Wacom 9x12 Or 12x12?, Which do you prefer and why?

jenirose3

I am looking to buy a Wacom Intuos3. The 9x12 and the 12x12 are similarly priced. Looking for opinions on which one to buy preferably from owners but also from those experienced via a friend, etc.

The only diff between the 2 is the price (slight) and size (3in).

Thx for you help!!
Jeni

Mike Lane

Wow, those are huge ones. Get ready for some tennis elbow I'm not sure how familiar with the wacom tablets you are, but each point on the tablet corresponds to a point on the screen, it's not like a mouse where you can keep it situated in the same place and move all the way across the screen. So let's say you're in photoshop and you're adjusting a photo with your tablet. Say you need to add a new layer so you have to go all the way down to the bottom right of the tablet. Now lets say your IM popped up in the top left, you'd have to go all the way back up to the top left to close it. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but believe me, you'll get sick of it. Besides, you won't get any extra drawing accuracy or capabilities out of it just because it's bigger.

IMHO, you should stick with the 6" sizes. Go for the 6"x8" if you have a 4:3 ratio screen or the 6"x11" if you've got a widescreen (usually 16.5:10.5 or something like that). Trust me, those will be plenty big enough.

jenirose3

Mike Lane wrote:

Wow, those are huge ones. Get ready for some tennis elbow I'm not sure how familiar with the wacom tablets you are, but each point on the tablet corresponds to a point on the screen, it's not like a mouse where you can keep it situated in the same place and move all the way across the screen. So let's say you're in photoshop and you're adjusting a photo with your tablet. Say you need to add a new layer so you have to go all the way down to the bottom right of the tablet. Now lets say your IM popped up in the top left, you'd have to go all the way back up to the top left to close it. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but believe me, you'll get sick of it. Besides, you won't get any extra drawing accuracy or capabilities out of it just because it's bigger.

IMHO, you should stick with the 6" sizes. Go for the 6"x8" if you have a 4:3 ratio screen or the 6"x11" if you've got a widescreen (usually 16.5:10.5 or something like that). Trust me, those will be plenty big enough.

Thank you. Just the kind of feedback I'm looking for!

3rdPlanetPhotography

I have one that's about 4 x 6 and I wouldn't want anything larger. When i'm flying around with the pen it feels huge.

colourbox

Mike Lane wrote:

each point on the tablet corresponds to a point on the screen

Beyond that, the points on the tablet are much smaller than the points on the monitor. The cheap <$100 tablet (Graphire) has a resolution of 2,032 lines per inch. That means just one inch of the tablet contains more points than most monitors. A 4x5 has more resolution than any monitor sold today. You can move the pen a small distance and still perform pixel-by-pixel selection on a large screen. The larger tablets are easier to control for pixel-by-pixel movements, because there is a limit to how small a movement you can make with your hand, but the small tablets have plenty of detail capability and are much easier to fit on a desk and throw in the bag when needed.

I use a 4x5.

If I had two widescreen monitors, I'd think about getting their superwide tablet.

claudermilk

I have an older 4x5 Graphire & it works fine for me--even after bumping to a 19" screen (finally). I wouldn't want a larger one.

USAIR

Here's my system
And I use 9X12 works great for me
I am using the pen about 80-90% of the time now.
Wacom comes with a nice mouse too...which I am using less and less.

Fred