Graphics Tablet
- Thread starter Gungnir
- Start date
I am in the same boat also. I have lots of ideas and relatively good skill but I am limited by my mouse. Just doesn't feel as intuitive as a pen.
I'm after an A5 though. From low to high end for wavom you have Volito>Graphire>Intuos. I'm not 100% on the real life advantages but after trying a Volito I decided it was a waste of time and money, just didn't react like a pen should.
I think you can pick up a decent A5 graphire tab 2nd hand for £100 - £120 on ebay.
I'm after an A5 though. From low to high end for wavom you have Volito>Graphire>Intuos. I'm not 100% on the real life advantages but after trying a Volito I decided it was a waste of time and money, just didn't react like a pen should.
I think you can pick up a decent A5 graphire tab 2nd hand for £100 - £120 on ebay.
get a WACOM graphire4 bluetooth. completely wireless; i have completely replaced my mouse now, as it's also an awesome pointing device.
edit: also, if you try a graphics tab for the first time, i guarantee you wont like it. the learning curve was about a day for me
edit: also, if you try a graphics tab for the first time, i guarantee you wont like it. the learning curve was about a day for me
I've have had a Wacom Graphire for years now (its serial, not usb, which shows how long... 
) and I think they are great - a mouse has no-where near the 'feel' of a pressure sensitive tablet. Would love to try one of the bigger, more expensive ones, I bet they are fab! You wont regret spending the money, enjoy 
) and I think they are great - a mouse has no-where near the 'feel' of a pressure sensitive tablet. Would love to try one of the bigger, more expensive ones, I bet they are fab! You wont regret spending the money, enjoy Saw this yesterday..
Press Release:
Wacom, the leading manufacturer of pen tablets and interactive pen displays today announces an update to the Studio and Studio XL versions of its Graphire4 range, aimed at amateur photographers who record family events such as birthdays, weddings and holidays, and who want to get the best out of their digital photographs. From now on, all Graphire4 packages will be equipped with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 provides new tools for creative image editing and helps the user to organize his pictures more effectively. Pen tablet users profit especially from two new tools: the magic selection brush and the magic extraction brush. Both brushes allow selecting and editing parts of a picture more easily. With the pen, these selections can be done very
easily and precisely.
The complete packaging of Graphire4 Studio and Studio XL consists of a tablet and pen, driver CD and Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0. Graphire4 Studio features a tablet with an active area in A6 size, the active area of the Graphire4 Studio XL tablet is A5 size. Like all Wacom pens, the Graphire4 pen is also cordless and battery-free.
Availability and pricing
The Graphire4 range of tablets is available from (Deleted in case its a competitor). The tablets have a USB connection and run on Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP or later and Mac OS 10.2.8 or later and require a CD-ROM drive. Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Mac is only available in English, French and German language versions. Users in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Sweden who prefer to have a localized version will additionally find Photoshop Elements 3.0 on the CDs supplied by Wacom.
The Graphire Studio is priced at £99.99 and the Studio XL at £179.99 including VAT. Both tablets come with a two-year warranty.
Press Release:
Wacom, the leading manufacturer of pen tablets and interactive pen displays today announces an update to the Studio and Studio XL versions of its Graphire4 range, aimed at amateur photographers who record family events such as birthdays, weddings and holidays, and who want to get the best out of their digital photographs. From now on, all Graphire4 packages will be equipped with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 provides new tools for creative image editing and helps the user to organize his pictures more effectively. Pen tablet users profit especially from two new tools: the magic selection brush and the magic extraction brush. Both brushes allow selecting and editing parts of a picture more easily. With the pen, these selections can be done very
easily and precisely.
The complete packaging of Graphire4 Studio and Studio XL consists of a tablet and pen, driver CD and Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0. Graphire4 Studio features a tablet with an active area in A6 size, the active area of the Graphire4 Studio XL tablet is A5 size. Like all Wacom pens, the Graphire4 pen is also cordless and battery-free.
Availability and pricing
The Graphire4 range of tablets is available from (Deleted in case its a competitor). The tablets have a USB connection and run on Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP or later and Mac OS 10.2.8 or later and require a CD-ROM drive. Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Mac is only available in English, French and German language versions. Users in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Sweden who prefer to have a localized version will additionally find Photoshop Elements 3.0 on the CDs supplied by Wacom.
