Hi,

i'm kinda interested with getting graphics tablet to help with my graphics work like making anime wallpapers, etc. is it a good idea? is it even worth it? if so, what are the best brands? what features and specifications do i look for?

hope to hear from our graphics pros here in AP :)

I don't own one right now, but I have a friend who does artwork with something like that and she likes it. I think of it as vectoring, except you get to use your hands (something that's actually made for drawing! Who needs the mouse??) instead of trying to use the mouse. I tried drawing on it once, and it was pretty cool. Drawing with my hand sure beats drawing with the mouse. If you prefer to draw with your hand and bring it to the computer screen, then it's probably right for you. Either way, if you do buy it and don't like it, you can always return it. :P

Yeah i guess i could use that for free-hand drawing instead of scanning the image that i draw. it's just that it's quite expensive, running at around $66-$110 (USD). that's why i'm really not sure if i'm gonna buy one.

if there are more good features, then, i'll be more than willing to do so.

so far that's 1 out of 1 for it's an OKAY. :)

Well for me, I would definitely like to own one since its a great tool for graphic artist... I've seen one and tried it on a grahic expo here and its very good...

I thought tablets were around 300 USD. =X Did they suddenly get cheaper? I believe a very good brand for tablets is WACOM.

http://wacomdirect.wacom.com/wacomdirect/product.asp?dept%5Fid=100&sku=PTZ631W

Something I plan to get very soon... I just need to come up with another 120.. xD

Thanks Sumiaki. i actually looked at that website and also found another similar model for true pros. i like the feature of that but not the price X[ but for amateurs like me, the regular wacom 6"x4"'s would be enough.

the price that i mentioned above, $66-$110 (USD), is the price here in the philippines. they may be cheaper or more expensive on other countries because of tax costs, etc. converting the amount to 300-4700 pesos (PHP).

i also like one feature of this tablet because it has this plastic top where you can insert a sheet of paper for you to trace what's on it. though not all tablets have this...

i guess that's 3 out of 3 for it's an OKAY. :) need more votes. i also wanna hear from pros as well so keep posting XD

Since nobody here that posted has a tablet, here I come!:

I have one, a Wacom tablet, and it's pretty good. Maybe too good ^^U I'm not used to it yet, being a bit "old-schooled" (I do all my drawings with the mouse) And it's so sensitive the point on the screen trembles (thus leaving a nasty line). But you can do some amazing effects with it. (I do have to practice more with it =_<)

I don't know how good it will be for making wallpapers, but for people who like to work with their hands it's excellent, I guess you wouldn't have lots of problem with it.

Mine costed 120 dollars I think (can't remember anymore), it was one of the big ones and that was a year ago. Although I did get it in Korea, so maybe it doesn't count ^^U. I saw some here in LA, and they looked pretty neat (they included a wireless mouse and stuff like that) and maybe they did get cheap. A good place as always is Ebay and Amazon, but if you're not sure you should follow Zethil's advice (get it in a store, return it if it's not good).

I'm getting good replies here :)

good thing you mentioned about that trembling cursor thing. well, at least i know some issues that i can live with using the tablet pen tool XD

that's 4 out of 4

i guess i'll buy it on my next payday! heheh :hehe:.

thanks guys.

I got two graphic tablets right now, one at parents' home, a Wacom Graphire 3 Classic, the other one at the dorm in my apartment, a Wacom Graphire 4 XL .

They're both excellent tablets, and so far Wacom is the BEST brand you can go for if you have to get one. Tablets give their best when you want to paint something in photoshop, since you can activate the pressure sensivity settings when using any brush. But even if you don't just paint and do anything else it's just way better to you draw using a pen (even vectoring) than using a mouse. Not to mention that you are far far far more precise and you have full control of the cursor.

If you just plan to get one for making wallpapers and amateur works like that you can buy the latest Graphire 4 (they sell different version of it, I got the XL version which is larger), or even a Graphire 3 (which surely will be cheaper now that the new model is out) is still really good.

I use a Wacom Intuous 3 (6x8) ($400 Circut City), I originally bought a 8x12 ($550 Circut City) but it was just too big to be comfortable for me to work on. I use it with Painter and Photoshop, and I have to say that it was well worth it, but I also work as a professional artist. I bought a Wacom Graphire 4x6 ($60 at Bestbuy) to start with. I didn't think that they would be of much use but I have to say it was really worth it in the long run. If you are planning to do photo editing, anime wallpapers and basic webdesign I would say stick with the Graphire. The Intuous is really only good for fine CG art and the need for a realistic digital brush stroke. I had an Acer 6x8 ($40 Ebay) to start with that was just about worthless so I have to say stick with Wacom. I am generally the kind that will go with an off brand because it is just as good.. usually. But I have not found that to be true of tablets. I also use a Toshiba tablet PC. I have only had it for about six months so I have not fully utilized it for art but it is looking promising. You have to do a lot more tweaking and have drivers from Wacom for it to be pressure sensitive. It has a realy nice feature that you can set to left or right handed so that the pen sensor has a bit of sway either way to it. But again it was about $1800 through BestBuy (special ordered with a dual layer DVD burner) so only go that route if you are very very serious. I would personally recommend starting out with a Graphire 4x6 to get you started and see if it is the right thing for you, I used mine for about a year and had a lot of use with no problems.

