Drawing tablets?

aliasojo

Daughter really wants a drawing tablet and I know nothing about them.

Are they even any good for art? Are there good ones and bad ones or are they all much and such? What do I need to know/consider about them.

Any input gratefully received.

InsideInsurance

They are good for doing fine detail -v- a mouse or trackpad etc.

As with everything, there are budget models and pro - there tends to be two key elements which is the size of the tablet itself and its sensitivity/ resolution but there are lots of other possible features like pressure sensitivity etc. Be careful of getting one that is too small as they are even more of a pain than trying to trace the outline of something using a mouse.

You will also want to check compatibility with both the computer and the software that she is intending to use it with. Big brand with big brand should be ok but if she is using obscure software or such it may not have support for such input devices (or at least not all the features)

The Wacom Bamboo products tend to be popular but I dont remember the brand of the one I used to occasionally use

neilwoods

Wacom are the top tgraphice tablet's to go for, but they are also the most dear.

Genius, Trust, Aiptek do tablet's as well, trust tend to the cheapest of them. Few other companies do them as well.

Might be best to go for one that has roughly 6 x 8 drawing area, wireless pen, 1024 pressure points, highest lpi u can get.

Do you a budget in mind. As i say 6 x 8 would be good to start or even go for a smaller one, as not everyone likes to use a tablet, can be awkward to get use to. Unless of course allready uses one at school or college.

BlueC

Take a look at the Wacom Inkling for a pretty cool way of drawing electronically. I reckon its more fun and more flexible than a tablet...

http://www.firebox.com/product/4813/Wacom-Inkling

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/30/wacom-inkling-smart-pen-does-drawing-the-old-fashioned-way-so/

aliasojo

neilwoods wrote: »

Do you a budget in mind.

No, no budget in mind. The matter has only just been raised and I'm only just finding out about what is out there.

BlueC wrote: »

Take a look at the Wacom Inkling for a pretty cool way of drawing electronically. I reckon its more fun and more flexible than a tablet...

http://www.firebox.com/product/4813/Wacom-Inkling

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/30/wacom-inkling-smart-pen-does-drawing-the-old-fashioned-way-so/

Now never mind art or drawing, that appeals to me just because it's a cool gadget.:D

neilwoods

If you have the space near the PC then go for a A4 tablet. Also need to see if they come bundled with sort of drawing sofware as well

The wacom inkling does look good, but if it anything like the ones currently on the market, then it is really just a gadget. They have problem's with line weigth due to reading pressure of the tip, erasing is another problem with them, and layering. So they are ok for vector based graphics, but may need to do a lot of work once imported.

clangnuts

Wacom Bamboo is the one to go for. Around £60 with some software included.

santer_2

I have a Wacom Intuos and prefer A4

Mr_Toad

I used to have an A4 sized graphics tablet when I used a PC but when I changed to an Apple Mac I couldn't get drivers for it so had to buy a new tablet.

I tried several and the one that impressed me most was the Wacom Bamboo. As others have said it's a superb tablet and actually prefer it to my old A4 which now seems huge.

I use it for photo editing but it comes with some software called ArtRage, a drawing program where you can choose everything from the type of 'paper' to the medium you draw with, pencil, pen, spray can, airbrush, paintbrush, the list goes on. It's a very good package and a lot of fun.

And, best of all you can get one for under £50, you don't want to know what I paid for the A4 tablet!!!!