[ViPeRIII]

Ok, I have $150 AU to buy a tablet. I'm new to digital art.

Basically this one caught my eye.
Acecat Flair

Anyone other tablets available for $150 AU?

[Light]

Thats a toy.

Don't get anything smaller then 6x8 and pref something larger.

I got a cheap 4x5 tablet and it wasnt any better then a mouse. Waste of time -- all you can do is color with it.

I got a 12x12 wacom and its sweet. Its not at all too big -- drawing wise but makes keyboard hard to get too. But no big deal really.

So.. save your money until you can get a wacom or something like one.

[scylla]

aye, help me too!!

My friend can get me a discounted Graphire 2 4x5, and i can't really afford that, let alone anything more expensive.

But...i *was* planning on saving up (as in, not eating for six months) and buying an intuous2.

I've been seriously dribbling over the intuous 9x12 (anything smaller would be bloody annoying, i'm imagining)...but then i saw the cintiq! VEERRRY NICE indeed.

so, because i've never even USED a bloody tablet before, do i go with the graphire2 now (and realise it wasn't really worth it after all), or keep on saving and buying meself a tasty intuos 12x12 or larger? (and risking the chance of never actually getting one...or finally being able to afford it when i'm 68 and dead).

[Bare Bonez]

Not too sure about the conversion from AU to CAN, but I got a small Wacom Intuos 4x5 and a cheap, cheap scanner. So all outlines are done on paper and pencil and any colouring is done with the Wacom - a potential solution, but not too sure how costly it will be in your case.

If you have access to a scanner (say school), then to save on cash you could get a Wacom 4x5 and scan everything at school. Or if you can afford bigger, then go for it.

Note: I still find it fairly frustrating to colour at 4x5 in 1152x864 resolution. The area I can colour is absolutely tiny, but the 4x5 is still sufficient to do "stuff" -just lacks flexibility.

Hope this helps.

[scylla]

yeah it does actually. I have all my own setup here at home (iMac g3, printer, scanner and zip disk drive) so no probs with access to scanner.

But it seems (from reading Wacom's web page) that the Graphire is really just a colouring in/touching up toy rather than any kind of serious art/designing tool.

ho hum, what a dillema

[bearsclover]

Now, I wouldn't be too hasty to condemn the 4x5 tablets. Mind, I don't do seriously hi-res stuff, and I am not a professional at digital art. But I've drawn plenty of portraits, straight into Photoshop or Illustrator with my Wacom Graphire 4x5, and I didn't feel like I was suffering too much with that small of a tablet. This drawing was done in Illustrator, and this one was done in Photoshop. Granted, it's sometimes easier to do a sketch, scan it in, and paint over it, but it's not necessary.

For many of us, a 4x5 tablet would be fine. It's better than nothing, (and I can't afford a larger tablet at this time - a lot of us can't). Also, I think I remember reading somewhere that 4x5 is recommended for smaller monitors. YMMV, it depends on your hardware, your artistic style, etc. etc.

[Light]

If you want to try it.. take a regular piece of writing paper and cut out 3-4 of it and see what you can draw in what is left of it.

I'm used to drawing big with shoulders and only draw with wrist when Im lazy or doing a poor job. I find the 9x17 ? to be a good size paper.

.. I guess you could use a 3x5 but generally speaking it is not much better then a mouse -- as I've painted with those too. You can get pretty good with a mouse if you use it.

If it was me then I'd way until I could at least get a 6x8 and pref a 9x12/12x12. Check the refurbished ones or check out any computer geeks you know -- maybe they will sell you a used one.

I don't mean sound harsh as it was very hard for me to get a 12x12. However, I just know from my experience. My recommendation is to wait till you can get a decent one and until then practice natural media tools, 3d work, and merely painting on computer.

But thats just me.. I still got to do a great painting yet. =0

[Frog]

Light, for those who draw big your advice is right. But the analogy of cutting out a bit of paper isn't exactly right because on a computer you can zoom in

I know it is considered "wrong" but I draw small and personally I find large tablets hard to control, I get more precision from a smaller tablet - of course you can map a smaller area of a larger tablet but then you're throwing away a few hundred $$$.

Bottom line is that there is no hard and fast rule for what tablet size is best, it is very much down to the individual, some prefer big some prefer small. The only advice I would say is really important is to make sure that the brand is Wacom. The Graphire is very good, and as I said you can get round the small size by zooming in. I've used both Graphire and Intuos extensively and my honest advice is get the Graphire unless you really need a larger size.

For many people budget is a really important consideration and it's ridiculous to advise people that they need a very expensive piece of equipement when something considerably cheaper will do just as well. The Graphire is a quality product and should not be looked down on, it does it's job very well and is a bargain to boot.