I have a wacom tablet... i think it's like 9X12 O.o?? i always forget the actual measurement of it, but it can fit a regular sheet of paper under the transparent sheet...

i LOVE my tablet ^^.
1. it's So much easier to draw when actually using a "penlike" tool rather then a mouse. it's so much easier to do smooth curvy freedrawing using a "pen". no longer do you get those moments when you're trying to do hair or something and then you get a little jagged notch b/c you were using a mouse..
2. it has a transparent sheet... so if you draw something on paper, then you can put it under the sheet and basically "trace" over it. ((which is a big plus for me))
3. and it's really nice b/c the pen that you're using basically has pressure-sensitive thingies ;p so then you can have that nice gradation in the outline ((thick and thin))

the only bad thing is the price, for mine b/c mine is a little larger then a 8.5X11 sheet of paper and it cost roughly 600$... i got it a few years ago so i don't remember where i got it exactly...

but in the end i think it's DEFINATELY worth the money!!... so i would definately get one.. but maybe not a 4X6in one.. b/c to me it's so small that you can barely grip it along with drawing with it... so i would definately get one that's a good size...
good luck!

I disagree on the size, princesslover01. I mean, if you are going to get a tablet just to make wallpapers and normal stuff that amateurs do even the smallest tablet is fine. I used a Graphire 3 till basically 2 weeks ago (before I switched to the Graphire 4 which was a xmas present from a relative) and its size is 4x5. Don't be tricked, the fact that is small doesn't mean you can't be precise, just look at the wallpapers I did and you'll get an idea how a mere 4x5 was more than useful to me.

A tablet with a bigger size is only useful if you're a professional artist who works on large sketches drawn on paper and therefore needs a big working area. Otherwise getting a big tablet just for making wallpapers it's a serios waste of money. $600 dollars for a tablet? I hope you work as a professional artist otherwise that's really throwing money away :P .

A Graphire 4 normal or the XL version (which is slightly bigger) range from $99 to $199. That's more than enough.

I have a Wacom Graphire Bluetooth tablet.

I couldn't cope with a tablet any smaller, mainly because I don't use a mouse at all (not even the one that came with the tablet). And the tablets area is mapped to the screen. Although if unlike me, your just using it for graphics work, the size shouldn't be a problem. Though for tracing I guess it would limit the size of your (real) drawings physically.

I don't actually do that much graphics work (at some point I will be doing more, though not anime wallpapers), but when I do I find that the tablets a lot better than a mouse.

Why did I go for a bluetooth one, well I don't like cables and I like to hold the tablet when I'm sketching with one hand, the price was worth the freedom from cables for me.

Shinn-- that's true about using it for wallpapers O.o haha.. i guess size doesn't particuarily matter for composing wallpapers and the such. as for me i'm not exactly a professional artist or anything, i'm in design and technology department at college ((first semester)), but i do a lot of drawing on the computer, it's kinda a downfall of mine so i like to work on it when i can to further myself...
i guess i was trying to say that the smaller sizes are just uncomfortable to me O.o if i draw something on paper i would have to fold it to get it under the thing so i could trace... and i like to lean back in my chair and the size is perfect b/c it can rest on my stomach and still be high enough so i don't have to srunch down to draw. plus i like to rest my hand on whatever surface i'm drawing on, and something too small would get very frustrating to me ;P
but that's just me! but even tho it was super expensive, it has never done me wrong and i love it! lol, it's awesome when i'm drawing or just using it for navigating my computer

but i guess i should mention that! for just doing wallpapers ((which i have yet to make)) a small tablet would probably be sufficent or even much more convenient then a fullsize... but if you could go to a store and hold one for yourself ((even if it's not the brand or whatever that you want)) you can get a feel for the different sizes. for me, a small one is too frustrating, but for you it may be the perfect thing ((and would save money))..

My tablet's size is 28 cm x 25.5 cm (I'm not used to inches yet, so bleh), There was a cheaper (and smaller) one, like 15 x 15 cm more or less... I guess if you're not doing anything big or too professional a small one is sufficient, but as for me, I got the big one because my hand felt really uncomfortable with the small one. I like to place all my hand until the wrist (at least) on the surface, I can control the pen more like that. (I saw even bigger ones, I can't even imagine having the money for them... @_@)

So size matters a bit if you feel more comfortable with one or the other; I did get the big one to get better at Adobe Photoshop too, so I killed two birds with one stone.