Wacom

for those wondering the pen and touch Stylus (pen) also has an eraser on the back side of it. So far' I am really liking the writing experience in windows 7. I wonder why they do not make the larger size in black? I would seriously consider it if they did.

 

For those who use this regularly, can this (probably the larger sized one) be used to do intricate hand drawings - like pencil line drawings etc.? I am assuming that these drawing and then be embedded in the standard Office documents. Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.

 

I use the smallest version and I can still do drawings/coloring. It really depends on how you draw. I draw using lots of small strokes with my wrist as opposed to long strokes with my forearm so the smallest version works fine for me.

Remember drawing on a computer isn't like on a paper. You don't need an 8.5"x11" tablet.

 

Just to clarify, I mean drawing like the attached. This is just an example I got off Google. Thanks. If this Wacom can do this, it would be really helpful for my work.

 

Are you doing animation now too? Wacom sells a couple of boards ranging from cheap to more expensive, where it is basically a LCD tablet.

You should ask Erik (mod on Lenovo board), he is an industrial designer, he should give you more precise information on this matter and which equipment you should purchase.

 

No...not animation. Just static drawings, but intricate ones that I use as diagram/plates in my formal publications. Much easier to do it myself than hire someone to copy it from the pencil (sometimes I use black ink with a thin nib) drawings I do. Scanning the pencil drawings kills the image. So, basically, I am looking for something that will allow me to draw directly into a software and import and embed that image into my Word document.

OK. I'll ask Erik by PM. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

i currently use a wacom intuos4 medium with a 30" display and typical ID apps like photoshop, illustrator, sketchbook pro, autocad, and solidworks.   i've never felt like i needed a larger tablet.   my experience with tablets dates back to the mid-'90s when i had a 4x6" wacom and an 800x600 CRT.

in reality i still use pen/pencil/paper for quick sketches then flatbed scan the images into my apps.   the majority of the time i use a tablet like a large mouse (but in tablet mode, not mouse mode) for navigation.

scanning pencil drawings shouldn't kill the image.   a quick levels adjustment in photoshop should bring the contrast back with no problem.

 

Right. Thanks. It's just that everytime I tried doing the adjustments, I messed things up. So, my publisher took the drawings off me and did what they do in-house (but that is another story).

So, what you are suggesting, if I am understanding you correctly here, is that I should try the hand drawings and rework the scanned images with Photoshop more carefully. I'll give it a shot.

This aside, the smaller of the Wacom devices would also work, right?

 

in photoshop, hit ctrl+L to open levels, then hold the alt key while sliding the left triangle (shadow adjustment) toward the right.   as soon as you see the highlight indicator blow out, stop.   the histogram will tell you what to do.

any size tablet can work.   the difference between them is potentially zero depending on the magnification level of your work.   at 100%, a larger tablet will feel more natural.   at 200%, a tablet half the size would feel the same but 'faster' at 100%.   you can use a 3x5" tablet with a 30" display if necessary but to get a more natural input you would likely have to zoom in 3X or 4X and do a lot of panning.

keep in mind that tablets take up a lot of desk space.   the medium intuos4 has a larger footprint than most 15.4" notebooks.

 

Right...thanks! I'll try this out. Gosh, did not realize the space implications of the medium sized tablet! Something to keep in mind.