Question Re Wacom Tablet

sara505 · May 7, 2011

How/where do you hold the thing? Front? Side?

I've had an Intuos4 for a couple of months - can't remember if it's small or medium - it's approx 8x12 - I'm sure it will be great once I get used to it, but I'm finding it a bit cumbersome, a bit like trying to draw while looking in a mirror.

The other thing I'm finding difficult is getting the pen down onto the tablet once I've got it hovering above the tool or location I want. The distance between pen and tablet - though small - takes some getting used to.

I suppose, with practice, I'll get used to working with this thing.

Cheers,

hgernhardtjr · May 7, 2011

My Wacom lives beside my keyboard in lieu of the mouse ... in fact (until just recently), I have used the Wacom exclusively INSTEAD of a mouse which I never even bothered to connect after setting up the computer. Rarely do I hold the tablet as I find that uncomfortable.

However, now that I have found the wonderful TactX mouse (the Wacom mouse sucks), I do use the TactX mouse for basic editing but set it aside and switch to the pen when I do detailed editing (and often forget to even go back to the mouse).

I'm not sure what you mean when you mention it being difficult to get the pen down to the tablet. I just plop it down and use it, replacing the clear overlay about once every two years (when it gets scratchy) and the nibs 3 or 4 times a year, or more depending on usage.

For most, the problem is probably similar to your experience, though your comment on the "mirror" implies "reversed" movement, which it should NEVER be. Yes, you do have to look in the monitor while you visually forget what your hand and pen is doing ... it's rather like learning to type in that a good typist never looks at the keyboard. And it really is like using the mouse ... you watch the mouse cursor on the screen and not the mouse itself, right? A tablet should be no different.

But with experience you should get used to looking at the screen while your hand "knows" where to go on the tablet (with, perhaps, the exception of control spots — that can take a while for your "muscle memory" to take effect).

Of course I have been using graphics tablets since the early 80's (pre-consumer-mouse, in fact) and it comes easy to me. Also, my students often find it difficult to transition from the mouse back to the pen — hey, we learned with crayons and chalk then pencils and finally graduated to ink pens ... but I begin to suspect most of my college students started with the mouse and keyboard so never developed the pen-skills I so highly value in photo editing!

Anyway, keep using it, try not to "fight" the pen, and you will become proficient with it in short order, depending on how much you use it!

-Henry-

sara505 · May 7, 2011

hgernhardtjr wrote: »

My Wacom lives beside my keyboard in lieu of the mouse ... in fact (until just recently), I have used the Wacom exclusively INSTEAD of a mouse which I never even bothered to connect after setting up the computer. Rarely do I hold the tablet as I find that uncomfortable.

However, now that I have found the wonderful TactX mouse (the Wacom mouse sucks), I do use the TactX mouse for basic editing but set it aside and switch to the pen when I do detailed editing (and often forget to even go back to the mouse).

I'm not sure what you mean when you mention it being difficult to get the pen down to the tablet. I just plop it down and use it, replacing the clear overlay about once every two years (when it gets scratchy) and the nibs 3 or 4 times a year, or more depending on usage.

For most, the problem is probably similar to your experience, though your comment on the "mirror" implies "reversed" movement, which it should NEVER be. Yes, you do have to look in the monitor while you visually forget what your hand and pen is doing ... it's rather like learning to type in that a good typist never looks at the keyboard. And it really is like using the mouse ... you watch the mouse cursor on the screen and not the mouse itself, right? A tablet should be no different.

But with experience you should get used to looking at the screen while your hand "knows" where to go on the tablet (with, perhaps, the exception of control spots — that can take a while for your "muscle memory" to take effect).

Of course I have been using graphics tablets since the early 80's (pre-consumer-mouse, in fact) and it comes easy to me. Also, my students often find it difficult to transition from the mouse back to the pen — hey, we learned with crayons and chalk then pencils and finally graduated to ink pens ... but I begin to suspect most of my college students started with the mouse and keyboard so never developed the pen-skills I so highly value in photo editing!

Anyway, keep using it, try not to "fight" the pen, and you will become proficient with it in short order, depending on how much you use it!

-Henry-

Henry, thank you for your in-depth answer.

What I mean is, I'm never sure when the pin will hit the tablet - it just feels a little awkward. I can't quite gauge where the pen is in relation to the tablet. I think it will take some time to get a feel for things. And no, nothing is reversed - when I say "like drawing while looking in a mirror," I mean it's just hard to draw while looking at the screen rather than the pen. Again, I'm sure I'll get used to this.

I'm still not exactly sure where to put the tablet in relation to my monitor and keyboard.

