hi everyone, I am considering purchessing a wacom tablet, now the choises! Small sizes to 12X12, graphire to intos ??? Want to work on Photos in CS any suggestions? Can I use the smallest size 4x5 and do large areas?

I think the size you pick is really more a function of how you like to work than any hard and fast rule. I have the smallest Graphire, and love it! You can most certainly do large areas with the smaller tablets...that has never posed a problem for me. I have heard from people who have the largest tablet that it can be tiring to make the large hand and arm movement required. As to whether you want the Graphire or the Intuos, it probably depends on exactly what you need in terms of "extras." The Intuos has built in function keys that you can program the way you like. From what I understand that is the major difference between the two models.

I like the portability of the small Graphire, as I use it with my laptop. I do plan to go to the next largest size eventually, but don't feel any rush to do so!

If you have never used a graphic tablet in the past, my suggestion would be to start with the least expensive one. If you adore it you can always upgrade at a later date. If you don't like it (I have heard tell of such people!) then you haven't made a large investment. I've had my Graphire for about 3 years, and haven't had any trouble whatsoever. I would recommend hiding your mouse for a few days when you first start out...force yourself to use the tablet for everything! It will feel very odd, but the practice will pay off.

Good luck!

Franny

PS-I belive the Wacom site has an inactive feature to help you decide between sizes and models!

How precise re they?! Are they very high dpi or whatever?! Like if I move my mouse to outline an area sometimes my hand will jump and I'll lose what I was doing because I accidentally picked something I didn't want to.

I think if I ever got one I'd just jump into the bigger size one because I know I hate small workspaces.. such as lifting and dragging the mouse.

I think if I ever got one I'd just jump into the bigger size one because I know I hate small workspaces.. such as lifting and dragging the mouse.
The tablet works differently to a mouse (or at least the Wacom does) No matter what your tablet size, the tablet area is equivelent to your screen size. So there is no need to "lift and drag" as you say. The upper left corner of the tablet is the upper left corner of the screen etc.

I have a Wacom Graphire3 4x5 (the smallest size), and I have found it very responsive and precise. As far as I can tell the tablet size is mostly a taste thing. So far this size is perfectly ok with me. I supose if you were doing highly complex detailed retouching or digital painting a larger tablet may seem more natural, and seem more akin to drawing on a pad of art paper. I guess that the bigger the tablet, the more precise your actions are, but the cheapness of the 4x5 was the only way I could justify giving it a go, and is conveniently sized to fit into the space my mousepad previously took up.

One feature I've read a lot of people like with the Wacom is the 'eraser' on the end. Personally I haven't found that all that useful, but in all other respects I find it a pleasure to use, and particularly helpful for masking acurately .

So it plugs in with USB or what?! Can it be used at the same time a USB mouse is installed as well?!

So it plugs in with USB or what?! Can it be used at the same time a USB mouse is installed as well?!

2x YES ;) - You plug it into USB and mouse works when it is installed.

Yes it plugs in your USB port. The Graphire 3 comes with a wireless mouse as well as a pen. But there's no reason why you can't use an existing mouse alongside it.

My advice is to dump your mouse for a while, and just use the pen/stylus, this will get you used to the feel of your tablet (at first it seems a little strange).

Personally I use a combo of mouse and tablet, but many dump their mouse once they get used to their tablet. The one thing I never use my mouse for now, is image editing.