Question about tablets...

[nellagirl]

I saw the post below asking about tablets. This may seem stupid but, what would you use them for with scrapbooking? Are they only for laptops? I've seen the laptops that have these but, would you get the same benefit at a home pc with one?

Hope I don't seem totally stupid!!

Thanks!

[debbers]

Nella, I use a 6 x 8 tablet for doodles, precise selections, excruciating brush and eraser work, and all manner of details. It's also wonderful for actual handwriting.

deb

[nellagirl]

Oh how cool! I will have to check those out. So, you doodle, or write..whatever and then you can use them as journaling ans such in your LO's?

[debbers]

Yes ... handwriting. :) But I don't know that would work out so well on anything smaller than my 6 x 8.

There's one here online that I used the tablet to write with:

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=155344&cat=3683

You do have to practice, but it took hardly any time at all to adjust to writing on it. And you've likely already tried, but there's just no way to write with a mouse and make it look like your real handwriting!

Extracting photos from backgrounds is where the tablet REALLY shines, compared to a mouse. Well, and for drawing, too. But most people won't be drawing on their layouts.

deb

[maryjos]

BTW - there is a difference between a Tablet PC and a wacom tablet. Tablet PCs can do all kinds of things without the use of a keyboard (image being able to just write new appointments in Outlook for instance). I love it just for taking notes and organizing thoughts, etc. Wacoms are specifically for working with drawing applications.

[IreneA]

Handwriting, doodles making.... complex shadowing -when creating 3d stuff... erasing too... contouring objects.

[Samara]

I use my tablet for all my detail work! All of my shading is done with my pen.

[IreneA]

true... sometimes shading in PS seems to be too unnatural... your hand is an emergency then! LOL

[Samara]

I keep thinking of how else I use my pen. I guess I really use it for EVERYTHING!!!!!!

[IreneA]

As for me, sometimes I even open-close files and choose menu options with it LOL!!
Besides... and sadly - my baby's favorite toy LOL

[flrebareba]

Well I cant wait. Im making a list of all you who have one so I can ask you for help if I need it.

[Teresa]

I have the wacom 4 by 7 or something like that. My brother told me that the larger size might lead to more strain on my wrist/hand. I have to admit, I do like the small size. It fits perfect on the couch right next to me. There are two buttons you can program on the tablet itself and two on the pen. I program the tablet buttons for moving layers up and down. The pen is programed with enter and back space since tapping the pen to the tablet is a left mouse click already. My husband walked in on me one day to find me snuggled deep into the couch with my laptop on the coffee table. He had no idea what was going on because he could see that I was working but to look at me with my head on a pillow and a quilt tucked in around me, it didn't quite make since. The tablet was under the quilt with me.

Like the others mentioned. The pen and tablet is great for shading and painting.

Have fun with it!

[smello]

I'm at the point of buying one, just so many brands and models here in China....
I think I'm gonna buy a Wacom, but which???? I don't really want a huge one, than it will be bigger to carry than my tiny laptop....

[flrebareba]

I just ordered the wacom Intuos 3 4x6 is about $199.00 here. I cant wait to get it.

[Emma]

I have an oooooolllld Graphire, maybe 4x6 (I had to go download drivers the other day, it's like their original model, LOL!) It's only sensitive to pressure, but the Intous senses the tilt of the pen and pressure, and a few other snazzy things.

I use mine for digital painting, or any time the mouse starts to feel like a club! I'm trying to get more used to it as a browsing tool since it's more ergonomic, and my arm is starting to show signs of carpal tunnel. While it's great for drawing, sweeping motions, it's not great for the pick up and down of menu clicking and web browsing, so that's harder for me to get used to.

You can go cheap, $90 Graphire, or the Intuos, which is more money, does more.

