PalePictures wrote:
The answer is yes if you want to be serious about creating world class images.
If you're a straight out of the camera type probably not.
Why do many people have problems with using tablets?
Tablets work on the same concept as a mouse so theroretically anyone using a mouse should be able to use a tablet. When using a mouse you can rest your hand on a mouse and hence, not get fatigued as quickly as what a tablet causes. Most people who attempt to use a tablet try to use a tablet like a mouse, however you cannot rest your hand similarly and the pivot point using your arm causes inaccuracies and fatigue when using a pen and tablet.
Is there a solution to the fatigue and inaccuracy problem?
Absolutely.
By remapping only a small portion of your wacom tablet to the screen you can rest the palm of your hand on the tablet and use the meat at the base of your palm as your resting point. A 4 inch by 6 inch movement can then cover your entire screen no matter how large. To do detail work you can zoom by using that same 4 inch by six inch area. This is how professional retouchers can do such fine detail work. It is more accurate to use this method as well as less fatiguing when compared with a mouse. I have spent many 12 hour days retouching photos with no fatigue.
As a final note, speed in editing is also increased by using less surface area on the tablet surface. The speed increase as you get better is substantial.
What is the best size tablet to get?
I could never figure out why anyone would go with anything other than a small Wacom tablet. If Wacom came out with a micro size I would prefer that tablet.
Again I only use 25 percent of the area of my small. Even using the entire area of the small can quickly cause arm fatigue. I am often on the go and a small more easily fits in a laptop case than any other size.
Arron Nace over at PhLEARN.com has a great tutorial on how to remap a Wacom tablet to get better use and less fatigue. You can also google it or go to YouTube. Arron would be considered by many to be the best of the best in photo editors.
If your having trouble with your Wacom tablet try remapping it and doing your work with the base of your palm as your pivot point. I promise it will be much more enjoyable than a mouse or using the full Wacom surface area.
I once had a Wacom intuous iii large when I started using a tablet. I ended up throwing it out. I couldn't sell it in good faith to anyone. In the tablet world smaller is really better.
If anyone doing photo manipulation has remapped their Wacom to using only a portion of the Wacom and has found that works, please post a comment of how that is working for you.
I personally could never get the quality of my images without using small movements controlled at the wrist rather than the elbow or arm.
Best regards
Russ Elkins.
The answer is yes if you want to be serious about ... (
show quote)
Russ, excellently expressed and clearly stated insights. Very nice work, as well.
--Bob
The key to doing 'effective' editing is directly connected to the ability to make Selections (in Photoshop) and for this the pressure sensitive pen and Wacom tablet is indispensible. But is comes with a cost - one needs some level of sketching capability. Only you can assess this. Remapping the computer screen image downwise to a smaller tablet area means the 'x' dimensional motion translates to 'multiple x' motion on screen. In other words, fine scale selections become more difficult to do. Each person has to find their own level of skill.
John_F wrote:
The key to doing 'effective' editing is directly connected to the ability to make Selections (in Photoshop) and for this the pressure sensitive pen and Wacom tablet is indispensible. But is comes with a cost - one needs some level of sketching capability. Only you can assess this. Remapping the computer screen image downwise to a smaller tablet area means the 'x' dimensional motion translates to 'multiple x' motion on screen. In other words, fine scale selections become more difficult to do. Each person has to find their own level of skill.
The key to doing 'effective' editing is directly c... (
show quote)
This is actually a myth. The correct way to do detail work is by zooming using The PS or Wacom defined equivent shortcut. Work on my images requires the finest details. In doing composites or detailed portraiture work most people I know constantly zoom in and out. Sometimes the details looks right but the entire image may not look right. The reverse is also true.
Having command of the brush size/tool size shortcut cut keys is also important([ or ]). Honestly I don't reprogram any of my Wacom defaults except the mapping, however I do extensively use shortcuts on the keyboard. My right hand is on the Wacom and my left on the keyboard.
