The graphics tablet (or digitizer) is a plane on which you can draw an electronic pen. The motion of the pen is repeated on the computer screen in the form of lines and the result is a drawing. This is the principle of operation of most tablets. But there is especially dear models For professional work, combining the digitizer and display features at the same time. Such devices create a feeling as if drawing on paper.

Any graphic tablet duplicates the functions of the mouse. Touch the pen on the tablet is equivalent to clicking the left mouse button. The button on the pen knob can call the context menu, like the right mouse key. It should be noted that many models allow you to establish for the above button various functions At the discretion of the user. You can also reinstall assignment and for buttons on the tablet itself. For example, an increase in the reduction, scrolling up and down and so on.

Now a few words about work. The main advantage of graphic tablets is that they imitate drawing on paper. The artist, holding an electronic pen instead of a mouse, can freely draw, without experiencing any inconvenience. For example, spend a flat line, an oval or contour of any object of the usual mouse is very difficult or even impossible. But working with a pen, you can master the lines of any complexity. But do not share. If a person has no drawing skills, then the graphics tablet will not be able to give them. We need experience in a conventional pencil. The tablet, simply makes the work much more convenient, because the artist holds a tool in his hands similar to a brush or pencil.

Imitating a pencil, the pen of a graphics tablet can respond to pressing force. The stronger you press it, the wider line. But this feature is not all tablets. In addition, largely the possibility of the pen is dependent on the graphics editor. For example, if you work in Photoshop - then this is one, and if in a simple Paint from Windows XP, then this is completely different. Therefore, having bought a tablet and finding that he did not meet your expectations, do not hurry to disappoint. First, select a suitable graphic editor, configure the tablet driver, and only then you can make objective conclusions about the quality of the graphics tablet. The ability to feel the power of presses on the pen is an important property. The beauty of the line depends on this. After all, it can be "wire" or drawing, and maybe a living, picturesque, changing its character, etc. It happens to make a graphics, imitating the feather and mascara. And, here, the sensitivity to pressing will have to be quite by the way. It is also very important if they do computer painting. In this case, the graphic editor provides an abundance of various brushes capable of imitate paint strokes, calligraphy lines, blurred lines, rough, textural lines, etc. And the electronic pen is a graphics tablet, capable of changing the character of the spot, will give even more dynamics of paint lips or lines Brushes. Work will be more picturesque.

The pen of a graphic tablet is convenient to hold in hand, it reminds the work of the pencil. But as if manufacturers of digitizers neither tried to make their product as much as possible on paper and pencil - anyway, plastic remains plastic. Therefore, the tip of the electronic pen is made different. For example, from felt, elastic plastic, rigid plastic ... or plastic tip is attached to the spring. All this contributes to comfortable work, as close as possible to the usual drawing with a pencil, a felt-tip pen or even a brush.

But to better imitate the described artist's tools, the graphics tablet must have good characteristics. What should I pay attention to when choosing or buying this device? To the following parameters:

• resolution
• the size
• operating height of feather
• accuracy
• sensitivity
• speed

The resolution of the graphics tablet affects the accuracy of movements, so the higher it is better. The size of the tablet affects how you will work - with your own hand from the elbow, or only brush hands. Sometimes little tablet It can even be more convenient than big - it all depends on the tasks. The working height of the pen is the distance from the surface of the tablet to the tip of the pen, in which the tablet "feels" feather. That is, when you drive a pen above the surface at a distance, let's say in 3 mm, the cursor on the screen is also moved if you keep it above, the pen stops working. If you touch the tablet and without tearing, lead your hand, the cursor starts to draw. And if you look at the virtual buttons of the screen, and relate to the tablet, then "Press" on them. As you can see, such characteristics are important in the work. Therefore, they need to be considered when choosing a suitable tablet.

Below, I cite examples of Wacom graphic tablets. This manufacturer makes high-quality devices suitable for professional work. The list is both inexpensive models and models at a very large price for professional designers and artists.

Graphics Tablet Wacom Cintiq 13HD (DTK-1300-4)

The approximate value for October 2016 is 70 000 r.

Resolution: 5080 DPI
The dimensions of the active region: 299x171 mm.
Pen working height: 5 mm.
Accuracy: 0.5 mm.
Tilt angle: 60 °
Pen tips: flexible, standard, felt, spring.

In addition to sensory input by means of a pen, this model is distinguished by the presence of a LCD display on which the pattern is directly displayed. Here are the characteristics of this display:

Resolution: 1920x1080 Pix
Diagonal: 13 inches
Grain size: 0.15 mm
Color depth: 24 bits
Brightness: 250 cd / m²
Contrast: 700: 01: 00
Response: 25 ms
Vertical viewing angle: 89 °
Horizontal viewing angle: 89 °

Graphic tablet Wacom INTOUS Pro L

The approximate cost for October 2016 is 39.000 p.

Resolution: 5080 DPI
Dimensions of the active region: 299x190 mm.
Pen working height: 10 mm.
Accuracy: 0.5 mm.
Pressing sensitivity: 2048 levels
Speed: 200 DPS
Tilt angle: 60 °
Tips for pen: tip-brush, felt-tip-tip, flexible and hard tips.

Graphic tablet Wacom Bamboo Pen

The dimensions of the active region: 152x95 mm.
Pen working height: 16 mm.

Graphic tablet Wacom One Small Size CTL-471

The approximate value for October 2016 is 4000r.

Resolution: 2540 DPI

Pen working height: 7 mm.
Accuracy: 0.25 mm.
Pressing sensitivity: 1024 levels

Graphic tablet Wacom Intuos Draw Pen S (CTL-490DW-N)

The approximate value for October 2016 is 5300 p.

Resolution: 2540 DPI
The dimensions of the active region: 152x95 mm.
Pen working height: 3 mm.
Accuracy: 0.25 mm.
Pressing sensitivity: 1024 levels
Speed: 133 DPS

I hope that this description of the features of working with graphics tablets will help those who are going to acquire these devices and engage in computer graphics. Those who first draw a computer pen, such a way may seem unusual. But learning, you will find that this device gives a lot of advantages in work, freedom of movements, and truly creative drawing process on the computer.

