Graphic tablets recommendations

[rka81]

Going to take the plunge and get a graphics tablet for photo retouch/manipulation within Photoshop CS5... I have no previous experience of tablets though have been pointed towards Wacom products so would like to draw on the experience of the members here.

No real stipulations - dont want to go crazy with the cash, but also would like a decent sized one - prob A4 as i may struggle with the smaller one - but thats not really basing it on anything relevant.

any views? ideas?


thanks

[amica999]

Hi, I used a Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch for all my retouching work untill 2 days ago, when I received an Intuos 4 M as an early x-mas gift. Of course the Intuos is more precise, has lots of x-tras and I love it dearly already. But for starters you can really go with a Bamboo which costs a fourth of the Intuos, maybe after 2 years or so you may want to upgrade, but then you'll have already experience using tablets and have determined if you want to work with them. Just my 2 c

[rka81]

Originally Posted by amica999

Hi, I used a Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch for all my retouching work untill 2 days ago, when I received an Intuos 4 M as an early x-mas gift. Of course the Intuos is more precise, has lots of x-tras and I love it dearly already. But for starters you can really go with a Bamboo which costs a fourth of the Intuos, maybe after 2 years or so you may want to upgrade, but then you'll have already experience using tablets and have determined if you want to work with them. Just my 2 c

Brilliant! Thankyou for your response.

[Manorts]

Originally Posted by rka81

No real stipulations - dont want to go crazy with the cash, but also would like a decent sized one - prob A4 as i may struggle with the smaller one - but thats not really basing it on anything relevant.

any views? ideas?


thanks

I had not used a tablet until a couple of years ago. Never touched a mouse since.
When I researched them, the advice at the time was start with an Intuos 3
Ideally, a 6x4 is a great starting point. I was advised anything larger is a bit harder to use than the smaller type. I don't know whether an A4 is a good choice for a beginner. Search the forum.There are great posts about tablets.
Just my humble opinion.

[chet webley]

I have a Bamboo at work and a Pen & Touch at home. The bamboo is miles better, IMO - the pen is heavier, and the surface of the tablet is smooth, not scratchy.

I do understand that wacom are just about to release a newer version of the pen & touch in 3 flavours:- One without the touch functions (which I've switched off on mine), one with the touch functions, and one of a larger size. From the images that I've seen, it looks like they've redesigned the pen too.

Are you sure you want an A4 sized tablet? Consider this:- I used to use my mouse set to really high acceleration & speed, so transferring over to the Bamboo that I have was quite difficult, as I have to move my arm more to get the pointer across the screen - I couldn't imagine having a larger one and having to move my arm even further!

[shift studio]

I recently 'downgraded' from Intous 4 medium to the Bamboo Create. I didn't like the pen that came with the Create (it wasn't thicker near the tip so my finger tips kept sliding closer to the pen tip) so I put the rubber sleeve from the Intous 4 pen on... its my Franken-pen!

Anyways, I like the Bamboo Create just fine. The active area is ~ 22cm x 14cm. I have no trouble going from 2000 > 1000 levels of pressure sensitivity. It also supports multi-touch gestures (but not zoom in PS)

So, I can recommend the Bamboo create. The Intous 4 was good too, but stopped working properly after a couple of years (thats another story)

--Shift Studio.

[girlsfather]

I work on a intuos 4 A5 wide (model PTK-640) - the active area is 147 mm x 234 mm.
Even with my new 27" 2560x1440px display I am fine with this tablet size.