There are compositors that do use a mouse for their work. Caros Ionut is one that does. I don't know of any magazine quality retouching portrait artist that don't use a tablet. Caros is the only somewhat famous compositors that uses a mouse. Even he has said he can't defend doing it.
This information is not to offend but just to dispel the myth of not being able to accurately work details because of the X multiplication factor.
I also wanted to dispel the myth that the mouse is better. Someone may not feel right or not be able to adapt to using a Wacom but I have never heard anyone say that they were not more productive after being successful at using a tablet. I am sure they exist and this post should be guaranteed to bring them out....That's just the way forums are.
Again, most of this info is not directed at you but to dispel other misconceptions that have occurred on other threads about tablet use.
Best regards to all for providing quality input to the thread!
Russ
Curiosity question from novice. If you only use 14 of the tablet active area, why not buy a smaller tablet.
Sorry, should have been 1/4
FloydP wrote:
Curiosity question from novice. If you only use 14 of the tablet active area, why not buy a smaller tablet.
Thats the recommendation, however I miss two buttons when I use my small one while traveling.
FloydP wrote:
Curiosity question from novice. If you only use 14 of the tablet active area, why not buy a smaller tablet.
I use the intuous small. Wacom doesn't make a smaller tablet. But if they did I would consider it. The extra space on the small does give a stable platform for resting your hand.
Capture48 wrote:
Thats the recommendation, however I miss two buttons when I use my small one while traveling.
Excellent point and a good reason for size if you use the Wacom command buttons.
Capture48 wrote:
Thats the recommendation, however I miss two buttons when I use my small one while traveling.
A little dark, photo taken with my iPhone, but you get the idea the size between the medium (on the bottom) and a small (on top). The mouse is there to give you an idea of the size.
Also notice two more buttons on the medium.
PalePictures wrote:
Arron Nace over at PhLEARN.com has a great tutorial on how to remap a Wacom tablet to get better use and less fatigue. You can also google it or go to YouTube. Arron would be considered by many to be the best of the best in photo editors.
Excellent tutorial. Thanks.
Capture48 wrote:
A little dark, photo taken with my iPhone, but you get the idea the size between the medium (on the bottom) and a small (on top). The mouse is there to give you an idea of the size.
Also notice two more buttons on the medium.
A better design would have probably been to include buttons on the bottom and top left. This would still allow the tablet to be reversed. The buttons would still not interfere with normal hand placement. Maybe in the future...
Thanks for the size comparison.
PalePictures wrote:
The answer is yes if you want to be serious about creating world class images.
If you're a straight out of the camera type probably not.
Why do many people have problems with using tablets?
Tablets work on the same concept as a mouse so theroretically anyone using a mouse should be able to use a tablet. When using a mouse you can rest your hand on a mouse and hence, not get fatigued as quickly as what a tablet causes. Most people who attempt to use a tablet try to use a tablet like a mouse, however you cannot rest your hand similarly and the pivot point using your arm causes inaccuracies and fatigue when using a pen and tablet.
Is there a solution to the fatigue and inaccuracy problem?
Absolutely.
By remapping only a small portion of your wacom tablet to the screen you can rest the palm of your hand on the tablet and use the meat at the base of your palm as your resting point. A 4 inch by 6 inch movement can then cover your entire screen no matter how large. To do detail work you can zoom by using that same 4 inch by six inch area. This is how professional retouchers can do such fine detail work. It is more accurate to use this method as well as less fatiguing when compared with a mouse. I have spent many 12 hour days retouching photos with no fatigue.
As a final note, speed in editing is also increased by using less surface area on the tablet surface. The speed increase as you get better is substantial.
What is the best size tablet to get?
I could never figure out why anyone would go with anything other than a small Wacom tablet. If Wacom came out with a micro size I would prefer that tablet.
Again I only use 25 percent of the area of my small. Even using the entire area of the small can quickly cause arm fatigue. I am often on the go and a small more easily fits in a laptop case than any other size.
Arron Nace over at PhLEARN.com has a great tutorial on how to remap a Wacom tablet to get better use and less fatigue. You can also google it or go to YouTube. Arron would be considered by many to be the best of the best in photo editors.