Those who are closely familiar with graphics tablets think that this tool is exclusively involved in people whose work is associated with design, design, etc. In fact, it can be a conventional input device, along with the keyboard and computer mouse.

Naturally, there are various models that are characterized by their capabilities and functions. And depending on this are used by either by professionals or by ordinary users leading an active computer lifestyle. Let's get acquainted with graphics tablets closer.

The graphics tablet is a feature device for entering information to a computer for subsequent work. In other words, the graphics tablet is an electronic sheet of paper and a handle with which you can perform various manipulations with information in various programs. And do it with great comfort.

This article will talk about graphic tablets of the company Wacom..

Work on the tablet is very simple. Initially, a small preparation: we connect the tablet to a computer or laptop via the USB port and install the driver. The device is ready to work.

As a rule, the surface is a sensitive area on which you can write or draw an electronic pen. All information is displayed on the computer screen. Some models combine the MultiTouch function. Many users are used to using the Trekpad on a laptop. The graphics tablet allows you to do the same. You can rotate, scroll, change the scale of images with uncomplicated gestures.

There are also tablets displays in which the tablet is aligned with the monitor. Work on electronic canvas. Isn't it great? As an example, you can bring Wacom displays Cintiq. So, what can be useful and convenient to the graphical tablet of an ordinary user?

Consider the functions Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch Series.

Bloggers, active participants social networks, lovers of digital creativity, gamers, attention! With the help of a tablet, you can make handwritten notes, create sketches, outline, sign photos, work on the Internet, draw graffiti on the Vkontakte wall, give your character to any material.

Edit documents quickly and clearly, create a mark, accelerate your communications instant stroke of the pen!

Convenience is largely due to work with the pen. It has a familiar shape for a man's hand, intuitively resembles a pencil. Feather ergonomically, muscles brush when working relaxed, fingers are in motion. It is safe for users who devote a lot of time to work at the computer and especially useful for children who develop motility. All these pleasures will deliver bamboo Pen & Touch. These are devices for home and office work. They are of different sizes, are configured specifically for the left and right-handers, comes with the necessary software. Despite the wide opportunities, working with the tablet is very simple, even a child.

There are also amateur pL series. They are intended for people leading an active business lifestyle, nonsense, who often go to meetings, take part in negotiations and presentations, sign documents, as well as for teachers, business coaches who need to inform information to a wide audience.

With the help of Wacom Pl tablets, you can insert electronic signatures into documents and office programs, draw diagrams, graphics, making handwritten marks. This is a good tool when conducting presentations, it is convenient to equip educational classes and meeting rooms.

We talked about Wacom amateur models, now let's talk about professional graphic tablets. These include Intuos. and interactive display Cintiq. They have more functions and accessories, more a high resolution And available in various sizes.

In particular, Intuos has a feligation to the tilt of the pen, the programmable keys, the sensory ring with the switching mode. All this helps to work with materials at an intuitive level. Differ in size: from A6 to A3.

As a rule, designers, photographers, artists, general professionals, whose activities are related to work in editors work with Wacom Intuos. Such a tablet is indispensable when processing photos, drawing, creating 3D models, etc.

As already mentioned earlier, graphic displays also exist. Wacom offers 2 models: Cintiq12 and Cintiq21 C diagonal 12 and 21 inch, respectively.

Working with such a device, the designer draws directly on the screen. Cintiq 21, for example, has 16 programmable hotkeys, 2 scroll barns, 2 sensory rings. Thanks to a special stand, it can be rotated by 360 degrees in the lying position and in a vertically position to tilt by 10-60 degrees.

It does not matter what you do, the graphics tablet is a good assistant while working and leisure, speeds up communication with friends and colleagues, ergonomic and functional. And the main thing does not require special knowledge and skills.

Graphic tablet - very comfortable and functional device. Even the simplest model can drastically simplify the work of the artist, increasing labor productivity, facilitating the creation of small image elements. With the help of a graphics tablet, it becomes easier to carry the drawing into a digital format, overlapping any effects directly during its creation. Connect the tablet correctly and start working with it - it is not easy to connect the PC and the device cable. Thin settings of a particular model will allow its optimal way.

Different models graphic tablets may imply different methods data transmission. Tablet Most often you need to connect to a computer uSB cable. This method can be applied as on simple modelsand enough advanced products.

To use the tablet with the screen, most likely you have to connect it to a computer at once with two cables. According to one, data on the nature of work with the pen will be transmitted, differently - video information. For example, this connection method will be needed to use graphic wacom tablet with an interactive display.

People who want full freedom movements will prefer to buy a device with wireless data transmission mechanics. Such tablets are really convenient if you do not forget to change batteries on time or keep their new set constantly ready. The wireless interface of the modern standard is capable not only to provide a stable data channel, but also allows you to freely draw at a distance of up to 10 m from the PC (subject to the absence of obstacles between transmitters).

To connect the plane dish, it is enough to insert a small transmitter block in any of the free USB ports. The device can decide automatically, and the program and drivers for its operation will be downloaded from the operating system update center. However, it is recommended to take advantage of a more complex method described below.

Drivers

To use high quality graphic tabletYou need to install the necessary software. It can be as soon as drivers and graphic packages for drawing. All you need can be found on:

• disk supplied with a graphics tablet;
• website manufacturer on the Internet;
• thematic forums uniting enthusiasts of working with a particular drawing tablet.

Drivers need to be installed for that operating system (with proper bit), which is installed on the computer. In some cases, the PC can find everything you need with automatic search. For optimal performance, it is recommended to follow the installation instructions offered by the manufacturer.

Important! Modern operating systems are able to find everything needed on the central site window updates. However, rely on this method is not worth it. Only the most necessary drivers are downloaded from the update center. They will ensure the minimum performance of the tablet for drawing, however, is not a fact that it will offer access to the subtleties of the device.

Disable service on desktop PC

On laptops, tablet PCs for interacting with a touchpad and display service service Tablet PC is responsible. On the desktop of her need to stop and block. Running service will occur immediately after installing drivers and connect the tablet.

