Stylus, draw tablet, what to get?

[hgregory]

Suggestions, please: I've checked into several options online, with these catching my attention: Wacom Intuos Pen tablet // Wacom Bamboo // Genius Pen mouse // and XP-Pen. My wrist is tired of drawing with the mouse (desktop PC/Xara), and scanning my pencil sketches to save/import and draw over in Xara (problematic more often than I'd like). Advice will be greatly appreciated; even as to how these things work ... can I draw directly into/onto a Xara page? Thanks. ~Helen~

[wizard509]

Your call Helen, I have a wacom bamboo CTX470 but if you want something better go for it.

[handrawn]

you need to decide whether you need a tablet with it's own screen or not

as it happens I have both, a cintiq and an intuos - they are useful for different ways of working

you can draw directly onto the xara workspace

buy the best you can afford, avoid pens with batteries if at all possible, they can cause issues

think about whether you need wifi connection - bear in mind a wifi/bluetooth connected tablet can have latency, that is a lag between you moving the pen and the stroke changing on the screen - also cheaper tablets can display parallax, that is the cursor appears slightly offset from the pen tip, that can sometimes take some getting used to

if at all possible try before you buy

[wizard509]

Excellent point handrawn.

[hgregory]

Thank you. I've pretty much narrowed it down to the Wacom Intuos (medium size) after reading many specifications and reviews!

[hgregory]

handrawn ... Thank you for the insightful tips--helpful in my search. Probably will get the Wacom Intuos medium size. Glad to hear I can draw directly on to the xara workspace ... Can I assume it'll then be a vector image I can finish up IN Xara? I do not have wi-fi (blutooth or whatever) but understand the unit does come with a USB connection. I use a 'big ol' desktop' PC!

[handrawn]

you are welcome

wacom is the way to go I would say - both my tablets are wacom and though they are not the cheapest they are well built and reliable - make sure you keep the drivers up to date; when you install the software that comes with the tablet it should install the wacom desktop centre, which you can set to check and update automatically, and the wacom tablet properties which let you tweak the way the pen responds and what the touch controls [if you have chosen a touch tablet] do

as far as the pen goes, in xara it does the same job as the mouse re vector; but you can only use pressure sensitivity with xara's default freehand brush stroke, there is a button on the infobar to activate this ['pressure recording'] and also a button for 'sketch mode' which prevents lines from joining when you draw if you cross nodes, it's not 100% though especially if you draw fast; drawing fast in xara takes patience

there is also an option to supress the automatic selection of a line after it is drawn, but you cannot access this from within the program, it is a windows registry tweak

xara does not support tilt or rotation features

EDIT - intuos are the kind of tablet that do not have a screen - I say this just in case there is any confusion about drawing directly onto the xara workspace - both tablets let you draw in the xara workspace of course

[hseiken]

I use a bamboo from 2011 with Xara, it was 80 bucks and works. I also used to use Xara with a Fujitsu Lifebook with a wacom screen (bascially think Cintique but there's a computer inside and a fujitsu label). Both take adjustments to get used to if you're used to actual physical drawing. I think the real issue is finding the 'position' that works with your your brain wants things to work. For instance, my wife uses a tablet to her side. This doesn't work for me, I need it to be in my lap!

So for the most part, any wacom will do, a cintique is nice (I've used several) but even those have lag that you'll notice as you draw depending on the computer you're using. So for me, finding a comfort is most important along with price. Cintiques are too expensive for what they are, imo, and something with 4 assignable buttons, a pen with 2 buttons (and maybe eraser function) and figuring out what feels 'right' is probably good enough.

Just my two cents as a grumpy old fart.

[handrawn]

for fine detail the cintiq wins... but there are times when your hand gets in the way visually, or you want to 'draw/sletch at a distance like you would at arms length on paper', and then the intuos can be better

my cintiq is also a very high quality 4K 24 inch monitor and a 4 port USB3 hub... you pay for build quality... and these things are relative - if you pay 1500 GBP plus for animation software, you are not going to want to skimp on the accessories

[lex]

Hello,

It has been a long time I have used a tablet, so I do not have current experience of them. Still, it seems that some inexpensive brands have much improved quality these days like Huion and XP-Pen. The price difference is not small. Has anyone of you guys tried/used one of these instead of Wacom?