Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Martin Wesley" 
<mwesley250@e...> wrote:
> Thanks to Carolyn, Moreno, R, Tony, and James, for all the 
input on the
> tablets. Seems to be a pretty good consensus that they are a 
wonderful tool
> and that the Wacom Intuos 2 is the one to buy. The Cintiq looks 
very nice
> but a tad out of my range at the moment. The 9x12 sounds 
large and the 4x5 a
> little small so the 6x8 might be a good compromise for me. I 
gather a tablet
> runs in parallel with a mouse allowing you to switch back and 
forth as
> desired. Could I keep my faithful Logitech mouse or do you 
have to use the
> mouse that comes with the tablet?
> 
> How is the learning curve in switching to a tablet?
> 
> Martin Wesley
> 
> http://www.borderless-photos.de/guests.html
> 

Hi Martin,

I've got the cheapest Graphire 4x5 tablet and as most have said
tablets are very nice.  I went with the cheap one to try it out and
I figured I might upgrade at some time but so far I can't see a
need for more pressure levels or bigger size.

I think the different sizes give a trade off in how you want to
use it.   The trouble I see with a mouse is that you use your
whole arm to move around the screen and the fine motor
skills of your fingers don't get used.  So the tablet and pen
allow the fine skills of your fingers, but with a large tablet
moving around your whole screen will again require moving
your arm.  I imagine different people would care different
amounts.

The function keys on the Intuos would probably be nice but
of course I've never had that opportunity.  The pressure levels
are great some times but I've also found some cases where
I like to have a known and fixed brush size  -- its easy to
disable.

BTW, there's no problem (at least on my Mac) connecting as
many mice or tablets as you want.  Finally, a learning
curve?  I think so, but its not hard -- for instance you have to
be careful not to touch the pad with the pen when just moving
around because the touch means mouse click.

Roy