What Pen Tablets do people use.

*Damn Brit* · 08-31-2008, 01:52 PM

If you use a Pen Tablet, which one do you use and what has your experience been with it?

raz-0 · 08-31-2008, 02:32 PM

The wacom tablets are the gold standard. They just have better performance and a better feature set than anything else.

Their angle sensitivity and pressure sensitivity beat everything else for doing digital artwork.

However, for post processing the main thing a tablet beats a mouse for is creating masks. For creating masks, I usually turned off tilt and pressure and mainly used it for the ammount of fine control you can get with one.

For photo work some of the cheaper knockoffs might work just fine.

I've only ever bothered with wacom tablets though as when I was purchasing, it was a choice between a $500 wacom and a $395 knock off and not a $400 wacom and a $120 knockoff.

*kevindt* · 08-31-2008, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

If you use a Pen Tablet, which one do you use and what has your experience been with it?

I don't use one for photography, but use one heavily at work on a daily basis with a program that builds dictations by pasting in boilerplate phases or freeform typing. Two of us each have the Wacom Graphire 2 - cordless/batteryless mouse and pen come with them, they were not too expensive (about $100 complete) and they have both worked flawlessly for several years now under Win98 and XPSP2. Most Wacom devices are also Linux friendly.

Nico · 08-31-2008, 02:50 PM

Hi, I use Drawing Slate 2 by Cal Comp. It is very old but still works fine. I use for primarily for drawing a selection, clone stamp and erase. It is much easier to move around the curve/tight spots. Also there is no left button clicking/ unclicking. Just lift the pen half inch and reposition it. Placement of the pen on the tablet surface act as a left click.

*chrisman* · 09-01-2008, 01:46 AM

I own a Wacom Intuos 2 Tablet but frankly do not use it as much as I thought I would.

kerrowdown · 09-10-2008, 06:20 PM

Wacom has become the standard now, make sure you get one big enough to suit your style of working, the really small ones I found harder to use. But, it depends on budget, save and get the right size first time.

krypticide · 09-10-2008, 06:54 PM

I have a Lenovo X61 tablet, which of course has a built-in tablet on the screen. Great machine, but for color reproduction I use a Samsung external LCD to check my colors. To be honest though, I use tablet mode for taking notes, etc., and not so much for photography because I don't do a lot of spot touch-ups.

Feel free to ask away about tablets, I'm more or less an expert on them having used them for so long...

*khardur* · 09-10-2008, 07:06 PM

I believe I've got a Graphire 2 as well (wacom). Got it for $89 4 or 5 years ago now. It still works great, and it's invaluable when doing PP. (using the mouse for nearly anything precise, even a laser mouse, is something I don't have the talent for. I need the pen)

*bigben91682* · 09-11-2008, 03:01 PM

I use the wacom bamboo, I just wanted something cheap to do masks and now use the retouching tools in Lightroom. I like it a lot, it certainly offers me a lot of functionality for the $70 I paid for it. Plus it's portable, and somewhat cool looking....(i got the black one).

*ivoire* · 09-13-2008, 07:25 PM

Wacom Intuos 3. Works very well with photoshop and Xara Pro. At the moment, Wacom is rated the best for the buck.

*hwblanks* · 09-13-2008, 08:25 PM

I'm thinking that I will eventually get the small Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet. In addition to helping out with PP tasks, another benefit that I see will come from it will be that it will offer some relief to my right (mousing) hand, as I have issues with tendonitis and carpel tunnel syndrome. I write with my left hand, so I can simply use the pen and tablet whenever I don't want to use the mouse for general pointing tasks.

Heather

Meredith · 09-13-2008, 08:49 PM

I have the graphire 2 and the new bamboo fun. I actually wanted graphire 4 but the bamboo has not disappointed me. I cannot live without my pen.

wlachan · 09-13-2008, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

If you use a Pen Tablet, which one do you use and what has your experience been with it?

Been using Wacom Gaphire2 for a # of years solely for retouching. I have no complaint except the pen is fragile. Not sure how much better the Intuos pens are though.

Spongefingers · 09-16-2008, 08:26 AM

I use a Wacom Graphire 4 A6. It's quite solid and very accurate, a nice size that doesn't require too much "throw" to get from one end of the screen to another.
What is not so good about it is its pen, which is starting to wear out quite badly. The rubber grip has got loose and worn down, and a small crack is has recently appeared along the side.
I like the Graphire 4 a lot, but I think the Graphire 3 pen is much better, more sturdy. It has that rocker switch that the 4's pen lacks, and has no rubber stuff to fall off.

ftpaddict · 09-16-2008, 08:49 AM

I'll be the one using a "rip-off" tablet (though I don't see any resemblance to Wacom tablets other than usage principles).

Genius G-Pen F610 - 10 x 6 inch, 2000 lpi, 1024 pressure steps. It's all I need, and it works very reliably. In Linux as well, without any external aid.