posted
Well, I got the Wacom tablet in and it really wasn't difficult getting used to the pen.....but I must say...I really don't see much advantage to having one.
Mainly, I thought it would be beneficial using the pressure sensitive pen to do airbrushed highlights on artwork in Photoshop, that start out at nothing and gradually grow as you move the pen and apply more pressure.
It does that...but frankly...if you have even a micron of a twitch in your hand as you're drawing along - the tablet picks that up and no matter how many attempts I always ended up with a slightly squiggly line.
Compare that to using a mouse and just drawing an arcing path in Photoshop that is pointed on both ends and fatter in the middle, then select that path - fill it with desired color - select all and add a gaussian blur....to end up with a perfect airbrush highlight look.
Any suggestions on technique/settings that I may be overlooking before I box it up and return it?
I find my optical mouse to be more maneuverable and precise...although the tablet is pretty precise.
Maybe I'm just stuck in my ways and will remain a mouse-keteer.
I went through all the tablet prefs....is it possible I missed something? Is there one that will give less accurate results in that it will fudge over some of the jerks and twitches the hand makes as you draw along?
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:It does that...but frankly...if you have even a micron of a twitch in your hand as you're drawing along - the tablet picks that up and no matter how many attempts I always ended up with a slightly squiggly line.
This is PRECISELY WHY I LOVE the Wacom drawing pad... it allows me to do a wiggly line - WITH PRECISION - as if I were drawing on paper with a pen.
The slightly wiggly line is what makes my work still appear hand done.... because it is in effect.
If you want perfect use vectors although with a Wacom pad and pen I have gotten pretty good at making a NICE WIGGLY LINE with this system too!
Once you get the hang of using a Wacom with vectors it is much faster than with a mouse.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Todd...I had the same experience with my tablet..Just didn't seem worth the time and effort to try and adapt to it.
I DID spend many hours trying to adapt but it just wasn't going to work for me.
I'm not saying anything against tablets but for me it just didn't work out. Of course I AM an old fart and trying to do anything in a new way is becoming harder and harder with each year!!! LOL
I still have mine and every once in a while I tell myself I am gonna give it another try..but then the phone rings and a customer interrupts my plans.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
You got a jittery hand, the tablet duplicates that, and it's the *tablet's* fault???
Dude.. lay off the coffee.
Seriously though, practice practice practice.. and for the highlights like you're trying to pull off, instead of "painting" them on, "sketch" them.. short quick arcing movements.. and you will end up with a consistent line. It's just like using a real airbrush. If you go slow and try to keep the line straight using your brain to control the movement, guaranteed you'll end up with one that wiggles. Go fast and keep it "loose", it'll be straight.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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I agree Todd. I looked forward to the chance to use the tablet, but I feel more comfortable with the optical mouse. I will sometimes use the pen for certain effects though. Maybe I'll just learn the wiggly line technique.
-------------------- John Duckett Strike Creative Greenwood, South Carolina Posts: 277 | From: Greenwood, SC | Registered: Feb 2004
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I got mine,, and i have no probs with it. ITs taking time to learn its usage ,, but I already do things that I never could before.. Wotn be long now... and ill probably lose the mouse
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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LOL Mike....well, I don't drink coffee and I'm not blaming the tablet. It's actually pretty impressive in that it's precise enough that it duplicates every movement - even the jittery ones.
I'm just finding that the mouse has more weight and bulk to it...and it seems like that helps make it more dificult - if you want to describe it that way - to *twitch* about as you move it. I seem to get a smoother motion because of it's weight along with the fact that the weight of my entire hand is laying down on it as opposed to holding a lightweight pen upright.
Gravitation seems to work for my advantage with the mouse...
But that being said...maybe I'll give this thing a bit more time....
It's also a little *weird* switching from very small wrist movements to using the entire arm - moving the pen about it big sweeping arm movements.
It's good excercise though! Hehehe. I did reduce the active area of the pad down a bit. I'm finding that in the case of the tablet, bigger is not necessarily better. I probably could have gotten a much smaller unit (this one is the 9 X 12).
Curtis - which one did you get and in what way do you use it?
Don - thanks for the advice on changing the prefs - I think I'll mess with those and see if that helps me feel more comfortable - maybe I haven't got it tweaked to fit my needs yet.
Appreciate everyone's input....thanks Dan, Dave, John.
Dan - I did use the pen/tablet in Illustrator and found it pretty easy to use....still feel that it's quicker using the optical mouse with it's small movements than moving my arm all over the tablet with the pen to get from one side of the screen to another....but adjusting the active tablet area will probably help in that area.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Todd Gill: ...moving my arm all over the tablet with the pen to get from one side of the screen to another....
OK, now you've lost me. Pick up the stylus and move it to another part of the tablet, which jumps the cursor to the same area of the screen. One of the cool things about the tablet is that you don't have to drag the damn cursor all over the screen, like we have to do with a mouse.