Thanks for your input. I think this will all come together, in time. I'm mostly curious about where to locate the tablet itself. So far, directly in front of me works best.

michswiss · May 7, 2011

I know what you mean regarding floating the pen. I'm finally getting used to it now and it feels much more natural. I've had a Bamboo, not one of those nice big lovely tablets, for a little over a year. I couldn't get comfortable with it much less figure out how to take advantage of it for ages. But something clicked a couple of months ago and I find it invaluable for cleaning up images, dodging and burning, fixing spots, etc. I keep mine to the left of the monitor and keyboard (I'm a lefty) and pull it closer when I'm doing detailed work. I tried it with the tablet directly in front of me, but it put my arm in a less comfortable position. It's easier if the arm is resting on the desk in a relaxed position.

Sam · May 7, 2011

I can't live without a tablet. At this point I don't even think about how I use it, but reading your question I concentrated on how I use it I think the easy answer is to think of it as a long skinny mouse shaped like a pen or pencil.

Watch the cursor just like you do the mouse cursor, and move your hand just like you would draw. Easy peasy............:D

Sam

sara505 · May 7, 2011

michswiss wrote: »

I know what you mean regarding floating the pen. I'm finally getting used to it now and it feels much more natural. I've had a Bamboo, not one of those nice big lovely tablets, for a little over a year. I couldn't get comfortable with it much less figure out how to take advantage of it for ages. But something clicked a couple of months ago and I find it invaluable for cleaning up images, dodging and burning, fixing spots, etc. I keep mine to the left of the monitor and keyboard (I'm a lefty) and pull it closer when I'm doing detailed work. I tried it with the tablet directly in front of me, but it put my arm in a less comfortable position. It's easier if the arm is resting on the desk in a relaxed position.

Okay, so yeah, you know what I'm saying...I'm not sure of how to land the pen on the tablet...I think it will take some time.

I do like it a lot for re-touching, and fine movements, but I've been putting off really diving in to this thing, mostly because I've got about a zillion irons in the fire. But I will get it. I think a lot of it boils down to putting the time in.

My desk in my winter location is a bit cumbersome, but I think my summer desk will be much more conducive to using the tablet; more room, basically.
Thanks.

sara505 · May 7, 2011

Sam wrote: »

I can't live without a tablet. At this point I don't even think about how I use it, but reading your question I concentrated on how I use it I think the easy answer is to think of it as a long skinny mouse shaped like a pen or pencil.

Watch the cursor just like you do the mouse cursor, and move your hand just like you would draw. Easy peasy............:D

Sam

Easy peasy for you, maybe

But I'll get there. Glad to hear it works well with you. I know I'll love it, eventually.

colourbox · May 7, 2011

sara505 wrote: »

What I mean is, I'm never sure when the pin will hit the tablet - it just feels a little awkward. I can't quite gauge where the pen is in relation to the tablet.

I don't know if this will help, but there is a basic difference between how a mouse/trackpad locates vs. a Wacom stylus. When you pick up a mouse, then put it down, the pointer doesn't move. The mouse movement only starts where you start dragging, no matter if you picked up the mouse and put it somewhere else.

With a tablet (by default anyway), positioning is by absolute coordinates, which is different from a mouse. If the stylus is at the top left of the tablet, the pointer is at the top left of the screen. If you pick up the stylus and lower it at the bottom right of the tablet, the pointer jumps to the bottom left of the screen (where a mouse pointer would not have moved). Once you understand this, it is easier to know where the pointer will be. It will be proportional to its location on the tablet. This is why smaller tablets are often better than larger ones, because with a 12x12 tablet, if you want to go from the top left to bottom right, you must actually do that with the stylus diagonally across your 144 square inches, where if it was a mouse, you could just keep swiping the mouse over and over across 4 inches of desk surface until it gets there.

Wacom has pretty sophisticated software, so you can alter that mapping, even changing the Mapping Pen Mode from "Pen" to "Mouse" if you wanted the distance behavior to feel more like a mouse.

Art Scott · May 8, 2011

I have been using a tablet for several years now and I find I cannot live without mine for processing pix...
Mine lives under my work space until needed and since I am running on a 17" laptop with 2nd monitor,
the tablet is direly in front of me on the workspace, occasionally it winds up in my lap when i need a new
position from which to work...it fits in my laptop bag also for traveling...I use the new lesser expensive
than wacom Intuos, Vistablet, it has an approx 6x10 work area....ever bit as god as any Wacom I have owned.

sara505 · May 8, 2011

colourbox wrote: »

I don't know if this will help, but there is a basic difference between how a mouse/trackpad locates vs. a Wacom stylus. When you pick up a mouse, then put it down, the pointer doesn't move. The mouse movement only starts where you start dragging, no matter if you picked up the mouse and put it somewhere else.

