Which wacom tablet to buy

I'm still a little worried about getting the Bamboo Create as I don't plan to upgrade after it seriously too poor , so I'm wondering if the Intuos4 is really my only option. I would like to aim for a Dell U monitor in the future which would add another 2" to my screen estate, plus I'm working on a type of special overlay with a small LCD screen that can clip onto the tablet effectively turning it into a DIY Cintiq, but not voiding the warranty could the Bamboo Create still handle that?

Sorry for the extra questions. By the way, the chart doesn't have the Bamboo Create on it yet. What is the maximum resolution you think it could support monitor or otherwise? Syreeta, the Bamboo Create is comparable to the previous Fun medium model, so it'd work just fine with any 24" LCD with x px resolution, like the Dell U I think this is a safe choice for you, go for the Create.

I'm not sure about the eraser. The Fun model seems to have a pressure sensitive eraser, but I'm not sure about the Create. Please let us know what Wacom replies. I'm intrigued by your DIY project. Would love to hear more about it. Keep us posted. Create over the intous4m? Hi, Pablo. The Create is much cheaper than the Intuos4 and offers more bang for the buck. It is sufficient for most users' needs and has an unique advantage: touch input, which comes handy for use with OS X Lion.

If your display area is no bigger than 24" and you're going to use it for graphic design, mostly vector illustration and general use, the Bamboo Create would suit your needs just fine. I'm also a graphic designer and I've used the Bamboo precursor, called Graphire, for many years.

I have an Inutos4 Medium now. The Intuos is more robust, has better resolution, more accessories and tilt support on the pen.

You can't go wrong with it. If your illustration style is more like natural media and you use programs like Photoshop and Painter to simulate paper and ink textures, the Intuos may be better due to the additional resolution and tilt support. At this moment I can buy the intuos 4 small, for 25 dollars less then the bamboo create! What would you do in such a case? John, I'd go for the Bamboo Create. I prefer the medium sized tablets. The smaller ones require too little hand movement and that feels a little awkward to me.

Buy the Create unless you have little desk space or require any of the unique features of the Intuos, like the pen tilt sensitivity or the customizable express button labels. Hi, Amanda. If this is your husband's first tablet and he uses a single display no bigger than 24", buy the Bamboo Create. It's really good for the price.

Thanks for the comment. Hi, im a little bit confused. I want to do some digital art mostly paintings but i dont really understand how it works the relation between "Monitor size - tablet " i have a 23" widescreen Benq monitor nad i was thinking to buy a wacom capture. It will work good for what i want to do? Go for it. Regarding the tablet resolution vs.

The tablet size relates to the display area, so larger displays require larger drawing areas and better resolution the ability to differentiate more points , or else the cursor would feel less precise and jumpy. Your reply come just in time because probably this week i'll buy my first tablet.

Thank you for your answer now im more secure, i'll go with the bamboo create and lets see how it goes : thanks again. Hello again Fabio.

I haven't forgotten you! I've returned to report that I currently have in my possession a Bamboo Comic a Japanese Bamboo Create that comes with software for manga and stuff like that. It's also white and blue! I am impressed with the construction of it not flimsy AT ALL and the pen isn't very chunky as it looks , though I feel it is not as responsive and as accurate as I'd like.

Since I can't return it being from the land of the rising sun an' all , I was thinking of practising on it and at the same time saving up for a Intuos4 Small to compliment it. I could use the Intuos4 Small for fine detail work that requires accuracy like line art and use the Bamboo Comic for work that requires more sweeping strokes and colouring larger areas.

I still can't justify the cost of an Intuos4 Medium after I have spent he money on the Bamboo Comic, so I figure why not get the best of both worlds to fit my workspace and budget? Plus I don't think I have the space for the Medium as for some reason Wacom's tablets are getting bigger and bigger! The Bamboo Comic fits just right on my desk still bigger than I would like and the Intuos4 Small will be similar in size.

I tend to draw from the wrist I generally work on mostly A5 size paper anyway , so I don't think the small active should bother me too much. Do you think this is a good idea? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Oh and as for the DIY Cintiq project, it flopped mostly because of insane jitter a common issue that made the 12" Cintiq not so popular.

I was planning to use an iPad LCD panel as the screen and while I got an image and everything, the signal from the tablet's pen was blocked in areas and jittered a lot! So I'm going to go the same route as everyone else and learn to use the tablet the way it was intended. Cintiqs are nice, but are completely out of MY reach! Hope to hear from you soon. Im using a 22" samsung TFT, with a x wide resolution. The older have lpi, and the new have double, lpi.

