Looking for Graphics Tablet

Mainly to draw. Like comics, anime, such stuff. I'm thinking about the Wacom Graphire4 Classic XL A5, would this be a good choice ? How important is size ?
Im sure some people here use those things. Just let me know what you would buy.

Well, Wacom is definitely the way to go.  I use a 6x8" graphire 3, but was perfectly happy with a 4x5" G2 tablet for three years.  It all depends on your personal drawing style.  I use the pen in mouse mode, but in absolute mode, where it conforms to the screen, the size of the tablet is proportional to the level of accuracy you can manage with it.  Absolute mode sucks donkey balls.  I don't think it's at all natural to use a graphics tablet like a piece of paper, where the results are turned 90 degrees, but to use it as a highly accurate pointing device seems more intuitive to me.  I digress...  Don't bother with the intuos unless you are a serious professional artist who will need to work with it daily.

And even then, the graphire tablets are pretty damned good.

Do NOT get the smallest Wacom tablet. You'll regret it.

Get the next one up.

2: I haven't actually used one yet, so im not really sure how exactly you use it and if I'll be able to use it like "a piece of paper". I guess the only way is to just try it out, since I really can't imagine how it feels to use one. What bugs me the most is, how do you know where you start to draw a line ? You can't actually see the image under your pen, so I assume you just .. guess where it would be and try and if the line doesn't appear where you want it you just try again ?
And what's the difference between mouse mode and absolute mode ?

3: That would be the A5 version I mentioned. Sorry for the strange measuring system, those A's are german paper sizes. A5 is the half of a A4, A4 is the half of a A3 page and so on, you get the idea. Anyway, A5 would be the same as 6x8", everything bigger costs much more than I want to spend.

be able to use it like "a piece of paper"

Like you guessed, it's not, unless you shell out megabux for the Wacom tablets that have a display underneath.

Drawing something when you can't see the pen and art at the same time is a very strange experience. There's also a problem with different traction compared to pencil and paper (I solved that by taping paper over the tablet's surface).

>>4
i got the wacom graphire4 6x8, you can see the pointer on the screen when you put the pen's (or the erraser's) tip close to its surface, you can use it as a mouse that way too (not very good for that tho). whatever you doodle on the tablet it shows up on the monitor, so you'll be using your hands here while having your eyes on the screen

as for how it feels well...imagine you're drawing on your monitor, the 6x8 represent the dimension of your monitor's screen, you cant really flip it 90º like you would do with a drawing pad. you can zoom in/out and do fine/thick lines, just same as if you were doodling with your mouse. you adjust the size of the pens tip and the errasers.

dont really know whats mouse and absolute mode tho

dont really know whats mouse and absolute mode tho

Absolute: the entire tablet represents the screen. In other words, upper-left of tablet is upper-left of screen, and lower-right of tablet is lower-right of screen.

Mouse: you can take your pen away from the tablet, move it elsewhere, and lower it (like with a mouse), without moving the cursor.

A Wacom 6x8 would be all you need. I have tried the larger ones before I got my little 6x8 intuos, and they were simply too large to do any work on using the whole thing. Some people perfer for the drawing surface to be bigger than the screen, but if you intend to do alot of work it is going to tire out your arm quick if your drawing all over the place.

been reading up on some other boards wacoms are bad if you want them for tracing or presition writing, is that true?

>>9
Try one and tell us.
Seriously, find a place that will either let you use it in-store or better, has a good return policy, buy a 6x8, and try it. Figure out the things you like about it, figure out what you dislike about it. Try a 4x5 if you want, too -- they're actually not that bad.

I'd say what >>9 asks is true.

It'll take a lot of practice before you can do that well. What's really annoying though is that, unlike a pad of paper, you can't orient the tablet in the most comfortable way, otherwise you'll lose sync with what's on the screen.

I (Im the threadstarter, just btw) almost bought a huge wacom digitizer II on ebay today, but then I played around with a piece of paper, imagining its a tablet and came to the conclusion that 6x8 isn't even that bad. I think I'll just buy the one I mentioned first at amazon and try it out. If it's absolutely no use to me I'll just send it back.
Ah, by the way. I read somewhere that there can be problems with dualmonitoring, because the pad equals your screen, so you can just use half of the tablet if you want to draw on one monitor. Is that true, or can you make the tablet work for just one desktop ? Because if not, thats unacceptable for me.

