Wacom Tablets

For those who use them do you feel they are worth the investment and if so what size do you find best? Any tips?

Absolutely worth the investment. Anyone who does more than just basic adjustments would benefit from using one. Time savings, control, comfort, and ease of use are the main plusses. The pressure-sensitive pen is much more intuitive to use than a mouse and gives you much more control. Making complicated selections is a chore using a mouse, no problem using a pen, plus it's much faster. Certain effects or corrections can be made as light or strong as you want simply by changing the pen pressure. It ends up being like drawing, which is natural and intuitive, rather than just a series of mouse clicks. And some things that are easy with a pen are impossible to do with a mouse.

Plus, a tablet is just more fun to use than a mouse.

As for "best" size, my own view is that the small tablets require too much scrolling of the image as you're working on it, and the large tablets require a lot of arm movement. I have a Wacom Intuos4 Medium tablet, which has about a 6x9" active area, and I find that to be a very comfortable size to work on. The pressure sensitivity of the tablets varies by model - the Wacom Bamboo has 512 levels of sensitivity, the Intuos3 has 1024, and the Intuos4 has 2048. That can be a deciding factor too, depending on just what you want to do with a tablet.

I suggest some research before buying an Intuos4 tablet. I bought mine about 3 months ago after reading some similar glowing reports on this site. I got the medium like Manley but don't use it much. There is a learning curve to say the least. And I have a lot of years using the mouse to brush and select so it is not really a big improvement for me to use the tablet.

There are also quality control problems with Wacom products to consider. I found that the nib was a loose fit in the pen and it makes it hard to be precise when brushing or even moving the sliders to a particular value as the value will change as you lift the pen from the tablet surface. So, instead of a 15 point increase in contrast you may get a 13 to 18 point increase depending on how you lift the pen.

I called the customer service at Wacom and described the problem and they sent me a new Grip Pen which is only slightly better than my original one. I conclude that their Chinese partner is incapable of making a precision instrument.

I went to the Wacom forum to see what other users experiences were. http://forum.wacom.eu/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1438
It seems that for the problem discussed in this 67 page thread a new accessory was marketed.http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Intuos-Medi ... B0041FB176

Buyer beware.

I consider the wacom almost a necessity for fine retouching but mostly it is just a lot of fun. It is quite easy to learn since you are just using a pen much as a normal pen. Be aware that There are some amazing software bundles that are a bargain. You can now get Corel painter (full version-$300 value) which is a fun and amazing program with a medium (the best all around size) tablet for $400 on Amazon. Also once you get a tablet you get PS elements free which has a special upgrade price of $300 to get the full CS version of photoshop so the tablet is almost free if you need photoshop.

I have an Intuos 3, A5 size. It is really useful but to work efficiently with it I think you need to use it all the time, replacing completely the mouse. And if it's not that difficult to learn there is a distinct step, before and after the tablet. This change is not really obvious.

In the end I constantly grab the mouse for a "quick" little thing and the tablet stays in the corner of my desk most of the time...

If you can borrow one for a few weeks it would be ideal.

Hey Greg, I have an intuos3 A5-wide, just a little larger than the current intuos4 medium, and it seems pretty much an ideal size. If I were buying again I'd be very interested in the wireless version that I see on the wacom website though.
It's a wonderful device for making selections and painting layer masks in particular, for which I find it very intuitive, much more so than any mouse.

Can't live without it, I have a 6x7 size, for a wide screen you might want to consider their wide models as it maps to the screen. I find I don't use the pressure sensitivity feature much, I find it more intuitive to set the brush size and get the effect over the full width of brush, The pen makes making selection a breeze compared to a mouse. I use it it for most of my general computer work as well as PS. I generally leave a mouse off to the side and use that as well, often using it left handed (I'm R-handed) for the side buttons and also to access right click which is a bit easier on the mouse than the pen. I'l us ethe pen in the RH and click the mouse with the left, suprisingly easy to train yourself to do that.

I have neck problems made worse by sitting at the PC for too long, I find the tablet works much better for me the hand position in operation is much more natural.

Thanks all - one of the reasons I am considering one is severe tendon pain in my right hand from 12 hours a day mouse use..

This is exactly why I switch back and forth. In fact I have my Macs set up for left hand usage and my PC for right hand. Even on the iPad I switch back and forth. It only takes a couple of days to get just as good with your left hand as you are with your right.

I've been using Wacom tablets for years, starting with the original Intuos, and currently own an Intuos3 6x8, and wouldn't ever go back to a mouse.

Yes, there is a learning curve, but it's very much worth it, especially from an ergonomic standpoint - between work and personal use, I've spent most of my waking hours over the last decade sitting in front of a computer, and have no RSI issues at all. I would agree that you need to commit to the tablet and get rid of your mouse, just to keep yourself from reaching for the mouse because it's more familiar.

