Tablets for Digital Art

[ThaBenMan]

I have some questions for you artistic folks out there - I have a nice new computer now, and I'm thinking of getting some kind of tablet for making digital artwork.

I'm not very knowledgable about such things, so I was wondering: Do any of you guys have such a tablet or much experience using one? Is there a certain model you would recommend (the Wacom brand is the one I hear of the most - would you suggest one of those or another brand?) Any advice or anything on using one?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Plurralbles]

OMG YOU MONSTER! BUmping isn't allowed, PERMA BANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!RAARR!



hehe. anyway, i'd go with a Wacom board. They make the best stuff.

 

[tsatoma]

I recently decided to get a Wacom tablet after a month of researching, so hopefully this can help you out.

Wacom is the best, try not to get anything else. Wacom has the Bamboo and Intuos lines, the Bamboo is more for the casual user and the Intuos is for professionals (bought an Intuos4 medium).

The Bamboo line has a lot less sensitivity than the Intuos, the software you get for it (Photoshop/Corel) are not as up to date, and they only come in small to medium size (not sure if you'd want anything bigger though). There are five Bamboo tablets that you can get (though ignore the Touch), with the cheapest being a bare-bones Pen tablet. There is the Pen & Touch tablet (which is a pretty good deal), then you have the Bamboo Fun (this is the best out of them since it is a mix of everything) and the Bamboo Craft.

The Intuos4 line is much pricier even for the small or medium. You can also buy the previous generation (Intuos3) which is supposed to be really good for pretty cheap now (didn't research this part too much).

Not sure what size you'd want, but small to medium is probably the best choice (and the only choices for the Bamboo line).

I hope that helps you. If you have any questions you can PM me.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

I'm very new to drawing, and know very little about tablets, but Wacom have a good reputation. I'm thinking about getting a Wacom Bamboo myself when I'm a better drawer (I wanna mess around with colours, but without having the mess and expense of buying materials).

EDIT: Hell, just listen to the guy above me. His month of research beats my ten minutes of web browsing.

 

[Steagony]

Wacom intuos.

 

[ThaBenMan]

I recently decided to get a Wacom tablet after a month of researching, so hopefully this can help you out....

Yes, this is quite helpful, thank you. I did look at the Bamboo on Wacom's website a little bit. I definitely will be a casual user (for now, anyway - who knows, it would be very cool to make a career from it some day...), so I'll probably start with one of those.

Thanks again! And the Venture Bros. quote in your profile is great (I <3 the Venture Bros.)

 

[ThaBenMan]

I think I may go with the Bamboo Pen [http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_pen.php] - it seems nice and simple, good price, and I don't think I need any touch functionality. The Pen looks like a good way to try out working with a tablet, but not make a huge investment in case I don't like it.

I won't lie, though - the Cintiq21UX [http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php] is sexy. And the ability to work right on the surface is appealing. No way I can afford that, though, heh.

 

[Snotnarok]

I think I may go with the Bamboo Pen [http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_pen.php] - it seems nice and simple, good price, and I don't think I need any touch functionality. The Pen looks like a good way to try out working with a tablet, but not make a huge investment in case I don't like it.

I won't lie, though - the Cintiq21UX [http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php] is sexy. And the ability to work right on the surface is appealing. No way I can afford that, though, heh.

So why not get the 12WX? I have it and it's fantastic. It's small but it's also easily my most used device ever. I had the Graphire which was alright, the intuitos was spiffy too but I wanted to do, as you said, work on the surface and it works really, really well.

 

[Redheadkitten]

I just got a Bamboo Fun myself (also called the Bamboo Pen and Touch, it's the silver one). It was pretty cheap, only about $175 off Amazon and it's big enough and precise enough for me.

Am I going to upgrade someday? Definitely, but since I don't need an awesome tablet at the moment I'm fine with this.

(and my school just got 8 of the large Cintiqs)

 

[Gauntes]

If you're looking for something cheap, I'd say go for bamboo. I've never used them, but from what I hear they're fairly decent for the price range (around 45 USD)

I've been using small Wacom tablet for about 5 years now and I must say that they work perfectly fine. Don't need to invest fortune on one of those intuous4s.
(mine was 98.99 USD)

I don't rely too much on the price of my equipment so mine works just as well as expensive ones. I would say that for bamboo, but again, I've never used them before.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I use a Wacom in the Bamboo line. I'm far from a professional user, but it does everything I want it to do and more. One of the best devices I've ever purchased and they really don't cost that much.

