editing using a tablet???

[leeb]

i am looking to the possibility of getting a tablet for editing portrait work i have got coming up, going to involve quite a few hours of colour changes, cropping etc, your usual photoshop business.

i have seen the wacom talets, but ened to know if it is worth investing in, will it make my life easier, and get more accurate results etc, or shall i just stick with mickey?

Thanks

[Nacnud]

I found a tablet took me some time to get used to.
Even once ramped up to speed I found it was a pain in the ass for some things like menus (I learnt a whole load more keyboard shortcuts).
However, some things were much much better; e.g. blending two layers together so you can't see the join.

The tablet I got came with both a pen and a mouse.
Both lie next to the tablet, so I simply pick up the best tool for the task at hand.

[S13_Alan]

I'd say go for it. Give it a fair go to get used to and you will love it.

I bought one a few years back and never quite got used to it (its a Graphire2) but lately I gave it another bash and for some reason it just clicked this time and it is fantastic. I think the issue initially was pen mode (where the tablet has a 1:1 mapping with the screen, sp place pen in top right, cursor jumps to top right), felt pretty un-natural to me, after years of using a mouse for everything. Writing was difficult initially, as a tablet has a lot less friction than paper, now though I can write really easily and it feels perfect.

So much more natural for 90% of the things in Photoshop, it makes painting and masking so much easier. The only time a mouse wins is for very precise selections, where it can be hard to keep 100% still with the pen. It feels akward to go back to a mouse infact after a period of using the pen.

I think they newer tablets look a lot nicer to use, they have very chunky pens where mine is too thin and hurts your hand after a few hours. Was looking at the Intuos3. About 160 for the A5 Wide, it has very nice programable shortcut keys on it which you can assign almost anything to, you can define stuff in your own popup menu an set that to a key, set zooming and brush size to one of the sliding scroll pads on it. Very nice looking piece of kit, maybe tempted if I keep on using the tablet as much.

There is a new larger Grapire aswell as the small A6 one, but even that is still pretty pricey and lacks the Intuos' features and has less sensitivity.

[speedychrissie]

i got mine a few months back and it really is a very good tool for editing. work has got in the way so i havent taken as many photos as i was in the summer but as soon as i open up photoshop i take my hand off the mouse and go to the tablet, it just feels more natural to use the tablet once you are used to it.

[Bacardi]

S13_Alan said:

I think the issue initially was pen mode (where the tablet has a 1:1 mapping with the screen, sp place pen in top right, cursor jumps to top right), felt pretty un-natural to me, after years of using a mouse for everything.

Can't stand that mode, I just use mouse mode 99.9% of the time. Although 1:1 is handy when you want to write or trace something.

I've been using tablets for years, currently an Intuos 2. It won't help (or hinder) with colour corrections or maybe cropping but for general use, stamping, brushing, pen tool etc, it's much less cumbersome. It will soon feel as natural as using... er.... a pen, rather than a mouse... which is the equivalent of painting with a bar of soap.

The only thing I use the mouse for is drawing or painting in straight lines. i.e. Click once, hold shift, and click at end point for nice straight, even brush stroke, which is trickier to do freehand. You can uncheck 'shape dynamics' in the brush palette, every time you change brush size to take out the pressure sensitivity with the tablet.... but easier to just pick up the mouse.

I don't confine use of the tablet just for PS, but system wide and across all applications. I've only used Wacom. Don't waste money on cheaper ones. Fat pens are nicer than thin ones. A6 is too small, you'll find yourself running off the edge and having to reposition the pen. A4 is to big (unless you need to trace A4 sized things) and expensive plus in 1:1 mode you'll get arm ache. A5 is just right (for me).

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

I'd say a tablet is the second best thing you can do for your Photoshop work, the first being to learn all the keyboard shortcuts. I started with an A6 Graphire and now have an A5 Intuos, and I couldn't imaging drawing a path or painting on a layer mask without it. I didn't find the A6 restrictive, so if you're looking for an affordable way to try them out I'd say that's the way to go.

[Byker28i]

I use an A3 tablet. very precise, great for masking etc. I'm not sure how anything smaller then A4 could be anygood for editing.

[andybuk99]

I bought a volito 2 last week from Amazon and it does take a while to get used to, although already it is much easier when making selections/clipping paths etc.

[J111]

Nothing would get me back to using a mouse. I've had an A5 tablet for a couple of years and have never felt the need for a bigger area. Before that I borrowed an A6 - that was adequate, but the Intuous is more accurate. I find that, even with a larger tablet, I zoom in for detail work so being happy with a small one may be a reflection of editing style.

I could see the appeal of working straight on the screen with a larger area, but I'm not willing to shell out for a Cintiq.