The problem is I have extremely low cash atm, and I have to touch my 2nd level savings which I put off for extreme situations only to buy the newer one. Ofc If I could, I'd buy the newer The question is: as a starting member of the tablet users I used to draw and scan my arts , should I take the lpi, or I wont be experiencing any downsides if I stick with the lpi, older Bamboo Pen???

How should I count it? I mean line per inch. The working area is 5. Thats far greather than , so from this view, it would be enough? Im just guessing here, please help me :. The review is marvelous, thanks a bunch! Looking forward for your reply, have a nice day! Hi, Daisy. Both models would have sufficient, but not great, resolution for your current display, but the newer model would feel more precise.

If you plan to do more freehand work, like simulating natural media, the higher resolution tablet would have a clear advantage. The newer model has also more levels of pressure sensitivity and touch input, which comes in handy for general computer usage and web surfing. Why don't you try to buy an used or refurbished model? You can also try eBay. Cheers, Fabio.

Oh, one more thing! If the lpi would not be enough to fit fine on my 22" x screen, how could I with which software, or settings make the tablet work only a shrinked surface, not the whole screen, so the resolution would fit? I have to mention that your review is just awesome, It helped a lot, and the comments were very useful too! Thanks for your support Fabio! Have a great day! The bundled tablet driver allows you to map the tablet surface to just a portion of the screen, effectively increasing the resolution vs.

This setting is under the mapping tab of the Wacom control panel. Another way to make better use of the tablet resolution is to zoom in your artwork and work on smaller pieces at a time. Dear Fabio, Thank you VERY much for your reply, I am really reassured by your answer, I am heading for the lower resolution one, cos of the lack of coins. But I dont think many people will face this problem tho. Again: Thanks a bunch, and have a great day Fabio!!! Hello, I just want to ask for an advice in buying my first tablet.

I have a Dell 24" lcd and I am torn between Wacom Bamboo Connect or Create, so is it better to get the bigger one or the small one will do just fine? Thank you so much. And sorry for my wrong grammar since English is not my first language. Hi, Beth.

The larger model, Bamboo Create, is a much better choice for illustration use, specially on a 24" LCD. I'd avoid the smaller models for any user other than general computer usage. Buy the Create. I'm sure you'll like it a lot. Like many others I'm torn between the Bamboo Create and Intuos 4 medium.

The major difference between the two thats got me flipflopping is the "tilt" feature. The Create looks much more appealing to me since it has "touch" capabilities and better price.

I don't mind the PL or not having quick keys. Does tilt allow you to make strokes that would not be possible without the feature or does it just make them feel more natural? Chris, the tilt sensitivity helps to make brush strokes more natural when you're trying to simulate natural media in bitmap programs, like Photoshop and Corel Painter. It's not a mandatory feature, since you can map all brush dynamics, including stroke shape, to the pen pressure, achieving very realistic results.

I'm sure you won't be missing much by buying the Create. Hi Fabio! I am a professional photographer who uses the liquify tool, dodging and burning ie: free-hand coloring , frequent zooming in and out, and resizing of my paint brush often.

I also use cloning and healing which needs an "option-click" that demands I go back to my keyboard, and my apple magic track pad can't do that. Or can it??? I need enough programmable buttons to allow me to "option-click" to "define the area" for cloning and healing, a button for resizing my paint brushes, and a button to automatically open my liquify tool.

The zooming can be handled by the trackpad-like qualities I assume. Now, I read somewhere that the pen for the Create has not only the eraser, but a programmable button on it as well. I would be pleased with a programmable button as I could just click it and have it function as my eraser when needed. I use my 15" MacBook Pro, and a 24" display to edit. I need to be able to sit on the couch a distance from my computer and hold the tablet comfortably in my lap while editing for my back and wrist problems.

Would the bigger size of the Create help make it more steady on my lap? Thank you for writing this article. It has really helped me to understand these tablets far more than any other article I have found thus far. I will be directing fellow Photographers and Graphic Artists to this site in the future!! Thanks, Becky. It essentially removes the ability to work as a drawing tablet for many people, and you don't get a second programmable button on the pen that you can swap for the eraser function either.

Hi, Becky. The Create is the only Bamboo model that has an eraser on the back of the pen. In my opinion, the larger size alone is worth the price difference.

