Pen Pad

[denise ippolito]

Thinking of buying a pen pad .Any suggestions/

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Denise, I'm currently browsing for these things. My main question is whether to go for A5 or A6 size. I've got my eye on a Wacom Bamboo Fun, which ships with Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for free. I'm currently working with Corel Photopaint, but as most of the tips on this forum are for Photoshop, I'm very eager to switch!
- Jerry -

[denise ippolito]

Ya I had my eye on the Wacom as well but not sure about size needed

[Jim Poor]

Wacom tablets are GREAT! I have a really big (biggest size they had, but I don't remember the exact numbers right now) Intuos II that I use with my main workstation and dual monitors. Each monitor gets a piece of the tablet. I also have a Cintiq 21UX that I got for traveling with my laptop. Honestly, I like the non-monitor version better. I find that my fingers and even the tip of the pen get in my way on the Cintiq.

As for size, unless you plan on the tablet being shared by two monitors, there is no need to go really big. The Intuos III series has a function to switch between monitors by pressing a button so you don't need a really large tablet even for two monitors with them.

The best suggestion I have on Wacom is to look for their refurbished tablets on their site. That's how I got my Intuous II and haven't had a moment of trouble with it.

[David Thomasson]

Thinking of buying a pen pad .Any suggestions/

I've used a Wacom Intuos3, size 4x5, for a couple of years, and I couldn't do without it now. (I think the 4x5 has since been replaced by the 4x6).

Size is an important consideration. If you were trained in the traditional style of drawing, using the whole arm, a larger tablet might suit you better. I'm the opposite. I draw with my fingertips, the same way I write, so I don't want to have to move my arm. I even remapped the 4x5 work surface to about half that area, and it works great for my needs.

In any case, the Intuos line is a professional-level piece of hardware. I'm glad now that I spent a little more and got the best.

[denise ippolito]

Thanks for all your input I think that I'll go w/ the 4x5 Intuos3. Once again thanks