The first time I tried a Wacom tablet is only comparable with the day I discovered Photoshop, bought my first laptop, tested an Apple computer or I met my girlfriend for the first time – geek joke, honey. But, why are Wacom tablets so special? In this post we’ll review the advantages of these tablets.
Choosing the Correct Tablet
- In my opinion, it must be a Wacom tablet.
- The most relevant technical specification is pressure sensitivity. The more, the better.
- Smaller tablets are better, cheaper, easier to fit into your desktop, and they work just like the bigger ones. I would only choose the big model if you’re going to use it for CAD.
- Think about the use you’ll give to your tablet. If you want if for painting, coloring and photo manipulation, it will be 100% useful. For drawing, only Cintiq models are really good, and for designing, you need no more than a mouse.
- There are second hand markets or brand new old models. They are really worth checking.
Amateur Tablets (80-200USD)
If you’re not a professional designer or illustrator, but you’d like to go deeper into design without investing much money, the perfect choice is the Bamboo, available in 3 sizes with the same technical settings.
Professional Tablets (200-800USD)
If you’re a professional or want to be one, you have a tight budget but you want good quality, then I would go for Intuos models. Intuos 4 has 2048 pressure levels, and even Intuos 2 and 3 with 1024 pressure levels are perfect and easy to find on Ebay, brand new or second hand.
Tablets for Rockstar Designers (1000-2000USD)
If you’re already a set up professional and you want to increase your productivity, then you need the crown jewel, the Cintiq series. These are not tablets, but rather pressure sensitive monitors. You can draw directly on the screen.
My Experience
My first pen tablet was an Intuos 2 I bought 6 years ago, when I still was a Psychology student and I was starting to color in Photoshop. I had some doubt about purchasing it because I didn’t have any resources, but my girlfriend convinced me to buy it on a whim, without knowing that she was driving me to take the first step to professionalism. Its design was terrible, it looked like a cardboard box with a very cheap pen, but it worked really well. Even after 6 years of use it still works perfectly, just like the first day.
With my tablet I increased my productivity, and as a result, my quality. What used to take me endless sessions of work in the past, now I could do it in a few hours.
I bought my second tablet about 3 years ago. It was an Intuos 3. The main difference was the incorporation of the Express Keys, and I’ve never considered them useful enough to replace the keyboard. To be honest, I bought it because these tablets were really beautiful, specially if we compare them with previous versions, although functionality was still the same.
My last acquisition is a precious Wacom Cintiq 21UX. From the moment I bought it, I forgot about pencil and papers and now I make my sketches directly in Photoshop. I must say that I haven’t noticed a meaningful advance in coloring, but it’s much better when it comes to drawing, an unresolved matter for tablets.
Now, I use my Intuos 3 only when I travel, and I find it very difficult. Moral: Don’t try the Cintiq if you can’t afford it.
In the video below, you can watch my Cintiq at work.
Here is another example of me coloring with a tablet.
And here you can compare Cintiq and Intuos series, the task is drawing lines at once while joining the points:
My next acquisition will be an Intuos 4 A6. We’ll see if those extra pressure levels really make a difference.
Reasons To Choose a Wacom Tablet
1. No Batteries
Wacoms uses an electromagnetic resonance technology, no batteries are needed. Plus, there’s a notable saving in maintenance, and we can avoid many issues since the pen is lighter and more comfortable to use. No wires, of course.
2. Best Value for Money
There are cheaper options, but not better. If we compare the technical specifications, we’ll find that, at the same price, Wacom models offer similar or better performance. If you have a look to any comparison of pen tablets, you’ll always find Wacom in the first position.
3. Support
Wacom has a forum where the company employees or any other user will answer to your questions. Plus, their web is translated up to 15 languages, and there you can download drivers for any of their products.
4. Variety
Wacom offers a wide range of products at very affordable prices, from the Bamboo, which starts at less than 100USD, to the Cintiq series, that reach 2000USD in some high-end models (IVA not included).
5.- Acknowledgement
Wacom has been a regular winner in the Red Dot Awards for many years. The Red Dot Awards are similar to the "Oscars," only for industrial design.
