I am using Photoshop and relatively new to it. Doing extractions I find I have difficulty following outlines with a mouse (as well and new I am old and shaky) considered buying a Wacom Graphics Tablet Intuos 3 but am curious what other uses I will get out of it before I spend $AUD350

Went to the Wacom site and downloaded the video which was a load of smart arse marketing and not the least informative

Can anyone give me a clue as to how useful I might find this addition

There is a night and day difference using a tablet to do things like precise brushing, masking, etc in photoshop. I just have a small graphire3 and could never go back to using a mouse to do that sort of stuff.

The tablet works in a very natural way and doesn't take long at all to get use to, plus the pressure sensitivity means you don't have to be constantly changing your brush size.

I give tablets two thumbs up.
T

Agree. If you use PS or PSP or other editing programs much, you really need a tablet. Wacom is the best.

I haven't used a tablet, but I've thought about getting one. So I've researched it a bit.

Make sure the size of the tablet you get matches the size of the screen you have. If you get one too smal then its hard to do find control. If its too big then its hard to do larger strokes. Most suggestions I've read say that the smallest one is too small unless you're using a 15" or maybe 17" display. The next size up is often the "minimum" size I hear suggested.

Also, here are a few ideas to help out with selecting things.
If you're using the magnetic lasso, select the eye dropper. In the status bar up top, chnage the setting of the eye dropper from a 1x1 point to the largest it can do (3x3 or 5x5?) That setting also effects the how the magnetic lasso follows edges.

If you're using the selections to make masks, don't worry about getting it exactly right. Instead just do a "good" job and make the mask. Then paint on the mask using a brush to fix the portions that aren't right. Its much easier than trying to make the mask "right" the first time around.

Eric

A tablet makes a big difference in how well you can do fine work.

I find a 6 X 8 tablet ideal for most single screen work. I got a 9 X 12 Intuos because I use dual screens and it is easier to reach across. But the tablet is bulky.

The little 4 X 5 (actually 3.75 X 5) tablets don’t work well for me. If you have enough movement for fine detail you are always running into the edges. If you map 1:1, the ratio is too large for pen movement to cursor movement and fine detail isn’t that much easier than just using the mouse. That is especially true if you go to mouse properties and increase the ratio of mouse movement to cursor movement when working with graphics.

If price is an issue I would go with a cheaper brand in 6 X 8 rather than get a smaller Wacom. Several people posted that they have been happy with the Aiptek Hyperpen. http://www.compuplus.com/i-Aiptek-Hy...r-froogle.html

Artists tend to like larger tablets for bold strokes. I have little artistic talent and am more technical in my image editing. If you might do artwork with the tablet you might consider a 9 X 12.

The pressure sensitivity is good also for drawing. I don’t tend to use it much in image editing. I just cut my flow. I’ll use it sometimes if I want to write on something or quickly draw an arrow – it looks a lot better with varied strokes.

The Wacom Intuos line is the gold standard. Definitely go for one if price isn’t a limiting factor. I used a Calcomp 6 X 8 tablet for years before I got an Intuos and was quite happy with it. I honestly couldn’t see much difference and I think the Aiptek tablets are equivalent to the old Calcomps.

I've found the 4x5 Wacom to work just find for editing - mostly adjusting masks. Wouldn't go back to trying detail work with a mouse.

As a matter of curiousity - for those tablet experts - do you use a mouse as well as a tablet or do you just use the tablet?

I purchased a Wacom tablet, not the tiny one but the next one up, and have found it very hard to get used to. So hard in fact that I've gone back to my high-precision mouse.

Of course I don't do real graphics work, only photo stuff, and I'm sure that if I managed to grind my way through the learning curve it would be worth it in the end. It's just the temporary pain barrier that has stopped me from pursuing it further.

peripatetic wrote: I bought my 9 X 12 Intuos from a moderator on another board who couldn’t get the hang of a tablet. I think my brain was pre-wired for tablets because I liked it from the first time I tried one. But people do have problems adjusting to using a writing motion in a different plane from the output. My guess is that it will feel natural after some use, but I don’t really know.

I use the tablet almost exclusively when in graphics. It is easier to just hold on to the stylus than switch back and forth. I don’t use the tablet except for graphics.

I did a fair amount of research into this, posted questions here and on some of NAPP's forums. My monitor is a 21 inch CRT so I was going to go with the largest Intuos 3 but had read a bunch of post where folks said it was just too large. You had to perform too much arm movement and not just wrist movement.

For those of you with a drawing background you want the arm movement ;-) However, for photo editing most agreed that the 9 x 12 is too large.

I decided to go with the 6 x 8 and it's size is perfect to me. I have the room on my desk for the larger model, but I can see how the largers size would be problamatic IMHO for editing photo's. You can of course set "usable" size of the tablet to be smaller, but then why not just buy the smaller tablet.

I use mine quite a bit. There's a great article in this months Photoshop User Mag on using a Pen and tablet with some very good examples. I use mine on a regular basis now with photoshop. Still use the mouse to file navigate etc... and use the mouse exclusively in other applications.

Joe