Wacom Tablet v Mouse

[Scott Rosenberg]

hey guys, are any of you using a tablet instead of a mouse for photoshop work? i've never tried one in my digi darkroom, but saw one at my local shop for the first time last week and was intrigued.

i'd love to hear impressions from those that are currently using them and those that tried them and went back the the venerable old mouse. if you are using them, with model do you prefer... there seem to be several:

http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/

thanks,

[Nate Battles]

I tried a Wacom 6x8 at a friends house. It was really unusual at first, but I started to get used to it. The size felt small however, I think that if I were to get one, I'd get the largest one I could afford and had room for. I think I would really enjoy using one for dust spotting/healing brush work. It's like anything you're not used to - at first it feels weird, but it feels normal after more use.

[eric black]

I personally use a trackball and was never able to make the transition to the Wacom. I had one that had about an 8x10 tablet and after a couple of months sold it and have never had any regrets.

[Harold_4074]

Space and funds permitting, the larger the tablet the better. The pressure-sensitive pen is wonderful once you get used to it, particularly for dust spotting and creating selection lines---much more intuitive than a mouse, although the Wacom mouse on its tablet is also a lot better than something like a conventional mouse designed mostly for left-right/up-down cursor movement.

[Jonathan Block]

I've used both, and prefer the tablet. It allow for fast touchups and if you're doing a lot of post-process, say, clearing the skin of one of your fashion models, nothing goes faster. But like anything, it takes getting used to.

[jetcode]

hey guys, are any of you using a tablet instead of a mouse for photoshop work?

The Wacom tablet is really nice. The one downside is that you have to position the pen up high and to the left if you want to select a large area precisely. Alternately you can zoom an image out until you can manage the selection. You can also buy a larger tablet. Once you begin using the healing tool with the pen for the healing tool you will never want to go back.

Joe

[MenacingTourist]

Using a mouse to draw is like drawing with a potato
I've been using photoshop (professionally) almost everyday since 1993 and I use a wacom tablet (5 years) when I have to draw, paint, or do anything where a deft touch is needed. Otherwise I just use the mouse.

My 2 cents.

Alan.

[Ted Harris]

The tablet is great, a trackball is also a huge improvement over a mouse.

[Frank Petronio]

I have always used them and have gotten progressively smaller ones each time I rebuy (4x since 92-93). Smaller is more efficient and the cheaper prosumer $99 one is everything I need. The more expensive ones have a slightly nicer pen and plastic, but I doubt you can distinguish between 512 or 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity.

If I were drawing from life a big tablet might be better but we're talking abut retouching and general work, so why move your arm across a lot of real estate? Other than for exercise...

If you get one, take the mouse and put it in another room and go cold turkey for a week. It will be awful the first day, and then get better. Don't over wack the control panels, the defaults are usually fine.

Once you have it under control, reintroduce the mouse as it can sometimes be better for office work and web surfing.

Using both but using the pen more is probably better at preventing Carpal Tunnel and such...

But what do I know? ;-P

[thedeep]

smaller is definitely better for retouching/photoshop work. I have a 12x12 and a 6x8, and use one at work all the time---there really isn't a point in moving your hand a foot when a few inches will suffice (there is usually a default one to one mapping between the physical tablet position and the desktop).