REVIEW: Wacom Intuos Pro Professional Pen & Touch Tablet

Wacom Intuos Pro Professional Pen & Touch Tablet (Medium)

I’ve been using Wacom tablets since before the Intuos line came out, but it wasn’t until the Intuos 3 that I really started to love them. However, there’s one feature that has been included in my last couple of review units that never quite worked the way I hoped it would – WIRELESS!

If you own one of these tablets prior to the Intuos 5 with the wireless kit, you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about – especially on Windows. The tablet worked great when it was plugged in – but the wireless? Yeah, that was a feature that was cool when it worked, but that was a rare event based on my past experience. Since I review a lot of products and pollute my system with a lot of third party software, I figured it was just my machine being flaky. However, when I talk to Intuos owners about the new tablet the first thing we start talking about is the unreliability of the wireless in previous generations.

Now it’s my understanding that the Intuos 5, which I didn’t own, had the wireless kit that kicked off the improvements. However, as someone coming from a Intuos 4 Wireless the differences are huge!

The new version seems to have learned from the mistakes of the past and has moved away from the unreliable BlueTooth design to a new WiFi design that works like a typical wireless mouse or keyboard where you attach a dongle to your USB port. While it does stink to lose a USB port, the reward is that this is rock solid reliable wireless based on my testing. Even on my sometimes quirky machine, it’s been rock solid for more than a month without a single failure – even on Windows!

So my first comment about this tablet has to be “it’s the one where wireless REALLY works”!!! Beyond that reality, you get a tablet that performs in a manner that is similar to its predecessor. The drawing area is roughly the same size, and the number of buttons and wheel are the same. The medium tablet I use is roughly 5% larger than its predecessor and it’s a little heavier, but the buttons are nicely spaced out and it gains a big new feature – touch.

In this new era of touch everywhere devices, one place where things were a bit clunky with pen tablets was that there was no mechanism for doing natural touch gestures like swipe. This new version changes that by allowing you to use a toggle button to change the behavior of the tablet from a pen writing surface to a touch pad – much like you get with the built-in touch pad on a Macbook Pro. While I’d still rather a touch screen for those activities, the best displays on the market for photographers (at the time of this writing) do not support touch. As a result you are forced to choose between touch or a high quality display, so this new tablet bridges that gap.

Perhaps my only gripe about this new tablet over its predecessor is that it loses the LED labels that were used on the previous version to tell you what functionality you had assigned to your buttons. I REALLY liked that feature, so I’m pretty bummed that it has been removed. Aside from that, everything seems to be as good as or better than its predecessor. I do like the space between buttons again (they were butted together on the previous version), and the surface has  a more tactile feel to better support touch. These features with rock solid wireless have made this my favorite Wacom tablet yet!

Video

Here’s a short video overview of this tablet:

If you are new to Wacom tablets, check out this video and others on YouTube.

Conclusion

If you are happy with your existing Intuos 4 tablet or greater and don’t require wireless or touch support, then there’s probably no reason to upgrade. If you have the 5 and the wireless kit, it’s my understanding that you only get an improved button layout so there’s probably no reason to upgrade either.

Now, if you are coming from any older version or a Bamboo, then this is a nice upgrade that is worthy of consideration – especially if you like using touch and/or wireless.

I’ve tried the various sizes and Medium has always worked best for me. Your mileage may vary, but I always encourage people to start with a Medium and if you are dissatisfied after using it for a week then work with your reseller to get an alternate size (B&H is good at taking returns and doing exchanges).

I’ve been a long time user of Wacom tablets and HIGHLY recommend them for doing photo editing work like using the healing brush, creating complex masks, HDR, dodge & burn, painting, etc… Even if you have a good touch screen, nothing replaces the Wacom for photo editing in Photoshop (and it’s pretty darn handy in Lightroom if you use the adjustment brush). It’s just so much more easy and natural than using a mouse, and you get used to them REALLY quick to the point that you can’t live without them. This reliable wireless design also makes it easy to take it on the road with your laptop when you travel too!

TIP: Try as I may, I personally still prefer using a mouse for my mouse work and the pen for my pen work. Some people can do both, but I mention this for those who get a new tablet and find themselves frustrated when trying to use it as a mouse. It’s not a binary decision – you can use both together quite well – or just one – it’s your choice. I’ve used my tablet with touch screens, Windows and MacBook Pro based systems and all have complemented the pen tablet very well without conflicting with each other.

