Wacom Tablets

[VegaNova]

I was hoping some artists on here might be able to give me some insight on this. I've decided to go back and finally put together an "art project" that I've been developing off and on for basically 15 years. It's not particularly related to CEC or RAE stuff, but figured this place was more appropriate than the off-topic forum.

I've started looking into possibly getting a graphic tablet, but wanted to get some opinions on how good they are, and whether they're worth the money for replacing the old pen/ink method of drawing. The few I've priced are in the $250-350 range, and my inner... um cheapskate... has me cringing as to wether or not to spend that much on something that I don't know enough about. :-S

Basically what I'm up against here is putting together a comic book which amounts to literally hundreds of drawings that would need to be sketched, inked, and scanned - as I plan to use Photoshop to do any coloring / page layouts.

I guess what I'm wondering is this - is the precision of the tablets worth the price they charge for them? I noticed that they have varying degrees of pressure and sensitivity (but how hard is it to digitally clean up the underlying sketch marks?) Also can you trace artwork with them (physically) or does the pen need to actually contact the surface to mark? I imagine that you probably have to scan it in and then use photoshop to do any tracing overlays.

Sorry for the blabby post! I just have lots of curiosities about these. :)

[Flash Kid]

Hey Travis. Back when I did a bit of Flash animation (hence the name), I bought a Wacom Graphire 4 tablet. It's pretty neat and a few extra features activate when using Photoshop and Flash. (Such as the eraser, lol.) There are a few different sizes and the size of the plate is actually made to scale your screen. However, it is able to detect when you need a smaller area and thus adjusts itself. It's well worth the money and it was pretty cool to get at the time. No you can't trace accurately with them. The pen must be on the tablet cover but doesn't need to be on the tablet itself. (It has a plastic cover.)

FK
P.S. Man, I should get back into Flash. lol

[Harmony Howlette]

I too, have a Wacom 4 that's on it's last leg and an Intruos. They are definitely worth it. I seriously have no clue what I would do without mine.

[Charon the Sabercat]

Intruos? Another Tablet brand? TWO QUESTIONS: How much did the Intruos cost, and why do you have that AND a WACOM tablet?

[SlapHappy]

Intruos? Another Tablet brand? TWO QUESTIONS: How much did the Intruos cost, and why do you have that AND a WACOM tablet?

Intuos isn't another brand, just another model. Wacom has made Graphire, Intuos, Cintiq (drools), and most recently, Bamboo tablets.

[Harmony Howlette]

Intruos? Another Tablet brand? TWO QUESTIONS: How much did the Intruos cost, and why do you have that AND a WACOM tablet?
Yeah, Intruos is another Wacom model, like Slaphappy said.
I've had my Graphire for about 4 years and it has no stylus (it broke) but I'm keeping it as an emergency back up and trying to obtain a new pen for it...plus, I'm going to try and get a new laptop for when I start school this fall...so maybe I'll use it with that.
The Intruos was a gift from a very generous friend. It's beautiful but it's much bigger than my tiny little Graphire and I need to rearrange my desktop setup in order to make room. I'm going to have such a blast with it once I do, though...8->

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Travis, you only need two things dude-

!. - PAPER

2. COLOR COPIER.

:D

Welcome to Jenn's World of Art. Making 'Traditional' Work since 1973!

:))

[Fatz Geronimo]

Travis, you only need two things dude-

!. - PAPER

2. COLOR COPIER.

:D

Welcome to Jenn's World of Art. Making 'Traditional' Work since 1973!

:))


Traditional is vastly becoming a lost art, isn't it?

Were it not for 'Gift' pictures for loved ones, I might never get around to using pen and ink and traditional coloring tools, namely watercolors. But yea, for me too everything in the past year has been almost exclusively tablet produced since I got a 'Wacom' tablet for my birthday last year.

I do love it, it's helped me explore more possibilities and shown me the immeasurable amount of things you can do in photoshop with a little patience and experimentation. It's worth the price certainly (especially in my case where I didn't have to pay for it...heh)