6.- Market Share
Wacom has stated to have a market share of 95,4% in the Japanese market and 86% in the foreign market. So they are likely to be around for the long term.
7.- Compatibility
Wacom tablets work under PC, Mac and even Linux.
8. The Most Sensitive
The new Wacom Intuos 4 have smashed the 1.024 pressure levels of the best pen tablets in the whole market, rising the threshold of maximum pressure levels.
9. Accessories
Wacom graphic tablets include some replacements, a pen and a mouse. If you find that’s not enough, you can buy more replacements or pens with different functions from their online shop.
10. Second-Hand Market
Searching on Ebay you can check that even second-hand tablets still keep a good price. So you have the chance of selling your tablet when you want to update your old one to a newer version.
Alternatives to Wacom Pen Tablets
- Genius: cheaper option for beginners.
- Modbook: nice concept, too bad they only have 512 pressure levels.
- Vistablet: from here you better read reviews of the products before buying.
- Also, Amtek, UC-Logic and Adesso
Conclusion
After many years looking for good alternatives to Wacom tablets, I’ve given up. There are cheaper options, that could be a good choice for beginners, but nowadays there aren’t any companies able to seriously compete with Wacom. I would really like to see an Apple tablet which could match Wacom’s performance… Until that happens, we’ll always have the option of making ourselves a home-made Cintiq.
Wacom tablets have worked very well for me. They’ve held up, offer great functionality, and have helped me improve my digital artwork. Good luck selecting your own tablet.
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first!
FINALY did it right this time!
3RDSIES
how can you get saying “first!” wrong? lol.
I’ve a Intuos 2 (and I don’t think it seems a piece o cardboard…=P). And it increased a lot my works.
I painted this one with a Genius tablet;
And this one with a Wacom Intuos 2.
But they don’t make miracles, of course.
=D
I recently got my intuos 4. I´ve had an intuos 1 for almost 10 years now and decided to take the upgrade. You´re damn right about the fact that wacom tablets are the way to go. Everything else is plain waste of time and money.
I´ve never used a cintiq, but I can for sure match your drawing lines/matching points in my intuos. I´m very used to sketching directly on PS so I kinda disagree with that method to compare those two models.
All in all, very useful review. I like your work a lot.
Hello Diogo,
notice I did just 1 try at time to join the points and just 1 path, I could do it much better if I use CTRL+Z or I join the points one by one but I would spend more time. With an Intuos you have to calculate, with a Cintiq you do t on the fly.
Efficiency is key and is the only reason you should buy a Cintiq, this is what I´m trying to demostrate.
I understand. And I think you´re right. My point was really your argument to prove it. And it really takes some ctrl-zs to make it perfect on an intuos. =)
It´s obviously far better doing it directly on a cintiq. The concept stands for itself, I guess.
Thanks for the reply!
great post, lot of cool info here thanks alot!
I have currently an intuos 3, which performs awesomely for the kind of work I do (I am specializing as a 3d texture artist) now I have read from a lot of people of how great the new intuos 4 is, and I am kind of tented to sell my intuos 3 and replace it for the new version.
Now that being said, I never use the “buttons” that come embedded in the tablet…almost never…mmm, well never at all, at least in the intuos 3, I find them too clumsy. So if one of the reasons the intuos 4 is so cool is because of its new button arrangement I will kind of pass for that unless it is really a considerable improvement.
I am more interested in the actual tablet response dynamics, if some of you guys have already used the intuos 3 and have switch to the new intuos 4, have you really find it worthfull, I will take your opinions in consideration, thanks in adv.
Nice informative tutorial. I wish I had seen this just 3 days ago when I purchased my first tablet. Luckily for me I decided to go with an Intuos 4 Small. So far I’m very happy with my purchase. A bit disappointed that the surface scratches so easily with the pen but at least the table surface can be replaced.
The Cintiq is my next goal but there is quite some saving to do before I get to that level.
For not the Intuos is great!
