Wacom tablets

Firebrand

So I got this Wacom Graphire3 A6 (that's 6x4" I believe) a few years back, and while it's a neat little thing, I haven't got quite as much use out of it as I thought I would.

First, it's a bit too small. This was kinda expected though, I got this one cheap just to try tablets out. I can zoom in or map the tablet to just a portion of the screen and it feels a whole lot better, but working fullscreen feels a bit awkward on my 19" 4:3.

Then I have a problem with its sensitivity. By this I don't mean the range between min and max pressure, but rather it seems that the tablet won't register if I just let the pen glide across the surface. This makes sketching a bit difficult, as I'm used to using very light strokes, and on this Graphire I have to apply a small amount of pressure. Is this any different on the Intuous / newer Graphires?

So, I'm thinking of dumping some cash on a new one, but I'm unsure which one of the models is right for me. I did the guide on the homepage and it recommended me an Intuous, but of course they do, since it costs a ton. I've got plenty of desk space so that's not a problem.

What I'd like to know is which model you'd recommend: Graphire or Intuous, and A5 (9x6) or A4 (12x9)? Especially interested in hearing from people who have tried both Graphire / Intuous and/or different sizes!

Cheers.

RoundBoy

Firebrand wrote:

So I got this Wacom Graphire3 A6 (that's 6x4" I believe) a few years back, and while it's a neat little thing, I haven't got quite as much use out of it as I thought I would.

First, it's a bit too small. This was kinda expected though, I got this one cheap just to try tablets out. I can zoom in or map the tablet to just a portion of the screen and it feels a whole lot better, but working fullscreen feels a bit awkward on my 19" 4:3.

Then I have a problem with its sensitivity. By this I don't mean the range between min and max pressure, but rather it seems that the tablet won't register if I just let the pen glide across the surface. This makes sketching a bit difficult, as I'm used to using very light strokes, and on this Graphire I have to apply a small amount of pressure. Is this any different on the Intuous / newer Graphires?

So, I'm thinking of dumping some cash on a new one, but I'm unsure which one of the models is right for me. I did the guide on the homepage and it recommended me an Intuous, but of course they do, since it costs a ton. I've got plenty of desk space so that's not a problem.

What I'd like to know is which model you'd recommend: Graphire or Intuous, and A5 (9x6) or A4 (12x9)? Especially interested in hearing from people who have tried both Graphire / Intuous and/or different sizes!

Cheers.

The only real difference in the two is features. The main one being that the Graphire only accepts drawing input.. while the Intuous accepts pressure and tilt input.

If those types of things are useful.. get the higher end.. I think it also comes with a mouse, etc

darleysam

my Graphire that i got a month or so ago is wonderful. It's the Graphire 4 XL Classic (as recommended by the good folk here), and i've not found a problem with its sensitivity. The pressure sense works fine for Photoshop. As i understood, the only big difference between it and an Intuous, was the lack of a tilt sense and a lower DPI.

Synthetic Orange

RoundBoy wrote:

The only real difference in the two is features. The main one being that the Graphire only accepts drawing input.. while the Intuous accepts pressure and tilt input.

All Wacom tablets have pressure sensitivity. Something might be wrong with your hardware or software settings if your sensitivity is behaving oddly, so get into the control panel and mess around with the pressure settings on your graphire.

Firebrand

Synthetic Orange wrote:

All Wacom tablets have pressure sensitivity. Something might be wrong with your hardware or software settings if your sensitivity is behaving oddly, so get into the control panel and mess around with the pressure settings on your graphire.

Not sure if it's behaving "oddly" or not, really. If you pick up your pen with a loose grip and just let it slide across the surface without applying pressure, will it register anything? Tried changing the sensitivity settings, but that just changes the range between min and max pressure, not the treshold you need to overcome for it to pick up anything at all.

RoundBoy

Strike that .. i looked up the actual specs.. Intuos only adds a higher DPI and TILT sensitivity... both feature pressure sensitivity.

I am not the actual user, but I have debated this same issue as I bought for my graphic design brother.

The tilt function was useful to him as it makes the pen more 'real'.

