Graphics Tablet

[Mikee]

Hey guys, 

This is totally coincidental.  Venetia just posted a picture she did with her Wacom Tablet below, and I was just coming in here to ask what people thought of them. lol.

Anyway:  Help me out?

I've been working with Photoshop and such since highschool (almost five years ago) and I've always been a decent artist.  I can sketch anyway.  But I was watching tutorials on Youtube for mapping for rmxp today and I wandered off and found a tutorial on graphics using a Graphics Tablet.  I've used one a bit in my animation class in HS, but only for a few days and we had to draw trees... lame. 

I just wondered if a tablet is something I should be looking into.  I'd love to get back into graphics design more and I'm considering taking some college courses on it. 

Also, can anyone suggest a good tablet that isn't hella expensive?  I'm on quite the tight budget at the moment.  I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[Perihelion]

I just bought a 4x5 Wacom Graphire4 from eBay for like $35 plus shipping, so you can get decent deals on them if you look. I don't actually know anything about tablets since it hasn't come yet, though!

 

[Makasu]

I just bought a 4x5 Wacom Graphire4 from eBay for like $35 plus shipping, so you can get decent deals on them if you look. I don't actually know anything about tablets since it hasn't come yet, though!

Ahhh you're lucky! I couldn't get a wacom because the one I was bidding on shot up to 300 bucks. :/ so I had to settle on an addesso 8600.

Either ways though tablets are good. They take a little while to get used to at first but after you practice for a while you can get the hang of it. Depending on the type of art you plan on doing they're a lot more convient [[sp?]]. They also make spriting a hell of a lot faster! I'm telling you instead of having to individually click its a breeze to just slide the tablet along the surface and get what you want. Of course though at first its going to be hard to work with because of the fact that you might not be used to not looking down at your art. But after you overcome that I think its a sound purchase choice. You don't have to worry about paper, making messes and you have a nifty undo button! So mistakes are pretty much just an "oops" thing and then just hit ctrl+z [[apple+z if on mac]].

So I'd say get a tablet. But do your research. You don't need a big one really. As mine is 8x16? I'm not to sure. I actually wish I had gotten a smaller one.

As for tablets that aren't really expensive it just depends on where you look and what you're able to snag. Ebay generally has some cheap ones. But good luck getting one.

 

[Venetia]

If you're looking for cheap but effective, I used a 6x8 Genius Tablet, it was only $50. I used it for about a year until the thing started jittering, but I think that may be because I kind of abused it, lol. Now I'm using a Wacom Intuos3, but those are like $350 I think? IDR.

When looking, choose the one with the most pressure sensitivity levels you can find in your price range, that's honestly the most important thing. And check the customer feedback to make sure there's no jitter or stutter, and if it's fully compatible with Photoshop (I thought they all were, but Makasu's tablet's pressure apparently doesn't work with PS).

Checking eBay is a good way to go just because SOMETIMES you can find a crazy deal, like Peri. I always get bad luck with bidding on eBay though :/.

BTW moving this to Computer Hardware because it's more about hardware than art.

 

[Mikee]

Thanks, Venetia.  I've never posted outside of RMXP, so I wasn't so sure.

Anyway:

Thank you everyone.  I'm going to run by Bestbuy today and see what they've got.  I don't know if I should order online at the moment because I just moved and I don't even have a shipping address yet.  Only my home address, and I'm pretty sure that I'd lose the package or have to wait an extra two months based on my previous luck... XD

And... I'm eager to try it out right now and not have to wait a week. 

So smaller is better?  When I sketched daily, I always drew everything too small.  Such as using an 8x11.5 and making the character on the page 3x4.  So maybe a smaller one would benefit my style.  And I read up on them a little yesterday after posting.  So I'll definitely go with the most pressure points.

Thank you everyone!  I really appreciate the help.

 

[Phaemon]

I got a Wacom Intuos 2 off ebay for 100 dollars.   Shipped out yesterday.      Hope I like it, i've never used a tablet before. 

 

[Perihelion]

If you're looking for cheap but effective, I used a 6x8 Genius Tablet, it was only $50. I used it for about a year until the thing started jittering, but I think that may be because I kind of abused it, lol. Now I'm using a Wacom Intuos3, but those are like $350 I think? IDR.

When looking, choose the one with the most pressure sensitivity levels you can find in your price range, that's honestly the most important thing. And check the customer feedback to make sure there's no jitter or stutter, and if it's fully compatible with Photoshop (I thought they all were, but Makasu's tablet's pressure apparently doesn't work with PS).

Checking eBay is a good way to go just because SOMETIMES you can find a crazy deal, like Peri. I always get bad luck with bidding on eBay though :/.

BTW moving this to Computer Hardware because it's more about hardware than art.

Actually, it was pretty standard for the ones I was looking at. Refurbs are sometimes really cheap and usually work fine, and there was someone selling a bunch of them (I think some of them went for under $30!). 4x5 is small, but imo it was totally worth it for the price. I'll probably get a bigger non-Wacom if I decide I need one.

Also, Ven, what's your opinion on Graphire vs. Intuos? Have you used a Graphire? I think Intuos has twice as many pressure sensitivity levels, but Graphires are so much cheaper. :x

 

[Venetia]

So smaller is better?  When I sketched daily, I always drew everything too small.  Such as using an 8x11.5 and making the character on the page 3x4.  So maybe a smaller one would benefit my style.  And I read up on them a little yesterday after posting.  So I'll definitely go with the most pressure points.

No, drawing on a tablet isn't the same as drawing on a piece of paper. You won't be looking at the tablet, at all. You'll be looking at the monitor. The space you use compares directly to the zoom you're at on the document on the screen. It takes some getting used to, you'll see what I mean.

