Mouse vs. Tablet

Which do you use and why?

I tried a tablet/pen years ago and wasn't impressed, but that was YEARS ago. I am thinking of trying one again.

For what I do on a daily basis the mouse is awesome. But I've thought about getting into some more artistic drawing based work and the mouse isn't cutting it for me.

Looking for input.

  • The good news is that most (not all) of Wacom's tablets come with a cord-free mouse as well as the stylus. I splurged on the mid size Intuous about a year ago and never looked back (I had a much older tiny, basic Wacom Graphire before). I found I can actually freehand draw in Corel Draw with the larger tablet and freehand "paint" in PP many times better than my wildest dreams. Creative, "almost" artistic drawing is something I hadn't done since elementary school, 60+ years ago!

    Click to show quoted text
    On 9/22/10 10:48 AM, Mike Ver Duin wrote:
    But I've thought about getting into some more artistic drawing based work and the mouse isn't cutting it for me.

    -- 
    Paul McGee
    St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
    • Mike Ver Duin said:

      Which do you use and why?

      I tried a tablet/pen years ago and wasn't impressed, but that was YEARS ago. I am thinking of trying one again.

      For what I do on a daily basis the mouse is awesome. But I've thought about getting into some more artistic drawing based work and the mouse isn't cutting it for me.

      Looking for input.

      I have a couple of tablets. One is a Wacom Intuos, the other is a 'Brand X' cheap unit. I love the Wacom.

      If you want to get a tablet for graphics work, I would suggest obtaining a Wacom tablet and if you desire to save a few dollars, then go with the Wacom Bamboo series, as these are low cost (compared to the Intuos models) and have a wide range of function and use. The out-perform any other 'Brand-X' tablet, any day.

      (Just my two cents).

       

    • Hi Mike

      Like you I first used a pen a number of  years ago and I was seriously underwhelmed. I went back to the mouse and yes, you can achieve a lot with it. But I purchased a good pen a couple of years ago (Wacom Intous 3) and have never regretted it.  Just wish I could afford their top range pruducts!

      it's great for fine work - free drawing, hand tracing of scanned artwork, masking and cutout and the like -  and allows for a far greater level of expression and fluidity. Still not a substitute for the humble lead pencil but vastly superior to the mouse for certain work.

      However, I still use the 'bar of soap' for the majority of standard workflow as the pens are notoriously skittish. I think it's very much a case of 'horses for courses'.

      Regards, Colin

       

      • I use the my Intuos tablet for everything including general usage like
        web browsing. I just find it more ergonomic to hold plus it helps when
        playing those point and click shooting games on the web.

        When I first started working at my current job I had to bring in my
        tablet from home. My boss asked why I would need a tablet. I asked him,
        "When you want to draw something, do you pick up a pencil (holding
        stylus) or a rock (picking up mouse)?" He ordered me one later that week.
        • Brute-Fish said:
          My boss asked why I would need a tablet. I asked him,
          "When you want to draw something, do you pick up a pencil (holding
          stylus) or a rock (picking up mouse)?"

          I like that.... made me smile a bit there...

        • I guess two more general question,

          Do you hold the tablet in your lap or on the desk?

          Also, I've read for most uses the smaller ~6"x4" work as well as anything because you don't use the whole surface anyways (for most people)?

          • Mike,
             
            I rarely take the tablet off of my desk. I have tried different sizes from the 4" x 6" to a 12" x 12". For me the sweet spot is the 6" x 9". I think Wacom refers to it as "Medium" size now rather than the actual dimensions. Some users only use a portion of the active area, I use the whole thing and don't feel that the movement is too much.
             
             
            • Mike Ver Duin said:

              I guess two more general question,

              Do you hold the tablet in your lap or on the desk?

              Also, I've read for most uses the smaller ~6"x4" work as well as anything because you don't use the whole surface anyways (for most people)?

              Lap or desktop: Yes, to both. sometimes I sit back, in the chair, and put the tablet in my lap and work, other times I sit the tablet in front of the screen, on my desk, and work. Depends on my current mood and the task at hand.