Synthetic Orange

Firebrand wrote:

Synthetic Orange wrote:

All Wacom tablets have pressure sensitivity. Something might be wrong with your hardware or software settings if your sensitivity is behaving oddly, so get into the control panel and mess around with the pressure settings on your graphire.

Not sure if it's behaving "oddly" or not, really. If you pick up your pen with a loose grip and just let it slide across the surface without applying pressure, will it register anything? Tried changing the sensitivity settings, but that just changes the range between min and max pressure, not the treshold you need to overcome for it to pick up anything at all.

A tiny amount of downward pressure should be enough to start it, unless the sensor in the pen is gunked up somehow. Just letting the pen drag across the surface isnt enough to trigger a response, at least on my Intuos.

AlphaTwo

I just tested my Graphire, as I do recall pressure sensetivity. And voila, in Photoshop, it does!

brynstar

Firebrand wrote:

Synthetic Orange wrote:

All Wacom tablets have pressure sensitivity. Something might be wrong with your hardware or software settings if your sensitivity is behaving oddly, so get into the control panel and mess around with the pressure settings on your graphire.

Not sure if it's behaving "oddly" or not, really. If you pick up your pen with a loose grip and just let it slide across the surface without applying pressure, will it register anything? Tried changing the sensitivity settings, but that just changes the range between min and max pressure, not the treshold you need to overcome for it to pick up anything at all.

I just tried dragging my pen loosely across my Graphire, and it registered no problem. It even registered if I hung the pen slightly above the surface! So my sensitivity might be too high...My tablet's a Graphire 3, if that helps. I picked it up about a year and a half ago to do rotoscoping work for my senior thesis in college.

UnderHero5

I have a Graphire 4 6x8 and it works really well. I had a Graphire 3 6x8 before this and that also worked great. I only replaced it because I gave the old one to my girlfriend and wanted to replace it.

The pressure sensitivity works great and I've never had a problem with it registering (either tablet). As far as the sensativity and whatnot goes, I've noticed zero difference between my Graphire 3 and 4, the 4 has some extra buttons on the tablet itself which come in handy, but wouldn't be worth upgrading just for that.

scootch

don't upgrade a graphire to another graphire. that isn't really an upgrade.
when you can't get anymore out of a graphire tablet, move up to a intuos.

intuos is dreamy.

Firebrand

brynstar wrote:

Firebrand wrote:

Synthetic Orange wrote:

All Wacom tablets have pressure sensitivity. Something might be wrong with your hardware or software settings if your sensitivity is behaving oddly, so get into the control panel and mess around with the pressure settings on your graphire.

Not sure if it's behaving "oddly" or not, really. If you pick up your pen with a loose grip and just let it slide across the surface without applying pressure, will it register anything? Tried changing the sensitivity settings, but that just changes the range between min and max pressure, not the treshold you need to overcome for it to pick up anything at all.

I just tried dragging my pen loosely across my Graphire, and it registered no problem. It even registered if I hung the pen slightly above the surface! So my sensitivity might be too high...My tablet's a Graphire 3, if that helps. I picked it up about a year and a half ago to do rotoscoping work for my senior thesis in college.

Register as in registering pressure and not just the position?

Anyway, thanks for the input guys. Still undecided about the size to get though. I'm currently used to drawing quite small. I'm hoping to get some digital painting going and get used to making somewhat wider strokes. Desk space is not an issue, however I'm worried it'd be too big and tiring for the arm. Gonna see if I can convince the local Mac store to set one up for me to try out.

brynstar

Firebrand wrote:

Register as in registering pressure and not just the position?

Anyway, thanks for the input guys. Still undecided about the size to get though. I'm currently used to drawing quite small. I'm hoping to get some digital painting going and get used to making somewhat wider strokes. Desk space is not an issue, however I'm worried it'd be too big and tiring for the arm. Gonna see if I can convince the local Mac store to set one up for me to try out.

Yup, my bad, it's just the position. In Photoshop, it takes the tiniest bit of pressure to get the analog pressure sensor going, and I can see how that would be irritating for someone who does a lot of sketch work. Maybe it's a limit of technology? Good luck in your quest for a solution!

Synthetic Orange

Sounds like you need a custom nib then.

http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/nibs.cfm