Nothing against your work, which I really like, but I think you exaggerated a little bit with drawing the curves when you compare the cintiq with the intuos.
but anyways, its a good collection, thx for writing it down. but you gotta admit that the outcome of your review is not really surprising right ;) ?
Please, read my previous comment.
My first Tablet was a cheap aiptek. But since I bought my beloved Intuos 4 I use it a lot more. I am faster and more into details.
It was totally worth every cent!
Best wishes from germany, Oliver
Great info,
i had a cintiq but i sold it because i never used it so its back to the bamboo :P
meneer dijkstra waaarom!!!!!
je had hem ook naar canada kunne sturren ;D
but yea bamboo is prety awsome too if you have only had a mouse!
Why you didn’t send it to me? Buáaaa
=D
LOL ;)
I’have use the cintiq for a while two weeks ago. And I discover that the cintiq have two very uncomfortable problem. The first one is that the screen get hot, it don’t burn but it is uncomfortable after an hour. The second HUGE problem is that the cursor do not correspond exactly to the pen, it have to be calibrate every time you change your position… That sucks!
I have an Intuos 3 9×12 and it’s really great for professional ilustration and design but uncomfortable for navegating. I don’t use paper anymore.
I have a question for the some one who can explain me. With 1024 pressure level some times you have to reduce the sensivity because its too much, what’s the deal with 2042 level of presure? It’s really a different when you are illustrating?
Hello Cesar, I agree about the temperature issue (see below). I also agree about the gap issue though the calibration test is a good fix.
Regarding the pressure, the most sesivity the better just think about a traditional pen, the sensitivity is infinite. I tried the Wacom Intuos 4 and I didn´t find anything weird, it´s just like an standard Intuos though more accurate.
Some negative points more about Cintiq series, extrated from my Cintiq review (http://www.sosfactory.com/blog/articles/wacom-cintiq-review/)
The screen you lean on releases heat, if you live in a warm place, you already have your sauna at home for this summer.
Due to the heat and the friction, sensitive hands may suffer a bit. Then you’ll have to buy a SmudgeGuard.
Because of its big size, you have to be athletic to reach the corners without getting tired, specially if you’re used to small tablets.
When you work with the stand in horizontal position, the Light from the ceiling reflects on the screen, even though the Cintiq mat surface is quite good. So, you have to choose between working in the dark or putting the lights on the floor.
On its horizontal position the Cintiq is about 10 cm (3,94 inches) above the desk, so you may need a higher seat.
While navigating through the pallets on the left in Photoshop, I usually touch the Touch Strip (zoom) by accident, which is quite bothering, although left-handed people will find it good. This problem can be solved by deactivating the Express Keys.
There’s a small distance between the screen and the monitor surface, at first it can be bothering but it’s not a big problem. Besides, in the software there’s an application to calibrate that difference.
It’s a bit heavy (10,2kg), so you can’t use it out of your desk (in opposition to 12WX model).
Nice article, However the author writeup is rather misleading, I would hardly call Sergio a Master of character design. His work is good for the niche he illustrates for, however, it’s far from being the work of a Master. I also think he can agree with me on that. I believe that statement like I believe the guy’s who wear the shirts that say “World’s Greatest Dad”. If you want to see Masters of Character Design check out any of the artists that appear in the Ballistic books.
Hello Jason, I never would call me Master of anything myself. I´m just giving my opinion about a product I love, it´s based on my experience, is not based on my skills.
Great article coming at th right time! When I got it right, the Cintiq is the better for calligraphic works, isn’t it?
This is a very informative article and honestly made me want to look deeper into buying a graphics tablet, however, to be blunt it should have been titled “How to Choose a Wacom Tablet that Fits Your Needs”.
Although a great review, there were no comparisons of other products, their benefits or caveats like the title suggested. If I had posted something along the lines of “How to choose a smart phone that fits your needs”, it just wouldn’t be right to simply rant about how great my iPhone is without losing some credibility.
Hello Jason, at the end of the article you can find some alternatives to Wacom tablets though any of them can compete against Wacom in terms of quality, just in terms of price.
The difference is that high… there is no other tablets using resonance, any of them have over 1024 levels of pressure, actually just a few have 1024, no other have such a wide range of products and prices… so its Wacom and the rest.