The Connect and Capture models are too small for use with a 24" screen and inadequate if you want to extend your laptop's desktop to both the internal 15" screen and the external LCD. Hello, Needless to say, you're review of Intuos4 vs Create is the most objective, in depth and up to date out there. Thank you for taking the effort to put this together. I'd be grateful if you could elaborate the difference with respect to the bundled software and its bearing on the price.

There just isn't enough information about what version of Photoshop is included in each of teh products. Wacom seems to have taken a less than helpful, ethical even approach of just putting the name of the software e.

Adobe Photoshop Elements and no version number. Both on the product boxes that I checked at Best Buy and on their website. Not to mention they've identified security risks with 8 and stopped supporting it. So its a significant factor when considering the purchase, especially for someone looking to get all the tools and apps in one go and get cracking out of the box.

Immediately after billing I opened the package to see the version of software and voila, it has Adobe PE9 can't expect 10 as its Adobe exclusive as yet. Tonnes of stuff to do with it. Tried things out till late early AM. It is good and feels "sufficient". And then the devil of doubt stepped in. Just to find better pen usage practices when I started researching all products, Intuos4 Small suddenly seems like a better choice.

It can manage free hand art and Vector aided design equally well as the reviews suggest, owing to the higher pressure levels and tilt recognition. Intuos4 Small costs the same as Create. The active area is lesser but it would suit my wrist oriented style I theorized. So since this morning I've been frantically trying to find out what the software bundle deal is.

The Wacom website says 9. Went to the store again and was about to pick up the Intous4 when I just double checked with the cashier and it turns out it had 6. And here's a cautionary note for Intous4 Small buyers. There are two prices out there - and I'm not sure when the switch happened.

But the model seems to have PE 6, which can leave you with heartburn when compared to PE 9. So if there's anybody out there who has recently bought the I4 Small model please let us know what's the deal you got.

May you live in interesting lines. Hi Everyone that I read about is into drawing and illustrating. I want to begin by using a tablet for writing and having it convert to word. I hate typing and do alot of work that requires using paper sources and have to always look back and forth to type.

Feel like I will write faster than I type. Also do alot of powerpoints. But I would like the options that would allow for the drawing etc. Hi, Diane. I've never used my tablet for handwriting recognition, but this is one of the uses mentioned on the Wacom site and I know lots of people use the pen tablets primarily for this task. Since the pen won't be your main pointing device, you don't need a very large or high resolution tablet. I''d suggest you to buy a Bamboo Capture model, which is the cheapest one that has touch input in addition to the pen.

Keep us posted on your experiences and feel free to share them here on the site. I'm sure other users have the same question. Thank you for very comprehensive overview! I am a graphic design student and I am looking for a tablet for digital painting as well as photoediting etc. I am little bit confused, which one to buy. First, is it bad idea to buy a used one? I mean of course it depends how it has been stored, but maybe its not so big difference between them?

Both of them has pressure levels and similar price. What would you recommend? Do you now if any of them is equivalent with Bamboo Create? Or which one of them is worth to buy? Thank you so much in advance! You may find a killer deal on the discontinued model, so look around. Those Wacom tablets do not wear fast and last for many years, so you can find an used one in good shape. The only parts that show wear are the pen nib, which is designed to be user replaceable look for new nibs at the Wacom website and the rubber around the pen, that gets nasty after some years.

You can always buy a new pen and it's not that expensive, but this may offset the difference between an used and a brand new model. I have one good argument for buying the Bamboo Create, though. It has multi touch support and this is very handy for scrolling web pages and using gestures in Mac OS X Lion and the upcoming Windows 8. I'm sure the next Intuos5 line will have this feature, too.

Word of warning to any who are thinking of buying the Inkling. It was a teriible product and i could not get it to work properly. Don't waster your time! Hi, thanks for this review. I'm a teacher exploring the possibility of using the Bamboo tablet as an alternative to the chalkboard and have found using a borrowed one CTL K and SmoothDraw3 that even at relatively slow writing speeds it produces poor results when I have to lift the pen to cross an A or a T. When watching screencasts of Sal Khan or others who are proficient on the tablet, this just doesn't seem to be an issue.

They are writing quickly and clearly getting good results even though they are lifting the pen and putting it down quickly. Can you tell me why this might be happening?

I'm working on a good DELL with System 7, so I don't think it's a processing issue on the computer hardware side of things. Randy, This might be a shot in the dark, but have you tried the latest drivers downloaded directly from the Wacom website?

