Wacom Tablets & Pens

Does anyone have one of these:

Wacom Intuos 3 A5 Tablet Pen + Mouse £200+
or
Wacom Bamboo Fun A5 Tablet £100

I am trying to find out if it is advantagous to get the Intous or not, comparing them I can only see the main difference being twice as many sensitive pressure levels than the Bamboo.

I really want to make sure I don't end up regretting the extra money spent, not having used one before would all those extra levels be very useful for making selections, dodging, burning, tinting etc?

Comments suggestions gratefully received,
thanks Lilly

AFAIK, the Intuos tablets have angle sense as well
Additionally they are much heavier and better made. Really built for pro use.

That said, I use the older Graphire tablets and have never had a problem for Photoshopping - I use both the pen and the mouse.
Matt

I too use an old Graphire one - an A6 size. The mouse has given up the ghost (after about 5 years) but the pen and tablet are fine. It cost about £60 at the time, so I expevt it's probably comparable to the Bamboo, although I haven't looked.

Anything you get will be better than a mouse for doing selections, dodging and burning etc.

Dan

Thank you guys, so do you reckon an A5 wd be adequate for a 19" screen?
Lilly

I too use graphire 3's and 4's and believe the bamboo is essentially the same with some slick improvements.

the intuos and cinteque lines are better, but I've gotten along quite happily, without.

I'd suggest you buy the largest model you can afford, for your desktop...and the smallest also for your laptop bag.

I'm going to get one of the bamboo models for my laptop, just cause i like the new touchpad and programable buttons and pse4.

seconded, I have a cheep but massive Aldi special which cost me £25. It knocks the socks off any mouse for photo editing.

I would highly recommend the Wacom Intuos 3 – I am still using my original Intuos 9x12 bought probably more than 5 years ago (so old it is a serial interface one from the pre-USB days) it is still working flawlessly and still supported by the latest Wacom drivers. There are not many PC peripherals you could say that about.

It works very well with Photoshop – I could not imagine using Photoshop without pressure sensitive brushes etc. I have seen the difference between using a mouse and Wacom pen compared to trying to draw with a bar of soap instead of a pencil.

One minor niggle - although Photoshop has supported tilt sensitivity since version 7 they have made a fundamental mistake in how they implement it with airbrushes (still not corrected in CS3 ) The fail to mirror the x and y angle data so that ink spray is reversed i.e. If you hold the pen with the eraser (top) end pointing towards you, you would expect a real airbrush the spray the ink away from your hand but in Photoshop it sprays towards your hand.

As for tablet size prior getting an A4 sized Intuos tablet I used a Wacom A5 size tablet. Thinking a bigger tablet would allow more control when I upgraded to an Intuos I went for the A4 size. This isn’t really the case for photo retouching, an A5 sized tablet is perfectly adequate and some would say more comfortable to use as you only need small wrist movements – the larger tablets are better suited to CAD or drawing work. When I finally have to replace my 9x12 I would go back to a smaller tablet again.

Just to add...
It is easiest to map the tablet to the monitor - that is, the tablet area represents the monitor area directly (unlike a mouse).

Your screen size is unimportant. Personally I prefer the A6 tablets as I don't have to keep moving my arm - only wrist. As I rest my elbow on the table I find that an A5 or A4 is too large when working for a long time.

The only problem is when you have two monitors. I have it setup so the mouse operates across both monitors, and the pen normally maps to the primary monitor. However, with the Wacom software you can map one of the barrel switches to change the pen from pen-mode to mouse-mode (and can then access both monitors). Not sure whether I could have two Wacom tablets...

Matt

Thanks Dave v much for your detailed reply - it has helped me make my decision a lot easier, especially the bit about A4 v A5. I used to do a lot of CAD work in past employment so can appreciate the need for a larger tablet for say A0 drawings for example.
So, I shall go for the Intuos 3 A5, it will be interesting to see how I managed before working with a bar of soap!
Thank u for your time
Lilly

I have just taken the plunge and ordered the A5 Intuos 3, an early Christmas present, can't risk not arriving in time problem is I know I won't be able to wait untill then before I get my mits on it...well I will have to check it works OK...oh well ..

thanks for all your help, anyway
cheers, Lilly

I have just received the tablet today and need to ask probably a naive : but want to make sure I do it right!

I have read on reviews of Wacom that to make sure all goes well with operation I should download the latest driver which makes sense.
Do I install the updated driver from Wacom site immediately after CD installation before I start to use the tablet?
please advise ASAP , Lilly

Yes, that would probably be best.

Some USB devices require the software (including drivers) to be installed before you plug in the hardware - not all plug and play nicely.

Check the documentation that came with the tablet.

Any luck, Lilly?

Thank you Tim, sorry not replied I had to eventually let go of this wonderful invention I have been on it ALL day!
I actually decided to just go by the instructions that came with it and installed the driver from the Cd only (so far) it seems to be working perfectly well with no conflicting issues with CS2. I will see how it goes before updating the driver.
The most delicate touch of the pen takes a bit of getting used to but the accuracy compared to working with a bar of soap is stunning. Working with my hand-tinting/selections is a breeze.
A5 size works well with me, I can see that some people wd prefer an A6 for desk space but A5 works good for me and I don't have very big hands!
I havn't got around to trying the different nibs yet or programming the Express keys on the tablet, there is a degree of a learning curve, of work away and customize as per your working practice.
Instaltion was dead easy.
Corel Painter Essentials 3 bundled is not as good as the newer 4 version from what I have seen of the demo on their site, so might be tempted to get a download upgrade for that later on for £30, but not sure if I really want it.
Amazon delivered next day for £224, I will be an expert by Christmas
I am very very happy with my new toy
cheers, Lilly

I thought you might be playing!