Best Graphics Tablet for Digital Art?

[Jake]

When reading reviews, bear in mind also who the device is aimed at and thus who's likely to be writing the review. A graphics professional is highly unlikely to have bought a Bamboo or even a Graphire, so they won't be writing reviews of those products... but they are likely to be reviewing Intuos3s and Cintiqs, so bear in mind that the reviews of the professional devices won't necessarily be directly comparable to the reviews of the hobbyist/home-user devices.

im going to assume you havent used one mikan to say the laptop is even a painting tool

Bear in mind that there are different types of tablet PC; some use literal touch-screen technology which you can use any old stylus or your finger or whatever, and some others have wacom-sourced technology built into the screens, pressure-sensitivity and everything.

Personally, I haven't tried a Cintiq but I have tried a tablet PC, and I struggle to see how the same problems couldn't spoil the Cintiq as well. Basically, there's a gap between where your stylus rests and where the image is. This is only to be expected, as the screen has a non-negligible thickness and needs it to be robust enough to stab with a tablet pen, but it means that the cursos gets misaligned if you look at the screen from a different angle from when you calibrated it.

On my LCD monitor, which isn't expecting to be drawn upon and thus probably isn't so robust (and probably isn't so thick) as a Cintiq screen, if I hold my tablet stylus against the screen and move my head from one side of it to the other, the tip appears to move about six pixels to the side. That's as wide as a lower-case 'o' in this case. Since I move my head around while I'm drawing, even if just by a small amount, this makes the cursor pretty imprecise and makes it pretty hard to draw as well with the tablet PC as I can with my Intuos3. I'm failing to see why this wouldn't be a problem with a Cintiq as well.

EDIT: the difference between bambo and intuos is hard to tell, the bamboo has a mere 512 point pressure and the intuos has 1024 point pressures. Can you notice even 100 different pressures you put onto the pen?

The difference between a Bamboo and an Intuos3 is like the difference between night and day. Seriously.

Firstly, you can tell the pressure difference. It's not a big thing, but you can notice it.

Second, it's not just the pressure difference. In fact, that's a minor issue compared to the resolution, which is much more important. The Intuos has a resolution of 5080lpi; Wacom doesn't seem to advertise the resolution of the Bamboo, but based on the other specs (similar to a Graphire) I'd guess it's probably around 1500-2000lpi. Which isn't too disimilar to the Intuos 1.

I used an Intuos 1 for years, and I used a Volito for a while (predecessor to the Bamboo) at work. The Intuos 3 I have today is a significant noticable improvement over the Intuos 1, and the Volito couldn't even touch the Intuos 1, really.





But still, despite all this, I'd still recommend a new user who isn't rolling in cash to buy a Bamboo first. Because it's still a perfectly good piece of kit, and it'll give you an idea of whether you like using a tablet, and it won't cost the Earth in the first place... and if you decide you don't like it or if you decide you want to upgrade, you should probably be able to sell it on for a reasonable chunk of cash that you can put towards your next purchase.

The question is somewhat like asking "I'm thinking of buying a car, should I get the Civic or the Accord or the S2000?". The Civic is a perfectly decent car, it won't break on you, it has all the expected mod cons and it performs pretty well. The Accord is better, of course, it's got a bigger engine and more space, and has advanced features like proper climate control instead of air-con. The S2000 is a sports car with a highly-performing engine and huge tires and everything, so for a car nut or a racer it's going to be a 'better' car, because you can make it go faster around tighter corners and it has better acceleration... but it's not like you're settling for a crappy car if you buy a Civic; it's still a far better vehicle in every respect than the Lada 1200 the garage across the street is selling, and it certainly beats the pushbike you're currently using to get around.

[Sapphire Dragon]

Never used the old intuos' first one I got was an intuos 3, dont recall using a volito too. But I can't find a fault at all with the intuos 3 so I dont see really how a tablet can get much better. Even the surface feels great with the felt nib.

I felt the same way with the cintiq only I was looking at the screen below. If it did have those problems I just couldnt tell and I was using it on my lap. I think the reason my arm doesnt get in the way is im left handed probably... The best way youll find out about one is going to someone who has one and trying it because theres obviously mixed feelings about the thing.

On a side note has anyone tried the newer small cintiq thats about £700? looks good but I havent had my hands on one.

[Doomfest]

Go for Intuos. Bigger surfaces than bamboo means better and easier tracking - but remember that our stroke size matters too. Cintiqs have less of a learning curve since you're looking at the surface, but are too expensive for a first tablet and the smaller one is actually less useful than a cintiq. The only way to use those is if it's stable on your desk and you don't have to hold it in your lap or something... imagine craning your neck for ten hours!

[Jake]

I think the reason my arm doesnt get in the way is im left handed probably...

As much as I acknowledge that this genetic superiority is a great boon, I'm not entirely sure how it helps - compared to those poor disadvantaged right-handed people - with keeping your arm out of the way. I mean, the left hand works more or less the same way as the right hand for most things. Unless yours is invisible?

[Cybeat]

I think he meant his arm getting in the way while coloring with photoshop. Most of the important things (coloring, layers, etc.) are on the right side. Good thing I'm left handed, too! (I was ambidextrous before, according to what my father told me.)

[Doomfest]

You can move the tools over and save the workspace so you don't have to do it over and over again, lol. and any intuos above the 4x6 size has buttons and a touchstrip on both sides.

[Sapphire Dragon]

@cybeat: thats exactly what I meant, though I know you can move all the UI how you want it if you took the time. I myself just move them over to my second screen but not many people seem to use a dual screen setup.

[Mugen]

The HyperPen 8000U Pro is $49.99, it has the standard 512 levels of pressure sensitive.
I'm using the earlier model 6000U...you can't beat that price for that level a quality.
...And works with PC and Mac.

> HyperPen 8000U Pro Link <

[Cybeat]

Hm. I'll take some time and do some research on it.

[LVUER]

May be this is out of the topic but since we are talking about tablet...
Which is better alternative, doing line art with tablet directly onto the PC or doing manual line art (sketching, tracing, inking) then scanning using a scanner and finally edit the scanned picture with PS or other software?

[Cybeat]

Hm, they're both good ways to lineart, but I prefer inking with photoshop, because I find adjusting erasing those little mistakes on the drawing frustrating.