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  #1  
10-21-2010, 03:27 AM
Sossity Sossity is offline
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This seemed like the closest place to ask about this, but I am interested in digital art. So far I have done traditional drawing and painting, but like the idea cutting down on paper use & scanning time scanning in sketches.

I am working on an AA degree in graphic design, & among my classes I will be taking are Adobe photoshop and illustrator.

From what I have learned so far, Wacom seems to be the industry standard. They have 2 main types; tablets which one draws on & their results show up on a seperate computer screen; their bamboo & intuos do this, and another where one can directly draw right on the tablet screen, it shows the software on it, of which is what their cintiq series is, and are much more expensive.


these tablets come in many sizes from small to large, I am not sure what size to get.

can anybody give me some advice on a good first tablet for me to get would be? something I could use if I get into professional graphic design & art.

As usual I am on a budget & dont want to go over $600.00 for this.
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  #2  
11-12-2010, 10:52 PM
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kpmedia kpmedia is offline
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While drawing tablets are something I have some nominal experience with, I'm referring this to two others that easily know more than I do on this topic. I've emailed one, called the other, and hopefully they'll come along in the next day or so with advice on this.

My initial thought is that you can get a very decent tablet for $300 or less, even one of the brand name models (Wacom) -- which would be good, considering your photography budget may have run into the upper end. Spend a little more there, then possibly save some here.

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11-14-2010, 01:14 AM
segen77 segen77 is offline
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I've used a variety of these tablets and my best advice to you is to try several before purchasing. (or at least find some place with a good return policy.) Understand that no matter what, there is a learning curve. It seems that the best size for me was the closest to the size tablet I was used to drawing in. I tend to sketch in a 9x12 for the most part, so it lends itself that this size would work best. Truth be told, I've tried the ones that the image was on the screen of the tablet and it was phenomenal. Unfortunately it was also more than i had to spend. most of the tablets that you will look at will have touch sensitivity that allows the brush to grow and decrease depending on how hard you push. When I first started using these back in the 90's this wasn't standard and made sketching with them difficult.

I know I've thrown a lot of opinions at you and hope they help some.
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11-14-2010, 10:05 PM
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kpmedia kpmedia is offline
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I also received this interesting comment via email:
Quote:
I really want to say that they are kind of a waste of money. If you have talent, you’ll have it with the mouse. If you don’t a tablet isn’t going to help. But hey, what do I know?.,..
To a degree, I have to agree. Much of my own digital art is done with a ball mouse. Without a ball mouse, I'm pretty helpless at drawing on the computer. The ball provides a drag that I rely on to maintain accuracy -- something not available on optical/laser mice.

While I've entertained the idea of a tablet, I just cannot justify ownership yet. If I did get one, I think I'd try to get one of the models where the computer screen is repeated on the device itself, as I'm far too visual (and possibly not optically coordinated enough) to draw without looking. I can do that with a mouse, because I've been doing it for 15+ years now -- but not with a pencil. Just how my brain is wired right now, and I've become a bit set in my ways in terms of how I can and cannot draw.

I would not bother with anything overall larger than 9x12 -- meaning the screen would probably be 8x10 or smaller. Even 6x9 is probably a decent working size. I can draw smaller objects better than I can large ones. I can do well at curve when just a few inches long, but trying to draw a page-sized curve is an ugly wavy line.


NOTE: segen77 drew the new The Digital FAQ "d-question" (d?) logo, probably using a drawing pad, from my scanned and emailed hand drawings. I simply could not manage to get it digitally as perfect as I had wanted. He's my go-to for clean logo work (usually clean-up and re-draw of my sketches, using Adobe Illustrator).

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