Another suggestion is to make sure the tablet is connected directly to the computer USB port, without any hub or USB extension, since this might impact the USB transfer rate. Thanks for taking the time to reply back to everyone! I found your comments useful I'm pretty much a beginner to tablets but at my previous company that I worked with we were given tablets and I picked it up pretty fast with them.

It really was a small tablet, when I was drawing in Illustrator I noticed I kept going off the edges of the tablet I'm not sure what size monitors we had, they weren't huge I was able to adapt to it, however I hated how I would have to pick up my pen when I wanted to continue drawing a smooth stroke.

And I noticed I kept wanting to erase with the back of my pen! I used to do it the traditional way The laptop I have at home though is a Macbook Pro 15" I've never hooked up a tablet to it. Would be it difficult to use with it? I'm not sure what size I'd need or if a small Bamboo would be sufficient. I'm pretty sure I'd like a bigger size though, but I'm on a budget.

Are there any old models like the Create?! I was also wondering if pens are interchangeable or not I'd just love that pen with an eraser!!!

Although I suppose I could get by without one. It takes a long time to erase freehand strokes in Illustrator though Also can you explain the above chart, maybe this is a stupid question And thanks for the suggestions I see that you answered it previously.

Alison, The tablet size is dependent on the monitor size and also on the personal preferences of each user, as you have experienced. Some people draw with broader strokes and adapt much better to the larger tablets. The smaller tablets have less working area.

When this area is mapped to a large display, each point on the tablet surface corresponds to a big area on the display. If the actual resolution is not enough, the cursor feels too fast, jumpy and less precise. The orange bars on the tablet size vs. A Wacom Bamboo Create would work fine with your laptop. Just dowload the latest drivers from wacom. It's really that easy and there's little fo configure. If you'd like to draw in bitmap program, simulating natural media, like Photoshop or Painter, then you'd have various configurations in the programs themselves to map the pen dynamics pressure, tilt, etc to the various brush variables, like size, opacity, scattering, etc.

By the way, the Create has an eraser on the pen. Handy, for sure! If you want a bigger model, your only option is the Intuos line. Wacom has just released a new model, called Intuos5.

Maybe you can get the outgoing model - the Intuos4 - for a better price. A large Intuos4 would be great for you. Hope you manage to find one for a good price! Thank you for your comment, Fabio.

Thanks for the reply! I think I'm looking at a Bamboo one right now maybe an older model since I'm on a budget but I really want a tablet. Intuos are so out of my price range right now Would an Intuos2 work on my macbook? Also since I'll be working primarily on a 15" screen unless I go buy a bigger monitor would a big tablet really matter besides personal preference? I think a medium sized tablet might be okay for me but I wouldn't go small.

Would you consider 6 x 4 to be a small size? Thanks for your help! I think this is a great price for a very competent medium sized tablet. The size is plenty for your 15" MacBook Pro and this is the same tablet you used at your previous job. The Intuos2 is too old and I'd avoid it. The CTH 13" overall product is actually a lot bigger than the one I used at work 9" , so I'll most likely go with this one if it's more bang for the buck.

Mary, the Wacom Cintiq line incorporates the pressure sensitive tablet directly the the display, allowing you to sketch on the screen surface. And Mary it costs you thousands of dollars. Plz reply! Thanks for your detail information! I consider to buy a wacom table for teaching such Khan's style but I wonder, small size is comfortable for writing or not?

Hello, Thanh. In recent years, many professional cartoonists, illustrators and concept artists have made the switch to Cintiq tablets. These tablets are actual display monitors that the artist is able to draw directly on to. As a result, the Cintiq is quite a big step up in price from the Intuos Pro. Some artists struggle to draw on a regular tablet while simultaneously looking at the image appear on their monitor.

Artists who struggle to draw on a regular tablet while looking at their monitor. Okay this is getting too fancy now — the purpose of discovercartooning. Yes, these are very expensive.

It is essentially a Windows 10 computer. Also, artists who need to travel a lot would find this to be the best option to fit in with their lifestyle.

Are you new to cartooning and digital art? Ready to break free All you love about our pen displays, on the go. One by Wacom now also works with Chromebook. Bringing the pen tablet into the digital classroom. This product works with devices capable of running the latest version of Chrome OS and has been certified to meet Google's compatibility standards. Google is not responsible for the operation of this product or its compliance with safety requirements.

Pen must be used with the tablet to function with Chrome OS. A pen tablet with a simply natural pen experience. Convert handwritten notes to text, stimulate hands-on collaboration and work on a real-time canvas simultaneously with other students or teachers.

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