If your having trouble with your Wacom tablet try remapping it and doing your work with the base of your palm as your pivot point. I promise it will be much more enjoyable than a mouse or using the full Wacom surface area.
I once had a Wacom intuous iii large when I started using a tablet. I ended up throwing it out. I couldn't sell it in good faith to anyone. In the tablet world smaller is really better.
If anyone doing photo manipulation has remapped their Wacom to using only a portion of the Wacom and has found that works, please post a comment of how that is working for you.
I personally could never get the quality of my images without using small movements controlled at the wrist rather than the elbow or arm.
Best regards
Russ Elkins.
The answer is yes if you want to be serious about ... (
show quote)
The Wacom tablet is more like a drawing board where you use a pen rather than a mouse to do critical drawing with. Being not as young and steady as I used to be, I find that I c an draw lines much more accurately than I can with a mouse. Therefore it stays on my desk so that I can use it for certain Photoshop uses.
Bozsik
Loc: Orangevale, California
PalePictures wrote:
The answer is yes if you want to be serious about creating world class images.
If you're a straight out of the camera type probably not.
Why do many people have problems with using tablets?
Tablets work on the same concept as a mouse so theroretically anyone using a mouse should be able to use a tablet. When using a mouse you can rest your hand on a mouse and hence, not get fatigued as quickly as what a tablet causes. Most people who attempt to use a tablet try to use a tablet like a mouse, however you cannot rest your hand similarly and the pivot point using your arm causes inaccuracies and fatigue when using a pen and tablet.
Is there a solution to the fatigue and inaccuracy problem?
Absolutely.
By remapping only a small portion of your wacom tablet to the screen you can rest the palm of your hand on the tablet and use the meat at the base of your palm as your resting point. A 4 inch by 6 inch movement can then cover your entire screen no matter how large. To do detail work you can zoom by using that same 4 inch by six inch area. This is how professional retouchers can do such fine detail work. It is more accurate to use this method as well as less fatiguing when compared with a mouse. I have spent many 12 hour days retouching photos with no fatigue.
As a final note, speed in editing is also increased by using less surface area on the tablet surface. The speed increase as you get better is substantial.
What is the best size tablet to get?
I could never figure out why anyone would go with anything other than a small Wacom tablet. If Wacom came out with a micro size I would prefer that tablet.
Again I only use 25 percent of the area of my small. Even using the entire area of the small can quickly cause arm fatigue. I am often on the go and a small more easily fits in a laptop case than any other size.
Arron Nace over at PhLEARN.com has a great tutorial on how to remap a Wacom tablet to get better use and less fatigue. You can also google it or go to YouTube. Arron would be considered by many to be the best of the best in photo editors.
If your having trouble with your Wacom tablet try remapping it and doing your work with the base of your palm as your pivot point. I promise it will be much more enjoyable than a mouse or using the full Wacom surface area.
I once had a Wacom intuous iii large when I started using a tablet. I ended up throwing it out. I couldn't sell it in good faith to anyone. In the tablet world smaller is really better.
If anyone doing photo manipulation has remapped their Wacom to using only a portion of the Wacom and has found that works, please post a comment of how that is working for you.
I personally could never get the quality of my images without using small movements controlled at the wrist rather than the elbow or arm.
Best regards
Russ Elkins.
The answer is yes if you want to be serious about ... (
show quote)
Best description I have read so far. Love mine. Use it on almost all my images.
PalePictures wrote:
A better design would have probably been to include buttons on the bottom and top left. This would still allow the tablet to be reversed. The buttons would still not interfere with normal hand placement. Maybe in the future...
Thanks for the size comparison.
I already have the better design that you're talking about. I'm left handed so I turn my Wacom around. It's perfect--I can work the buttons and hand gestures with my "mouse trained" otherwise useless right hand without letting go of the pen.
Funny thing is, when I'm working on the right monitor, my right hand seems to take the job and my left hand seems to do the left hand monitor. (wiring in my head, no doubt)
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
