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Photography - Post-Production/Photo-Editing (Photoshop): Graphics tablets for photo editing

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    • CommentAuthorandrewgould
    • CommentTimeApr 29th 2008 edited
     
    I feel this is the right place to post this, as opposed to the Computers and Technology category, because the use of a graphics tablet and pen (instead of a mouse) has a direct impact on postprocessing. (If forum administrators prefer, though, they could move this.)

    I've been using my Wacom Graphire4 tablet for at least six months now, and I can tell you that even after a couple of days, I knew that I would never go back to using a mouse again. My original reason for getting a tablet was because I had started to get burning and tingling in the fingers of my right hand from overuse of the mouse in photo processing. This was a serious issue, and had got to the point where these symptoms continued for some time even when I no longer had my hand on the mouse. Working with a cordless pen on a tablet, though, means total freedom, as you're using the same actions as you would when painting or drawing. The hand, therefore, is in a totally natural position, with no twisting of the wrist, as with a mouse. There are many other advantages, as you'll see on investigating this further.

    A search on the Internet will show you that most graphics professionals regard Wacom tablets as the only choice. My Graphire4 has now been replaced by the Bamboo Fun model. This has 512 levels of pen pressure just like my Graphire. The next level up is the Intuos models with 1024 levels of pressure and increased reporting rate (that is, sensitivity to pen movement on the tablet surface). Graphire/bamboo is 100 pps and Intuos is 200 pps. (My Graphire produces very smooth movements in Photoshop, by the way.) I went for the Graphire on the advice given by a professional photo graphic artist and photographer who wrote this:

    http://photo.net/equipment/wacom/

    The above review is out of date, as it was written before the Graphire was replaced by the Bamboo Fun, but it gives a good perspective from the point of view of an experienced user, and addresses the question of tablet models and sizes, as well as explaining the importance of the ability to program the driver with options.

    I first bought a 6x8 tablet, but quickly found that I was more comfortable with it programmed to only use the top left had quarter of the surface. This way I can use wrist movements only in my photo work. The writer of the above guide actually recommends the smallest 4x5 model for photo postprocessing, and that's the one I just bought last week. Although the 6x8 fits in my laptop bag, the 4x5 is even more portable, and even here, I'm not using the whole surface area. You may only need a larger sized tablet and/or the more expensive Graphire model if you're a very serious graphic artist and want the Graphire's pen tilt sensitivity and the ability to use other types of pens that are offered.

    Here's some pages that explain graphics tablet basics:
    http://graphicssoft.about.com/b/2007/11/14/inexpensive-cordless-graphics-tablet.htm

    And here's the Wacom homepage fro more information on the tablets and the forums they have:
    www.wacom.com (Select your region on the site.)

    I rarely use a mouse these days, although I have one on the left side of my computer at times. Almost always, though, I use the pen on the tablet to click webpages and to copy and paste, etc.

    Finally, I want to mention that on my Windows Vista laptop, I can even write with the pen on the pop up window that appears on the screen when there is somewhere to write on a webpage and I tap on the tablet. This gets converted into type automatically. Not something that everyone would want to use all the time instead of typing, but definitely a fringe benefit. It appears that this should also be possible in XP, although I'm not sure whether you need extra software for it. (In the case of Vista, it's built in.)
    • CommentAuthorparallax
    • CommentTimeMay 12th 2008
     
    I am using a Wacom Intuos3 tablet since 2006, it is fantastic, helps to have a more intuitive and natural way of working with images during the processing. And if you enjoy drawing or painting, or if you are a designer, it is of great help, I recommend the use of tablets. Cheers Andrew!
    • CommentAuthoradiemus
    • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008
     
    I have used a wacom graphire for about 8 months now, and wouldn't be without it. Much more intuitive, and if you're using some of the methods espoused by Vincent Versace (author of Welcome to Oz), you'll definitely be in like flynn!!
    •  
      CommentAuthorowlmountain
    • CommentTimeJun 10th 2008 edited
     
    Hey Andrew,
    Thank you very much for you posting, it was very informative. I would love to use one of those, and who knows, father's day is comming...
    Anyway, are you saying Andrew that the biger size of the tablet (which, of course, is more expensive) doesn't really matter for photo editing? I always thought that the bigger the better...

    cheers
    Roman
  5.  
    Thanks to everyone, above, for their input on this.

    To answer raugustyn's question further about tablet size, what I can say is that the advantage of the 6x8, the way I use it with only the top left quarter programmed to be the active area, is that my wrist is always on the flat surface of the tablet top. If you use the whole area -- which will mean that you'll be making quite long arm movements to go from the top to the bottom of your screen (and which I personally don't like), or if you use the 4x5 tablet, even with a reduced drawing area, you'll find that as you go downwards, your wrist starts to rest on the curved edge of the tablet. I wouldn't say that this is totally uncomfortable, although I don't really care for it that much. To sum up, in my case, I prefer the 6x8 at home. This will still fit easily in the bag I have for my 15.4"laptop, but the 4x5 is even easier to carry around if that's a major concern, or if you want to pay about half the price of the larger model. In any case, I'm sure new users will adapt to whatever size they end up buying if they have nothing else to compare it to, and as everyone above agrees, beats a mouse hands down for photo processing.
  6.  
    hi all,

    I've been thinking about one myself, but i have a few reservations. I have used a Wacom before for illustration, I am familiar with tablets. My concern is that with photography, I really don't do any brush work (e.g. burning or dodging) nor any real masking work. As my post processing is really limited to cropping. colour and tonal work, I have not yet taken the plunge. Can people with tablets tell me how they are using them?
  7.  
    re: sockpuppet

    A tablet is invaluable for the complex multiple layer edits in Photoshop associated with retouch/restoration. With the advent of Lightroom RAW editing and the move to a laptop, I keep a Bamboo for that rare instance a finite edit in Photoshop is required for printing. Usually such edits concern retouching an edge, or working on a layer/mask to locally control a highlight.

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