Drawing Tablet Recommendation Thread

Daxx

I've been looking around the internets for some time for a decent but relatively inexpensive drawing tablet. I’m in the process of getting ready to go to college and I ‘m going to be majoring in graphic design and will be working on a lot projects outside of class. If anyone could recommend one, by all means, please do.

I’m going to be using it mainly for Photoshop but I’ll also be using it for Flash, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Zercof

My girlfriend just finished her first year of art school, and she's used the Wacom Intuos3 6x11 tablet all year and loved it
Shes been mainly in Photoshop as well, but I've seen it work fine in things like flash too.

Daxx

I'll put that one on my list as a possible buy.

amateurhour

You're going to need a wacom, period.

It's not that the cheaper models aren't good, most of them have the same pressure sensitivity, but none of them have the same level of customer service, driver updates, and software support.

You'll be working with wacom and only wacom in the professional field.

I've got the bamboo, which essentially replaced the graphire, and I love it.

edit: Zerc, because of your av/sig combo I'm now scouring the internet to see if a swat kats dvd boxset is available

Zercof

amateurhour wrote: »

You're going to need a wacom, period.

It's not that the cheaper models aren't good, most of them have the same pressure sensitivity, but none of them have the same level of customer service, driver updates, and software support.

You'll be working with wacom and only wacom in the professional field.

I've got the bamboo, which essentially replaced the graphire, and I love it.

edit: Zerc, because of your av/sig combo I'm now scouring the internet to see if a swat kats dvd boxset is available

I totally saw an episode on Boomerang yesterday and hit record on the DVR

EVA zero

Which Wacom tablet does Gabe use? Does he have the Cintiq? I am looking at the Intuos3 for photoshop work.

maximumzero

Which one uses Bluetooth? That's the one I'm considering picking up.

wunderbar

you should e-mail Gabe and ask him what he uses.

Darmak

I use the wacom bamboo and it's really nice. Of course I don't have any experience with anything else but I like it so far. I'm not really an artist or anything but I wanted something to fuck around with and it was pretty cheap and works well.

Hallucinogen

I have the Intuos 6x11. It works great, and my only gripe is that the touch-strips are crap/useless, and the wide-format makes it just slightly too tall to fit into my backback. Just a heads up if you plan on carting it around, though you could get a carrying case for it I suppose. Also, if you use it a lot, the pen tips will wear down, I think one will last you about 1.5-2 years of daily use, depending of course on how heavy-handed you are.

As far as using it in Illustrator/InDesign... I wouldn't bother. You're better off using a mouse. Clicking on anchors with a tablet pen is annoying and inefficient.

amateurhour

Depending on your financial situation, wacom just dropped the price of the cintiq. They offer what's essentially an 8 by 10 version or something similar for under $1000. I know that seems like a lot of cash, but you actually view and write on the monitor, like a tablet pc, but with better pressure sensitivity.

Hallucinogen

My friend bought one with his scholarship. I played with it and it's worlds better than using a tablet because of it being like drawing naturally(though slightly different tactile-wise). I could never justify the cost for myself though, and I like the fact that your hand isn't obstructing your view while you draw with the tablet.

Airan

I have an Intuos2 A6 (4x5) size which I got on my birthday 4 years ago, and it still works great. I'd imagine the extra buttons and touch strips would be useful on the Intuos 3.


I think the Bamboo would be enough if you're on a budget. It has half the level of sensitivity and no tilt sensitivity from the Intuos, if that makes a difference to you.

Question of my own: does the Cintiq come with a protection glove you put over your drawing hand, so as not to scratch the screen? I saw a video on youtube and thought that was a neat idea, but I don't see it in any product specifications.

goggles

I recently used a 6x8 Intuos 2 for an animation project and once I got used to it, totally loved it. The lab I was working in also had an Intuos 3 with the extra buttons and touch strip, and I hated it because my hand would rest on the strip and do weird things. (I just realized that I probably could have turned off the extra buttons/strip in preferences..)

If you have the opportunity to try one out and see how it fits your drawing style, it would definitely be worth it.

Hallucinogen

Yeah, the touch strips are junk. I always have them turned off, particularly because of accidental input. If anyone recalls the mouse from Kensington that had the touch-scroll strip, that also sucked. It seems only Apple manages to create decent touch surfaces/devices.

Some may find the buttons useful, but I tend to use my keyboard instead because of how many commands and buttons I like to use. If all the buttons were on the left, it'd work for me, but as it stands I never use the ones on the right because it's inconvenient to use my hand using the pen and interrupt what I was doing with it. But obviously that only works well for right-handed people, and there's plenty of lefty artists, obviously.

On a side note, I love using my tablet for finder navigation and surfing. Way more efficient than a mouse.