              Small, medium or large is all a personal preference. I have a small (3.5 x 5 inch work area) and a medium (5.5 x 8 inch) work area tablets, I prefer the larger work area of the two. There are others that like a very small work area, just ask Jeff and he will tell you he uses about 1.5 inches square area of his tablet area for work...

               

              • Hugh Johnson said:
                Do you hold the tablet in your lap or on the desk?

                on the desk.

                Hugh Johnson said:
                There are others that like a very small work area, just ask Jeff and he will tell you he uses about 1.5 inches square area of his tablet area for work...

                Yes, it's about 2.25" wide and 1.5" tall. The right side of my hand stays rested on the surface. I swivel the pen with my fingers to cover the entire area mentioned.

                Back in Win 95/98 days, I'd set my mice to be very fast and with mouse acceleration on, so it was fast to get around.

                The big surprise of using tablet isn't for drawing - it's for navigating Windows more productively. I operate a computer about 13-16 hours every day, so it's important for me to conserve energy by avoiding tedious movements.

                • Well im also using Wacom tablets.. at work and at home...

                  Love them cannot do without :)

                  • For me the mouse is the choice. Rarely take my hand off it. With the high speed and high acceleration movement, combined with the wheel function, it works great for me.

                    • Currently I have a wacom intuous 2 tablet. I've used it so much the silver finish is worn off where my wrist rests on it while working!

                      This is my third wacom tablet.

                      I wouldn't go without the tablet pen for photo brushing in photopaint, and some drawing in coreldraw. Just can't get the same dexterity or nearly the brushing speed when brushing a background away from a face and such without the tablet.

                      In the early years I also really liked the wacom cordless/battery-less tablet mouse (4d mouse). Now however, my intuous mouse feels less sensitive than my plain logitech laser mouse so I've found myself using the mouse for more normal tasks.

                      Not to take this off topic, but can anyone comment on how the latest intuous 4 mouse is in comparison to current laser mice? And how ergonomic it is in terms of buttons, scroll wheel, etc?

                       

                      • Same here - started with a 12 x 18 wacom! Didn't use all of it. Downsized to a 9 x 12. And I still find I use only a fraction of the area. There have only been two or three times in the last 10 years when I've set the tablet to use the full area for drawing something. But my next one will be one size down. I like a few inches for the pen but only a couple for the mouse.

                      • For me, it was impossible to draw freehand on the small tablets,
                        whereas I can actually draw (!!!!) on the larger size. YMMV of course,
                        but couple drawing an outline of say a person or a tree trunk with the
                        smoothing in CDR set at 60 to 70% and even I can draw a reasonable
                        representation of a human two grades above cartoon and improving greatly
                        with practice. I hope to use that ability in product manuals if a
                        project I am working with an "inventor" on (for almost 7 years) makes
                        it into full production.

                        Wacom will permit you (for Intuous) to have several profiles as to how
                        you want the pen (and/or mouse) to map, so you can use only a portion of
                        the tablet for some applications and either manually or automatically
                        switch (the latter by application).

                        Tablet on the desktop. Yep, gets a little, maybe I should say a lottle,
                        crowed but it's worth it.

                        Click to show quoted text
                        On 9/22/10 2:35 PM, Mike Ver Duin wrote:
                        > Also, I've read for most uses the smaller ~6"x4" work as well as
                        > anything because you don't use the whole surface anyways (for most
                        > people)?

                        --
                        Paul McGee
                        St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
                        • I have a Wacom also.  I think it's 6 x 8.  It's pretty old.  I've never been able to bridge the disconnect of drawing on the tablet while looking at the screen.  I used it a lot for air brushing art that I'd drawn elsewhere but not for drawing.  I recently purchased a laptop with stylus and touch screen support.  It's an HP.  This makes things very different because it's much more like drawing naturally.  You're drawing right on the screen in Photoshop, or whatever.  The problem is that the overall quality of the machine and the whole touch experience is awful.  The potential is huge, but until Apple decides to make one of these devices, I have a hard time recommending a PC version to anyone.  It's really bad.  Handwriting recognition is awesome in Windows though.  Everything else is awful.  It does get the job done though.  The stylus is literally "dimestore" quality, both hardware and also the 256 levels of sensitivity.  There are a couple of these made by different companies though, so one may be better than another.