I've recently added the Apple Magic Trackpad to my setup, so for most tasks, I have the Wacom to the right of my keyboard, and the trackpad flush against the left side of the keyboard. I often use my left hand to scroll web pages (which are on a second monitor to the left of my 27" iMac) and to perform some other operations that work better with the trackpad than the Wacom pen.

Rick

My problem is a tendency to pinch nerves in my neck which seems to be exacerabted by mouse use. Train yourself to use use both hands for the mouse, the tablet is a good solution as you are using different muscle groups. You might also like to try a bar mouse, I have one at work bought because of the issues I was having with my mouse arm, it makes a big difference I find and works well for situations where I am using the keyboard, such as webbrowsing and general non PS related computer use. Use the bar mouse for general use and the tablet for PS:

http://www.ergonomicsnow.com.au/products/rollerbar.html

or this is the model I have:

http://www.sitbackandrelax.com.au/produ ... cts_id=758

The key is to vary the tasks, take REGULAR breaks, and be sure you have an ergonomically good seating position, this would include an excellent chair and your desk and screen adjusted to the right height. And definitely move you mouse to the left hand if you use it in conjunction with one of these devices.

The best way to get comfortable with the tablet is to cage your mouse for a week or two and use only the tablet. You will be amazed at how easy it is to use after that.

I use a Intuos4 medium and I could not live without one. Excellent tool!

If you do a lot of editing, a mouse will kill your hands. Force yourself to use the pen for a week without touching a mouse.
I can not use a mouse at all now. Keep your pen away from your dogs. Those boogers are expensive and mine love to chew them up.

After using all sizes, I think the smaller the better. Your hand has to move less and I find making selections etc much easier. I use the int. 3 in both the 4x5 and I think a 5x7.

I have used an Intuos3 A5 model for years now and would not want to miss it anymore. With the pen, more precise retouching is possible and it puts way less pressure on your hands and wrists. Sure, there is a learning curve, but it works very intuitive and I learnt rather quickly. The tabelt has almost completely replaced the mouse. Recently, I have started to use the mouse again for web browsing, but that's only because it's a Magic Mouse on a Mac (recent convert) which works very fine with the two-finger sweep to browse back and forth.

Besides using the tablet, I have found myself using more and more keyboard shortcuts, especially for Photoshop. I have created some personal ones, e.g. for Flatten Image. Takes a lot of strain away!

Don't hesitate and get a tablet, you'll never look back. But do take (and give it) the time to navigate the learning curve.

I have the large tablet, and as others have said there is a definite learning curve... and probably like many others I haven't taken enough time to learn to use it fully. The tablet is better than a mouse is many instances, the natural ability of the wrist and fingers flowing along a given line, etc. The mouse requires arm movement, more of a push-pull motion. The pressure-sensitive pen easily delivers variable line width; nothing like it with a mouse.
My wrists like many others are starting to get problematic despite a worthy setup.
For brushing and line work the pen can't be beat. The tablet does come with a mouse and either tool can be used (as long as only one is on the drawing surface).
That said, and as others have said... do remember there's a learning curve. Possibly your use of any new software that comes in the door might serve as a benchmark: how patient are you in starting out and learning something different? Though very worthy, the tablet is different.
Big downside of the big tablet is - big space required, 13 x 17" in my case, the drawing surface is 12" wide. It's huge, and easily conflicts with desktop space... the concurrent need for a keyboard, two monitors, tablet and mouse area.
If starting over would I buy it again? No. The smaller tablets (now) strike me as far more practical for a casual user; the full-time artist is probably better suited to the large tablet, or the very expensive live-screen tablet.

I use a large Intuos 4, which is really too large, it just seems like I need the size to cover two 30" monitors. Actually, I think it's because I started out with a large back in the day; I had a 6x8 original that I replaced with the next size up, and I've stayed with the large size ever since (Intuos, Intuos 2, two Intuos 3s, and now an Intuos 4).

The best way I found to get used to it is, as Sandy and Melissa said, to simply put the mouse away for a week and force yourself to use only the tablet. I now switch seamlessly between a logitech mouse, the wacom mouse, or the pen depending on what I'm doing and how my hand/wrist is feeling.

Oh, the precision mode of the Intuos 4 is _great_!

I use the Intuos 3 almost daily for a good deal of my pp work. Seems the right size for my needs.

One of my favorite uses is for signing fine art prints. Whether the signature is on the print or the paper margin (depending on the customer or venue), it is archival in any color that works and guaranteed not to fade before the life of the print. It can even be made to look like graphite in a signature on the margin, and no smudging to worry about.

I use the Intuos4 medium (8"x6") and love it. The amount of control you gain over mouse use is incredible. Highly recommended!

I bought a Wacom Intuous 4 (Medium) a few months ago and couldn't be happier with it. The size is perfect for use with a 24" wide-screen monitor and the programmable Express Keys and Radial wheel are very useful indeed.
Highly recommended.