Anyway if you are interested in comparing to any other brand just email me and I will do it, would be interesting.
Tablet in the hands of an experienced artist great force..
Man, i love you for posting this :D this really help me! THX! U rock!
I have an ancient Wacom Graphire and I can’t imagine my life without it… anyway, after reading this post realized that I need an upgrade
It think you overlooked the low-end tablet a little too much. I use a Graphire 3 (similar to Bamboo), and it works very well for what I need (I am an illustrator and graphic designer). I think it may be worth mentioning that vector/vexel illustrators don’t need extra sensitivity as much as digital painters.
I also agree with others that the test doesn’t really give a good idea of the differences. I think a small painting, timed, would have been a better comparison. But the nature of the differences certainly speaks volumes!
Also, configuration can really change how well a tablet and stylus work for you, and that doesn’t seem to have been mentioned. There are settings for the tablet itself, as well as tool settings in software such as Illustrator and Photoshop.
Nice overview. I can certainly see this as being a good starting point for people looking for Wacom tablets, while they’re researching which will work best for the type of work they do.
Just to add to the “Alternative List” of interactive displays and tablets:
Hanvon – Chinese version of Wacom. Check it out:http://www.hanvon.com/en/products/PenTablet&Display/index.html
Yutron – Another manufacturer of tablets:
http://www.yutron.com.tw/
Don’t know if any of the pen displays will ever make it to the states.
I wouldn’t say that “you would never get this outcome with a mouse”
Check this guy out, he works only with a mouse.
http://raynkazuya.cgsociety.org/gallery/
I like your work by the way.
Surely he works with vectorial tools, actually you can do hiper realistic images with a mouse in Illustrator, but the matter is… why spending 80 hours (I would spend much more) in a single image if you can spend 50% of the time and get exactly the same outcome?
I just would do it for 2 reasons: first it´s a good exercise, second auto promotion… but its not practical at all, its insane :)
For those who haven’t heard. Wacom has upgraded the Bamboo series. A few of the Bamboo tablets now sport a multi-touch surface in addition to the standard pen surface.
http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_fun.php
wow this is awsome ! shoudl have waited 2 months and i would have gotten this one instead of the normal bamboofun!
Anyone have the new bamboo? I think there are three new ones, the touch, pen, pen and touch and a medium one?
That’s four – surely? :)
thankx bro.
Just to add to the list of alternative tablets and displays:
Hanvon – http://www.hanvon.com/
Yutron – http://www.yutron.com.tw/
Would like to see these available in the states, but oh well.
Nice finding, Hanvon products doesn´t looks bad at all, actually they are suspiciously similar to Wacom products.
Did you ever tried it? What about prices?
I really want to test Hanvon! These are very similar (as design)
i own a bamboo a6 wide
I just have seen the new wacom bamboo series, think of buying one.
I have a Bamboo Fun (meaning I spent like $20 more for a couple programs I never use and a mouse I never use =P) and for me, I think it’s the perfect tablet. I’m just sort of getting into design so I didn’t see the point in buying on of the pricier tablets just yet. I used an Intuos 3 in my high school Digital Imaging class after I bought my Bamboo tablet and didn’t really notice any difference. But if I get serious about design, a higher end tablet is something I’d definitely invest in.
My intuos3 has been great for everything. Took forever to go from a mouse to a tablet in illustrator, but using it all the time from browsing the net to word processing helped a lot.
I do get my intuos 4 L. I really like it and it’s very useful for me.
i recently got myself a Wacom Intuos3. :) its amazing how much it helps. will there be an article for DSLRs soon too? :D
I have serious injury in my mouse finger. I get lot of pain just clicking. So, I bought a Genious mousepen 6×8, and use it instead the mouse. I have to say, this tablet saves me. And, as a plus, I start getting into Photoshop.
Here in Argentina, is hard to get a Wacom, and a Bamboo can cost 350 usd, so Genius is the easy choice. Its a good tablet, the pen use a AAA battery, and probably enough to the no professional.
