Tablet Intuos3 with Xara

[michaelbuddy]

I have been debating splurging for an Intuos3 6x11 for using Xara. I am starting to have some pain when illustrating and editing xara nodes, is part of it. can anyone give me a report on using a tablet, does it make using Xara any more annoying? Seems like drawing is one thign, but getting to pressing menus and sliders and things would feel strange.

is it worth the 350.00 for the intuos3?

I've heard some reports in general that people love them, but the funny thing is, I don't know one person that has one, so I can't borrow it. Seems like if they were so awesome, every designer would want one wouldn't they? I need some detractors.

[steve.ledger]

Using Xara is annoying? Hmm - try CorelDraw or Illustrator then come back to us

As far as a graphics tablet goes, it's a personal thing. Most (if not all) shape editing and node manipulation is often best done via the mouse. The majority of Xara users who own a Digitizer have mentioned this is their preferrence also. A tablet and stylus is great for freehand sketching and fiddly stuff especially things like hair. Also good to add your signature.

At the end of the day, you really need to use one to decide. I bought the Graphire4 and rarely use it now.

[handrawn]

My current avatar [cat] was made in xara with the freehand tool using graphire3 tablet. For this sort of work a tablet is excellent.
But I too use the mouse most of the time for shape editor work and manipulating nodes etc.
Bottom line is, like Sledger said, you won't know for sure until you try.

[Albacore]

If you are doing a lot of drawings using a paint programme go ahead and buy. If most of your time is spent doing vectors then it will depend on your style of drawing. I only really use a tablet to rough out a drawing so that I get the shape and proportion right and then I get down and dirty using both mouse and tablet with the majority of the time with the mouse. I have some work mates who use mouse in righthand and pen in the other but my co-ordination is not that good. Before shelling out the money try a friends tablet and see how you get on, as a lot of my friends use the tablet as a mouse for their laptop which is a waste of money. The other thing is that it takes time and practice to use and if you don't keep using it the skill will go so keep at it. Have tried the new bamboo tablet and found the surface very different, less friction, so it made the feel of drawing faster and more fluid but had less control in line length. You makes your mind up and pays your money but it is a lot of money and as I don't do a lot of painting with PS or Corel Painter I think that my money could have been better spent on a better scanner for transfer of pen or pencil drawings.

[DGehman]

Another element is the pen itself. (I've used only the Wacom low-end, stick pens, which cause cramping, even though I've built it up with soft-touch material to a shape close to the Wacom high-end ones.)

Still, don't ignore the mousing pain. There are other alternatives, such as voice recognition (distractingly slow at moving the mouse cursor) and light-guided (can create neck pain (!))

I have an early version of the infrared light guided TrackerIR from NaturalPoint (www.naturalpoint.com) - other types at (http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/He...ntrolled-Input.)

Used it for a while but haven't touched it in a long time. It was fun and effective at first, but then it became too constraining and I found my neck muscles getting super-tense. You also have to put up with relatives and friends bursting into uncontrollable laughter at your reflective dot. You can use a reflective ring, which look like carnival prizes, but you have to raise one hand off the keyboard to go that route.

[salaam]

A graphics tablet is nothing like pen & paper, although it looks similar.
Generally I would say that scanning is simpler & faster.
A graphics pad is better if you want vector lines rather than shapes.
A graphics pad is useable if you want to trace an image from paper. Using it while looking at the monitor, rather than the pad & pen takes a lot of patience & practise.
I rarely use mine.

[geminiguy]

Sledger had once mentioned placing a piece of paper over the work area of the tablet. It really works great and gives you that "pen on paper" feel.
Just mentioning this as when you try a tablet, you may find the "slipperiness" of it to throw you off a bit at times. And this is an awesome remedy for that.
You also definitely want to shop around when purchasing: There are other less costly brands such as the Genius MousePen 8x6 as I have, I was able to purchase it for about $40.00 and it works great. It might be better to start with one of the lower cost ones to decide if you like using one.

[handrawn]

A graphics tablet is nothing like pen & paper, although it looks similar.

I'll second that - a completely different technique, and in fact I scan a lot more than use the tablet

[Jon G]

I bought an Intuos3 A5 month and half ago and couldn't live without it anymore.

It's almost exactly like pen & paper when used with a notebook - I place it on the keyboard part and tilt the display so the distance between vision and hand is very small and totally unnoticeable. It doesn't bother me when I keep the tablet elsewhere, either. It's the same as using a mouse coordination-wise.

Using menus took some hours to get used to.

I bought the Wacom mostly for painting (PS & Artrage), but it changed my life with Xara as well - it makes creative freedom a reality, totally unlike mousing around.

[wW]

I have a tablet but the use of which is perhaps 3% of my total mouse usage.

When I use the tablet, I use it mainly for photo editing & while sketching in Xara - holding the esc key so nodes don't stick together.

The tablet will never be an end all for the mouse.

My first tablet was a 12x12, big mistake. Regarding tablets & what most of us do with them in Xara. Smaller is better, no larger than 4x5 or 6x9 would ever be necessary unless you physically like to place paper under the plastic for tracing. Some that like to draw using large sweeping motions while sketching could benefit from a large tablet, more the exception than the rule.

For most of us, A scan, imported to Xara, & redrawn/traced is quicker & easier than if you used a large tablet & try to trace it on the tablet.