To disable the service, you will need to perform the following steps.

1. Press the start and click right-click on my computer. This can be done on the desktop icon. From the drop-down menu you need to select management, after which you find the service section. Tabletpc services are found here. The service is done double click. Then you need to click the Stop button. After that, choose from the drop-down list is disabled and click the Apply button.
2. Log in to the control panel. In Windows 10, this control section is in the Standard menu - administration. After that, the Administration icon starts - computer management. Further user actions are similar to those set out in the previous paragraph.

Turning off the standard service on the desktop PC is necessary for the proper operation of the drivers and tablet management programs. The data entering them should not be intercepting or replaced by the system process.

Important! The listed actions will be successful only when account The desktop computer has administrator rights. For standard installation Systems and tuning PCs for one owner This happens automatically. If the computer is a member of the domain with credit rights limitations, it is worth contacting the system administrator.

Setting the main parameters

To use the graphics tablet, the most efficiently is recommended to initially configure the device in accordance with the user's personal preferences. Beginners typically make minimal edits. However, an experienced artist, especially previously worked on such devices, would prefer to change the standard parameters.

Devices of different manufacturers are configured using their own software tools. But certain similarities in the set of available settings and options are always present. To use the Bamboo graphics tablet proposes its own program BAMBOODOCK.. It allows you to change the mechanics of user interaction and device both at the base level and very deeply.

Basic functional

The main set of options, interesting beginners, allows you to change the basic traits of interaction with the tablet. This includes:

• switching the location of sensory regions for right-handers or left-handers;
• setting the reaction to pressing each function key.

With such simple settings You can switch the tablet to the touchpad mode (except for the pen), bind the challenge of programs or initiating the clicks with the mouse to the functional zone.

Setting the parameters of the feather

The area of \u200b\u200bthinner settings will allow adjust the reaction of the tablet for yourself. Here you can adjust the behavior of the pen:

• change the level of sensitivity to pressing;
• switch the pen into drawing or positioning mode (work as a mouse manipulator);
• adjust the area where double touch is determined;
• install the reactions to press the pen buttons.

Important! Many tablet manufacturers offer not only to draw, but also to erase the already formed image areas. For this, the pen has at the end of the so-called eraser. Its parameters, the sensitivity to pressing can also be adjusted in the tablet settings.

Touch functional

The graphics tablet can work in the same way as a laptop touchpad, but its functionality in this area is much wider. The user can configure not only the familiar parameters, such as the speed of moving the cursor, the time of double click, the speed of scrolling. Available:

• setting action when touching with one finger;
• extended sets of parameters for operation with two fingers;
• reaction to three fingers of the user.

There are option global governanceThe user can close the windows with four fingers, look at the active display area in the application, do other useful actions.

Separate settings proposes the PC operating system itself. Here installing gestures, a certain set of reactions to the movement of the pen. This can greatly facilitate the work of experienced users. It cannot be said that a set of available actions is wide, but it will be accustomed and sufficient for people who already use gestures in the opera and others browser.

To work productively, it is worth using simple work schemes and a graphics tablet setting technique.

And the last advice, the most important for working with a graphics tablet - do not need to be afraid. It is worth drawing quickly, easily, without thinking about the mechanics of the work of the pen and the touch surface. Incorrect can be easily corrected. And with an increase in the time of using such a wonderful device, as a tablet for drawing, more notable, high-quality results will be achieved.

Best Graphic Tablets 2019

Graphic tablet Wacom Intuos M Bluetooth on Yandex Market

HUION INSPIROY H430P graphic tablet (20/320) on Yandex Market

On Yandex Market

Tablet Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite 10 32GB LTE on Yandex Market

Graphics Tablet Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 "256GB (DTH-W1620M) on Yandex Market

Hello everybody!
My name is Matt Mat M. Laskowski) and I am a graphic illustrator.

Step 1. New followers

:: I have no tablet, but I plan to acquire one.

Excellent! But for starters: try to find the answer to the question "Why do I need a tablet?". It does not have to be wacom, they only produce, probably the highest quality and most convenient to use tablets. But if you are very novice in this matter, then it is better to ask yourself first, why and how much you need this tablet.

And I slowly and clearly utter:

No graphic tablet, whatever brand and model, is not able to make a magic make you super-pupper of the artist.

The graphics tablet is a tool to increase productivity, which speeds up the work of the artist to fit the digital mediums. It does not increase your existing skills, just because it is the subject of high technologies connected to Photoshop. Very often everything happens just the opposite.

Although the tablet is attached to the pen, which gives a feeling of simple drawing on paper, the real practical use of the tablet (especially if you have never enjoyed them) - it is absolutely different dimension in which you can get a long winding through the exercise. In the end, after installing an ordinary desktop tablet, you will keep it in a horizontal position on the table or knees, and the lines of your handle - on the vertically located monitor opposite you. It is necessary to get used to this and, perhaps, the weeks will be held before you stop feeling discomfort from such a system.

I met a lot of artists who thought to buy a tablet for a sample, who dismount 350-400 dollars on a professional average model model, to use it 10 times and never remember about it, because the addictive to this technique turned out to be simply. Well, then this tablet could use as an expensive mouse pad - in another case, money could be spent more reasonably.

So do not let this begot your desire to purchase a tablet. In any way, buy yourself a tablet if you have come to a solution that you really want it. The only thing that really needs to be remembered here is what should be done cleverly, if you buy blindly on the principle of "everything will cost."

:: I want a tablet, but never used them earlier

There is good news for you. Wacom manufacturers know that people buy tablets with different contents for different purposes. If you have never used the tablet, and you can not say exactly if you like it after you try it, you, of course, do not even think about starting to start with something big and expensive.

Wacom offers a range of low-budget tablets for beginner artists Bamboo (at that time, while I am writing this article). These tablets can provide good drawing experience about 30-40% of the cost of a series of professional Intuos tablets. (At the time of writing this article, the Bamboo Pen tablet will cost only $ 70, compared with the Intuos Small tablet of the same size that costs $ 220.)