Unfortunately for a lot of people who do not live in the USA, Wacom tablets are incredibly expensive and that is the biggest turn off. When comparing prices for an Aiptek 10.5″x6.5″ at $105 NZ and then looking at something in a similar price range from Wacom, all you can get is a Wacom Graphire4 4″ x5″ tablet. See the big difference in size? Being on a tight budget and still not wanting to cut corners like size, I went for the Aiptek. I used one of the same Aiptek tablets and school and after growing accustomed to the larger size there was no way I would sacrifice that just to get a Wacom.
They may be great tablets but for people on strict budgets they are highly unaffordable. It would have been nice if you actually went over a few other tablet brands rather than being biased and comparing Wacoms against Wacoms. They may be the biggest name in tablets, but they’re certainly not the only name, and for anyone who cannot afford them, having comparisons between them and other tablets would have been helpful. I think the name of this article is highly misleading. Instead it should read ‘How to choose a Wacom tablet that fits your needs’.
Hello buddy,
I live in Spain, I perfectly know what you mean but we ore on the Internet age, did you consider buying a tablet trough Internet? My latest one come from France via pixmania-pro.com.
As I say in the article my prefered size A6, the smaller and cheaper one. If you are on a tight budget the Graphire is a good choice though I didn´t try the Aiptek, if you are happy with it then I bet you did the best choice.
Regarding the tittle, maybe it´s a bit misleading but PSDTut editor handle it, not me.
Bought my bamboo roughly 3 weeks ago. If I didn’t suck so much at drawing freehand, this would be a gold standard.
Nice article. I would love a Wacom tablet but I just can’t justify spending that much. I feel, like most ‘industry standard’ design products, that they are VERY overpriced.
Intuos4M in the US e-store is $349.00 (Pricing is not clear as to whether this includes shipping, or what shipping rates are.)
Intuos4M in the European e-store is ¢369.90 including VAT & Shipping (since it’s over ¢300; otherwise it would be ¢6 for standard shipping within the EU). Assuming 15% VAT on the total, the product price would be roughly ¢321.65, including the ¢6 shipping.
¢321.65 EUR, at today’s exchange rate on xe.com, is $472.667 USD
That’s roughly $124 USD higher. I don’t think shipping and tax for US customers will be anywhere near $124.00. (Would tax even be charged in the US store?) Even so, it wouldn’t be $124.00; even the EU VAT at 15% only comes out to be a little over 48 Euros.
But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s say they have to add a 15% tax onto that £349.00. That would be $52.35, for a total of $401.35.
Still almost $73 cheaper for US customers than for EU customers. Unless it costs $73 to ship in the USA. Which I sorta doubt. Hell, Amazon ship the thing for free.
So, assuming my maths are correct, Wacom charge their EU customers *AT LEAST* $73 more than they charge their US customers for the same product.
And this is nothing new. They’ve been doing this for years. I asked them a few years back why they charge so differently.
Their answer?
Because the market accepts it.
In other words, because they can get away with it.
for me, i have just Trust TB7300!! the wacom tablet is very expensive for me!
at the moment im rockin’ the 3 series..
but i hope the time vor the cintiq will come soon ;D
Using a tablet is great for any graphic work.I do compositing for TV ads and i work 2x times faster with a tablet.For me anyone working for graphic industries should buy a tablet .
Great tips, by the way I liked your 4. character; awesome, thanks…
i like you art you’ve done by any chance do you have a deviantart account?
Sure, sergitosuanez.deviantart.com
This article overlooks one of the big issues: what size tablet? If you draw from the wrist, you’ll want a smaller tablet. If you draw from the elbow, a larger one.
Also keep in mind your display(s): I find the smaller tablets work best for me, but with a dual monitor setup the medium tablet is the way to go. Otherwise on a smaller tablet your movements will be amplified.
I have a 24″ and a 22″ monitor setup, and find the Intuos4 medium to be the perfect size as a “wrist draw” artist. If I had just the 24″ monitor I would go with the small size.
The smaller the tablet, the further your cursor moves with less movement. Too small and your moise will be zipping all over the place. Too large and it will take lots of hand/arm movement to move the cursor a few inches.