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order on the B&H web site. My friends at Amazon have it available here.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Wacom Intuos 4 Review
• REVIEW: Wacom Cintiq 13HD
• NEC PA242W Monitor Review (PA241W & PA271W Review)
• NEC PA302W Monitor Review (PA301W Review)
• Choosing The Right Display Calibration Device

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. At my request, Wacom has provided me with a tablet to review for this article.

REVIEW: Wacom Cintiq 13HD

Cintiq 13HD 13.3" Interactive Pen Display

For the past month I’ve been using a Cintiq 13HD 13.3" Interactive Pen Display. Previously I had been using the Wacom Intuos 4, and I was a Intuos 3 user before that.

Like many, I was excited about the idea of having a display built into the tablet because I thought it would be great for editing images. It seemed like a brilliant idea, so I was excited when my review unit arrived.

During my testing I tried it both with a MacBook Pro (pre-ThunderBolt) and my Windows 7 based Alienware Aurora systems. I started off by doing a calibration as the default picture quality on the display was terrible.

Overall I found the setup and ease of use on the Mac to be very good. Things just worked for the most part, but on Windows the drivers didn’t seem to be very good. Despite downloading the latest driver off the web, my Drobo Pro connected via iSCSI stopped working when I installed the tablet driver. Over a month later I haven’t been able to figure out what it did, so I’ve had to resort to using my Drobo in the very slow USB mode.

I eventually got it working on my PC, but it certainly was less stable than my Intuos 4 (in USB mode).

Overall Impressions

It’s times like this that I’m glad that I can review products because this is one that I found to be very disappointing. Perhaps it is because I use a Asus Zenbook with a touch screen as my daily work laptop, but I found the display both lacking in color depth and the touch performance to be mediocre. The pictures always show vivid images, but the viewing angle of this device isn’t very good so you have to be looking at it fairly head on to get the best picture quality.

Another practical oddity that you never think about until you own one these is that you can’t just drag your pen to objects on your other displays. You must first tap a display toggle button, otherwise your pen is locked to the Cintiq or your other displays. While this logically makes sense, in practice I found it hard to get used to.

Ironically I found that I didn’t really like running Photoshop on the Cintq because on the Mac the toolbar would default to the non Citique display so I kept having to toggle back and forth between displays to use the menu. While I could move the Mac’s menu to the Cintiq, that isn’t where I wanted it for all of my other apps.

Windows applications are self contained so they worked much better with the Cintq, but the tiny display was too small to host all of Photoshop. As a result, I found myself leaving the main app on one display and dragging just the window to the Cintq. This lead me with the Mac problem where I had to toggle to switch my cursor back and forth between the Citniq and my other displays. This was too cumbersome and annoying.

Perhaps the most shocking discovery was that for precise photo editing, the small display was challenging to use and my hands kept getting in the way. Sure, I could do nice demos of how things work but in practice I hated editing photos directly on the Citniq display. This lead me to use the Cintiq as a regular tablet, rather than something I can edit with.

Conclusion

Due to the previously obscene prices of the Cintiq’s, I never bothered to buy one and I couldn’t get one to review. After being used to Retina iPad’s, iPhone’s, and Windows 8 touch devices my bar about what I expect from a color display and touch screen is high. The Cintiq display failed to meet those expectations. It felt a bit like an outdated display with only pen technology to control it when my fingers were expecting to be able to do both touch and pen (like a Samsung Note or Windows Surface Pro).

I’m sure there will be fan boys who scream bloody murder at my review, and there’s probably sketch artist who will appreciate the Cintiq’s more than me. However, I ended up either not using it, or using it only as a tablet during a portion of my review period.

My advice is to save your money and get a Wacom Intuos 5. You’ll get pen performance that is roughly the same as the Cintiq, but you’ll have money to buy a good display like the NEC PA Series. This is basically what I’m doing now, but I anxiously await the near future when all my displays have capacitive touch support so the Cintiq won’t make any sense. Even today, a device like the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix gives you a touch display that is better than a Cintiq with a tablet & laptop included for only a few hundred dollars more.

Where to order

Click here to order the Cintiq 13HD 13.3" Interactive Pen Display at B&H web site, or go for the Wacom Intuos 5 instead.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Wacom Intuos 4 Review
• Choosing The Right Display Calibration Device
• NEC PA Series Monitors
• NEC PA242W

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

I was provided with a loaner tablet which I returned after publishing this article.

Screaming B&H Deals & New Cameras IN STOCK!

