Wacom Intuos3. Do you use it?

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I'm considering on getting a Wacom Intuos3 pen tablet, but I would like to hear from the people that use them and what they think of it?
Does the size of the tablet matter?
Is a 4x5 any better than a 9x12?
How much control does the user have?
 
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Ive only used one for a few minutes, and once you get used to the pen you can get going pretty quick. One of my professors said he likes the smaller ones better and I can see that so you dont have to really draw over a huge area.
 
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they are awesome things i use the one at work all the time. Its really sweet and the handwriting recognition is great as well, shame a i cant really draw though :p
 
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I've used the Wacom Graphire3 for a few years now and it's nice for working in photoshop but I don't tend to use it for much else.
 
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Maul said:
I'm considering on getting a Wacom Intuos3 pen tablet, but I would like to hear from the people that use them and what they think of it?
Does the size of the tablet matter?
Is a 4x5 any better than a 9x12?
How much control does the user have?

I've only used a 4x5" Graphire2 and Graphire4 (vacuumed up my USB cord on the Graphire 2 by accident, lol). It's nice, but I do wish I had a bigger one with better resolution. My next upgrade will probably be a 6x11" widescreen Intuos3. I'd assume the larger you get, the more detail you can put in. With that said, I wouldn't get one of the 12x19" monsters unless you have a big, high-resolution monitor, as it would require a lot of arm movement. The 4x5" is a really nice size for a typical desktop, too.
 
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This is a little off topic, but I'm throwing it out there in case someone reading the thread is interested. I have an old ADB (as in pre USB) graphire tablet (it was really cheap used). It was reported on the wacom site as 'not supported in OSX' as it dissables most of the functions of the ADB ports. However I had been using it in OS 9 on my B&W G3 (the only computer to ship with both ADB and USB) and when I booted into OS X 10.3.9.... It still worked! It doesn't have any of the advanced features, but it works fine as a pointing device with the feel and control of a pen, so as far as I'm concerned it works. If I can track down an ADB-USB converter I'll see if it works on my Swtooth.
 
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I have the 4x5" graphire 3 tablet, bought it for 90 bucks at circuit city. At first it was kind of awkward...but after using it for 30 min. I loved it! not to mention working for 8 hours with a mouse makes your index finger hurt....no pain with the tablet.

I do wish I had a bigger tablet now that I am doing graphics on a regular basis (Graphics design student). The little 4x5 tablet is ok to start with but the bigger ones are less squirley than a 4x5...easier freehand selections, plus the intos3 has a better resolution and increased sensitivity, tilt control and those side buttons come in handy.

You can also reduce the movement that you need to move the pen around with the tools, even limit it to a specific program, so for example when I am browsing online I have mine set to about 2x3" or so. The bigger tablets dont bother me for photoshop, its kind of like sketching on a small illustrationboard. (However to be fair I have only used the bigger tablets for 10-15 min.)

I would buy the largest you can afford and if you need to downsize the sketch area to improve comfort, do so, but if you need more area its only a click away.
 
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i'd go with the intuos 3, it has more sensors, i have a graphire 3 and i notice it tends to be jumpy when doing really detailed things, it's really a pain in the rear.
 
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Another tool I use is the ShuttleXpress from Contour Designs. It's the baby brother of the ShuttlePRO; this version is more compact and has fewer buttons. I've found it's the perfect size for my desk and there are enough buttons to make it a powerful tool but not so many that you forget what you programmed the buttons for. It's incredibly useful with a variety of programs. For example, I use it extensively with Illustrator CS and my tablet. I use the tablet for drawing freehand shapes and the ShuttleXpress for changing tools and zooming in and out, as well as moving select objects. I also have buttons programmed for delete and undo, which is really handy when you're in the work groove and you don't have to jump back to the keyboard. The software allows you to program the buttons for each application individually. The Graphire's software, I believe, only allows you to do one group of settings, but the Intuos' software should let you do multiple programs. The Graphire has a scrollbar and a couple buttons that you can program while the Intuos has touch-strips all over the place; I may not need my ShuttleXpress anymore if I upgrade to an Intuos lol.
 
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Abrodzinski

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kaidomac, can you zoom in and out with the jog dial in photoshop?? that might be kinda cool
 
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Abrodzinski said:
kaidomac, can you zoom in and out with the jog dial in photoshop?? that might be kinda cool

Yes, you can. Anything that you can access via keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop, you can program into the ShuttleXpress. My primary work right now is in Illustrator, which has a similar shortcut structure to Photoshop. I have the buttons programmed for Undo, select Mouse Pointer, select Paintbrush tool, deselect object, and Delete. Both jog dials are set to zoom in and zoom out for convenience.

With the ShuttleXpress, you basically have five buttons and two jog wheels. The interior jog wheel, the one with the depression for your finger, is freely rotatable, meaning that you can keep spinning it as much as you want to. The outside jog wheel, the rubber ring around the interior jog wheel, is limited to about 180 degrees, so you can't spin it past about half way around. The exterior jog wheel also has more control. You can program 7 "steps" into it depending upon how far you turn it, as well as the transitions between the steps. Here are my settings for Firefox:

Button 1: Jump to the beginning of the page
Button 2: Open the Find search bar
Button 3: Jump to the Google search bar at the top right
Button 4: Jump to the address bar at the top
Button 5: Jump to the end of the page
Inside jog: page up/page down
Outside jog: arrow up/arrow down

Using the outside jog dial, I can slowly scroll up and down through webpages. Using the inside jog dial, I can quickly scroll up and down through webpages. Using the buttons, I can jump to the beginning and end of the document quickly, as well as access the search, address, and Google bars. It's a really handy tool to have and has the perfect amount of buttons, imo.
 
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Abrodzinski said:
kaidomac, can you zoom in and out with the jog dial in photoshop?? that might be kinda cool

On another note, I think it's the dumbest thing ever that I can't zoom in and out in Photoshop with the scrollwheel. Maybe I'm just missing something, but in Photoshop CS on my Windows computer I can't do it. I end up using Paint Shop Pro 7 most of the time, lol.
 

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