Immersing with your head into the digital world, it is best to buy Bamboo, because even with a minimal probability that you enjoy it and you will use them further, this tablet will serve you faithfully not enough time. As you become already an experienced user This tablet can be safely moved to Intuos. In the end, the costs of Bamboo are insignificant, and it can be resected by someone else who wants to just try this product, or you can simply store it and use it on trips or elsewhere. It is necessary to relate to it easier, and not to break into it with your nose. (To learn only what you need at the beginning of the way, and develop in the course of how your experience will accumulate.)

At the same time, if in the end you did not like Bamboo, and you never used them again, you will not be very upset, because He is worth everything - and retaining it, you potentially increase your chances again to use it.

:: What to count a series of Cintiq tablets? Is it easier to use?

Cintiq tablets, for those who do not know, this is a professional Wacom product. CintiQ screen is built into the tablet case itself. This means that when you draw on it, you get an instant visual feedback On the scale of 1: 1. It's like, if you painted on a regular sheet of paper, without taking into account the work in Photoshop. Because of the stand, functionality and ease in circulation, it is very expensive. The retail price of a small model (12-inch Cintiq 12WX at the time of creation of this article) is $ 1,000, while its older 21-inch brother 21UX costs $ 2,000. How can I understand at these prices, you still even even think about such tablets until you appear at that very good reason.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

For the work professionally, Cintiq tablets are like a steam turnip. They allow professional artists faster and more accurate. The end result, which is created by a professional artist on the Cintiq tablet, most likely, will not be better than the picture drawn on the usual Intuos, but only the fact about the scale of 1: 1 makes any contributions justifiable. Take, for example, professional photographers. If you are just starting to engage in photography, will you buy expensive techniques that professionals use? Most likely, no, because the costly technique does not make you a good photographer, just as it does not make a good photographer from the professional. Of course, you can buy the technique of the last word, like the famous photographers, but you will use it for as much as your knowledge is in this technique. Thus, the newcomer, acquiring professional equipment, will still produce a newcomer level. Professionals are only interested in newest technologiesbecause it almost always increases the efficiency of their work.

This, of course, does not mean that you should not only think about it and buy a tablet type Cintiq. They are created not only for professionals and artistic elite. Cintiq tablets are easier to use than traditional Intuos or Bamboo versions, because they are the same format to which you are most accustomed to (pencil and paper), but they are not perfect. Aspects such as lag (delay) of the cursor, the oscillation of the pen line, the calibration of the pen, and the bulky of the Cintiq tablets may be unacceptable for someone, but can and be minimized with the appropriate use of the tablet. Some newcomers (and even professionals) in the field of digital art can find it impossible to get used to such traditional plates as Intuos and Bamboo, and refuse to work on them. However, when you give them Cintiq, they can create anything on it, and the result will be on summit. These people are ready to lay out one, or even two thousand dollars.

For most people, it will make sense to start with a baseline tablet and gradually climb to Cintiq level, especially if you spend a bunch of time, working on the tablet. When you really understand that those characteristics with which Cintiq possesses is just what you need, then, no doubt, take it.

:: Tablet Personal Computer (Tablet PC, Tablet PC)? What is this fruit?

Tablet computers have already existed for quite a long time, but there were problems with hardware equipment and using what made work with photoshop programs problematic. In recent years, the development of greater power, reducing the voltage of processors and simpler electronic circuits allowed the tablet PC to take a higher position in the world of personal computers, while now as powerful as larger, not tablet systems.

How can I understand from the name, the tablet computer is a tablet inserted directly into the computer monitor. Most Tablet PC tablets with handles are manufactured by Wacom, according to the technology, which is called "Wacom Penabled" (Wacom working with the handle). Tablet PC with the Wacom Penabled tablet has all the same specifications as the Bamboo tablet, regarding the trace and sensitivity of the pen, with the exception of the LCD screen. However, they are slightly similar to the Wacom Cintiq series, but not high enough in terms of standards technical characteristics. Most tablet PCs rotating, which means that they are usually 12 or 13 inch portable computersAnd the screen can rotate around the axis and fold on the keyboard, thus turning into a thin PC with a single monitor. In contrast to Cintiq tablets, tablet PCs are much more convenient, more powerful, and absolutely autonomous (work without wires). However, unlike Cintiq, the tablet constantly works together with the computer. Therefore, when your computer is obsolete and spars, the same happens with the functionality of the tablet. Cintiq tablets acquire their functionality by connecting to a computer, so Cintiq works properly until the computer works to which it is connected. Thus, it can be said that usually CintiQ tablets are more durable than tablet computers, due to the fact that its hardware lives much longer.

One of the main differences, however, is that tablet computers are rarely designed for real artists. Most Tablet PC are created for end users who want their computers to become more operational within a small space. Their bulk of target consumers is in hospitals and warehouses. Since Tablet PC is not 100% product for artists, their functionality can sometimes lead to disappointment. Not all software will be compatible with this computer, and the pen calibration may be too complicated.

For those who are interested in Tablet PC, I present for your attention the following models:

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Wonderful! From now on, I will focus only on Wacom tablets, and not on tablet computers - but for you, dear users Tablet PC, there are still a lot useful information, so continue to read.

- Check your drivers!

First of all, undoubtedly, you need to make sure that your drivers work properly! Many newcomers and tablet users often forget to install the drivers completely, and then surprise, why some functions, such as Pier, do not work. The best way to find out is installed and whether your drivers are installed, it is to bring the pen to one of the corners of the tablet, then remove it and bring it to another corner. If the cursor automatically jumps to the second corner to the position where the tip of the pen is located, you can be sure that everything works fine. Without installed drivers, the cursor will not move from the place.

- Disconnect Tablet PC services on Windows

This step does not apply to: Mac users, Tablet PC users, and users of handwriting text recognition and sketches (Flicks) on Windows Vista / 7.

Windows 7 and Vista has a feature called "Tablet PC" services (Tablet PC Services). By default, this feature is turned on when a tablet is detected connected to a computer. Tablet PC services, as the name itself says, should be applied only to tablet computers - no way to your laptop or personal computerTo which the Wacom tablet is connected. These Windows functions will only interfere if you intend to completely devote yourself to drawing.

