Pen & Graphics Tablets + The Apps best suited for the various jobs involved.

[handrawn]

I'm still stumped with regards how much you can actually draw on each size of active surface

usually with a wacom the drawing area of the tablet is mapped to the screen, so wherever you put the pen on the tablet, the cursor 'jumps' to the corresponding place on the screen; unlike a mouse where the cursor stays where you left it [but you can use a wacom in 'mouse mode']

the size of the tablet should be determined by the size at which you feel comfortable drawing without being too loose or cramped, assuming you use it in pen mode; in mouse mode it don't really matter most of the time

Surely things begin with a sketch, which to me is a series of lines, which to me is best suited to a vector app

why do you say this? [best suited to vector?]

[puw]

usually with a wacom the drawing area of the tablet is mapped to the screen, so wherever you put the pen on the tablet, the cursor 'jumps' to the corresponding place on the screen; unlike a mouse where the cursor stays where you left it [but you can use a wacom in 'mouse mode']

the size of the tablet should be determined by the size at which you feel comfortable drawing without being too loose or cramped, assuming you use it in pen mode; in mouse mode it don't really matter most of the time



why do you say this? [best suited to vector?]

Hi handrawn, please don't think I'm being awkward or anything, it's a perception thing. I understand that the active surface of the tablet is mapped to the size of your screen within setup. Having never used one, I'm trying to comprehend how the sizes affect what you draw. If sketching a portrait on an A5 piece of paper, I have to reduce all the detail, perhaps missing out details, take a smaller perspective. On the other hand, using an A3 piece of paper, I'm not restricted the same. Forgetting zoom, using this example, does it reflect the same between a small and large size tablet? If so, is the only way to overcome this issue if you have a small size tablet to constantly be zooming in and out to ensure the details of the portrait are included, or are you forced to draw in sections?

I don't know how else to ask this question, via the example I'm using. If a portrait is not a good example, then think of a landscape.

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I'm saying this for two reasons basically, but please think on I am a beginner and so my logic probably doesn't work in the same way as your - sorry. Firstly, it seems to me there are too many repeat steps - but for a trained artist perhaps this is how you work. Secondly, I don't understand the advantage of putting a scan into PS for example, only for the purpose of then placing that PS file into a vector program like Xara. The sketch/drawing is initially made up of lines, which in my limited knowledge, equals vectors. Also into this pot of my thinking is that I really haven't used PS as I always thought it was for photographs. I am through the video tutorials I am watching, seeing that it is a good program to finish off, add colour etc because of its tools that connect well with a tablet. My lack of experience is showing because I don't know whether you create the digital sketch in PS because PS is very good for this, so that you can then move to Xara in order to clean and tidy the sketch up, to then go back to PS to add paint and effects. I don't know, so if my statements appear strange to you, I need help to understand the basic reasons of why you do what you do 'automatically', because the steps you take seem strange to me

Thanks

[pauland]

We are talking about Art here and what feels comfortable for the artist in making art.

Some people make art using charcoal pencils and would hate to be using oil paint.
Some people like to use water-colour to express themselves, others like to sculpt.

I think you are over-analyzing the mechanics and neglecting the process and how that affects creativity.

The sensation of creating an artistic representation depends on the medium used. The feel of a pencil or brush over paper is quite different to that of a stylus over glass.

The creativity is what's important, not the digitisation of that creativity.

It may be more convenient in some ways to originate art as a vector, but if the artist wishes to use a pencil with paper, because they are more comfortable with that, then that is the right way to go.

The creation of art is not about engineering efficiency.

[Albacore]

Have a look at Adobe's IOS/Android apps: Brush CC, Shape CC, Colour CC, Illustrator Line, Illustrator Draw and Premiere Clip for vids, there're all free
Then they are the non Adobe ones: Sketchbook Pro, Paper by Fifty Three, Artrage, Procreate, and PhotoShop (sorry).
The are all for the use in tablets whither it be IOS or Android. If you are looking for a Desktop app/software to continue your work that doesn't cost the earth like AI then Sketchbook Pro and PS Elements, Manga Studio and you should never forget Gimp. All of the D/top apps will work with any wacom although I have found Sketchbook a bit buggy with mine.

[Albacore]

To reply to post #12 PUW and your difficulty using zoom in a drawing let me assure you it is easy. Your r/hand id drawing with the stylus while you l/hand is leaning over the tablet ready pinch or flick or if your using Illustrator Line twisting or turning the magic ruler which is a natural thing like you would do on paper but this time it has a smart guides.

The next thing I would like to reassure you is the line thing your talking about when drawing. If I do a drawing on paper import it into PS it is a rough thing and by using layers and the power of PS you can easily refine your drawing and that goes for any software programme discussed in this forum. When you draw a portrait of someone you start of by getting the proportion of the eyes, nose, mouth right as well as the viewing angle. This is the only time that you are not using zoom and then you use layers drawing in the details and I normally start with the eyes. At the same time you play with the stacking order putting bits behind and bring other forward all to get the pupils right and in the correct position. As you use layers it's no problem to duplicate objects even if their raster you can reflect, resize and rotate and all this done in close zoom. You can do all of these things using Wacom's gesture on your drawing tablet----> wacom make these things so simple that's why they sell.

I think what you should take out of all of this thread we buy software, tablets and styluses to make things easier! I live in Scotland where it rains a lot and I don't want to spend a huge time with a piece of paper trying to draw a landscape that I like. I use an iPad to sketch, rough, I take a picture then I bring it home. Once there if I like what I have done I may use PS or S Pro 7 to take it further use my wacom or I may just finish it on my pad using a Jot Pro stylus. Or on train journeys I may use Line or Draw to do some graphic work to make the time that I am sitting seem worth while. Can I own up here, I have not used anything from Adobe's Line or Draw in any of my projects there just ideas.

