I've had a few inquiries as to my thoughts thus far about my Intuos3 tablet. I thought I'd put the thoughts down for anyone that wanted to read them.

This post is really meant for the people like me who are non-artists and/or completely new to digitizing tablets. I found out that what I anticipated was not quite up to what reality is. This is not a bad thing though! Just more of a surprise is all.

Surprises:
1. I did not know that the pen/stylus is detected above the tablet surface without having to actually touch pen to the tablet. This took some getting used to but makes sense when you realize how the pen pressure settings work. To give an idea of what distance the pen works at; I was able to trace a DVD+R cover through the thickness of a regular jewel case (with the disc in the case). Neat! Note: You can edit the configuration so that you must have "pen to pad" but it (IMHO) negatively impacts the line control.

2. I also did not know that the surface area of the tablet's sensor array is directly mapped to the resolution of your desktop. So the left edge of the tablet is the left edge of the desktop, center of the tablet is the center of your desktop, etc., etc.. This means that, when using the pen/stylus, there is no "drag-lift-drag" motion like you have when using a mouse. To some this is old news but to me it was a complete surprise and also took some time to get use to (especially in a dual monitor environment so I mapped it to just one monitor for now).

3. Brush settings in CS2 are fun to play with now that "pen pressure" does something!

Pros:
-The pure fun factor. I'm sure this will wear off but for now YEEEHAAAAWWW this is fun to use!

- Customization of both the tablet/pen settings and Photoshop brush settings. I can easily see how powerful a tool this can be in the right hands. (That wasn't supposed to sound as ominous and cliche' as it does.)

- Don't know about other tablets but the Intuos3 has a USB cable that must be 6' long. You can really sit back and get comfortable while drawing/painting/chopping.

Cons:
- The bundled mouse is almost useless. I was told this by several people before I got my tablet and I tend to agree with those people. When using the mouse the whole tablet becomes a mousepad (not just the pen area like I originally thought). But it's simply not big enough and you have to switch back and forth with the pen. Couple that with the fact that you can point & click (and drag & drop) with the pen anyway and you see why the mouse is pointless (no pun intended). For a bit more money on the purchase price Wacom could have had a wireless (or even bluetooth) optical mouse with the receiver/transmitter built into the tablet. Then you could use whatever as the mousepad (like the couch cushion next to you when chopping on a laptop). Better yet would be to not include a mouse at all and then drop the price of the tablet a bit. (Note this section was edited as my opinion on the mouse changed from totally useless to almost useless).

- The 6' cable. Yes you can sit back to draw/paint/chop. But when you've gotten used to using keyboard shortcuts to switch between tools you'll find it's hard to re-adjust to pointing and clicking on the tools palette again (since you can't reach your keyboard). This is not a con that I can't live with though.

- Learning curve maybe? Using the pen tool to outline a selection path was much slower using the stylus vs. a mouse (for me anyway). Maybe it'll get quicker the more I do it? I did see an eye-hand coordination tip that said to draw a grid onto a layer (either using mouse or pen doesn't matter much). Then you pick a new color to circle the intersections of the grid lines. Then you pick a new color and use the pen to put a dot on the intersections of the grid lines. Then another color to put an "x" at each intersection. Do a big enough grid and you've gotten pretty used to using the tablet.

- I now want a CintiQ (even though I have ZERO to justify it).

Final Thoughts:
Even if you aren't a trained artist/painter/illustrator I would still say to try a tablet out if you get a chance (or can convince your boss to buy one for you ). Tools like the eraser, blur, smudge, etc. are much more intuitive to use with a tablet. I've already seen improvements in how I use those tools.

If I think of more I'll add it to this entry. Now STFUAC!

NICE review, Tofu!

Quite helpful.

I totally agree on the tablet mouse... its really pretty useless. I packed it away in a drawer.

I was worried at first about the dual monitor set up that I have with my tablet. The salesperson told me that it would cut off the bottom of the tablet in order to make both windows fit. I dont know if this is true for certain resolutions, but I have mine up pretty high, and it does not have that effect.

It does take some getting use to, but I still find it was WELL worth the money for me (as a designer).

The only cons I've found so far is that the driver seems to have issues from time to time and it asks me to reinstall. Though it still works without me reinstalling it.

I tend to hold the pen with my hand at an angle towards the top of the tablet (thats just how I draw), and I find that my hand will occasionally brush the scroll pad and cause a zoom/scroll when I dont want it. Its minor, and I could turn it off if I felt it was too much of a pain. That's the good thing about the 6x8, it has 2 sets of controls, so I can always just use the other.

My tablet does not have a transparent pad covering the surface as my old (very old) 12x12 pad did. Which means I can't place anything under it to "trace" if I wanted to. (Though I rarely if ever trace)

Other than those cons, which are really minor, I HIGHLY recommend getting one.

I use mine with the dual monitors and it only took me about 5-10 minutes to really get used to it.

I haven't touched my old mouse since.

Sorry to say this but the fun will never wear off im afraid mate

I didn´t even take mine off the box...

very cool tofu! You've given me the most info so far as far as tablets go. Never really quite understood the benefits like you just mentioned till now. Was curious about the sensitivity with the one you got. I know your still working on the silo part but is it pretty tight?
Thanks again for all of that. Very much appreciated and right before fathers day......

not sure what you paid on yours but saw what looks like a decent deal on amazon with free shipping. Here is the link
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00030097G/km-20/ref=nosim

If anyone wants to start the worlds largest tablet mouse collection, I got two i can send ya.

Man, Those things are pretty expensive.

ok....gotta know....why do you have 2 and why don't you use them? I also hear your side as to ppl using them for coasters. Is it the quality or do you just prefer staying with the old route? I've been on the line for getting one and although tofu is pretty excited about it as I would be does the thrill wear off or is it if you don't spend good money on one your not going to get good quality and then you went from a reasonable price tablet to an expensive coaster? or

good toys cost money but from what I'm hearing if you can't afford a good one save up your money till you can or you'll be throwing your money away. Just what I hear. Don't actually own one.......yet?

Yep....all of the above..........

just got my Intuos3 6x8 a week or so ago......a bit of a learning curve to it, and sort of awkward . . maybe cause I'm left handed....seems like I'm doing every thing backwards than the way I'm used to...........

bottom line - -this thing is a lot of fun!! and the more time I spend with it, the easier it gets...........The Wacom people say you have to give it a chance -- a couple of few hours -- they're right.

Can't wait till I get to the point where I'm doing all of my Photoshop on it.

Are you sure there's no other mode? I have this old Graphire tablet and I have always used it in "drag-lift-drag" mode. I'm pretty sure your Intuos should have this feature too.

Guess I wasn't clear on that. I was referring to using the pen on the tablet (not the mouse). I'm actually glad there's not a lift-and-drag for the pen. This way I can make smoother lines.

I'll edit.

Well the box says 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. Don't know how different that would be from the Graphire's 512 as I've never used any tablet before now. All I know is I can make a line from thin to fat real easy. In fact too easy as I don't have great control yet:



Edit: Oh you can adjust the "feel" of the pen. From soft to firm. Think differences from a felt-tip marker to paint brush (I'm assuming).

As for price; I'm lucky. I got work to pay for it thanks to a big Flash project I've got coming up. So I got the gov't rate.

I would say that the deal you found on Amazon is a good deal for the 6x8. I could be wrong but that's not much more than I got the 4x6 for. CDW has the same one for $319.

Or buy a 5-pack and save!
Or a 10-pack and save bigger!