Hi Everybody - this is a topic thread that I hope will bring debate, discussion, insight, information, advice, help, learning and clarification and more - while keeping us all friends (no falling out please )

For this 1st post to kick it off, I would like to explain where I am, my understanding etc - which is a little above clueless after the last two weeks of reading and watching tutorial videos etc. If I have got anything wrong, please correct my errors.

Graphics tablets and pen tablets have many things in common, but for me differ because:
  1. Pen Tablets
    pen tablets allow a user to plug in via usb, a (normally) black coloured flat bedded piece of hardware, in a variety of sizes, that comes with either a wired or wireless (battery) pen shaped instrument, which has a nylon or other similar material nib, that when the nib is held onto the surface of the flat bed and moved, can be used within a graphic type of program (Corel Draw, Xara, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Inkscape etc etc) to draw/paint/create, or a text based kind of program (MS Office) to write (hand writing that with recognition software can be turned into fonts) and which will appear / be output onto your desktop/Mac/laptop screen, with virtually no lag (based on your computer specs). In effect, you watch your screen and not your hand. Some pen tablets (higher spec ones) may also have key buttons that allow you when pressed to do any one of multiple preset tasks - like a keyboard shortcut - (open/close undo/redo), saving you having to reach for the keyboard etc.
  2. Graphics Tablets
    graphics tablets allow a user to plug in via usb, a (normally) black coloured flat bedded piece of hardware, in a variety of sizes, that comes with either a wired or wireless (battery) pen shaped instrument, which has a nylon or other similar material nib, that when the nib is held onto the surface of the flat bed and moved, can be used within a graphic type of program (Corel Draw, Xara, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Inkscape etc etc) to draw/paint/create, or a text based kind of program (MS Office) to write (hand writing that with recognition software can be turned into fonts) and which will appear / be output BOTH onto THE TABLET SCREEN & your desktop/Mac/laptop screen at the same time, with virtually no lag (based on your computer specs). In effect, you watch your TABLET screen and your hand, the tablet screen becoming a 2nd screen / extension of your main screen. Some graphics tablets (higher spec ones) may also have key buttons that allow you when pressed to do any one of multiple preset tasks - like a keyboard shortcut - (open/close undo/redo), saving you having to reach for the keyboard etc.


Having a screen and not having a screen appear to be the two main differences to me, between a pen and a graphics tablet. This is a pretty big difference, because in drawing and writing etc, we use hand to eye coordination, and so using a pen tablet would be like typing on a keyboard without looking. If you can, you should be ok. If you can't, open your wallet and get a graphics tablet (or typing lessons lol).

But that's not all both of them are good for. The pen (or stylus or brush as you may call it depending on your use - but I'll keep with pen for ease of visual aid here, so as not to cause people like me any confusion), can be used to a large extent (depending on the pen you buy) as a part or full replacement of a mouse. When the pen is hovered above the flat bed, it controls the cursor on the screen, and by pressing the nib on the flat bed on drop down program menus for example, will open that menu, repeat for the sub-menu etc. So you can open/close files, select a font, use transparency - basically anything you would use a mouse and it's left/centre/right buttons for, because with most pens, along the side of them, are often a 'rocker' style switch which can be setup as a right click or any other often used action performed, just like a mouse. As I have heard and seen demonstrators show this, they say that using a pen and not a mouse, once you get used to it, is far more natural, comfortable and less likely to cause Repetitive Stress Injuries.

There are a number of manufacturers making both kinds today, and up to now my conclusion is that you get what you pay for, with Wacom being at the top having spent many years developing them and owning many of the patents (stopping others from getting in the game unless they pay big patent license fees kind of thing). Recently, some of those patents have become available as well as other ways to approach how the flat bed and pen work together (it's all done with magnets like an Etch-a-Sketch lol).

It isn't the easiest thing to find a good cross selection of the market today, because of the 'terms' used to describe them vary from graphics, to pen to drawing tablet and more as wannabe's and lookalikes coin new names to make you think they are, but they aren't, or where one companies drawing tablet looks and reads to be the same type as another's graphics tablet. So it's easy to become a little lost and stop looking or searching for them all, and just say to hell with it, focus on Wacom. But even then, if you're looking on Amazon for example, the 'model' names can be confusing to get some info from the Wacom site, as they may be offering some recently refurbished models that no longer exist on the Wacom site, and you're not sure if the Bamboo model on your screen is the same as the Bamboo model on the Wacom site, because now it looks more like an Intuos ?????