[puw]

We are talking about Art here and what feels comfortable for the artist in making art.

Some people make art using charcoal pencils and would hate to be using oil paint.
Some people like to use water-colour to express themselves, others like to sculpt.

I think you are over-analyzing the mechanics and neglecting the process and how that affects creativity.

The sensation of creating an artistic representation depends on the medium used. The feel of a pencil or brush over paper is quite different to that of a stylus over glass.

The creativity is what's important, not the digitisation of that creativity.

It may be more convenient in some ways to originate art as a vector, but if the artist wishes to use a pencil with paper, because they are more comfortable with that, then that is the right way to go.

The creation of art is not about engineering efficiency.

Understood pauland - thanks

BTW, there is no intent on my part on attacking any one's preferred working style/method, in case you may have misinterpreted my words to mean that

[handrawn]

I'm trying to comprehend how the sizes affect what you draw.

they shouldn't - that's the wrong way round

the size at which you draw should determine the size of the tablet

now if you are a draughtsman or a designer you probably draw carefully and slowly and the idea of a 'natural drawing size' may not mean a lot, I don't know because I'm not that sort of an 'artist'

if like me though, you are an 'artist' in the traditional sense, you may well have a natural drawing size - when I sketch naturally it comes out 'at a certain size' - for example if I were to draw a strip cartoon such as calvin and hobbs or garfield on paper in a way that is natural to me, it would come out around 20inches [500mm] long; others may draw it at 12/16inches long

[BTW - my wacom will let me map only part of the tablet [as well as only part of the screen] should it be used by someone who prefers a smaller drawing area]

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The sketch/drawing is initially made up of lines, which in my limited knowledge, equals vectors.

unless you have a very sophisticated scanner, scanned lines are not vector, they are raster

raster lines are defined by a matrix of pixels - vector lines are determined by a mathematical calculation

raster lines are [imo] better at mimicing drawing on paper - the mathematical calculation involved in creating a vector line can mean they often don't quite follow the stroke of the pen, particularly on curves

[puw]

Have a look at Adobe's IOS/Android apps: Brush CC, Shape CC, Colour CC, Illustrator Line, Illustrator Draw and Premiere Clip for vids, there're all free
Then they are the non Adobe ones: Sketchbook Pro, Paper by Fifty Three, Artrage, Procreate, and PhotoShop (sorry).
The are all for the use in tablets whither it be IOS or Android. If you are looking for a Desktop app/software to continue your work that doesn't cost the earth like AI then Sketchbook Pro and PS Elements, Manga Studio and you should never forget Gimp. All of the D/top apps will work with any wacom although I have found Sketchbook a bit buggy with mine.

Hi Albacore, thanks for this input. I think perhaps I've mislead you all because we seem to be at cross purposes here. The purpose of me making this topic is for anyone like me who does not have a graphics/pen/drawing tablet & never touched one and is thinking of buying one, and to ask questions of those members here that have one, are familiar with them etc, where the questions fall into a category of not being answered elsewhere.

When it comes to software, personally I will be only on a Windows desktop, but for this topic it's good to have a list for others to check out. But what also would be useful (like I posted above after watching a tutorial) are any advantages or disadvantages (or quirks) of using a particular program for a particular style of art, even to the degree of a particular make and model of a graphics/pen/drawing tablet (if that is possible please). For example, the tutor was showing how versatile the touch system was for pinching, zooming, rotating etc over 3 desktop programs and their limitations on a Wacom 22HD (I think it was).

As it is, I'm only just discovering through this topic and watching youtube's, that PS is a drawing program, which I never considered it to be, so stayed away from it.

I hope members using such tablets and the various software will be able to point out useful advice found only through experience.

I myself, as I find out as I did about the three I mentioned when it comes to tablets with the Touch facility, will post what I discover so as to help.

[puw]

To reply to post #12 PUW and your difficulty using zoom in a drawing let me assure you it is easy.

Again, I must be confusing everyone with my mentioning zoom. This question is about the size of the active surface of a given tablet, and I'm relating it (or trying to) to A3/4/5 paper. If I have a big piece of paper to draw on, if the drawing will have a lot of detail I can easily fit it all on, in high detail. If I take the same drawing idea and then use a small piece of paper, I have to reduce the size of the drawing, maybe alter the perspective, maybe miss out some details as I can't fit it all on or because it is smaller, the smaller detail I can show on the big paper size becomes too small and lost on the smaller paper size.

So if I am drawing on a small Bamboo or Intuos, have I in effect (knowing the small size has been mapped to the size of my screen) only got the same amount of paper as the small piece, making my drawings less detailed. Or have I got it all wrong, relating a tablet active surface size to an A3/4/5 paper size, and I should be thinking in the vein of how the active surface relates to your screen, regardless of the actual tablets size (meaning a paper size has no relation to a tablet size, since for example a large size tablet may have an active surface size similar to a piece of A4, but in reality this size of surface available to draw on, "if" comparing it to a piece of paper, would actually be more like A3)????

[pauland]

I haven't used many tablets, but the ones I have played with map the tablet area to the drawing area, so tablet size has no direct relationship to the drawing size.

There will be some consideration of tablet resolution vs drawing size, but really it's a non-issue.

Laptops have touchpads - rather like a tablet, and their small area is mapped to the screen size. It's the same idea.