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Posted on 14/03/13 1:16:23 PM |
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Beazo
* Posts: 2 Reply |
Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
Hi, my first post on this forum after picking a few of Steve's books. I'm fairly new to using a Wacom tablet/stylus so maybe it's just my lack of experience but should I be using the stylus instead of the mouse for precision items, such as the Pen Tool? Reason for asking is that I find the Wacom brilliant and straight forward for anything involving constant contact between the stylus and the tablet (brushing, quick mask, gradients etc.) however anything needing precision but requiring contact between with the tablet to be continully broken/re-applied e.g. Pen tool, Polygonal lasso, etc. I find it very difficult to be as accurate compared to when using the mouse. I just wanted to ask what others do and get any advice or tips. Also, I would like to ask what others do in terms of the general navigation of Photoshop menus - keyboard shortcuts aside, do you use the stylus or make a grab for for the mouse? I'm trying to use the stylus for everything (in Photshop) but find I keep making a grab for the mouse to move layers, select menu items, open files etc. Thanks! |
Posted on 14/03/13 3:02:29 PM |
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Artwel
Satire Supremo Posts: 607 Reply  |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
Beazo, I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do anything, it's whatever you feel works best for you. Personally I do all my work using the touchpad on my laptop, I find I can be very accurate with the pen tool this way, more accurate than a desktop mouse even. Regarding shortcuts, You don't need to know them all, but It can make life easier using the basic ones, e.g. B for Brush , T for Transform etc. I don't use a tablet but I'm sure theyr're great for painting, brush strokes etc. Other people here can give you a better answer  _________________ "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure" |
Posted on 14/03/13 4:39:27 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3054 Reply  |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
Beazo, I now use a tablet all the time and find it invaluable. Using the mouse requires much more muscular effort, which experience shows can lead to repetitive strain injuries. |
Posted on 14/03/13 5:27:28 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7023 Reply  |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
I started as you did, using the stylus for some things and the mouse for others. Now I use the stylus for just about everything, except scrolling web pages - I have an Apple Trackpad and find a two finger drag on that more convenient. I do use the stylus for absolutely all Photoshop work, though. The tablet/stylus combination does take a lot of getting used to, but there's no question that it's a far superior tool. Artwel, do you really not use one? I'm very surprised, especially given the extraordinary quality of your work. |
Posted on 14/03/13 7:28:44 PM |
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Artwel
Satire Supremo Posts: 607 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
I've never really found the need for one, but now I do want one for matte painting. Which model do you use/recommend? I've been looking at the Wacom Intuos 5. Ideally I'd like the Cintiq 12" version , the problem is it's a 6 year old model and there is no indication that a new version will be out any time soon.. thanks. _________________ "Predictions are difficult. Especially about the future" |
Posted on 15/03/13 08:33:52 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7023 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
I use the Intuos 5 on my desk and the Bamboo Fun for travelling - the A6 versions of both. It may sound tiny, but it works well even with a 27 inch monitor. |
Posted on 15/03/13 5:31:16 PM |
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Beazo
* Posts: 2 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
Thanks for the replies. Guess I need to get more practice in! |
Posted on 28/01/14 00:07:17 AM |
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nickp99
* Posts: 13 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
I also find the looseness of the pen nib to be a serious impediment to precision. The old V3 pens had a way you could tighten this up (a bit), but I was *so* disappointed that my Intuos 4 was actually *worse* than the older model in this respect. I do a very strange thing that works well for me. I am right-handed, but for some reason many years ago I got used to manipulating trackballs and mice with my left hand (something to do with juggling). I have a trackball to the left of the keyboard, and sit with my legs over toward the right such that with the tablet in my lap I can still reach the trackball *and* the keyboard with my left hand. My right hand does drawing things, and I use my left hand to do almost everything else. I use the TB for anything needing the kind of precision the wacom is unable to provide. It's also rock-solid for situations where I don't want to move the mouse at all (e.g. setting up for cloning between layers). I do have the bucky keys (clover, alt, shift, and ctrl) mapped to the wacom expresskeys. I