpurple: What are application specific settings, and why are they important?
Application specific settings just means you can change the pen options relative to applications, so that when you open a program you have certain settings (like added pressure, screen size, etc) already in place. For me, this works out, because I have a dual monitor setup--but one monitor is old and crappy, and one is shiny new. So I stretch my photoshop window across both screens so I can keep my color wheel and layers windows on the old screen and use the whole area of the new screen for actual painting. I have my settings so that the Wacom driver recognizes when I am using Photoshop, and stretches the screen area across both screens accordingly, but when I'm using Paintchat I have the tablet restricted to one screen. Changing the amount of screen governed by the tablet changes the aspect ratio of your movements, so when you stretch across two screens you will have to adjust your hand movements accordingly. This isn't terribly hard, once you've used a tablet for more than a couple weeks. :)

:bulletpurple: Why Intuos over Cintiq?
Just a personal preference. I'd rather save the money I could spend on fancy Cintiq and just buy a bigass Mac monitor, or a laptop, or clothes, or food... something I would consider worth the money. It's not that the Cintiq isn't worth the price tag of $2499, it's just that the Intuos works the EXACT SAME WAY, and being able to work on screen (at the risk of dead pixels and not-quite-accuracy) isn't worth buying a Cintiq over an Intuos, for me. Plus, I think it's a bit of a crutch, secretly. Yes, training yourself with hand-eye-coordination to use a tablet takes a little longer than just being able to work on screen, but it doesn't take that long, and it's more accurate in the end. :3 I'll use my $2000 towards a new quad-core, thanks very much. :D

:bulletpurple: Ahhh how do I learn to use my tablet? I can't draw lines right!
OMG I KNOW. So when you first buy a tablet and start using it, you'll experience this strange sensation that you are a COMPLETE idiot, and that you'll never figure out how to get the lines where you want them. Take a deep breath, maybe go have a nice smoke, and relax--this too shall pass. It takes a little while to develop the hand-eye coordination to use a tablet--it's not something instinctual in humans, like, say, hunting down and screaming at your cat when she eats the insulation under the dishwasher. Yeah, true story. But stick with it, and you'll get better and better, and more accurate.

The trick is this: Don't try to do lineart on your tablet straight off. Stick to doodles and sketches, and colouring in lines done by hand. You can scan lines or use someone else's lineart (only if posted for the purpose of colouring, so follow their rules) to colour to get practise at working with a tablet. This way you can actually accomplish something earlier in the learning process, so you don't feel like you just bought something really expensive that you can't use. My tablet sat in my room for a month when I first got it, because I was so disgusted by my own inadequacy. The key is just pushing past that, because once you do you'll wonder how you ever lived before using a pen as a mouse. :) Try painting something abstract, play with colours, but don't worry about accuracy at first, because it's just not likely to happen straight off.

:bulletpurple: Do I need a widescreen tablet with a widescreen monitor/dual monitors?
Nope, but if you want one, kudos. Wacom manufactured the new widescreen Wacoms for ease-of-use with dual monitor or widescreen systems, but once you've used a Wacom at all,  it really doesn't seem to matter much if your wacom is a 3:4 aspect ratio and your screen is some wonky ratio. The Wacom drivers allow you to set the screen size or monitor allotment to your tablet, so if you want your monitor to suddenly span both screens, clicky click and it's done. My 6x8 is fine with my dual screens... it just adjusts, and I don't even think about it. It's all very natural, really. @_@ But I'm sure the widescreen would be great for someone using exclusively widescreen or dual monitors or something, because I'm sure it can adjust non-widescreen monitors too. :)


:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:


:bulletpurple: Links</b>
:bulletgreen:Easy Tablet Comparison
:bulletgreen:Wacom
:bulletgreen:Academic Superstore
:bulletgreen:Academic Superstore & Wacom
:bulletgreen:Adobe Photoshop
:bulletgreen:Corel Painter

Wacom Tablet User by nokari

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Thanks for listening! I hope this was helpful to some people. Again, if you have questions, just post a comment and I will do my best to answer them. Good luck with your tablet purchases, and always remember to treat your tablet with care!!
© 2008 - 2024 cerena
Comments102
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
lesReves's avatar
Very helpful, thank you!:D