Forgive me for I have sinned - Intuos4 is gone

[YoungRetoucher]

Okay, I tried it and it just wasn't bearable, I was double clicking things by accident, throwing stuff into my trash bin I just had no control over the Intuos 4, even though I had the small model I found it hard to move my arm and all to reach other screen areas. When I write I almost don't move my arm at all. I'm told I have an awkward way of holding pens too... Anyway is there anything I can do to get used to it? Everyone tells me how great they are...

[Doug Nelson]

Use the Wacom control panel to switch to mouse mapping and customize your pressure levels. And be patient, it's a new skill. You're training new muscles. Everyone goes through that early uncomfortable period.

[GDML77]

Ah, ah...

Well, trust me you will...

Damn, in the beginning I was so depressed. I just thought I wasted the money for nothing... but with a couple of days of practice it became natural, now its like eating with fork and knife... simple and don't even think about it...

Force yourself a bit more, deny yourself access to mouse or whatever, once you get used to it... you won't leave without it, and you will save a lot of time...

Trust me, been through the same...

Cheers

GDML77

[YoungRetoucher]

Thanks gentlemen. Well my Logitech mouse is playing crazy so it looks like I will be forced to change anyway. As for the settings I know where the settings are but I don't know what to adjust. I know it sounds stupid but I don't know what an ideal configuration would be. Ideas?

[GDML77]

well, I would just say with my little experience...

Keep the sensitivity high, so you won't cause too damage to it... get used to soft manipulation of the pen...

(this was what I was advised to do)

[Shannon Fontaine]

the first day I started using mine I thought I was going to have an aneurysm it was so frustrating - a week in and it was comfortable - now I can NOT imagine working even a few minutes without the tablet.

Hang in there, it gets better

[kav]

What size is your screen? I think from what you're describing you have too small a tablet for the amount of screen you're working on. If you look at the crt generation a few years ago the normal screen size was 21" with roughly 20 of that being viewable. At that time the professional standard was 9x12 going by what was used in higher end labs and other places with tight tolerance. If the mapping ratio is too far off to draw shapes or write your name on screen with comparable effort to doing it on paper, you aren't doing yourself a favor.

[YoungRetoucher]

I'm on a 13 inch screen with an Intuos 4 Small.

[Doug Nelson]

Turn on mouse mapping for your pen in your Intuos control panel.

[2mittsphotog]

Man, I remember those days, I'm with everyone here as I was going mad as well! 2 years on and I couldn't live without it.

Just a quick tip, make sure to save out your settings in the wacom "tablet preference file utility". If you ever have to do a reinstall (or take it to another machine) you can do so with a single click. Sadly it took learning this when my Intuous 3 decided to just forget it was attached all the time (win7 thing I think). By just restoring those settings it immediately pops back on, weirdness. . .

2nd Tip: Mapping is critical! I'm running dual monitors (NEC 2690 and old school Samsung 19") and without mapping it properly it was a serious pain to work with. Couple tweaks and happiness will ensue! Also, I've found I work best by actually limiting my tablet working area significantly and I'm on a 6x8, so you may try playing with that as well. Best of luck!