To disable Tablet PC services, click the window (Windows) button on the taskbar and type "Services" in the search column. In the search results, a shortcut called "Services" should appear. Label in the form of two small mechanisms.

Click on it, and you will open an even greater window with a list of other shortcuts. The list goes alphabetically, scroll it down to the "Tablet PC Input Service".

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Click on it twice, a small window will appear, showing the current service status, as well as the ability to enable (Start), stop (stop), or disable these services. We are only interested in stopping and disable these services.

First click the Stop button. Wait until the program stops his work, then click Apply (Apply) at the bottom of the window.

That's all! Now Tablet PC services are disabled. From now on, you can receive 100% of the pleasure of working with Wacom, forgetting about Windows glitches. For artists, it's just the perfect condition, because This ensures the rapid response of the pen as fast as possible.

(If some Tablet PC services still work, try to restart the computer.)

- Prepare a good work area!

The way you sit and keep your tablet, greatly affects how you will use it. For many people, the location of the tablet at an angle is most convenient, because This minimizes the difficulty with the transmission of horizontal movement to the vertical, and this position simulates the drawing table. Many people put a tablet on their knees, leaning the corner of the tablet to the edge of the table (this, of course, can afford only owners of a large tablet). Other people use things like coolers and supports for laptops to somehow hold their tablet at a certain height. Those who have the opportunity to visit the IKEA store, I want to say that they have an excellent stand for laptops, for 2 dollars, which is also great for tablets of any dimension.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Of course, you can always put your tablet vertically on the surface of the table. Just do not forget to keep the monitor slightly closer to the tablet, and if your monitor has height and tilt regulators, lower it and tilt to yourself.

You may seem that users of CintiQ tablets in this plan are much simpler, because They have built-in retractable stands that automatically give them the most convenient position for work, but you can still improve your working zone through remedies.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

:: Like all the way! Now how about the actual use of the tablet?

So, about the use of the tablet, the first thing you need to open a window with the tablet properties (Tablet Properties) and think about how you would like to configure it, having a specific software. I know, I know, you want to immediately start working with maximum settings and features - but believe me, you need to first understand how to effectively use your tool!

Windows users can find the properties of the tablet in two places:
- Start Menu - Programs (All Programs) - Wacom Tablet (Sometimes Pen Tablet) - Wacom Tablet Properties (Wacom Tablet Properties)
- System Control Panel (System Control Panel) - Wacom Tablet Properties (Wacom Tablet Properties)
Users computers MAC. Can find the properties of their tablets directly in the System Preferences menu.

When you open this window, you will see the following:

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Please note to change the settings of your tablet, it must be connected to the computer. The parameter change program will not work without a tablet. I also ask you to notice that if the tool you want to edit for example a pen or a mouse with high precision is not displayed under the Tools list (Tools), for sure you have not registered it in the tablet. Wacom tablets register all the tools with which it is in collaboration, simply by submitting it to the tablet at the signal definition distance. This means that you can use more than one pen, or any other tool, and everyone will have their own settings. The "Functions" tool refers directly to the hardware equipment of the tablet, such as the express panel (ExpressKeys) and the area of \u200b\u200bactive work, etc.

However, every person will have their own preferences to the account of the settings of their tablet, so I will not say a lot about what is better, but what is not - just because, if one thing is true for me, it does not mean that it will be so same right. In addition, all models of tablets differ from each other with their capabilities and installations. I, however, tell you for an example about the settings that usually usually apply. We will consider only some of them. The remaining somehow will be affected later in this article, but to a lesser extent.

- Profile Your Software!

Note, in the properties window of your tablet must be the [+] button at the end of the application list (Applications)? It makes it possible to add a program in order to have special installation configurations only for the selected program. It is very helpful when you use several programs in parallel, each of which has its own hotkeys and functions. It may seem that to profile your software for nothing, but remember, this step will help you increase the efficiency of your work.

Properties program allows you to create multiple profiles for each tool, exactly as settings for the tool itself. Your pen may have absolutely other profiles, compared to the functions of the tablet. Therefore, first of all, do not forget to choose the tool for which you want to create a profile.

A good example of things that are most often profiled differently can serve hot keys for cancellation (UNDO) and return (Redo) any action (as, for example, in Photoshop, the combination of Ctrl + Alt + Z keys, and in Painter Ctrl + Z), as well as changes in some functions that are clearly absent in other software.

Good advice to help when installing your software: first open the program you want to profile, and only then add it to the list in the Tablet properties window (Tablet properties). Running program will be displayed in the list of programs that you likely want to add.

- Place the express panel (ExpressKeys) only the most frequently used features!

Your Wacom tablet has an express panel. Older models, such as Bamboo, have at least two of the three buttons for this panel; Cintiq 21UX tablets have as much as 16 express buttons. To simplify the process of your work, you must assign the most frequently used features to these buttons.

If your tablet has many buttons to express the panel, do not bother to assign them some function to each button. Assigning functions that you rarely use can, on the contrary, it can be negatively affected by your work, instead of helping it. Over time, you can forget what functions as the buttons are assigned, and it may well believe that you mistakenly press the wrong button that can lead to undesirable consequences.

If you need to do something, for example, cancel the action (undo), increase the scale (zoom in), etc., on your tablet there should be a button that you press most often - type "starting position" (home position) . This "subconsciously preferred" button must act as your most frequently used function. For me, this is the "Shift button. Do not be surprised if you do not immediately find your initial position. You will understand when you open it for yourself when wanting to perform a specific function, you press the wrong button on the tablet. If this happened, you need to change the button with which you are mistaken, and put the one that was meant. Immediately after the initial position, the second most frequently used function should go. For me, this is "Cancel Action" (Undo). With two of these buttons, located next to each other, you do not need to guess where to poke - everything is at hand.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Note the picture above is the settings that I use on my Cintiq. It can be seen that the main buttons here are two close to the center express button, because They correspond to the SHIFT functions. I also found that I often use the lowest button, so I assigned it the ALT function. Please note that I also posted my second most frequently used feature over Alt - Cancel Action (Undo). This allows me to quickly cancel perfect actions in case I made a mistake during drawing.