Hello George, this is a good appreciation.
Decent article but I there are a few very misleading opinions in there that really should be corrected.
* “and for designing, you need no more than a mouse.” – false. Anyone who works with photos and/or complex layering and masking could benefit from a Wacom tablet. I worked for approximately 5 years before I bought my Intuos 3 several years ago and it was a night and day difference in my workflow (I do very little illustration, lots of layout and image manipulation, and a fare share of compositing)
* “Smaller tablets are better, cheaper, easier to fit into your desktop, and they work just like the bigger ones. I would only choose the big model if you’re going to use it for CAD.” False. The reviewer actually demonstrates why this is false himself. You are forgetting the fact that you are translating the movement from a small area to movement on a large screen; there is interpolation that goes on here and in my experience the smaller the tablet the ‘harsher’ the interpolation; either that or you get a 1 to 1 movement and end up with a tiny little space to work with on the tablet (this makes for FAR more hand movement, thus more work on the artist’s part). You actually illustrate this with your Cintique vs. Ituos comparison. The reason the Cintique is so precise is that you are drawing directly on your screen, it’s a 1 to 1 movement, whereas the Intuos needs to interpret the difference between the size of your tablet and the output on the screen, hence some loss of accuracy. Lesson: the larger the surface of the tablet the less your software has to work to compensate for your screen size, resulting in a more natural feel and a better overall experience.
Hello Courtney, thanks a lot for your appreciations.
When I said for designing you don´t need a tablet I mean for regular design tasks, the ones you do when designing a website for example: alignment, resizing, moving, transforming, using vectorial tools, gradients… those where pressure sensitivity is not needed. I didn´t consider photo retouch, for this purpose sensitivity is obviously a good thing.
I don´t agree with your second appreciation.
In hand one I´m not talking about hardware efficiency here I´m talking about ergonomy, if you have a very big tablet you can´t manage your keyboard so easily. So you spend good money to improve your productivity but at the same time loose productivity because you can use shortcuts with your keyboard… maybe if the tablet had a keyboard incorporated I would change my mind, express keys in my opinion are not enough to replace my keyboard.
In the other the biggest advantage of the Cintiq series is not the size, is the fact you have direct input (hand-canvas). The bigger Intuos never won´t be as accurate as a Cintiq because you need to see the input in the screen to know how good was a path, while with the Cintiq you do it on the fly, you have feedback on real time just like you draw with traditional mediums.
I fool around in Photoshop, mostly doing jokey image manipulations and some photo retouching. Is a graphics tablet helpful for those types of activities? Most of what’s talked about here seems to focus more on illustration and graphic design, so I’m not sure if I should make the investment for my purposes.
Hello Davey, for photo retouching it´s very helpful, you need to work with different opacities settings, lot of masks… not sure what kind of retouch you do, but for professional retouch it´s a big improve on efficiency.
great information and really good work
wow … great post , thnx :)
Great review. I really want a writing tablet someday, I just need to save up first!
I have drawn on an Intuos 4 and the Vis Tablet.
This is my conclusion.
You can but a Vis Tablet for 100$.
…or you can buy an Intuos 4 for 300$ ( research, you will find it )
The question you need to ask yourself is what level of efficiency would you like?
Standard or HOLY SHIT!
Buy a Wacom, you will never regret it.
I bought Intuos3 A4 size a few months ago for just 260€ or so from the wacom website and I’ve been quite happy with it! :) Don’t know if they are still selling those for that price tho.
Hopefully we’ll also see some character design article from you soon, it’s been quite a while from the last one!
Wow! Excellent marketing brochure.
Does anybody noticed, that Pentagram’s Virtuoso is slowly knocking out Wacom out of market?
I’m not sure if I want to make the step and actually buy one of these. Is it really worth it if one doesn’t do illustration?
I’m thinking of getting a Bamboo Fun really soon seeing how I’m just starting to get into drawing and coloring and such. This guide really helps and since I’m tight on money, I’ll be sticking with my decision. Thanks for the help.