Tablet Mayhem

Well I recently bought a Wacom Graphire4 6x8 USB Tablet with Pen and Mouse (Silver) to use with the graphic design that I do, I knew that the Wacoms’ where the best on the market but having little experience with them I decided to try out one of the lower end models.

The detailed specs for the model I bought are as follows:

• Two programmable ExpressKeys for convenient mouse clicks and keyboard shortcuts plus a handy scroll wheel
• Integrated pen compartment and a separate pen stand for two great ways to keep your pen handy
• Transparent photo frame for easy personalization with photos and artwork (fun samples and template included)
• USB connection for quick installation
• Graphire4 Pen and Eraser has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity for natural brush control
• Graphire4 Pen and Eraser has patented cordless, battery-free technology for a natural feel and superior performance
• Graphire4 Pen has 2 programmable buttons right at your fingertips
• Graphire4 Pen features pressure-sensitive eraser for easy fixes
• Patented cordless, battery-free technology means mouse is entirely hassle-free
• Scrolling fingerwheel for easy navigation—also functions as a third programmable button
• No ball to gum up, so it always moves smoothly
  

Sounds great right? Wrong!!!

The 6x8 area on the tablet corresponds to your whole screen, not just the surface area of the window for the program you are using to draw items in. That made the drawing area much smaller then the already small 6x8 drawing area on the tablet. :(

Given what you are drawing shows up on the screen and not where you are drawing on the tablet surface area you can’t look at the drawing like you normally would. That is a difficult transition for a typical artist but not too bad after some practice.

Still there where other issues.

The response time was about a second off and sometimes was a little jerky (not cool for GFX design) this made it very hard to draw things. Moreover when you drew something on say a normal piece of drawing paper and then tried to use the tablet to “trace” the stokes…you got a very different result. I wasn’t very happy with this product and have since returned it.

I think I would like to try the Cintiq model as the image is on the tablet itself and it boasters a much better response time / sensitivity. But who has that kind of dough lying around? Maybe I can find a GFX store that allows you to try out products?

You can check the Cintiq out here:
http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/

Till next time, Blah. lol