From what I've read, you just need to spend some time with it. Try "many hours", like Grundy. lol
Return the tablet and buy a wacom graphire, it comes with a mouse and pen. I use mine for the mouse most of the day but has the pen for when I need it. Less sensitivity and won't cost you half as much as the one you have now. That way when your not using it you won't be thinking on how much money you might have wasted.
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hiya Todd, Using a tablet can require more work than a mouse because the tablet is, more or less, the same size as your screen. So, to move your cursor from one end of the screen (or tablet) to the other, you do have to move your arm to cover all that area. Perhaps changing the resolution or the drawing scale of the tablet, or getting a smaller tablet will help? I've used a 9" x 12" in the past. I liked it, but it did take a lot of getting used to. I found myself using the mouse and stylus equally. Also, don't take my word for it though, I only know enough to be dangerous
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Bob - actually, this tablet did come with a mouse as well....maybe some more time will help.
You know how you can go into the "mouse" properties in the control panel and "slow" the mouse down...?
Can you do that with the pen/stylus? If that's possible, that might help....it just seems like the cursor moves 100 mph. Maybe by making my "tablet" active area smaller to reduce the distance of motion required - I have sped the pen tool up by forcing it to cover more screen space in a shorter distance of tablet movement?
Thanks guys....appreciate the fine tuning advice...
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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Todd, There are some speed adjustments within the Wacom Manager. If you think the 9x12 is awkward, try the 12x12, way too much realstate until you need it...great for tracing in artwork though. There is an AIRBRUSH pen that can be purchased for the Wacom, but the only thing it adds is a roller type trigger on top of the pen that is ment to simulate the trigger action of a real airbrush. Talk about something that will take forever to get used to! You will eventualy get used to it and your wrist will thank you for it, but there is another draw back, if you use the pen as your primary tool. Since you won't be using the same kind of pressure consistanly that you would normally use, the muscles that you normally us for writting will get confused and may lead to difficulties in your normal writting tasks. I used mine, A LOT, for the passed 7 years. It gets difficult to fill out the checkbook sometimes. Maybe thats just the normal aging process. Anyway, don't give up, the wacom mouse works just as good. The new Felt tip marker pen is a blast to use and in my opinun, worth the extra cost, skip the airbrush, not worth it! Robin
-------------------- Robin Sharrard Sharrard Graphics & Sign Fallon, Nevada rds@phonewave.net "Proud $$$ Supporter" Posts: 282 | From: Fallon, Nevda, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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Try adjusting the opacity levels on your airbrush tool. Turn it down some and the line will seem less harsh. You can always go back over the line to define it more.
Keep it though cause' it's also nice when the carpal tunnel syndrome kicks in from using the mouse.
-------------------- Kelsey Dum Dum Designs Sherwood, AR 72120 501.765.2166 kelsey@dumdesigns.com Posts: 827 | From: Sherwood, AR | Registered: Oct 2005
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I'm not completely at home with a tablet either. I have a little Saphire and it does come in handy for photoshop work when I need more control. After so many years using a mouse, it's hard to switch.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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I found that the tablet surface and pen were too slippery, so I put a coarse paper cover on the tablet so I can control the pen motion. A little friction helps greatly.
ernie
-------------------- Ernie Balch Balch Signs 1045 Raymond Rd Malta, NY 518-885-9899 Posts: 405 | From: Malta, NY | Registered: Jan 2003
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Don - this is just exactly what I was hoping I could do with the tablet...but wasn't quite sure the how to best achieve it.....
I currently start designs *the old fashioned* way as you describe in the red text...I now feel like this could be very useful - and allow me to get rid of the paper, print underlays, etc off my desk.
Dude - - thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to post that technique. I'll give it the 'ol college try.
Thanks again Don - and thanks everyone else for all your input and interest in following this thread.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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With Illustrator, also try the brushes tool. It works as cool as the pencil tool, and is vector as well. I'd never used the brush tool till just last week, when I read it somewhere on the Wacom site. I haven't played with it much, but I would assume that you'll have more options as far as the charactor of the lines.
After drawing and getting lines the thickness & shape that you want, do the "expand appearance" thing to turn the lines into objects (particularly if you're going to cut from the art.)
posted
Thanks again Don....it's funny how long you can work in a program and not explore all of it's functionality isn't it?
We tend to use what we know works...and ignore some of the finer functions that could make our jobs even more fun and productive.
Thank goodness for people willing to share their upper tier experience and for people that have explored every dark corner of a programs functionality!!
I'll definately remember these tips! Thanks again.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Don Coplen: Actually, I'm not certain that this would work on Corel. Let us know if it does. [/QB]
Don, You can do layers in Corel also to achieve the effect you were doing. I haven't done your particular "how to" but feel it would be no problem in Corel. I use Corel all day and draw when I need to with the pencil tool on my tablet.
Steve - Yes I have Smart Designer so if you have any questions shoot me an email or jingle.
-------------------- Brian Diver PDQ Signs Everett, Wa
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