- The only required setting for your pen:

Express panel is good for quick access To frequently used features, however, do not forget that your feather is also equipped with two buttons. They can significantly speed up the work process on the graphic tablet.

Unlike buttons on your tablet, the buttons on the per must use as access to one or another actions, and not as hot keys. Therefore, I advise one of the buttons to the right mouse button (Right Click) (frequently used and necessary function), and the second - pan / scrolling (PAN / SCROLL).

Pan / Scroll (PAN / SCROLL), probably one of the best functions, because it works in almost all programs. In almost all programs working with images, it allows you to scroll through the web - indispensable for quick access to different parts of the canvas to continue drawing. It also allows you to scroll the lists with folders, page on the Internet in your browser, in general, everything you can scroll down and up.

Although the express panel can be different at all, but I guarantee you that specifically for the pen buttons you will not find more suitable functions than these.

- So, as now at the expense of the real, serious use of the tablet?

Soon you will learn.

Step 3. Take your places

Please note that this article is not a lesson for drawing, improving its skills, or something like that. The purpose of this is to replenish your knowledge in the field of your Wacom tablet, and help in finding your own style of work on it.

Before you begin, you should know that there are some special differences in graphic drawing, which you must get used to. There are many things that can give you some advantages that are not achieved on paper, so let's look at some of them.

- If you have a tool, squeeze the maximum from it!

Graphic cloths do not have physical restrictions like paper. Nevertheless, they still have physical restrictions in relation to your computer. Try to work on the size of the sizes of several thousand pixels. If you have a computer, PC or Mac, purchased after 2007, you should not have any problems when working with large files until you exhaust 2GB system memory to a possible minimum.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

You should not be afraid to work with pictures of size, say, 5000x3500 pixels. You will be surprised by how little this huge file will be after printing, despite how big it looks on your monitor. But remember that it all depends on the scale - if you draw on a large canvase, reduce the scale of two times and use a thicker brush. And then you will see that the canvas is no longer "deceptive."

- Use layers. But do not overdo it in order not to get lost in them!

Most of the image processing programs, such as Photoshp, Painter, Tool / Sai, Photopaint, and Sketchbook Pro support the ability to work with layers.

Rule number 1 graphic drawing Pershes: Never draw on a layer with a background. The layer with the background is a constant, absolutely opaque layer. You can not place anything under this layer, so the first step that you must do, opening a new file, is to create a new layer on which you will draw. In this case, the lines that you draw will be on a transparent canvas, and you can add other details or colors under this layer if you need to exclude any other action or fill the emptiness. Work on new layers is like an infinite amount of clean fields where you can work. But know that if you use too many layers, you will spend more time to search for the desired layer, instead of spending this time to draw. The clutter of layers can also lead to an incorrect result of the work, which can interrupt all your work.

It is best to adhere to a certain level of simplicity of things. We break your work on the series of basic layers, such as, for example, "sketch", "detail", "light and shadow", "basic colors", etc. It would be nice to teach yourself to add new details on new layers, and only then combine a new layer with one of the base layers, in case you are sure that everything happened as thought. Thus, for example, all draft sketches always reduce to one layer, instead of storing all 10 with different small details on each of them.

The more you use layers, the more you are interested in them. The list of layers in the picture above is one of my most complex paintings. Sometimes, the plugness of the layers is inevitable, and I agree that I probably could have cut 70% of these layers in order to free the space. However, when creating this picture, I did not want to do this. So I had no little time to search for the necessary layers in this Balagan.

Unlike traditional drawing, the layers allow you to group elements of your work so that in the future it is easier to correct errors without damaging other parts of the image. But it can significantly reduce the speed of your work if you do not competently organize your layers. That is why graphic artists must remember about their traditional sensations, and do not forget that the problem area in the picture can be solved, erased it and drawing a detail again, instead of using filters and transformation for "correction" of this problem. And in general, in the graphic world you can wash the problem areas as much as you like and the canvas will not suffer.

Here with such a list (picture above) work is much easier. Such a set of layers allows you to work on the picture more freely, in contrast to the set of small groups with layers.

I advise newbies in the field of graphic drawing to use no more than three layers in their drawings, simply because it will allow you to work more naturally. You will undoubtedly win if you enjoy layers, but do not overdo it with them, otherwise you will lose any connection with the traditional approach to drawing.

Step 4. Drawing Paradise Lesson

:: I'M READY. Teach me some techniques!

Glad to see that you are still with me. Because your training course on the use of your tablet for drawing with pencil and paints begins. Let's start with simple pencil drawing.

- Move the cloth to Peru. Not vice versa.

Your tablet, like your monitor, is only a window. It allows you to work on a certain zone that is a species at a certain point. Therefore, we will experience freely move your cloth. If you need to draw something in the corner of the monitor, do not pick a pen to this corner and do not draw in this limited piece of the web - tighten this part of the web into the monitor center so that you can freely draw on the maximum possible space of your tablet. Working in the center of the monitor, you can make larger lines with your pen, and it facilitates the process of rotating the web, if necessary. That is why the Pan / Scroll Function (PAN / SCROLL) is so important.

Modifier keys are the name of the keys on your keyboard, such as Ctrl, Alt, Cmd, Shift, etc. These keys modify the functions of other keys and even how to operate the tools in the software.

The most important operations of the modifier that you need to know for drawing are united for most image editing programs, and the only modifier that VM needs to know is the SHIFT key.

- SHIFT key: Hold down the SHIFT key with the selected pencil or brush tool, you can get a direct single line. Depending on the initial specified direction line, the SHIFT key will switch to a vertical or horizontal line. Some programs or tools can also switch to 45 degrees. In Photoshop, holding the SHIFT key, you can create a straight line by setting the initial and endpoint. Click in one place, then in the other, and immediately from the first point to the second, the straight line will turn out. This is especially useful feature When creating perspectives in a more free drawing manner, because You can create beautiful straight lines at any angle.

