Mouse vs. tablet

[RPMiller]

it does not wear out if you have the correct nibs, and replace them when they need it... also as long as you dont hulk smash on it it will be fine... Ive had a bamboo for over 4 years and use it everyday constantly no problems...

the size of the stylus is not important as the resolution relationship between your screen and your pad... set your pads settings to constrict drawing area to relate to screen size, and have it proportionate it will fix any little brain snags because it will get your hand eye lined up better... if $100 bucks is expensive then yes go get a microsoft mouse.... but in reality if you are looking for a good mouse that has extreemly high DPI or a 3d mouse like im thinking you will need http://blog.grabcad.com/2010/08/best...all-3d-device/

can be just as expensive...

honestly buy a wacom pen and touch or something, and then buy some felt nibs and learn to love your stylus... if it feels weird look up some tutorials on how to set it up correctly and some tricks for using it...

Yup. I agree with all this. As stated in the very first post, I've had a Wacom Intous for several years now and it is still working great.

[Jaxilon]

Felt nibs? I didn't even know they existed. I am just using the basic nib that came in the pen. There are like 5 replacement nibs, 3 that feel like paper, one with a tiny white tip and one that has a spring half way down it's shaft but like I said, I haven't even touched them. Now I'm curious...

[Elothan]

I just upgraded to a medium Wacom Bamboo, and I love it the fact that I am left handed, but have always used a mouse wit my right hand even let's me use both at the same time, so I get a lot of flexibility when working in photoshop.


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[Arthour]

After reading this thread I had a look and found an A4 sized Wacom Intuos2 for £30, I was wondering if that would be a good buy?

[Cunning Cartographer]

I'd never used a graphics tablet in my life, always been kinda arty (digitally anyway) but always used a mouse and so have a really steady hand when drawing and could get by just fine. I got a nice gig working from home in May designing graphics and illustrations (among other none arty stuff like web design) and as part of that I decided I was going to get a graphics tablet. Looked around at what was available and immediately wrote off the Cintiq just because of the price (maybe one day ) and went for the Intuos4 XL A3 sized tablet because I really didn't want to have to draw at a small scale.

After 4 months of using it, whilst very happy with my purchase, I now realise that I really didn't need one so big because most of the work I do I'm zooming in anyway and so only drawing in the middle of the tablet most of the time. For the extra cost and the extra size (this thing dominates my desk, I have to have a wireless keyboard and just put it to one side and my tablet is permanently out) people need to really think about what they need a larger tablet for. Now I do find it handy as the tablet area is the same size as my monitor and sometimes I DO operate at 100% size for moving elements around and stuff, so it just makes things a little more convenient, but I could easily operate doing the same thing on an A4 or maybe even smaller. Thankfully I was fortunate that my employer donated 250Euro towards my tablet and my dad gave the rest of the cash for my birthday so it all worked out for me If you do sketches on paper and want to trace them then a larger tablet might be helpful, but again, not necessary.

As for the mouse over the pen, absolutely no comparison. The dexterity I have with a pen over a mouse if great, but most importantly is the pen pressure using a tablet and the effects you can create with ease. I couldn't go back to drawing with a mouse that's for sure.

[Vellum]

For those of you who use tablets, what's the preferred size?

[torstan]

I use a small Intuous 4 - it's 12" by 8" so roughly the size of a sheet of paper. The active area is a lot smaller than the ful tablet (of course) but I've found the size to really not be an issue. Big tablets require big arm movements to cover the area - which can get pretty wearying if you're doing a lot of drawing. Also, this one fits in my laptop bag - which is great.

[ravells]

Depends mainly on cost, the available space on your desk and what you will be using the tablet for. The first two are pretty self explanatory. As for the third one, if you are using the tablet and pen as a straight substitute for paint brushes and pencils etc that require reasonably large hand gestures then an A4 tablet sized tablet and upwards will suit your needs much better.

[Jaxilon]

I have an Intous5 which is pretty big. I like to be able to use my arm for certain things but most of the time I just draw from my wrist which doesn't take a huge area. You can also calibrate it down to use a smaller area of the tablet so you don't have to move your arm so far to navigate your desktop. Using the desktop is actually the area that bugs me the most because while I want the whole tablet to draw with I hate having to move my pen all the way to the corners to get icons on my desktop.

I did find that by setting it to "mouse" mode it seems better.

It's also worth noting that I'm still very new to my tablet and learning how it works so maybe some of my issues will evaporate once I know what I'm doing.

[Ramiro]

Just for mapmaking, not for work or anything professional. What would be a good choice? A Digipro would fits it? Or a wacom?