Graphics tablets - has anyone used them?

[martinr]

Hi all

I am after some advice about graphics tablets

My wife produces simple graphics similar to this for use in teaching aids. She wants a reasonably priced graphics tablet so that she can create them directly on her PC. It would also be good if the graphics tablet has the ability to trace drawings as well.

I am sure there will be UKCaving members who use graphics tablets, and any advice on what to look for when purchasing would be most welcome

Thanks in advance

Martin

 

[bubba]

I've got a basic Aiptek/Nisis A3 sized one - it's nice and big and was fairly cheap and whilst it does work, it's a bit fiddly.

If I was using one day in day out then I'd save up for a Wacom one, something like this.

 

[AndyF]

Ive used a few though mostly expensive CAD quality costing hundreds, but there was a logitec one that was more consumer grade.

The nice thing is that they work in parallel with your mouse so you can swap from one to the other and both will move the cursor around just by grabbing the right one

 

[graham]

I've got a Wacom, which has been used to produce drawings of rock art. No problems with it at all.

When not using the pen I use the Wacom mouse which is really nice.

 

[SamT]

  whooowahh - freeky deeky....

was gonna post the very same thing last night, weird.

Doing quite a bit of survey drawing up and getting a bit of arm ache from constantly using the mouse, thought one of these may just offer a bit of respite.

Found a review site that was pretty good...

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/aboutgraphics/a/graphicstablets.htm

I suspect it was written by someone who is on commission from Wacom but there are some other alternatives offered.

It seems Wacom are the main contenders.

If I did go for one, I'd consider either the Wacom Bamboo One..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacom-Bamboo-One-Graphics-Tablet/dp/B000VZZCSO/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_2

which seems like its their basic, home user, no frills cheap one - 35 quid

but I reckon you'd be better off going for one a step up - the Bamboo Fun Small for 65 notes. A few more whistles and bells - such as an eraser button on the other end of the pen which seems quite nifty.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/185721

 

[bubba]

the Bamboo Fun Small for 65 notes.

As cheap as ?54 if you avoid the ripoff that is PC World

 

[Alkapton]

I have two different ones - an A3 Trust - don't buy its not nice and the mouse is crap, the pen needs battries uuuuggggghhhh.

I use a Wacom Coleto 2 (whatever its called) its about half the size of your average mouse mat, pen has no battries, I prefer it to using a mouse for all purposes except games.    For drawing it works great with The Gimp.  It is pressure sensitive so despite its small size its great for drawing with.

Look on ebay should be cheaper than ?50 - expect ?10 - ?20

 

[Alkapton]

Of course I meant Volito 2

 

[potholer]

I've owned/used various Wacom tablets, both the professional and consumer ones.

Though the consumer one I had was several years ago, it was certainly OK, and streets better than a couple of cheap tablets I've encountered from other manufacturers.


As for a reviewer being on commission - I guess it's possible, but Wacoms can be so consistently nice to use, even as a mouse replacement for non-graphical use, that many people who use them will be very positive about them.

(The main downside I've found is the tendency to wander off with the pen and then put it down somewhere. When it's a buff-coloured pen in an office full of buff-coloured PCs and accessories, finding it again can be tricky.)

 

[footleg]

If I did go for one, I'd consider either the Wacom Bamboo One..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacom-Bamboo-One-Graphics-Tablet/dp/B000VZZCSO/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_2

which seems like its their basic, home user, no frills cheap one - 35 quid

Played with one of these using Photoshop and it was very nice for freehand retouching of photos. Probably great for drawing too, but not tried that yet.

but I reckon you'd be better off going for one a step up - the Bamboo Fun Small for 65 notes. A few more whistles and bells - such as an eraser button on the other end of the pen which seems quite nifty.

The eraser button may well only work with certain applications that are programmed to know how to interpret it. So unlikely to work in Tunnel for example.

Also, as Tunnel drawings are done via clicking to set nodes on lines, rather than freehand drawing, a tablet may not actually be all that useful? Or maybe clicking with a tablet will be easier than with the mouse?

I personally have been won over by trackballs in place of mice to reduce hand strain. Great for working on the sofa too as you don't need a surface to slide a mouse around on.

 

[Rhian]

I love my wacom!

One thing I would say is that you need to think what you want to use it for. I have used Double A0 graphics tablet at work for digitising large maps where you really need to see the detail on the paper to accurately capture the data. However... I use mine for digitising raster files to produce vector maps and surveys in CAD packages and also to draw and to modify photographs.

My advice (assuming that you are  not tracing paper maps with your tablet as described above) would be not to buy one that is too big. The tablet area reflects the screen area so if you use a large tablet then you have to move a long way to access all the parts of the screen. That can be really tiresome. I hope that that makes sense and helps

 

[cavermark]

  whooowahh - freeky deeky....

was gonna post the very same thing last night, weird.

Doing quite a bit of survey drawing up and getting a bit of arm ache from constantly using the mouse, thought one of these may just offer a bit of respite.

Found a review site that was pretty good...

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/aboutgraphics/a/graphicstablets.htm

I suspect it was written by someone who is on commission from Wacom but there are some other alternatives offered.

It seems Wacom are the main contenders.

If I did go for one, I'd consider either the Wacom Bamboo One..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacom-Bamboo-One-Graphics-Tablet/dp/B000VZZCSO/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_2

which seems like its their basic, home user, no frills cheap one - 35 quid

but I reckon you'd be better off going for one a step up - the Bamboo Fun Small for 65 notes. A few more whistles and bells - such as an eraser button on the other end of the pen which seems quite nifty.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/185721

Did you get one of these in the end, Sam?
If so any updates/recommendations?

Anyone got any recommendations - I'm looking for one for drawing up surveys in software like illustrator, more easily than using a mouse. Are any of them portable/robust enough to take on expedition?

thanks

 

[prahja]

Hi Mark - I use a wacom tablet with Illustrator - wouldn't draw up surveys any other way. Easily robust enough for Meg or Mulu....

Andy

 

[cavermark]

Cheers - which model of wacom? (Are the cheaper models good enough for the job?)

 

[prahja]

Mine is ancient - must be over 20 years old... definitely one of the cheaper ones...

 

[potholer]

I wouldn't want to speak for all Wacom models and PCs, but I'm using a ~20 year old serial port Intuos 1, and it wasn't hard to get working under Win8.1 (now Win10) despite the lack of driver support from Wacom after finding some useful info on how to do it.

I can't change the various properties (sensitivity, etc) as the control panel plugin doesn't run, but my old settings files from XP work.
Pressure/tilt only work in 32-bit Photoshop CS5, not in 64-bit, but I don't really need 64-bit Photoshop.