JD750 Loc: SoCal

it seems like you are talking about graphics pads which are medium to large surfaces used with a pen and your computer, for retouching. You touch the pad a dot appears on your computer screen.

But there are also devices which display the image on a touch screen and the pen is used directly on the image.

Will you please clarify which you are asking about?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

He did clarify, on page 1, when he confirmed DWU2's assumption:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-775427-1.html#13941039

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rleonetti Loc: Portland, Oregon

An alternative user: I use a trackpad with my iMac computer instead of a mouse. I find my fingers are a lot less tiring than working a mouse. Then when it came to Lightroom and Photoshop I find it very, very easy to use for editing etc. Only from memory (years ago) my fingers are better on the trackpad than my Wacom plus stylus ever was with a computer. Just an alternative to consider.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I saw: “I assume the OP was referring to pen tablets from the likes of Wacom, Huion, or XPPen - tablets”.

I saw that. And what confuses me is the term “pen tablet”. Is that the graphics pad that connects to the computer and you draw on the tablet and it appears on the display, or is it a tablet computer, sometimes called an editing tablet, where you draw right on the display with a pen?

Which one is OP asking about?

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

I use Lightroom Classic and Photoshop kept current through the subscription program nearly exclusively for Post Processing and have been increasingly frustrated with a mouse for brushing and selecting. My eye-mouse coordination has never been great and has certainly not improved with age. A little more than a year I broke down and bought a Wacom Intuos Pro (small) anticipating configuration hell and a long training process. I was wrong, agin! Unpacking the box was the longest part of hooking up and running. I paused and broke the glass and uncharacteristically read the instructions. Unlike story’s I read here I was up and running in maybe two days! Editing is fun now without the frustrations.

LeeinNC Loc: Morganton, NC

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

Most professionals using Photoshop, I believe, consider a tablet and pen indispensable to photo retouching. Adobe includes pressure sensitivity controls in its software for that reason. If you watch YouTube tutorials, you will see that virtually all of them use a Wacom. I can't imagine trying to make complex changes with a mouse or a fingertip.