[Mindsiphon]

I finally bought a pen tablet last night and was suprised just how different it is to using a mouse.

I can clearly see the benefits of using one but for me at this point, a mouse is leaps and bounds easier to use. It may be that I have spent too much time using a mouse.

I have unplugged my mouse and put it away in an attempt to force myself to become comfortable with the tablet.

Has anyone had a difficult time when changing from mouse to tablet?

[Frost]

I was genuinely frustrated at the tablet when I first got to use one at work. Being a pixel artist and having countless hours of pixel-picking experience behind me, it took me several weeks to begin to see the benefits. Today, I can clearly see the them. Stick to it,... you'll get the hang of it.

[Staff Sarge]

I use my Wacom Intuos for drawing, mouse for anything else. Not that I couldn't replace the mouse entirely but I find it easier to navigate with more buttons and mouse wheel available. I have an USB-tablet and a PS/2-mouse and I've been using tablet for three months now.

Getting fully used to the different feel of the pen took me about two days. In the beginning it was all about getting rid of that sweeping motion you do when you move the mouse long distances in one direction, and if you do it with the pen by instinct the result is annoying "sticky cursor" effect.

[WICKED]

Here is a tip that Hurricane gave me. If you need your tablen to be pen or pencil like put a sheet of paper over the screen to get more friction. Then take it of when your are coloring it. =).

WICKED

[nova]

Yeeah.. I don't know about anyone else, but I got so used to using my tablet that I often use it instead of a mouse outside Photoshop, like for normal stuff like word processing. Sad I also sometimes forget that I'm still holding it and take it somewhere else, just like pencils.

My transition from mouse to a tablet wasn't so easy tho -- I was all excited when I got it and then tried using it..

I colored big flat areas before I painted, and tried that funky scan cleanup work before coloring. Use the tablet for stuff you've may have worked with already, like linework or basic coloring. Give yourself time.. it's never really easy. Oh yeah, I second what WICKED (and Hurricane) said.

[NukleoN]

The transition from mouse to a tablet is like a transition from being blind to seeing...pretty self-evidently awesome once you try the pen. It is like driving a Ferrari for the first time, you don't know the Ferrari as well as your Ford Escort, but you KNOW it is far superior in every way.

Same thing with a Wacom.

[egerie]

I found the transition being rather frustrating as well. sure it makes you save an incredible amount of time but it doesn't give you "the skills" as it has been repeated countless time in here.
I still prefer to hit the canvas with my brushes from time to time !

Oh and about putting a sheet of paper on your tablet... don't forget to buy a few extra pen nibs if you do that...

cheers, -ege

[Mindsiphon]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm on day #2 of being mouse free and I am becoming somewhat comfortable with the pen.
I'm actually finishing up a piece that was started with a mouse.
I liken it to the transition I had when I used to use PSP then moved on to Photoshop. It was a bit akward at first but I never went back.

[Sammy]

simply put :

Drawing with a mouse is like buttering bread with a shoe.