Technically, bigger is better with tablets. You get more precision that way. I'd never recommend anything smaller than a 4x5. I always get 6x8, myself.

Also, Ven, what's your opinion on Graphire vs. Intuos? Have you used a Graphire? I think Intuos has twice as many pressure sensitivity levels, but Graphires are so much cheaper. :x

I haven't used a Graphire. I mean, I've heard good things about it, it's made by the same company as the Intuos. I chose Intuos because it has 2x the pressure sensitivity, and it registers tilt, and you can swap out the pen nibs for different effects in your strokes.

Really, for my purposes, this tablet is probably more advanced than I need, but I felt like splurging on it. I'm sure the graphire is more than enough for most.

I think the biggest thing that changes the price is for the tilt detection. You know I like to draw big, fat outlines, and tilt detection allows you to do something akin to calligraphy, with a flat, narrow brush.

If you ever have the extra money, I'd say go for it. This thing is so solidly built, it feels like a dream. It's the perfect weight, the tablet surface is totally scratch-resistant, and it's so, so responsive. :3

 

[Mikee]

Okay...

I searched every single computer store in my town...  even some random store I found with my GPS called "Computer Futre"  It turns out that only Bestbuy and Staples had them, and I could pay $67 for a simple 3.8x7.6 or something close to that, or  $99 for a Bamboo Fun Which is like 4x6 or somewhere close.  Or $199 on a larger Bamboo Fun which I couldn't afford anyway.  So... I spent $106.00

But totally well spent, I think.  I LOVE IT.

I'm not very good yet, but I'm going post some stuff I did.  (I watched some recoloring tutorial deal and just found some black and white mango/anime stuff to play with.)  I'd like to learn to draw anime stuff from scratch, but I definitely need more practice first.

I'm going to eat then post my stuff for critiques.

Thanks everyone for helping.  And Venetia, thank you for putting me in debt at age 20!  : )

 

[Tohsaka]

Queue is getting a Cintiq (Former Q-Man, guy who pays for Punk's old RMVXPU site). Those on are screen, and I love those- but I'm looking at a Intuos, just as good but not onscreen.

Intuos has great pressure, but it has tilt-sensing too- Plus, I like the appearance.

 

[___]

If you're unsure, grab yourself a used graphire off ebay or use one in the art / computer lab at your school for a while before you dive into a more expensive model. I found them difficult to work with as I could never coordinate my hand with the screen as well as I could with paper, so I would tend to slant in one direction or the other or misjudge strokes. For the longest time I only used them for tweaking and painting on stuff I'd draw on paper and scan. I ended up buying a tablet PC, which was perfect for me, but it's understandably not an option for many people.

Oh, I see you already bought one having scrolled up. Well, good luck with it

 

[candle]

I'm actually thinking of getting a graphics tablet, but I have one problem.  Will a tablet pick up my hand or do have to use the pen/mouse?  The reason I ask is because when I write or draw on paper, I rest the side of my hand on the paper, and if I do the same with the tablet, I don't want it registering my hand as well as the pen.  I'm mostly looking at an Intuos3 right now, if that helps.

 

[Grathea]

Darkfire - it should only register the pen/mouse.

I myself have a 6x8 Wacom Bamboo, which works OK, but the drivers fritz out every once in a while, causing it to stop registering pressure levels, and I have to restart. Which is a pain, and I plan to get a better/newer/different one some day.
Wacoms are the best of the bunch, if you can find one, in my experience - the pens don't have batteries which can so often unbalance them making them weak/unwieldy.

 

[Mikee]

lol  I was worried about the same thing, and the first picture I did, I forced my hand to hover for like 45 minutes before realizing that it didn't affect it whatsoever.  The only problem I have that's remotely related to that is when I'm using opencanvas, if you click the button on the pen, it zooms in and I end up with a huge black line across my entire page.  But with my photoshop I just started using, it just grabs the page, so I can move it around, making detailing MUCH easier.  And once you get used to it, the buttons tend to stay out of your way.  I love my tablet though.  A LOT.  I highly suggest one for any artist.  I hadn't drawn in months, and I feel like after three drawings I've already greatly improved my previous skills.  (Ctrl Z and the erase function might have helped that along, however... XD )

 

[___]

oh yeah don't worry about that, there's a special mechanism in the stylus/mouse that interacts with the tablet. It will never, ever, ever pick up your hand. A touchscreen tablet PC might but don't worry about it otherwise.

 

[Venetia]

All Wacoms have customizable buttons. Check you manual, Mikee, you can set it so that the buttons on your pen do something else. (or nothing at all)
You can set them to do certain keystrokes or macros. It's HUGELY useful.
One thing I love about mine (idk if this is only Intuos) is that it's like a pencil: one side is the part that draws, and the other size is like an eraser, you can flip the pen over and erase what you've done, without hitting anything. God it's superb.

 

[___]

Penabled tablet PCs also have the pressure sensitive pencil & eraser tips, though for mine the eraser has only 128 levels of sensitivity vs. 512 in the pencil end. I believe this is the case for the graphire models as well, I don't know anything about the new bamboo series (or whatever). The cool thing about the Intuous and Cintiq though is the support for the other tools, the airbrush and paintbrush in particular with their distance, angle and momentum measures that the pencil doesn't have. I sooo want them, a large part of my technique involves controlling the shape of the pencil tip and adjusting angle and momentum as well as pressure and you just can't do that with a tablet pc without going through a cumbersome brush interface in stupid art software (which apparently doesn't consider these things important enough to put them in direct reach).

 

[Tohsaka]

I don't think the Bamboo series would be any better than the graphire- Especially since they are marketed to lower budget users- But, it's a starting point. As Jölnir has said, those Intuos are pretty sweet.

 

[candle]

Thanks a lot.  If it did, it wouldn't have been too big a deal, but now I don't have to worry about it.