B&H is doing some screaming deals and some of the hottest new cameras are in stock and on sale. B&H will be closed from Monday, March 25th in the observance of Passover and will reopen on Wednesday, April 3rd at 9:00AM EDT. Place your order by 12:00PM Noon EDT on Sunday, March 24th in order to ship before the Holiday. 

Announcement

Wacom Cintiq 13HD 13.3" Interactive Pen Display

New & IN STOCK Announcements from B&H

B&H has just got some of the hottest cameras in stock, so if you are interested then place your order ASAP to get them before they close for the extended holiday!

Nikon D7100 DSLR Camera (Body Only) IN STOCK

Fujifilm X20 Digital Camera (Black) IN STOCK

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 (Black) IN STOCK

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Lens for Nikon IN STOCK

Vello Auto Extension Tube Set for less than $56!!!! (Canon & Nikon)

6% Rewards PLUS Instant Rebates

Click here to get a 6% reward on the following products:

• Nikon D4, D800, D800E & D600 (includes special D600 bundle with bag & WiFi!)
• Canon EOS-1D X
• Sony SLT-A99

Sale – SAVE $4000!!!!

Hasselblad H4D-40 Medium Format DSLR Camera - Save $4000!!!

Rebates Expiring THIS MONTH

Sony 16GB SDHC Memory Card Class 10 UHS-I - 2-Pack ONLY $18.95!!!
Expires March 23, 2013

Sony Rebates

 

SALE Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro Notebook Computer with Retina Display - ONLY $1,366.06
Compare with Apple Store!!!!

 

***WARNING****

Place your order by 12:00PM Noon EDT on Sunday, March 24th in order to ship before the Holiday.  B&H will be closed from Monday, March 25th in the observance of Passover and will reopen on Wednesday, April 3rd at 9:00AM EDT.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these reviews:

• Nikon D4
• Nikon D600 (vs Canon 5DM3 & 6D)
• Nikon D800
• Canon 1D X (Real World Usage)
• Which camera should I buy?
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Wacom Intuos 4 Wireless Digital Tablet–vs– Wacom Intuos 3 (2011 Edition by Ron Martinsen)

In March of 2009, my friend David Pitcher did a guest blog article entitled Wacom Intuos 4 –vs- Wacom Intuos3 and 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer combination that has been a very popular.

Until recently I was still using my Intuos 3, so I couldn’t comment about the Intuos4, so I had little reason to update it. While I had heard good things about the Intuos4, I had two medium Intuos3 tablets and saw little reason to upgrade.

Recently I upgraded to the Intuos4 wireless and now I’m kicking myself for waiting for so long!

Out of Box First Impression

The first thing I noticed about the Intuos4 over my Intuos3, is that it “just worked”. My Intuos3 would just stop working – a lot, so I’d have to shake my Wacom mouse with the pen tracking it to get it to work again. I also had some apps by Topaz Labs, onOne Software, ColorByte ImagePrint, and more that simply wouldn’t let me click certain objects with my Wacom – I had to use a separate mouse. This left me frustrated, so I only used it for fine detail work in Photoshop. 

When working in Photoshop, my Intuos3 worked well most of the time (more so on the Mac than the PC), but when it failed it was frustrating. My Intuos4 hasn’t had any of the aforementioned issues and feels much more precise. As a result, I find myself using it MUCH more. 

Where’s the Mouse?

One thing I was very disappointed about with the wireless tablet was the absence of a mouse, as I used the Wacom mouse on my Intuos3 nearly full-time. I find right-clicking with stylus (3 or 4) to be maddening, so I want a mouse. I now have to resort to plugging in a separate mouse presumably because Wacom engineers realized that the 4 is so much better than the 3 that you wouldn’t use the mouse. That's not the case for me, but I do find myself using the Intuos4 pen 90% of the time for “mouse activities”, rather than being “just” a Photoshop brush in the past.

Some say give up the mouse for a week and you’ll never go back, but I just haven’t had luck with that process. I want my mouse.

Whew, thank goodness there’s still a wire option

My primary PC where I do most of my work is getting a bit old. As a result its bluetooth support is sketchy at best, so I find myself just leaving the Intuos4 plugged in all of the time. On my MacBook Pro it works great so I used it wirelessly most of the time and only connect it to charge. I’m really happy for this design (versus just requiring a battery change), as it allows me to use the power source  of my choice.