- [and] keys: Although it is not the modifier keys, they need to know. Most of the image processing programs use these two keys as hot keys to change the size of the brush. Especially for drawing a pencil, these keys can be useful to get different lines at different parts of your picture. Use [And] Keys is much easier than opening the properties of the brush every time you need to make changes.

- Be immediately, work quickly, do not be afraid. Everything can be removed.

Work in the chart is cleaner compared to traditional drawing tools, but this does not mean that you must force yourself to create the most ideal work, ever created by people.

If you do not make your idea on the cloth, you will never move in your drawing. You will simply draw and wash one small part that you are trying to insert and the overall picture, and then understand that you cannot continue it, because you do not see this most common picture. Unlike traditional drawing tools, your monitor can simultaneously show so much. During work, you can not always see the picture of the whole, and you can lose sight of how work will look from far away. That is why you must work quickly and not worry because of the little things. Work on a reducible scale, then increase the scale and induce the "cleanliness" when the base lines are ready. You would work so on paper, so in the graphic version you should work in the same way.

Rough sketch. Be immediately, do not worry about outsiders.

Start erased extra when confident in the correctness of the sketch.

Come up with the composition, correct it when everything will be ready.

Later, make something that fits into operation, then delete extra lines. Add details.

- Use scaling to your favor.

When you do clean the cleanliness in your picture, the permissible error will decrease sharply, because You try to make an image more ideal. If you work in a long-scale scale, you will most likely stumble upon some problems in the process of work. You are not far away in your work until you increase the scope of the image and do not finalize small parts.

Wacom tablets are much greater permission than your monitor. This means that when you reduce the scale, the density of the pixel canvase increases. For example, if the image has parameters 1000x1000 pixels, with a 50% scale it will be 500x500 pixels, double the density of each visible pixel. If your tablet has a resolution of 2000x2000 pixels on the active zone, it will still draw with high accuracy, as if you worked on a scale of 100%, even despite the fact that your screen will not be able to display those minor small movements. However, if you continue to reduce the scale, the resolution of the tablet will become much smaller compared to the increasing density of the canvas. Therefore, when you draw in such remote scales, the detail becomes impossible.

That is why you increase the scale when you want to achieve the limit image accuracy. The more you increase your image, the more resolving you have to work as your tablet, giving you a big permissible error - allowing you to read the image more accurately.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

As you see in the picture above, where I tried to draw a circle on different scales, the details of the detected feather movements are lost after 50%.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Image of the left - screenshot of the canvas on a scale of 100%.
The image on the right is a cloth screenshot on a scale of 300%.
If you need to draw pupils in the eyes of this heroine, at what scale would you do it?

Step 5. Drawing lesson with paints

No, here I will not teach you how to draw with paints, to use the color scheme correctly, or something from the kind of composite curriculum. To explain these things, I have created enough other lessons. Everything that I am going to teach you here is spinning around the basic technology that you must master to start mixing and manipulate flowers for drawing.

- Know how modifier keys can help you draw.

As before, there are also specific useful modifier keys for painting. One of them you must remember is the Alt key, or Option, as it is called on Mac computers.

- Key Alt: When holding the ALT key when the brush or any other color tool is selected, this tool is replaced by a pipette (Eyedropper). This is the most useful function ALT when painting paints, because It allows you to quickly pick up the color and use it for mixing with a nearby color. You can think about the Alt key as a key that allows you to "wrap up" with a brush with new tones created when two colors are applied. The more you use the Alt key to select colors in the intermediate areas, the more these shades are mixed, smoothly flow into each other. You, of course, can use Alt to select new, unmasled colors from the canvas to use them somewhere else. If you draw paints, the Alt key is simply required to be on the express panel. Especially because almost all image processing programs use this modifier with this function.

- Use push for opacity and low opacity for mixing colors.

Most of the image processing programs with pressure function can adjust the brush so that when you press the feather more stronger, the lines became more dense, in order to become wide.

In Photoshop, this setting is easiest to find in the Other (Other) section on the Brush Settings panel. (Although, in the CS5 version, this section was renamed to transfer (Transfer), so taking into account this if you have CS5.) When opacity jitter is installed on the Pen Pressure position, you will see that if you press On the pen is easy, the lines will be obtained with light, translucent, and stronger impact on the pen gives solid thick lines. I would advise you to disable the section called the shape dynamics (Shape Dynamics) during drawing, because You will not need the lines along with it becomes easier, also narrowed at the ends. This opacity setting can be applied to any type of brushes, and it can be easily used to it, so try and see how it makes it easier to mix colors. Note: In some programs, the opacity is called density (DENSITY).

Now that your lines have a certain level of transparency, apply some paint on the cloth and select another paint that you will draw on top of it. You will notice that the colors are mixed, because Clear through each other. Changing Press on the pen can help you control such things like gradation and volume of items. When you pick up a new color from the intermediate zone that you just have been processed, you can use this new color with low opacity to even more mix the paints on a given area and create a form.

1) In this figure it is clear that we begin with a simple cut, where two walls and gender converge. One wall is yellow, the second - gray, gender is also gray.

We are going to draw light on this object falling from the source, and apply to the shadows appropriately.

2) At the next stage, I used the alt key to select the gray floor with a pipette and flash it a little. I crushed this color a small area on the floor to create the visibility of the incident shadow.
Similarly, I picked up the yellow color of the wall and darkened it a little to draw the continuation of the shadow.

The second article of the short cycle of Materials Alexei Dovgul about graphic tablets talks about the intricacies of the configuration of the newly acquired unit. Do you think it's enough to stick it into the computer? It was not here!

Of course, we all love, buying some new job, immediately connect it and see how it works. Well, if it takes a driver, however, graphics tablets in most cases are recognized by the system as a mouse and immediately begin to work. The inexperienced retoucher will not immediately detect a catch, because the tablet will work, although incorrectly. The fact is that the feather will work as a mouse, and not from the edge to the edge, as a tablet (that is, the extreme points on the tablet correspond to the extreme points on the screen).