[just-pjz]

I don't own a tablet at this point, but I find them interesting.
I just saw an ad in a current digi magazine for Wacom's Bamboo Fun Tablet.
It comes in a few sizes, and apparently you buy it with just the tablet and pen, or with software as well. According to the ad and some reviews I quickly read thru on amazon, the software option one comes with a full version of PSE, plus a couple other things. One of the reviews indicated it is PSE 5.0.
Is this correct?? A full version? Does any one know? I only ask because the Bamboo Fun (small) with software runs right around $100 and so far I've only come across PSE 5.0 or 6.0 itself for somewhere between $60-$80.00.
The tablet/software almost seems too good to be true.

Any ideas? Input?

Thanks!

[Margie]

yep! my bamboo fun came with pse 5!

[carlalee]

Yep it's a really good deal! It's the full version of PSE 5, which you can upgrade to PSE 6 if you wanted to or even to PSCS3. If you haven't already poked around on the WACOM (http://global.wacom.com/businesses.cfm) website, you might want to. They have all kinds of good info. -c-

[Erica]

I use the intuos3 for just about anything from mouse actions to drawing, I'm still learning and quite frankly I don't think it will make me a better artist LOL but it does allow you to draw directly into your software programme. Having Vista OS also gives you a few extra options with a writing tablet, like pen flicks and writing directly into MSN Messenger, Notepad etc.

[maryjos]

I'm in the Amazon Vine program where you get free products to review (it's invitation only, sorry!) and the Bamboo was one of the selections a few months ago, but I was too slow and didn't get one before they were all gone! I've been holding out buying one hoping they might show up again, but looks like I might have to break down and get one. I'm just not sure what size to go with and how big a difference it would make to get the small bamboo model versus the medium which costs twice as much.

[just-pjz]

Thanks for the response...

Margie, do you like your Bamboo Fun? Any complaints?
Thanks for the website, Carlalee. Very useful and helpful, but now my mind is spinning with all the choices!
Erica what made you choose the intuos? Like it?
Well Mary Jo, I'd love to hear your input should you ever get one.

I do have another question....
from an Amazon Vine Program reviewer:
"I wanted to use this unit specifically for writing. But, I have XP and Office 2003. According to the manual I need Vista and Office 2007 to be able to accomplish digital writing."
Is this factual? You cannot use the tablet for writing without Vista & Office 2007?
I found this on the Bamboo Fun site: Works with new handwriting recognition, inking and pen features in Windows Vista (all editions but Home Basic) and Apple operating systems (OS X)
but nothing specifically saying writing could not be accomplished without Vista/Office 2007.

Thanks...
Pjz

[Maikku]

I found this on Wacom wesite of the requirements:

Bamboo - System Requirements
Platform PC or Macintosh

Operating System Requires computer running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista (32 or 64-bit) or a Macintosh running Mac OS X 10.3.9+, Intel or PowerPC Processor

Other Also requires color display, powered USB port, and CD/DVD drive

[omio]

Hope I don't seem totally stupid!!!

Probably my favorite thing (among MANY) about DSP is that no one ever makes you feel stupid. :clap:

I'm not as proficient as the people who have already answered, but I can give you an amateur's opinion. :tup: I have had the small Wacom Graphire for about a year. Unlike most of the designers, I can't master using the pen as my mouse -- been a computer nerd since the 70s so it may be that old dog and new tricks stuff. :lol:

BUT -- I love, love, love my tablet!!!! I use it with both the pen and the mouse. The pen is used for extracting, painting, shading, and anything else that feels more comfortable with a pen in my hand. I haven't been able to handwrite all that well with it, but I also haven't practiced doing so.

I use the tablet both with my desktop Mac and my laptop...only moving it to the desk when I want to see things on the huge monitor. Would really miss having it, though, and definitely recommend getting one. HTH.

[carlalee]

I do have another question....
from an Amazon Vine Program reviewer:
"I wanted to use this unit specifically for writing. But, I have XP and Office 2003. According to the manual I need Vista and Office 2007 to be able to accomplish digital writing."
Is this factual? You cannot use the tablet for writing without Vista & Office 2007?
I found this on the Bamboo Fun site: Works with new handwriting recognition, inking and pen features in Windows Vista (all editions but Home Basic) and Apple operating systems (OS X)
but nothing specifically saying writing could not be accomplished without Vista/Office 2007.

