Thread: Mouse vs. tablet

Originally Posted by Alex

Thank you for the reply, jfrazierjr!

May I ask what size is best to have then? I heard the smaller the easier it is and the more precise your strokes are, but I would like to be extra sure.

Well.. honestly, this is something that you will just have to determine for yourself. If you do hand drawing and make long sweeping strokes, then likely the bigger one will work better for you. Since all I draw are maps and the occasional (bad) creature attempt, I don't do that long a stroke most of the time. Personally, I have a Bamboo Fun medium (6x8 in), but I bought my wife a smaller one(umm is it 4x6 in????) and have used it once or twice and found it too small(or perhaps I am just so used to my bigger one!). Personally, for me, I would not want anything larger than what I use because I use on a laptop and it's nice to be able to carry around in a bag, but again, that totally depends upon your situation.

I have been eyeing an Intuos, but I just can't justify the expense with as little time as I get to spend on mapping for the past year or two(not to mention not having the money).

Ultimately, I would say any tablet is better than NO tablet, so if you have lot's of projects you are working on and it would take you a year to save up for an Intuos, i would say get a Bamboo NOW if that's what you can afford.

Thank you for the helpful posts, jfrazierjr. I think any size would be well suited for my hands, but I'll play it safe and get a bigger size than the smallest Bamboo Create, that way I (and my sister too) will have extra space just in case.

Thanks again! As soon as I can, I'll rep you.

Not overly expensive. Check out the Intuos line. They are usb and plug and play. The pens and mice (both included), are wireless(the only way to go..being tethered by a cord will hamper your efforts.) The pen is most useful as it responds to the amount of pressure used, making wider or darker lines. If I am doing some quick fixes, I use my laptop without a tablet. If I am doing a large job with a great deal of detail, I use the desktop with my 12x12 Intuos 2 tablet. Hope this helps.
Unkei

I got a Wacom Bamboo Touch tablet about a week ago, and I'm in love. The more I use it, the more I love it. It's better than the mouse for map purposes (for me) because it really does simulate a more hand-drawn feel. I still use the mouse for some things, but even tool selection and normal pointer stuff, I'm starting to use the tablet more for if I have it already out and plugged in. I haven't used any other tablet, so this isn't really just pushing the Bamboo, but rather I'm just tossing out a general opinion on the handiness of graphics tablets.

The pixel artist I work with recently bought himself a tablet (A4 wacom) and you'd think it's kind of an overkill of pixel art (128px high). It improved the color transitions a great deal and tileset creation is now a breeze.

..there was some other thread about tablets here recently i posted in, forgot to mention something...

over the winter i changed my 'desk' (usually cross-legged somewhere with laptop) and had my wacom graphire sitting on my left thigh.

around january i noticed my left thigh had this weird bald spot. not like friction, but like.. totally hairless...

i love wacom tablets.. totally recommend them.. most ergonomic pointing device i know of. but fyi.. don't leave them on your head or anything. grew back, so not an epilady.

I have used at home, my mouse for art, mostly cause I was too lazy to get a tablet. At work, since I got asked to join the graphic art department, I have been using a wacom table there. It is a very nice one, [forget the model ] but is about $250. I thought Id get a smaller tablet for at home, and got a bamboo- it has like a 3x5 darw area [where the one at work is at least 5x that size]. I find it much more difficult to use perhaps because of the limited space. but it was under $50. Perhap Ill eventually invest in the larger one, but I find it hard to do for just a hobby.
Ken

Talking with another artist they mentioned that a portion of their wacom (3 or 4 I don't recall now) is scuffed up where they draw a lot. They were not sure if this can happen on a Cintiq as well. Does anyone know? It would be a shame to have a scuffed up display on your cintiq that you would have to struggle seeing through as you were attempting to sketch.

Both of my bamboos have scuffed pretty badly. It doesn't affect the function of the thing as far as I can tell, but it does scuff. Check out the reviews at someplace like newegg for the cintiq question; they usually have relatively knowledgable people writing reviews there.