Living with the Intuos4

After I got settled in with 4, I immediately fell in love with the new controls. I never, ever, used the side buttons on the Intuos3 as I could never remember what they did (especially since it could change from product to product). Now I find myself using the hand button a long so I can scroll (which used to be a mouse only thing for me), and the touch ring works beautifully in Photoshop. I also really appreciate the help for more details about how my tablet is currently configured.

David Pitcher’s guest blog article entitled Wacom Intuos 4 –vs- Wacom Intuos3 and 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer combination did a great job of explaining what all of the controls do, so I won’t repeat that here. I will say that in practice I mostly just use the touch ring, the hand button, and the help most often.

Smaller size isn’t a problem

One of my concerns about reviewing this unit is that I was coming from a medium Intuos3 which had a much larger work surface area. The surface of the Intuos4 wireless is 5x8” (12.7 x 20.3cm) versus 6.25" x 10.67" (158.8 x 271.0mm) for my Intuos3, so I expected to really feel boxed in. However, for photo editing this hasn’t been an issue as the improved edge to edge support (even in my complex dual screen setup with landscape and portrait orientation displays) has worked flawlessly. I don’t find myself picking up my pen and re-centering it as I did with the Intuos3, so it’s been easier for me to hit my targets on the first try. It just subconsciously feels much better.

People doing freehand drawing might prefer the larger surface or the Cintiq, but for photography this size hasn’t been a problem at all. With that said, for my dual display configuration, I wouldn’t want to go smaller than this size.

Wireless vs Wired

Personally I’ve found that I prefer to keep the tablet on my desk instead of my lap for photography editing. I’m not twisting my tablet around like someone who would be drawing would do, so I don’t think wireless is necessary for me. Bluetooth was so buggy on my older Windows system that I just gave up, and on the Mac I still found myself keeping it in one spot with it wired up.

The beauty here is that if you can afford the wireless version you can have the best of both worlds, which is why I decided to go for this design. If I ever have a need or desire to go wireless, I can. If I don’t, I can just stay wired. If you want to save a little money though, you can consider getting the medium wired version.

Other Benefits

Lefties will rejoice at the new design and lap users will appreciate the lighter weight in addition to the lack of wires. These improvements along with the great controls and precision make it a real pleasure to use.

Conclusion

Now that I’m used to my Intuos4, I’m struggling to use my 3 at my second office. I’m going to have to get another 4 as I can’t live without its reliability, precision, and wonderful side controls. These suckers are expensive, but they are totally worth it once you add it to your photography editing workflow.

If you have an Intuos3, I give my highest recommendation on upgrading to the Intuos4 – it’s totally worth it! Wireless or not and size are personal preferences, but a medium wireless is a safe bet for most.

If you don’t have a tablet, then I strongly urge you to get one if you use Photoshop. It just makes life so much easier when doing masks, healing, cloning, etc…. At the very least you should order it from B&H and try it out. You can always return it if you aren’t sure about it, but odds are you wouldn’t dream of returning it.

Click here to buy your Intuos4 now and support this blog while you are at it – it doesn’t cost you a penny. You can also click here to learn more on Wacom’s website.

Further Reading

David Pitcher’s guest blog article entitled Wacom Intuos 4 –vs- Wacom Intuos3 and 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer combination is a great read as well.

Disclosure

Wacom provided me with an evaluation tablet to review, and I may make a commission if you make purchases using  links in this article.

Wacom Intuos 4 (Medium) & Lightroom for only $399 from B&H

B&H has made a special offer for reader of this blog where you can get a medium Wacom Intuos 4 tablet and the full version of Lightroom 3 for only $399!

Click here to take advantage of this offer!

Holiday Gear Guide 2010 - Part II of II (B&H)

B&H Gear Guide

The following are products found on B&H’s web site in special collections created exclusively for ronmartblog.com readers. You’ll notice some items are offered at their lowest price of the year thanks to instant rebates and price drops only offered during the holiday season. Stock up and enjoy from the following categories:

Cameras, Lenses & Flashes ($5200 – $370)*

70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM – Lowest Price of 2010!!!