Thanks...
Pjz
Hi Pjz - I have XP Pro SP2 on my laptop. I have the Graphire 4 tablet which I believe is the last model before the Bamboo tablet was released. I was able to change a couple of settings to use it for handwriting. It was very limited and I didn't like it so I disabled that functionality. There is software available which says it gives you the power of using handwriting in documents. I believe it's called Evernote. There is (was) a free version available on the internet. I also tried this but didn't like it enough to keep it installed. They have since released an upgrade which I haven't tried. Now that all being said, depending on which photo editing software you use (I have PSCS2) you CAN, very easily I might add, hand write on your LOs. Lori's DSU Intro to Graphics tablets teaches you how to do this. It just takes practice. Hope this kind of answers your question. -c-

[carlalee]

I need to post a possible correction - it's been so long ago (last year) since I originally tried to use my tablet for handwriting. So that being said, you may have to use the Evernote software to write with the tablet outside of your photo editor. I honestly can't remember if they were independent of each other. You can definitely use it with a photo editor! :-) -c-

[Margie]

Margie, do you like your Bamboo Fun? Any complaints?
i have the small and medium and like both. i prefer the small because it's, well, small. :D it's very simple, useful, love it! now i don't design on it or anything, so don't know if i'd prefer the medium if i did. (they don't let me design!!)
now they also sent me a graphire 6x8 with wireless capability and that's just beyond cool. i so love my job!!! :love2:

[maryjos]

Is this factual? You cannot use the tablet for writing without Vista & Office 2007?
I have a tablet PC which is basically a laptop that has a Wacom screen. In the past you needed to have a special Tablet OS to use many of the inking features, my understanding is that most of this is now built into Vista. Same with Office, earlier versions of Office didn't have inking capability included, the newer versions do. I even had a neat addon for Office that let's you write your appointments and it converts the text for you. Pretty neat.

[Erica]

Jjz - to answer your question why I bought the Intuos, well we are a bit limited for choice in NZ and I didn't even consider any other brand than Wacom so I decided to go for the best that I could afford, the Graphire (although a lot cheaper), doesn't do as much as the Intuos and I didn't want to find that it limited my options later down the track. As for the Vista writing thing, I had Vista before I bought my Wacom so I can't say whether it only works in Vista, it isn't a function I use a lot but I may do at some stage. The last time I used the writing function was in messenger talking to my sister but quite frankly I can type quicker LOL

[just-pjz]

You ladies are wonderful! Thanks for all the feedback and responses. I appreciate it.

now they also sent me a graphire 6x8 with wireless capability and that's just beyond cool. i so love my job!!! Margie...I think I love your job too!!

[debbers]

I decided on an Intuos instead of a Grapphire, too - you can actually TELL the difference by just using each of them. The Intuos was smoother and seemed to have a finer resolution.

So it was a no-brainer to me, I went for the Intuos.

I've got the 6 x 8 one, it's I guess medium sized. I really like it for page size work or detail work; I've never had to adjust anything to get it working correctly on the 6x8.

deb

[Emma]

All the Wacom Graphires come with the previous version of PSE, so it is a great deal ($100 Grahpire or Bamboo). CompUSA and Circuit City types of stores all sell the Wacom, so you can go peek in the box. There are several other softwares bundled with it, some easy editing and organizing stuff, but PSE is the best inclusion.

[Emma]

I had to go download new drivers for my tablet, and even though I'm sure I found this option years ago, I could never find it again until today. Under TIP FEEL click the DETAILS button, and under CLICK SENSITIVITY change that to LOW. This allows using the pen for browsing, which is more ergonomic than a mouse. You have to actually touch the pad hard for it to "engage", which is better than the default because anything more than a hover causes the pen to click. Nice for drawing, but a pitb for using it to browse or navigate anything.

I've been using mine all day like this because my hands are falling asleep from the mouse, and my "grip" is weak and inaccurate. Hopefully the stylus will help my hands heal.