Mouse vs. tablet

[Eiliff Gunnbjorn]

Hi all, I'm new to the guild and new digital art. I've only ever in the past drawn free hand but am thinking of buying a graphics tablet to try my luck at digital map making. The thing is I wouldn't have a clue when it comes to buying one of these things and i don't want to end up purchasing something I later regret.
I'm not exactly a wealthy person so I am on a budget and i was just wondering if the cheaper tablets like the WACOM Bamboo Manga graphics tablet (WACOM Bamboo Manga graphics tablet | Pixmania UK) are any good and worth the buy or is it if I can't afford an expensive model then there's no point buying one at all?

[Viking]

Hi Eiliff,
I have a nice fancy tablet but I'm sure a cheapy would be good too. It is still a world above a mouse but you just have to make sure that it has pressure sensitivity which I think the bamboo has but I can't be sure. My advice would be to look for a used one online somewhere as even the old wacom 2s are still extremely usable.
-Viking

[Eiliff Gunnbjorn]

Thanks Viking, I'll look out for a second hand one then. failing that a cheap model but I'll make sure its pressure sensitive. Do tablets come with drawing software or do you have to purchase that separately?

[Midgardsormr]

The Wacom ones usually come with demo versions of several pieces of software, usually at least Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop Elements. The Gimp is a free, open-source Photoshop substitute that works quite well with a tablet.

The Bamboo line are good tablets. They tend to be rather small for my taste, but they work well. Just make sure you get one of the kind that works with a pen, not touch only. And depending on the distance to your USB port, you may want a USB extension cable, as the Bamboo's cord is typically quite short.

The biggest difference, functionally, between the Bamboo and the more expensive Intuos line is the number of levels of pressure sensitivity. The Intuos is much more sensitive, but you have to have a pretty refined touch to be able to detect the difference.

[Jaxilon]

I have an Intous 5 and I come from a draw by hand background myself. I used my mouse for about a year before getting a tablet partially because like you I didn't want to later regret it and partially because I didn't have the money.

Whatever you get you will adapt to however, that being said you want it to feel as natural as possible. It's not going to be the same simply because it doesn't smell the same The variety of brush tips you can select within the drawing package, the ability to set the "hardness" of the brush will all take a little getting used to. I agree you will want to pressure sensitivity as that's important. For instance if you ever do shading with a ball point pen...the evenness depends on your ability to lightly drag that pen back and forth. Unless you shade with lines all the time.

Most likely you will not want to draw holding the pen straight vertical either so having "tilt sensitivity" may be important to you. Plus, that's how it works with a standard pen or pencil.

Now my Intous 5 is the Large version because I wanted have the freedom to move my arm around more but honestly, most of the time, I don't need that size. In some cases, if I'm tired, I reduce the active area of the tablet just so I don't have to move my wrist a foot to select the "File>Save" options. So, I don't know that you need anything larger than a sheet of standard paper unless you are a professional painter.

So, for what it's worth, that's my 2 cents except that I will say I love using my tablet and it's galaxies better than drawing with a mouse. It's not exactly the same as drawing all natural but it has it's own advantages.

[loogie]

i have the bamboo fun i think? it's pretty good, the pressure is fairly good, and it was fairly cheap... it is quite small, but for an amateur, it's a decent buy.

[Johnny Au]

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I got myself a Wacom Bamboo Create tablet. With it, I can draw convincing circles, which I cannot do with a mouse. Ever since I got the tablet, I can never go back to drawing anything with a mouse. I am happy with my tablet, since it allows me to draw continents that look like continents, not blobs or elementary school-style cartography. I also use my tablet with ArcGIS for my work.

I bought it on sale on Amazon for C$140 last December, which is quite inexpensive.

[006]

have to say I prefer the tablet

[reinadeoz]

I'm a web developer, and my typical day involves a lot of moving and clicking when testing stuff in the browser. I've been thinking about ditching my mouse, because when using it for long hours it gets very uncomfortable. As such, I'm eyeing up a Wacom tablet and using the pen input to mouse around -- but do you think it's a good idea?

Thanks in advance!

academias de ingles en madrid

[RobA]

I'm a web developer, and my typical day involves a lot of moving and clicking when testing stuff in the browser. I've been thinking about ditching my mouse, because when using it for long hours it gets very uncomfortable. As such, I'm eyeing up a Wacom tablet and using the pen input to mouse around -- but do you think it's a good idea?

Thanks in advance!

For my day job (which involves spending most of the day at the computer) I use a Microsoft trackball which I don't believe they sell anymore:



I much prefer it to a mouse, and it eliminated the numb fingers (pinky and ring) I was developing.

I use my Wacom for everything graphic, however...

-Rob A>