With a tablet (by default anyway), positioning is by absolute coordinates, which is different from a mouse. If the stylus is at the top left of the tablet, the pointer is at the top left of the screen. If you pick up the stylus and lower it at the bottom right of the tablet, the pointer jumps to the bottom left of the screen (where a mouse pointer would not have moved). Once you understand this, it is easier to know where the pointer will be. It will be proportional to its location on the tablet. This is why smaller tablets are often better than larger ones, because with a 12x12 tablet, if you want to go from the top left to bottom right, you must actually do that with the stylus diagonally across your 144 square inches, where if it was a mouse, you could just keep swiping the mouse over and over across 4 inches of desk surface until it gets there.

Wacom has pretty sophisticated software, so you can alter that mapping, even changing the Mapping Pen Mode from "Pen" to "Mouse" if you wanted the distance behavior to feel more like a mouse.

It's not the location of the cursor I'm having as much problem with as the height off the pad - gauging the distance and lowering the pen smoothly with the right amount of pressure once I'm at the location I want. I think this is where practice will pay off.

sara505 · May 8, 2011

Art Scott wrote: »

I have been using a tablet for several years now and I find I cannot live without mine for processing pix...
Mine lives under my work space until needed and since I am running on a 17" laptop with 2nd monitor,
the tablet is direly in front of me on the workspace, occasionally it winds up in my lap when i need a new
position from which to work...it fits in my laptop bag also for traveling...I use the new lesser expensive
than wacom Intuos, Vistablet, it has an approx 6x10 work area....ever bit as god as any Wacom I have owned.

Yup, can't argue that the tablet is a great tool - can't wait to get more proficient at it.

Yes, I've considered my lap also.

I'm headed down to my island paradise (imminently), and my desk is bigger there, so I think that will give me more options.

My Intuos - I think it's the small model - is also easy to pack and is one of the reasons I opted for the small version.

I haven't even begun to explore this gadget. I'm looking forward to spending some time with this thing.

Thanks for the replies - all helpful.

Art Scott · May 8, 2011

Sara...my old Intuos Graphire had the 4x6 working space and the cursor or tool you were using never moved until you placed the pen on the tablet...I tried a bamboo and it had around 3/4 to 1.5 inches above the tablet it recognized the pen .....my current table is about 1/2 to 1 inch and I still get a bit befuddled when the tool is moving and nothing is happening.....one reason I like it in front of me on desk or in my lap and I love that it has a 10x6 working area and that is is 12 x 10 inches .....I just never got used to the tiny graphire.......

Have fun at your Island Paradise......

puzzledpaul · May 8, 2011

Sara - re location - I've got an oversized Intuos A4 ... whole thing is approx 17 x 14in.
Best thing (for me) was to put it on a sliding shelf (I used ball raced runners) so's it slides under the desktop when not needed (rare).
When typing - as now, I just push it in a bit.

pp

sara505 · May 8, 2011

Art Scott wrote: »

Sara...my old Intuos Graphire had the 4x6 working space and the cursor or tool you were using never moved until you placed the pen on the tablet...I tried a bamboo and it had around 3/4 to 1.5 inches above the tablet it recognized the pen .....my current table is about 1/2 to 1 inch and I still get a bit befuddled when the tool is moving and nothing is happening.....one reason I like it in front of me on desk or in my lap and I love that it has a 10x6 working area and that is is 12 x 10 inches .....I just never got used to the tiny graphire.......

Have fun at your Island Paradise......

Okay, I'm at my Island Paradise (I tell people I have a place on the Vineyard, they picture me walking the beaches, collecting shells - ha ha - working my rear off down here

) - my desk is bigger here, and I think it's going to make a huge difference. In Boston I had a small TV table, lower than my desk that was awkward on the side, and did not fit quite right beneath and in front.

My tablet is overall 8x12, but the work area is 4x6 - dunno, but I think the smaller size is going to be good.

DavidTO · May 8, 2011

Sara, my recommendation is to think about using the pen a lot less. Don't think about it at all, in fact. Just do it. The mistakes will go away and your body will learn how to use it just fine. Your mind never will get comfortable with it. It's like walking. If you thought through every movement in walking you'd land on your face.

I use the tablet exclusively since the mouse destroys the use of my hand. I edit video at work and it's very mouse intensive. I had to learn how to use the pen just to save my hand. I was losing the ability to hold things. The pen fixed that right up, since my arm doesn't have to twist to get my hand parallel to the work surface. Also the pen is much lighter and easier to move around (once you get the hang of it.)

Question Re Wacom Tablet

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