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Wacom Tablets for Personal and Professional use
Dr. Phibbs McAthey
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
If this could be better posted in an existing thread, lock and let me know!
So, having worked in graphic design for a few years now, but never having access to the fancy tools I see many, many artists using online, I've decided it's time I invest in myself and pick one up.
However, my budget is a bit strained, so I'm wondering about the advantages of an Intuos5 v. Bamboo v. Cintiq v. just getting a damn Surface Pro (as an aside, is there a less expensive answer to a Pro?).
Another avenue I have the chance to explore is getting my work to purchase one for me, and for all intents and purposes it would be mine as long as I'm at the company. In this case price could be less of an issue. The problem is having to justify it. Seeing how the large part of my work is doing layouts for manuals and product bulletins in InDesign with the all-too-frequent cleaning up of technical diagrams and engineering drawings in Photoshop and Illustrator, I have a hard time coming up with any justification that would significantly increase productivity. So I turn to you guys!
So, having worked in graphic design for a few years now, but never having access to the fancy tools I see many, many artists using online, I've decided it's time I invest in myself and pick one up.
However, my budget is a bit strained, so I'm wondering about the advantages of an Intuos5 v. Bamboo v. Cintiq v. just getting a damn Surface Pro (as an aside, is there a less expensive answer to a Pro?).
Another avenue I have the chance to explore is getting my work to purchase one for me, and for all intents and purposes it would be mine as long as I'm at the company. In this case price could be less of an issue. The problem is having to justify it. Seeing how the large part of my work is doing layouts for manuals and product bulletins in InDesign with the all-too-frequent cleaning up of technical diagrams and engineering drawings in Photoshop and Illustrator, I have a hard time coming up with any justification that would significantly increase productivity. So I turn to you guys!
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The intuos is fantastic, and a professional level product. There are many professional artists who prefer it to the Cintiqs even. No hand getting in the way of your art. I've had an intuos for probably 10 years now.
On the other hand, the Cintiq is badass. I've been using them at work for 4-5 years now and its really hard to go home and use an intuos. The connection between brain, hand, and art is so much smoother. They actually just came out with a 13 inch version (which I ordered a day or two ago).
For your professional work, it seems the intuos would probably best. I don't know that I suggest getting a cintiq straight off.
The Surface pro was something I was seriously looking into as well and it seems people really like it.
A cintiq is badass, but super expensive. If you've never even used one before, I wouldn't splurge on it. At least try it out and fall in love with it first.
I have an intuos. That's the way to go for most pros. However, you'll probably be fine with a bamboo. It really depends on how much of a digital painter you are and how much you'll rely on precise pressure sensitivity control.
The Intuos5 was much nicer.
On the work front, any suggestions for putting together a presentation or sales pitch to sell my boss on this?
10"x6.25" for $46
or
12"x9" for $89
Indesign doesn't care if you're pressing hard or soft, neither does Illustrator, so the extra pressure sensitivity you have in the Intuous is wasted on that software.
Points for the Intuous, the stylus feels much nicer than the Bamboo.
I've heard that the Yiynova tablets are pretty good, although they lack the paper-like feel of the Cintiq and don't have the same variety of accessories. They're only 600 bucks for a 19 inch screen, compared to the Cintiq's 2100 for a 21 inch. I'm still going to save for a Cintiq though, because for me the paper-like feel is worth the cost.
• A nice bamboo or Intuos works great for minor painting, but it will slow down design if you don't optimize your workflow (remapping common keys, using the bonus keys).
• Cintiq is way too expensive for someone just doing layout/design. The kinetic "feel" of moving things around on a virtual surface is AWESOME and being able to use it with a keyboard fairly seamlessly is good too (not much adjustment needed). You get the MOST out of a Cintiq if you paint digitally, so the $2,000 + price tag is not easily justified for design/layout.
• Surface Pro I don't recommend for design - it's imprecise for touch interaction, and again the price is steep considering it's not catering to your core job.
For efficiency in general, I'd focus on eliminating whatever slows you down the most. If that's translating sketches to digital workplates, then invest in a good scanner or Tablet. If it's layout and design, remap keyboard stuff and learn as much as you can about shortcuts. If it's polish and content filling, work on finding good pintrest boards or a steadily updated reference folder that has awesome content layout and a breadth of examples for every kind of content node.
Tools are great once you've identified bottlenecks, but It's REALLY important to identify those bottlenecks discretely first. I would document and make SURE that you're actually removing a constraint, especially if it's on your personal dime.
A friend of mine offered to use her student discount to get me a tablet if that's the route I wanted to go. Obviously it would be a little more cumbersome actually getting it in my hands, paying her first and then having her ship it to me (she's in upstate New York and I'm in upstate....Indiana). She didn't elaborate on the savings when I spoke with her about it, but it may be the route I go. I think discount or no I'm going to shoot for an Intuos; it's a professional standard tool I'd be able to learn to use for my creative projects at home, and if for whatever reason I wanted to bring it in to work, it's much more portable than a Cintiq.
Also, today I was bullshitting with my boss and brought up that I'd just picked one of these up and he got very excited, saying that I need to bring it in to work and figure out how/if we can apply it in our daily tasks, and if it proves beneficial he'd like to push for our department to get them. Tomorrow begins my trial run, wish me luck!