Advice on a cheap beginners Tablet?

poetsoul

Hey folks.

I've been thinking about starting a webcomic and transferring some of my hand drawn sketches into digital form. Can anyone refer me to a good, inexpensive beginners graphic tablet?

I know that tablets in general aren't very cheap, but I was hoping to invest only about $50-90 dollars. I am not Picasso, and I'd rest easier if I didn't spend $2,399 to let everyone on the internet know that. Anything that can do lineart justice will suit me fine.

Thanks for your help!

i n c u b u s

I started out with a starter Wacom tablet for about $80. It was relatively very small but came with a pen and a mouse. I mean if you can get buy with something that small then I'd reccomend it. I will say that I upgraded to a monster 1.5X2 ft tablet which ran me over 1k.

Feral

I'm not a pro artist or anything, I just fuck around. Digipro makes decent tablets with lower price tags than Wacom. The Digipro 4x6" was just on Woot a few days ago, so I'd expect those to filter onto eBay anytime soon. I have heard that Digipros don't play nice with Macs, though, and don't work as well if you use multiple monitors.

saltiness

Get the biggest Wacom you can afford. I originally bought a 4x5 graphire for my photoshop work and I hated it - way too fucking small to do anything right. I'm using a 16x20 now.

Drew_9999

If all you want to do is make your lines digital, use a scanner. You can get a good used one for dirt cheap. Hell, someone gave me mine because it was old, and it works great.

The smallest Wacom will run you about $100, unless the Bamboo is cheaper... I haven't looked at it. The 4x5 is so tiny, I don't know how anyone manages to draw on it. Regardless, it takes some getting used to, and isn't going to make your art look any better than scanning it. Unless you're planning on doing some digital painting, I wouldn't bother with the expense.

Iruka

The length of your natural stroke effects how small your tablet can be. I personally got by with a 4X5 for a long ass time, but I always sketch with very small strokes. I wouldnt buy a tablet much bigger than the one I have now, and its only 6X8. Look into student discounts if you are a college student.

Drew is also right about scanners.

amateurhour

The bamboo is pretty much the entry level wacom now. The 4X5 runs about $100 and you can pick it up ay any best buy or office max/depot now, sometimes on sale.

I reccomend this over the off brands because wacom frequently updates their drivers to optimize performance, and it comes with some good starter software bundles.

Don't waste money on a bigger tablet if you've never used one. They take a lot of getting used to. Hit up the AC as well to hear the numerous threads and the megasticky on tablets. A lot of professional grapgic designers and artists have chimed in there.