 

[CoverYourHead]

I hear anything Wacom is great. Which you should probably know, because everyone beat me to it.

 

[SageRuffin]

I recently decided to get a Wacom tablet after a month of researching, so hopefully this can help you out.

Wacom is the best, try not to get anything else. Wacom has the Bamboo and Intuos lines, the Bamboo is more for the casual user and the Intuos is for professionals (bought an Intuos4 medium).

The Bamboo line has a lot less sensitivity than the Intuos, the software you get for it (Photoshop/Corel) are not as up to date, and they only come in small to medium size (not sure if you'd want anything bigger though). There are five Bamboo tablets that you can get (though ignore the Touch), with the cheapest being a bare-bones Pen tablet. There is the Pen & Touch tablet (which is a pretty good deal), then you have the Bamboo Fun (this is the best out of them since it is a mix of everything) and the Bamboo Craft.

The Intuos4 line is much pricier even for the small or medium. You can also buy the previous generation (Intuos3) which is supposed to be really good for pretty cheap now (didn't research this part too much).

Not sure what size you'd want, but small to medium is probably the best choice (and the only choices for the Bamboo line).

I hope that helps you. If you have any questions you can PM me.

I concur with this fine gentleman (madam?). Granted, I have a simple Bamboo tablet, but it's done wonders for me so far.

Now if only openCanvas was as cooperative when I try to outline my drawings...

 

[Scrythe]

I grabbed a cheapie Manhattan tablet. I'm not too knowledgeable on these things and I'm not really an art kind of guy.

I picked this one off of ThinkGeek because I have wrist problems, and this is much easier for me to use. Plus it feels so natural when I'm dicking around on 3DS Max, Mudbox or Photoshop.

But back on topic: I have a friend who's heavy into the digital arts thing, and she suggests to go with Wacom.

 

[dmase]

Right now i have a convertible tablet from fujitsu(like the second most expensive one they sell) and the tablet technology doesn't seem up to snuff to what i expect.

The touch function isn't very accurate usually off of where i'm clicking by a quarter of an inch. The double click and right click functions don't work very well(when you are using pen strokes for double and right click i mean). The tablet hardware is really slowing my computer down I think.(shouldn't be a problem for you if your just getting an attachment) I'm an egr student and this is a requirement for the school i'm gonna transfer to and i just don't see the purpose for it. Even if i was a mechanical, architectural, so on and so forth engineer all of the CAD and Autodesk programs work better with a mouse instead of a tablet. The recognition software doesn't work very well(i guess its called recognition) when i draw and A it doesn't want to make it an a on the note taking program.

I've had an all around negative experience with my tablet but maybe its just the brand. I hope you have better luck with yours.

 

[tsatoma]

Snip.

I concur with this fine gentleman (madam?). Granted, I have a simple Bamboo tablet, but it's done wonders for me so far.

Now if only openCanvas was as cooperative when I try to outline my drawings...

Madam, though it is a very common mistake. >_<

You can also find good deals for Wacom tablets on ebay, but for most of those you'll need a student/faculty I.D. to buy it (which sadden me greatly).

 

[DeadlyYellow]

The Bamboo is sleek and nice, though I personally use the classic Graphire line (Graphire 4, 4x6 to be exact.) The new line of Intuos seems to fix the design flaw that bugged the hell out of me with previous iterations. They're all good tablets (since they're all Wacom,) and cheaper than the Cintiq.

 

[Deadpewl]

I haz Wacom. It iz gud. So Wacom iz gud.

 

[Satoshii]

Wacom Intuos 3 A4 size. Best tablet hands down. Using one now in fact.

I want a Cintiq because it's practically the same specs but with a screen, but the price is putting me off a little. Definitely stick with Wacom though and go with something with a higher sensitivity if you're looking at using it to draw with, otherwise your strokes wont come out as you want them to.