Creative Pen Tablet? I bought a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet yesterday. Do you have one of these that you use for your post-processing (Lightroom and PhotoShop). Did it take you time to...

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

I bought a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet yesterday.

Do you have one of these that you use for your post-processing (Lightroom and PhotoShop).
Did it take you time to learn?
Are there any tricks that you can offer to a rookie?
I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep it.

Harold

FL Streetrodder

I bought one a few years ago thinking it would be a useful tool while editing photos with PSE, but found it wasn't that great a help when outlining objects or faces to extract and transfer to another layer. It has since occupied most of its time sitting on a shelf gathering dust. Oh, the coating on the pen has has become rather sticky even though the tablet and pen are stored in an air-conditioned room.

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

FL Streetrodder wrote:

I bought one a few years ago thinking it would be a useful tool while editing photos with PSE, but found it wasn't that great a help when outlining objects or faces to extract and transfer to another layer. It has since occupied most of its time sitting on a shelf gathering dust. Oh, the coating on the pen has has become rather sticky even though the tablet and pen are stored in an air-conditioned room.

Yikes, that is what I'm afraid of. I don't like buying something that makes life more difficult but I will have an open mind on the subject.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

I have a medium also and like to use it for Photoshop. I don't use Lightroom so don't know about that.
I have the mouse that is used with it also and use both the pen and the mouse when working. The pen works great for cleaning up old photos with the Healing Brush or Patch Tool.

Angel Star Photography Loc: Tacoma, WA

Feiertag wrote:

I bought a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet yesterday.

Do you have one of these that you use for your post-processing (Lightroom and PhotoShop).
Did it take you time to learn?
Are there any tricks that you can offer to a rookie?
I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep it.

Harold

I don't have a Wacom tablet per se. I have a Lenovo X1 Yoga which has the Wacom technology built into its screen and pen. I have found it very helpful when retouching to a finer detail in Lightroom and Photoshop. There are many videos, instructions, and reviews through a Google search which may help with setup and use. You may need to fine tune the tablet to your liking. Make full use of your thirty days before deciding to ditch it.

Keen

I have no idea, except opting for an iPad, instead.

bleirer

I dont know about Lightroom but in photoshop I see you can set the tools to respond to pen pressure for the hardness. That seems useful.

Angel Star Photography Loc: Tacoma, WA

Feiertag wrote:

I bought a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet yesterday.

Do you have one of these that you use for your post-processing (Lightroom and PhotoShop).
Did it take you time to learn?
Are there any tricks that you can offer to a rookie?
I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep it.

Harold

Here is a good, detailed video on setting up and using a tablet.

https://youtu.be/5e4Qok37Qi4

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Angel Star Photography wrote:

I don't have a Wacom tablet per se. I have a Lenovo X1 Yoga which has the Wacom technology built into its screen and pen. I have found it very helpful when retouching to a finer detail in Lightroom and Photoshop. There are many videos, instructions, and reviews through a Google search which may help with setup and use. You may need to fine tune the tablet to your liking. Make full use of your thirty days before deciding to ditch it.

While I have a Wacom tablet, I don't find it as useful as anticipated. HOWEVER, if the image were on it like on a touch pc, THAT would be great.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Feiertag wrote:

Yikes, that is what I'm afraid of. I don't like buying something that makes life more difficult but I will have an open mind on the subject.

I bought a small Bamboo tablet. Maybe the small size is the problem but i have not been able to get the “knack” of using it. So it sits gathering dust and the pen has become very sticky. I am more comfortable using a mouse.

Some people swear by the pen tools other people swear at them.

It is good that you can be open minded to newer better things and ideas. Give it a try maybe you will really like it.

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

JD750 wrote:

I bought a small Bamboo tablet. Maybe the small size is the problem but i have not been able to get the “knack” of using it. So it sits gathering dust and the pen has become very sticky. I am more comfortable using a mouse.

Some people swear by the pen tools other people swear at them.

It is good that you can be open minded to newer better things and ideas. Give it a try maybe you will really like it.

I also bought and tried a WaterPik for the first time this morning. I like it. This must be the year for me to try new things.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Whine you are exploring options below is a link to a review of a pen display, by Andrew Boyz of Beyond Photography. He gives a good balanced review and some humor too. A pen display might be worth considering before you make your final decision.

https://youtu.be/Dxs1iZgduj4

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Personally, I love my Intuos tablet. I have the older medium version PTK 640 and use it with PSCC. I do not use Lightroom, so also cannot speak to that. However, for precise editing, selecting, etc. it beats using a mouse hands down.

It will take some time and effort to coordinate your usage of the pen, but the results will be worth it, plus it is so much faster to navigate the screen with precision. As I first started using it, I kept changing the functions of the buttons, ring wheel and pen as I customized it more and more to my actual needs. So now, my workflow is always faster and that's what it's all about.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Feiertag wrote:

I bought a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet yesterday.

Do you have one of these that you use for your post-processing (Lightroom and PhotoShop).
Did it take you time to learn?
Are there any tricks that you can offer to a rookie?
I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep it.

Practice, practice and practice. There are also plenty of instructional Youtube videos that can help you.

Although for your purposes, I think the Intuos Pro is a bit overkill, unless you are planning to eventually expand into professional digital illustration, animation, etc. There are tablets well under $100 which offer everything one needs for photo editing. It's like buying an expensive high end computer to use only for sending and receiving emails.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Feiertag wrote:

I also bought and tried a WaterPik for the first time this morning. I like it. This must be the year for me to try new things.

Those work well for getting into tight places and getting the dirt off of your vintage motorcycle. 😅