Question for Cartoonists

[Joan]

My daughter, Kate, wants to buy a graphics tablet and doesn't know what she should look for in one.  Is there one (or more) which you would recommend?

She'll be using it to draw (clothes, people and graphics) in conjunction with Illustrator and Photoshop and would like a medium sized screen.

Any suggestions gratefully received. 

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Joan, if she has a large budget to spend on this, the best tablet on the market is the Wacom Cintiq. The 12" version is the one I use to draw everything these days. The beauty of these is that the drawing surface is also a screen, and to all intents and purposes you are drawing directly onto it. I've used tablets for a quite a few years now, and it's the only one I've found that I can draw from scratch with - I've never quite mastered the hand/eye coordination that drawing with a conventional tablet requires, although I can use them for inking in scanned pencil sketches, and colour work is a doddle. they do, however, cost a small fortune.

The best of the conventional tablets, in terms of value for money and ease of use, in my opinion, is the Wacom Bamboo. There are a number of versions and sizes in the Bamboo range. I've owned two (Bamboo Fun and Bamboo Pen & Touch), and both score very well over their more expensive peers in the Wacom Intuos range - I have an Intuos3 A5W, but never rated it that highly because of its 'slippery' drawing surface. Not only is the Bamboo half the price of the Intuos, but the drawing surface has a 'drag' that makes the penmanship feel more natural, and I actually found the line to be smoother, despite the pen having half the levels of pressure sensitivity of the Intuos tablet.

I hope that's of some use.

[Joan]

That's great, thank, TT.  She doesn't have a large budget to spend, unfortunately, and I did gulp when I saw the price of the first one!  She wouldn't need something like that at this stage anyway, and the Bamboo ones look ideal, especially the Bamboo Fun.

It's a big help to know what they're like to use.  Thanks again. 

[The Peepmaster]

I also use a Cintiq, 15", but have a Bamboo Fun too (as it's more portable). The Bamboo Fun is easy to use and inexpensive. Mine came bundled with Photoshop Elements, and Artrage, but still only cost around £65 if I remember. I already have the full Photoshop, so I didn't need those software packages, but they would be good for someone without.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Good choice, Joan. Yes, the Cintiq is perhaps one for the future, once your daughter makes the Bamboo pay for itself (assuming this is business she wants it for). The Bamboo Fun is excellent though, and as I said, compares very favourably against it's more expensive stable mates. And as Nige points out, it comes with some pretty nifty software, although it sounds like your daughter is already catered for on that score. My only complaint (if it even is one) about the Bamboo Fun is its name; yes, it's fun to use, but despite its relatively bargain price, it's a very professional bit of kit, and performs superbly well compared to every other lower priced tablet I've ever used.

[Joan]

Thanks, TT and Nige.  I've passed this on to Kate and she was very appreciative.  It's for college at the moment, but hopefully by the time she feels the need to upgrade, she'll be using it for business.

[Malc]

I have no experience of the Cintiq, but I've always used Wacoms (the old Pen Partner and now the Bamboo).
I use the smallest and cheapest Bamboo but don't draw with it, (except to touch up within Photoshop) I draw on paper the old fashioned way, scan into Photoshop and use the Bamboo and pen stylus to colour in. My own opinion is you can't really use the pen stylus systems like Bamboo to draw directly, they don't have the touch sensitivity that the more expensive Cintiqs apparently offer.

However, Bamboo is ten times better for working in Photoshop, compared to using your mouse, it's the difference between painting with a brush or a brick.

[Joan]

Thanks, Malc - that's very useful.  I'll pass it on to Kate.  She does a lot of colouring in!