Question Home

Position:Home>Visual Arts> Questions about "graphic tablets"?


Question: Questions about "graphic tablets"!?
I was thinking about getting a graphic tablet, if that is what you call them!.

A friend of mine sells her prints to deviantART, and I was considering doing the same thing, but I have some questions to ask first!.

First of all, I'm a relatively good drawer!. Are graphic tablets hard to draw on!? Are they easier than paper!? Or about the same!?

How much does a decent graphic tablet cost!?

Do I need to purchase a program to use it!?

Where can I purchase a decent graphic tablet (in Canada)!?


Thank you!Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
As the first person said, Wacom is probably the best out there!. They have some lower end tablets, the Bamboo and Bamboo Fun, aimed at people who are starting out with tablets!. These are less than $80 US!. They go all the way up to top end, the Cintiq, which is essentially an LCD screen that you can draw on directly, rather than drawing on the table and watching the computer screen!. The biggest Cintiq runs around $2000 US!.

The tablets are designed to use a pen/stylus and other tools!. If you are a good drawer as you said, you should be able to adapt to using a tablet pretty easily!. For one thing, they are pressure sensitive, so when you press down with the stylus, you will get a thicker/darker line as you would expect to just as if you were painting or drawing with pencil on paper!. Because you are using a stylus, it's more like holding a pencil or pen or brush than working with a mouse!.

You will need a program!. Some of the Wacom tablets come with a very limited version of Corel Painter!. You will probably want to get Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements (version 7 is out for the PC)!. You do need to have something that has the tools that the tablet will use to let you do art on the computer!.

Another thing you probably want to invest in is a scanner!. Why!? Because a LOT of artists still work "traditionally" first, that is, they do pencil sketches/drawings on paper, then use the scanner to scan the image into Photoshop (for example), and set that scanned image up as the template for continuing the work on the computer!. In Photoshop, you would set up that scanned image on a bottom Layer, and then build layers over it to refine it, add color and so on!. (Layers in Photoshop are very useful: you can think of them as a stack of transparent sheets of paper, so you can put one on top of the other, hide a layer to see how your work is progressing, lock a layer so it doesn't get changed by what you are doing, work different sections on separate layers so what you are doing in one area doesn't change something in another and so on!.)

Unless you get the really expensive Cintiq (the cheapest version is just under $1000 US), you are going to only see the image on your computer monitor, not on the tablet!.

I did some checking, and you can find Wacom tablets at BestBuy in Canada!. And other places!. Here's the URL for the stores:
http://www!.wacom!.com/wheretobuy/retail!.c!.!.!.

And here's the main URL for the Wacom site, so you can check out their products and other related information!.
http://www!.wacom!.com/index2!.cfm

You will have to learn Photoshop or similar image manipulation programs to be able to use the tablet!. If you've never used any such programs, you may want to look for an introductory course or weekend workshop to get you started!. Check out your local community college if you have one, or even some of the computer stores too!. also look into getting a couple of basic books: Photoshop for Dummies (not an insult, the Dummies series is for people starting out) and the Photoshop Visual Quickstart Guide (I like the Quickstart Guide series)!. Both of these can be ordered through Amazon!.com!.

also, if you enroll as a student, you may be able to get the student license for Photoshop, which will save you a lot of money!.

I know this is going to be a sizable investment for you, but in the long run I think you will find it's worth it!. And your friend can probably help you too, with suggestions and tips on how to use Photoshop if she uses that, and using the tablet!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Wacom Intuos series is the best (3 is the newest)!.
If you want to save some money a Wacom Graphire will work as well!.
If you're rolling in dough the Wacom Cintiq is GODLY!.

I've used all of these at some point!.

Tablets take some getting used to!. They aren't necessarily harder or easier, just different!. You have the benefit of undo, zoom, and layers when drawing digitally!. You don't have to scan your drawings!.

I personally haven't drawn in pencil in a really long time!.

A medium sized intuos 3 is about $450!. If you go for an older model (Intuos 2) they will be much cheaper!.

Purchase it on the web, from the cheapest place you can find!. ;)

You'll want some sort of drawing program to use it!. You can buy Photoshop or Painter, or you can download similar programs like Gimp for free!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

wacom is the best brand you can find for tablets, and probably you will find for 100 dollars or less!. it takes a while to get use to draw and watch the monitor, i would recommend get the cheaper one!. after awhile you can get the more expensive ones!. i think $1000 + for the on screen tablets for any brand!. Www@QuestionHome@Com