[PixelPeZ]

I agree with frog - the paper analogy doesn't work here. Because it's not only the tablet - if you have a small monitor and/or a slow video card, zooming is the key to doing it all. You can get a big tablet, but if the rest of the setup is ... small ... it's pretty much wasted. Of course, you can always upgrade, but ...

I have a crappy computer. Got to admit that. But with this setup a Graphire is perfect and fits my style of working. I have yet to complain, and Light is one of the few people so far whom I've seen saying that it's too small ... but in the end it all comes down to your specific way of drawing.

[Bare Bonez]

This is too funny. I never actually realized how small a 4x5 is, but here's what my 4x5 drawing area is on 1-to-1 proportions.

Screen size: 1152x864

Screen Capture of Drawing in Adobe with Wacom 4x5

Check out that massive drawing area I got!

[PixelPeZ]

ha ... funny

but strangely enough, I don't find myself bothered by that limitation ...

btw, socar myles, http://www.gorblimey.com , works with a Graphire .. So I guess it's the person behind the tablet that matters more than the tablet itself ... :P

[Mythril]

I have an 8X6 Wacom ArtZ II tablet which I got about two and a half years ago. You can get a 12X12 ArtZ II on ebay for cheap now, around $60-$75 and there's usually 5-10 results each every day. It does the job well, although the stylus feels pretty cheaply made, but they're inexpensive and if you've never used a tablet before you might as well give it a go before you spend alot of money on a new tablet. And you may like it a lot and not even need a new tablet, and you can always buy a newer more sturdy and ergonomic stylus.

[ May 07, 2002: Message edited by: Mythril ]

[Asurfael]

I'm using a Wacom Graphire atm, it's the cheapest smallest wacom i could find (i borrowed it from a friend). But the person behind the tablet is what matters. Also, I noticed some serious improvement using this one when compared to the mouse, so any tablet is worth it when compared to a mouse. I can sketch with this too, but I need huge resolutions for the drawings so that my shaky hands can't be noticed in the sketches.

Also http://www.wacom-europe.com/uk/products/product-specifier/index.asp is very helpful, if you're sure you want a Wacom. But it should apply to other tablet brands as well too. Or if you don't know about Euros, you can probably find the same thing on wacom us or so as well with different monetary units, not just euros. Or if you don't (I didn't check if it's elsewhere too), one euro's around 0.9 usd afaik.

[colonel kurtz]

Right now I also am using a graphire 2 4x5. It is my first tablet, but I can't imagine anything better. Personally I like the the smaller size. I tried out a intuos 9x12 but found that it was a little overkill for me. I don't know what you'll be using it for, but the small graphire is nice. I can navigate around other programs and not have to move my whole hand. Maybe I'm just lazy.

[pixelsoldier]

Joachim also works with a Graphire, so do many other great artists here.

You're quite the expert on everything under the sun, aren't ya Light? Doesn't look like that big 12x12 helped you out all that much.

Viper, a Graphire (4x5 Wacom) is perfectly fine. It isn't spectacular, but it is FAR better than any mouse.

[Asurfael]

you can't really compare a tablet size to your paper size. If you really really want to compare it, i'd say that your tablet size should be approximately half the size you use for the paper (i've noticed a few people including myself going for that. seems to be good for some but of course not for everybody). Basically you need a big tablet if you're used to working with big strokes, and a small tablet if you (like me) are used to drawing shorter lines. And you do need a bigger tablet if the resolution on your monitor is huge.

Edit: Oh I always forget something. The tablet you posted a link to seems a lot like wacom graphire, so it should do the same job. So basically you can take every post recommending the graphire as recommending that. I'm not familiar with that particular brand though, so i don't know how long it will last without breaking and so. Wacom is a safe choice at least.

[ May 10, 2002: Message edited by: Asurfael ]

[pixelsoldier]

Yea, you cannot compare tablet size to paper size. It's a relative relationship. A smaller movement of the pen creates a larger movement on the screen relative to size of your tablet.

That's like saying a traditional painter that is used to painting on 24x36" canvases simply wouldn't be able to live with the utter tinyness of a 12x12 tablet.

It doesn't work like that.

[syco26]

Hey ViPeRIII I have one of those small 'Acecad Flair' tablets - being a newby to this aswell - and I have found no problem with it at all.If you start your pic big then you can make just one eye(for example) fill the tablet working face and you can get some really good detail.You can allways reduce the size of the pic once done.If you had the extra coin to spare I would get atleast the next size up-to save the time waisted zooming in and out all the time.