Wacom Pen setup

[bartjoosen]

Hi there,


finally I got a Wacom tablet, wow what a difference with a mouse, really like the pressure sensitivity for making mask and do some painting.

But I'm wondering how you guys (and girls) setup your tablet:
Pen mode or mouse mode?
What about the keys on the pen, right click, or a shortcut?

The major part of my work is in photoshop.


Bart

[KR1156]

use mine in pen mode, and i have the buttons on the pen setup to increase/decrease brush size.

[Markzebra]

Yes brush size is useful set to those shortcuts. And I always change whats stupidly called "click threshold". Click threshold actually means the lowest pressure you can use to get a response. I find its a lot better if its set a fair bit LOWER than the default.

[pixelzombie]

i don't see a setting called "click threshold", where would i find that?

[DiamondsDr47]

http://www.photoshopcafe.com/video/p.../CS3_Wacom.htm

[byRo]

Personal preferences:

- Pen mode [agreed]
- Pen in one hand, other hand on the keyboard
- Default pen-button clicks (pan / right-click)
- Lower the click threshold [agreed]
- Change PS default brush control. (PS thinks you ALWAYS want to control size with pen pressure. Usually I want to keep the same size, and to vary the opacity)

Rô

[Jafo]

Mine has four buttons in the upper left (I'm using the Intuos III) plus the thumb slider thingie. The slider is set to change brush size. The bottom button is set for space. The other three are set for ctl, alt, and shift. That way, if I'm doing some repetitive task like cloning or healing, I can sit back and put my feet up (thanx Wacom for the xtra long cord).

The default for the slider is for zoom. But with the space, ctl, and alt in such close proximity, I can use those for hand too and zoom at any time. It really speeds up my workflow.

But in normal editing scenarios, I'll have the pen in one hand and the other on the keyboard as stated above.

[bartjoosen]

Thanks for the responses, now at least I know some pro setups.

@byRo: How do I change the Photoshop default brush control?


Best regards


Bart

[pixelzombie]

Originally Posted by Markzebra

Yes brush size is useful set to those shortcuts. And I always change whats stupidly called "click threshold". Click threshold actually means the lowest pressure you can use to get a response. I find its a lot better if its set a fair bit LOWER than the default.

i found that under a separate menu and i had mine set to the lowest setting, do you use the defualt photoshop brushes?...a friend told me she has a special set of brushes for her tablet but she hasn't been able to get a copy of them for me...

[GerryB]

Originally Posted by byRo

Personal preferences:

- Pen mode [agreed]
- Pen in one hand, other hand on the keyboard
- Default pen-button clicks (pan / right-click)
- Lower the click threshold [agreed]
- Change Photoshop default brush control. (Photoshop thinks you ALWAYS want to control size with pen pressure. Usually I want to keep the same size, and to vary the opacity)

Rô

Thanks for the info. Can you change the default control? I have looked through the program (CS3) and cannot seem to find anything on it.

[Dave.Cox]

I also keep it set to the pen mode. Since in some apps, the mouse works better, ie 3DSMax, I also keep the mouse set to pen mode. That way the mouse doesn't wander off the edge of the pad. As far as the settings in Photoshop, I usually want to control opacity rather than size, but it's easy to change as needed in Photoshop. Just press F5 to open the brushes pallet, make your changes, and F5 again to close. If you are using CS3, any other pallets that you attach to the brushes pallet can be made to open and close at the same time as the brushes pallet if you want.

[byRo]

Originally Posted by GerryB

..... Can you change the default control?

Sorry if that was misleading. I mean change the brushes from their default "size" control and saving a new version with opacity control.

Like pixelzombie said, you can make a new set of brushes to use with your tablet.

Rô

[GerryB]

Thanks Ro. That will be something to do while I'm pondering another project.

[Markzebra]

Brushes are really just "shapes you can paint with", I hardly ever seem to use this, its mainly an illustration tool, or for people who paint from scratch. The brush engine random settings can sometimes have their uses, but generally you want control, as much control as you would get with with a pen, pencil or airbrush. The brush engine mostly just gets in the way of this.

I generally don't do anything other than changing the size and softness - both are available by using either the Pen buttons or tablet slider set to [ ] shortcuts. Softness is changeable by holding shift while you do this. Pressure is either set to Flow(not opacity) or brush size, sometimes both. Sometimes pressure is off. Tool presets

[videosean]

Originally Posted by byRo

- Change Photoshop default brush control. (Photoshop thinks you ALWAYS want to control size with pen pressure. Usually I want to keep the same size, and to vary the opacity)

Some pics to help clarify maybe I do the same.