found those to be strangely useless for anything else. There were never enough keys for all the tools I commonly use, so I had to reach for the keyboard all the time anyway. There are a few keystrokes that are awkward in this position, but it's way better than any other setup I've used. I suspect it would work just as well with a mouse instead of a trackball. (I think the TB is better for getting around very large screens. You can sort of slap it around.) This setup also has the advantage that I can put my feet up on the desk if I want! [Aside: This seems somewhat similar to what some complex engineering drafting programs allow you to do. You can use a regular mouse *and* a 3D mouse (like a space navigator) both together; typically you use the SN in one hand to 'hold' and move around the 3D object to turn it to where you want to do something, and then use the mouse for that. I'm told it feels very similar to *actually* holding an object and working on it. (Incidentally, I've experimented with a Space Navigator in photoshop, and abandoned it as too complex for not enough bang.)] Anyway, I'm not actually ambidextrous, I just got used to doing a few more things with my non-dominant hand than most folks. Works for me! Oh, and if anyone knows of a way to tighten up the nib on an Intuos 4, please let us know! Are the newer tablets any better in this respect? |
Posted on 28/01/14 08:08:12 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7023 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
I'm not sure I understand your loose nib problem. Could you just have a faulty stylus? |
Posted on 28/01/14 4:00:32 PM |
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nickp99
* Posts: 13 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
Seems unlikely, as all three tablets I've had (bamboo, intuos 3, intuos 4) have had a least a _little_ of this looseness. (Strangely, the bamboo (least expensive) was the tightest ...) Also, reading around on the net, I am far from the only person who has this problem. I don't mean that the nib is wiggling left to right. It's supposed to go only up and down (along its axis, i.e. in and out of the pen) -- and that's what it does. However, there is a certain amount of "free play", movement (along that axis) that occurs *without* registering any change to the computer. In fact it's clear from the way it feels that _just_ the nib is moving, and the guts of the electronic part isn't. If I hold the pen vertically (nib down) and gently push up on the nib with my finger, it moves almost a whole millimetre before encountering any resistance or making any change as far as the electronics are concerned. [If you've ever adjusted the clutch pedal of an automobile (Hmmm, not many cars these days have what used to be called 'standard' transmission, sigh.) then the idea of "free play" will be familiar. It's the distance the pedal moves without actually disengaging the clutch at all.] This has nothing to do with pressure settings or suchlike; it's a mechanical issue. It's not that the nib is mis-seated; I can switch nibs and this doesn't go away. Interestingly, if you press alternately on the pen nib and the eraser "nib", you can feel the mechanism sliding back and forth inside the barrel (but that's not actually the free play I'm talking about). The intuos 3 pen was built so that if you pushed the two sides together -- i.e. simply tried to make the whole pen shorter -- this would remove much of the free play. The 4 doesn't seem to do that, or at least not with the amount of force I am willing to use on it. I've never understood why *any* free play was actually necessary. I suspect that wacom saved money by engineering the pen side and the eraser side to use the same pressure sensor (you never use them both at the same time, now do you?) and this is fallout from that decision. It's a real problem. If I try to change a layer mode, say, the pen often slips enough that I have actually selected the mode just above or below in the pulldown menu. I have to explicitly check the menu to see if it's been set correctly, as I can't trust the pen. Maddening. With my intuos 3, I got used to the free play and it wasn't an issue. With the 4 I've never managed that. I would have bought an intuos 5 long ago except that I was annoyed that the 3 -> 4 transition actually made the problem worse. [It's one of those psychological things -- my annoyance has probably *caused* me to remain annoyed for longer than I would have otherwise (assuming this is fixed in the 5 and up)!] I vaguely recall calling up wacom some years back and they said, basically, "that's how it's supposed to be" and "maybe you should buy a new pen and see if it works better." I wasn't doing graphics work much at the time so I didn't pursue it. [However, I took the opportunity to ask them "How do you pronounce "Wacom"? The answer is 'walk-um' (not 'way-com' as I'd been calling it all my life.)] |
Posted on 29/01/14 5:02:31 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7023 Reply |
Re: Wacom stylus and Pen Tool (or precision tools in general)
There's a little free play, just to give you some feedback on the fact that the tip is actually touching the surface. I've never found this to be a problem, though, and I've never found any of the menu slipping you mention. Have you tried changing the sensitivity settings in the Wacom control panel? |