The Graphire Studio is priced at £99.99 and the Studio XL at £179.99 including VAT. Both tablets come with a two-year warranty.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Aug 2005
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- 8,882
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- Clydebank
I had both an A6 grpahire 2, and an A4 oversize intuous. A6 is too small, especially as I was using 1600x1200 res, it was too hard to do precise pointing,
The Intuous however absolutely rocked. Much better control, felt better quality and drivers/tablet had more functionality - tilt detection for example. Maybe the newer tablets have these now as standard. I'd definately get a bigger than A6, and if you get an A4 and decide it's too big you can always re-zone it to map a smaller area of the tablet to your screen, you can't do that if you tablet is too small.
It's been said, that painters and people used to sweeping strokes (drawing with arm) prefer the bigger sizes whereas people who prefer to more use their wrist/small movements (like writing etc) prefer the smaller ones. I think A5 is a good size.
The Intuous however absolutely rocked. Much better control, felt better quality and drivers/tablet had more functionality - tilt detection for example. Maybe the newer tablets have these now as standard. I'd definately get a bigger than A6, and if you get an A4 and decide it's too big you can always re-zone it to map a smaller area of the tablet to your screen, you can't do that if you tablet is too small.
It's been said, that painters and people used to sweeping strokes (drawing with arm) prefer the bigger sizes whereas people who prefer to more use their wrist/small movements (like writing etc) prefer the smaller ones. I think A5 is a good size.
Thanks to all, a bit to think about now
Would like an A5 size tablet but wasn't sure about spending too much on something I may not get on with.
Reading up on the Graphire tablet it keeps cropping up that the stylus isn't very durable so wasn't sure about buying used, can anyone confirm there is a problem with the stylus?
Would like an A5 size tablet but wasn't sure about spending too much on something I may not get on with.
Reading up on the Graphire tablet it keeps cropping up that the stylus isn't very durable so wasn't sure about buying used, can anyone confirm there is a problem with the stylus?
My local village photo developers and printers shop let me try-out theirs. They scan old photos for people and touch them up using PhotoShop. The Profesional there uses an old A6 serial Wacom and a 23 inch CRT. I found using his OK but to be honest after buying the Graphire 3 USB (from them) I was never able to reduce its sensitivity enough to really enjoy using it.
Maybe you could find a local business which uses one?
I certainly could not wear out a stylus because it is so sensitive it will produce brush strokes without the stylus touching the tablet!
I've often thought that it would be a good idea to have laptops designed with the keyboard occupying one half of the allotted area and the other half occupied by a wacom tablet, possibly sized between A6 and A5 instead of a small 2 x 2 inch touch pad. Even better if the keyboard and the tablet could be transposed simply by lifting out say the keyboard, sliding the graphic tablet forward for graphic programms and reversing the process when using office applications.
Maybe you could find a local business which uses one?
I certainly could not wear out a stylus because it is so sensitive it will produce brush strokes without the stylus touching the tablet!
I've often thought that it would be a good idea to have laptops designed with the keyboard occupying one half of the allotted area and the other half occupied by a wacom tablet, possibly sized between A6 and A5 instead of a small 2 x 2 inch touch pad. Even better if the keyboard and the tablet could be transposed simply by lifting out say the keyboard, sliding the graphic tablet forward for graphic programms and reversing the process when using office applications.
I bought a Graphire 4 about a month ago, specifically for working with photos in Photoshop.
Its amazing.
Mine isn't likely to replace my mouse, especially since I use a scroll wheel a lot, but the pressure sensitivity of the tablet when working in Photoshop I find so so useful.
And I find A6 big enough for touching up photos. I think you'd struggle to 'paint' on an A6 or A5.
Its amazing.
Mine isn't likely to replace my mouse, especially since I use a scroll wheel a lot, but the pressure sensitivity of the tablet when working in Photoshop I find so so useful.
And I find A6 big enough for touching up photos. I think you'd struggle to 'paint' on an A6 or A5.
I bought the WACOM Volito2 A6 graphics tablet for about £30 a while ago, it's great value and the pen feels really decent to use, I'd recommend it for small use like touch ups and just a few sketches or whatever, If you want masterpieces then I'd say larger the better. Great tablet though