>>12
I tried a 4x5 graphire4, retuned it and got a 6x8 intuos3 because it wasn't sensetive enough and the resolution sucked for the kind of work I do. Intuos pen and tablet functions are awesome too.

4x5 graphire is fine if all you do is draw anime/fanart etc. 9x12 is HUEG and has a large footprint... you won't be able to put it on your lap (if you paint/color that way) at that size. The entire 6x8 is about the size of an A4 so it's a great size.

Both graphire and intuos series can be changed to use both monitors or restricted to just 1 screen. I have a dual monitor setup myself.

>>13

Where exactly is the difference between the graphire and intuos pads ? Like I said, it's mainly for drawing, so no image manipulation or anything like that. For what I've read, the graphire tablets have 2000dpi which sounds quite enough for me.

>>14
Graphire is just fine for Image manips and that kind of crap. Actually a mouse is perfectly fine in this case lol.

For drawing, I say get a Intuos. But it really depends on the amount on control you want and the kind of art you make. I became frustrated with the graphire because the smallest movement would not register on the pad (related to resolution) and the sensetivity was too rough. Yeah even if you zoom in and try to work on it that way, it's the same shit.

Main difference is the resolution and the pressure. The feeling of the surface is different too, but you can just tape paper over the top of a graphire for a similar feel. Intuos comes with extra nibs and the tablet has alot of programmable buttons and 2 touchpads for scrolling/zooming/whatever.

If you can barely draw on paper, get the graphire. You won't know the difference and will save alot of money. But if you're  fairly good at drawing on paper you want an intuos - it's worth the $$$.

I also run dual monitors.  You can limit the tablet to just one screen or the other.  However I once again reccommend mouse mode for increased accuracy (as long as you aren't tracing shit)

Bigger is really better if you have any training in art.  You are supposed to draw with your arm, not your wrist.  The old Artz II Wacoms on Ebay work perfectly fine on PCs.  You just have serial instead of USB and maybe a few less levels, great deal for the price.

i tried both graphire and intuos, only thing ive found different was the intuos has more buttons on it for shortcuts etc, but thats is, the pressuures seemed kinda same

here's a test for your tablet, set your brush to a simple non pressure type. place a plastic ruler on top of it and trace a diagonal line (hold the ruler tightly ofcourse).  if it traces the line perfectly straight you got an awesome tablet, and if it does the line with lots of bumps and curves. you probably got a crappy one

i bought the graphire4 6x8, and i love it, but after 23 days of usage, i only got 2 complaints about it.

-first, sometimes when i open a file the erraser starts working off as the pen, which is pretty anoying cause you gotta close photoshop and re open to set it straight again. already contacted wacom's customer service and after explaining i never touched any of its original setting their solution was to errase a file to reset its setting back to original :/ (it might be an sp2 thing or something fixed on their patches download section but he didint mentioned it, so who knows)

-and second its not good if you're used to do single stroke lines, it indeed makes really anoying 'bumps' along the way. ive been having to re stroke the line over and over and cleaning it up with the erraser to get the line i need

thought it was just mine, cause the box looked kinda worn out, but already replaced it and the new one does the same too. when i returned the first i asked about the intuos at compusa, the employee mentioned it was the same but dont know if i should take his word for it..., which ever you get i recomend registering it online fast. wacom offers a 1 year warranty for technical problems with the tablet, but you gotta regirster it on their website within 3 days after purchase, else it voids their 1 year warranty

Is graphire4 much better than graphire3?? I want to get one, but I can't decide if I wanna go with graphire4 6x8 or graphire3 6x8. Graphire3 is getting cheaper... Does anybody own both ones?

This post is relevant to my interests.  I too want to get a drawing tablet for my pc.  I like to draw and color and that alone would seem to fit the bill for a Graphire, but being that I am kind of one of those people who feel shitty when there is a superior version of whatever I have out there, I feel hardpressed to get an Intuos3.  I like the option to get in programs and get into some hardcore shit draw-wise.  I want to get the 9x12 because it's obviously bigger therefore my cocked up way of thinking assumes that it is obviously better than the 6x8.  My other point with that is similar to that of >>17.  Size-wise, I know the 9x12 about $100 more than the 6x8, but I can't help but feel that extra room is just needed.  Would the 9x12 have a shit-ton of wasted space or could that extra 3x4 inches of tablet benefit more than a 6x8?

Most artist I've heard from think that 9x12 is more than they need. Until you've actually held one you don't realize just how huge those things are.

On the other hand, if you have the extra $100, it can't hurt either.