Here's a link to get you going http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic...#Manufacturers

The finish to the flat bed is also quite variable through reading and listening. Some are glassy/glossy, some have a waxy finish, some seem a little rough to feel like paper but most people say this last type wears down the nibs a lot quicker, while others say this happens to begin but if used regularly, you wear down the rough feeling so it becomes smooth. Reviews, opinions and recommendations can only take you so far, because what you want to achieve with this hardware is probably not going to be the same as the person's opinion/review/recommendation you're reading or listening to!!!

So you need to do a lot of digging, reading, watching, listening. I heard/read one owner after another for a particular Wacom model complain about a terrible usb cable connection that was very poor quality. The tablet itself was not at fault, just the cable and yet Wacom were failing to fix this issue leaving unhappy customers with unusable tablets because the cable was broken, after being told by Wacom service not to keep pulling the cable in and out (this model I believe was one bought for it's portability). Other customers were making their own grommets to push into the tablet connection port to try and save the cable connector from breaking. And yet, the other side of the coin has customers praising Wacoms service as being faultless.

Owners of other companies tablets have made videos to help you know their highs and lows, to know if you can live with them, should you be on a tight budget.

You also have to look at the technical specs for the number of pressure points for example. Not quite sure what the different combinations mean yet - slower/more lag, less lines show, less thinness to thickness ???? Resolution, active area, colour, brightness, viewing angle etc - all need consideration.

There's also masses of different pens that come with 2 and 3 side buttons, some of which due to position get on some peoples nerves as well as shape and size, masses of different nibs that vary in use and material which can change their lifespan (in combination with the tablet screen finish). Some tablet/pen combinations also offer more than just pressure sensitivity, but buying one that gives you more options doesn't automatically mean you can use them, based on the program you want to work in!!

There's a lot of info required and details to be gone into & digested here, especially if on a budget. I've heard users say, if it's your 1st tablet, get a small basic one to try out and if you like it, move up to a bigger one. Oh yeh, I've got so much money to burn lol.

I'll leave the tablets alone for now. See what feedback comes.

Moving onto just as important an issue - programs.

Most of the tutorial videos out there I've seen are using PS. There are some Xara ones, but not many. Thanks to handrawn for the below info (which may be why there are not that many):

FROM FREEHAND:
xara does not support the tilt and pitch features of the upper end wacoms, it just supports basic pressure sensitivity; I do not currently sketch in xara because I think there are far better programs for this - but I do colour work and for this I find xara's 'soft group' feature invaluable as it enables me to link objects together preserving their layer structure and still move them around independently of everything else

On a side note and all the forum members responses to the latest release of Xara Pro http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...o-X10-Released, the tablet market is growing as more people see their usefulness. So besides not improving the features many devout users/members here need, people are not going to feel very confident to buy Xara when the resources and tutorials they need for using them with Xara are almost non-existent. This to me is crazy since these tablets are producing VECTOR images !!!!!! Ok, rant over, sorry. Where was I?

Oh yes, graphic programs, tutorials on using them with their new tablet (mostly Adobe based), Xara restricts what other programs offer that after you paid more to get the extra options are useless in Xara, having to maybe use 3 or 4 programs to complete a creation (many people sketch on paper, scan into PS, import the PS file into say AI, then finish off perhaps in Xara. Again, this all depends on your style of work, what you are creating, and so on. But it pays to be aware before you buy and find you bought the wrong one !!

Ok, I need a breather. I think I've managed to paint a picture of where my understanding is. To sum up;

some of the problems I face in not understanding the technical info - what matters,
which tablet/pen combination is for what kind of art,
which programs allow you to do what within them OR which programs stop you from doing what with them,
does the size of the tablet mean if smaller, you reduce how much of a drawing/picture you can work on at any one time (meaning constant zoom in and out to check),
are the hotkeys that come with some great & useful - or a nuisance and you always use the keyboard instead,
is a 2 switch or 3 switch pen better (or each has their advantages),
do pc hardware specs affect lag

More to come as the topic develops.