• Therefore, before working with the tablet, install the Fresh Driver from the manufacturer's website - the driver in the kit may be outdated due to changes model Row and updates operating systems- Reboot and only then proceed to work. If you already have a driver, it will not be superfluous to check the settings.

I will celebrate only important items.

Check in the Mapping section, whether Mode-Pen is set: in this case, the pen will work as a pen, and not as a mouse.

In the Screen Area drop-down list, if you work with one monitor, you should put FULL, and if you choose a really working monitor (not the one you watch the TV shows, and the one on which opens Photoshop), for example, let's call it Monitor 1. Otherwise, both monitor will be involved on the surface of the tablet, which will significantly change the proportions and, most importantly, will significantly reduce the convenience of work.

Wrong

Right

Tick \u200b\u200bforce Proportions also put - this will allow you to maintain the right proportions, that is, if you draw a circle on the tablet, then on canvas you will also have a circle, not an ellipse.

Tablet Area - Full, but if you are tired to work on a huge tablet, you can reduce the dimensions at your discretion (Portion).

Let's configure the keys: in the Tool panel, select Functions and open the Express Keys section.
If you are working with two monitors, the first thing you need is to configure the switching function between Display Toggle monitors.

And set the order of monitors in the Display Toggle section. However, if you really are on the second monitor just watch the TV shows, then remove the checkbox from the second monitor - one pressing the key will be less.

If you work with one monitor, do not try to find this menu - it appears automatically as soon as you connect to the second monitor.

We continue to configure Express Keys.
What can you hang on Express Keys on the tablet?

1. Modifiers (ALT, COMMAND, SHIFT).
2. Keystrokes.
3. Actions in Photoshop.
4. Switch Applications.
5. UNDO / REDO.
6. Application Hotkeys.
7. Tools in Photoshop and Lightroom.
8. Open Apps, for example Lightroom or Photoshop.

As an example, create a couple of settings for these keys. If you try to use the keyboard less in your work, then you will be useful to configure the Undo function. Select the keystroke function in Express Keys and set the CMD + Option + Z keys combination or in Windows Ctrl + Alt + Z.

Now you have the opportunity to cancel the latest actions in Photoshop, as far as the resource of your History is enough.

The second setup is one of my favorite, this is an Express Key for Action in Photoshop. To begin with, I will create an Action in Photoshop - I will take it for an example any, only to demonstrate its work - and fix the hotkey F2 behind it. I use many different Actions, for example, the frequency decomposition with a specific radius, the fusion of all layers, creating a layer for working with Dodge & Burn, Color Correction Layer, and all of them, depending on the type of activity, fix in Express Keys.

In this way, you can add several Express Keys, for example, Frequency Separation and Merge Visible, in order to quickly lay out and fold a photo while retouching, without resorting to the keyboard help.

The next thing I would like to tell, is Touch Ring (there is only in the professional line models), a ring that allows you to change the size of the brush, zoom and much more that you yourself will come up with. To do this, move to the Touch Ring section.

Usually I create only two settings, Zoom and Brush Size, and the rest exhibit SKIP.
Zoom offered by Wacom settings, I like more than if I set hotkeys from PhotoShop - CMD + / CMD through Keystroke, as it works smoothly. But meanwhile Rotation in Photoshop (HotKey R) I like more than the Rotate function in the Wacom settings. Try, and you will understand what I mean.

Set the Brush Size setting, it will greatly help you when retouching and drawing parts.

Pick up the speed of the brush size. I have such a setting.

If your tablet has the Touch function, turn it off! The fact is that when you draw any detail or, even worse, allocate anything, then when the touch function is turned on, the brush of your hand, in which you hold Grip Pen, can be recognized as some gesture and spoil You work. Most often, the function recognizes movement as zoom or moving around the canvas. In general, you decide to you.

The following setting is extremely important - this is a GRIP PEN sensitivity setting. On the tablets of the professional line there is the opportunity to adjust the sensitivity to pressing the pen more thin.

The first thing to start setting is Click Threshold, a parameter that allows us to exclude the impact of random touch. For example, you thought about the eternal and accidentally touched on the tablet's pen at the time of allocation of magnetic Lasso, and your selection ended prematurely or even dropped. So that this situation does not occur, this parameter exists, Click Threshold.

Relax your hand and allow Peru to touch the surface of the tablet under the weight of the hand on the TRY HERE test field. Appeared point? If so, then we shift the Threshold parameter further to the right. Appears? Not? Excellent, then this is your parameter cut-off of the pen.

The following parameter is MAX Pressure, it is responsible for the level of maximum pressure on the pen rod. If you feel that when working with the tablet, your hand is tired or the rod is very erased, it is necessary to move this parameter to the left, which will reduce pressure on the pen.

For example, consider two options made with the same pressure on the pen:

• Default pressure.

• Shift point maximum pressure.

To configure this parameter, you must test the comfortable position of the maximum point, in which you turn out the maximum result without excessive pressure on the pen.

The following parameter is Sensitivity, it is responsible for how sensitively the pen to your pressure. I love to change this parameter depending on what work I do. For example, if I need to quickly draw the shadow in the photo, then I increase the sensitivity, and if you need to perform quite thin and accurate work, then I carry the sensitivity to the average value.
Here are two examples with the same pressure and different settings; I think the difference is obvious.

But if you do not have a professional model of the tablet, then only one pressure regulator is available to you. However, you should not despair, because, as my many years of experience has shown, everything is in your hands!

Well, the last setting I would like to mention is the customization of the buttons on the re. I myself do not use the buttons on Pere in principle, and my main pen is generally without buttons, however, the colleagues, which I trust, claim that it is convenient to configure one button to the Hand tool (Key Space in Photoshop) or PAN / SCROLL, and the other - on the Undo command (CMD + Option + Z).

By the way, the Tilt Sensitivity parameter for retouching does not matter, since we do not use brushes that would support the angle of inclination.

Some brief summary will not, because customization on that and customization is all purely individually. In order to understand which of the settings it will be more convenient for you, it is necessary to test the work of the tablet in various conditions and in various types of work. So try!