If I won the lottery I’d own everything on this list! Items that I do own from it which have been reviewed on this blog are:

• Canon 1D Mark IV – In my opinion this is the best camera Canon has ever made and its really the only camera gear purchase I’ve made where I’ve never had buyers remorse – not even more a minute!
• Canon 5D Mark II – This camera has redefined videography and Hollywood, but I don’t have time for video. I love it for the great camera it is and find myself using it every time I can use a tripod and for select photo shoots. See my Photographer’s Notebook and notice how many times it shows up as the camera of choice. I use the 1D Mark IV more, but I seem to capture the shots I care about the most with this one.
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM – From the moment I first used it at the Olympics (as discussed in the link) I was blown away, and even now I am amazed that a lens this good is this inexpensive. I know that sounds nuts given how much it cost – especially compared to its predecessor, but it’s hard to find a piece of glass from Canon that can outperform it on sharpness, image stabilization (IS) and AF performance – at any price level (including primes).
• Canon G12 and S95 – Honestly both are great cameras. I chose the G12 because it meets my needs well but if my wife had the final say so she’d take the S95 for its wonderful form factor. You can’t go wrong with either.

Printers & Paper ($2145 – $15)*

My printing series has been a huge hit so my guide wouldn’t be complete without some recommendations. There’s tons of great products out there and I wish I could feature more, but this is great start for printer and paper choices. Here’s a list of what I own and/or reviewed up to this point on the blog (and many more articles are still to come):

• Canon iPF6300 – It’s probably due to the wide format, but as it stands right now this is my favorite printer – period. I love the image quality and the user-friendliness of it is second to none. Its companion the 6350 is identical in performance but offers a hard drive for caching, so you can’t go wrong with either. The iPF8300 isn’t listed simple because I haven’t used one enough to recommend it, but it’s hard to store such a beast so for most this is as big as you’ll ever want to get.
• Epson Stylus® Pro 3880 – This thing rocks and I’ve included the 4900 in my list as the only things lacks on this printer (by design) are all available on the 4900. Sure, I’d probably love a Stylus® Pro 7900 just as much, but I’m living with the Canon iPF6300 so it is hard for me to imagine something better than it at this point. This is a great desktop printer and if you can afford it then do like all of the print masters I’ve interviewed and keep a 17” on your desk for those times when the big beasts are just too much for the job.
• Epson Exhibition Fiber – This paper just rocks plain and simple, so if you own an Epson you owe it to yourself to put your best work on this paper (but feel free to do your test prints on Luster!). It’s also a fantastic paper for Epson’s Advanced Black & White Mode. It works with Canon papers too if you are willing to waste a bunch building a media configuration file for it. That’s expensive, but worth it since Canon’s Polished Rag has been in limited supply lately. My other favorite Epson Signature Worthy papers are featured as well – I love them all!
• Canon Papers – All of the Canon papers listed are my favorites but I just haven’t had time to do formal reviews yet. They are coming so if you want a sneak peek into the future reviews, this is it!

Computer Products ($4239 – $50)*

Lenovo W701ds

People are always asking me for computer advice and they are surprised when I tell them that much of my work is done on my Lenovo or Apple laptops. I only use laptops with desktop caliber performance so you can rest assured that my recommendations are suitable for those 500MB Photoshop files I seem to find myself creating every time I image files these days. They are expensive, but they are machines that offer no compromises over the desktop so you can have a great experience no matter where you are in the world. Here’s my computer recommendations as well as my monitor, digital tablet, and a couple DVD & book recommendations:

• Lenovo W701ds – This is the best photographers machine on the market – period. I love it and have managed to keep my loaner for another few months as I can’t bear the thought of parting with it. Sure my Mac (featured in the list as well) is smaller and sexier, but it’s a toy by comparison to this phenomenal machine.
• NEC PA Series Displays – I first started mentioning this display in my Douglas Dubler interview and have been raving about them ever since I got mine. I’ll be doing a review in the future of both the 24 & 27” models as well as their accessories (included on the list).
• Wacom Intuos 4 – I love my Intuos 3, but I lust for the 4 (this is on my wishlist too). I’ve used it and my guest blog article about it has been a popular one all year long.
• The Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers – I have reviewed and loved The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers as well as the CS3 version and it’s a staple on my What Photoshop Books Should I Read? article. I have the CS5 version and am reading it but haven’t had time to finish & review it yet, so I wanted to let people know this is a must own book.

Color Management Products ($1850 – $99)*

GTI PDV-2020EX

With the exception of the i1IO table for which I long for, these are products that are on my desk as I write this and that I use to improve my work. Here’s the ones featured in reviews on this blog:

• i1XTreme – For those who are passionate about color management.
• GTI PDV-2020EX – I love this device and have yet to meet someone who hasn’t been blown away by how great it is to view your work in this box (and that includes well over 200 people who have seen my box in real life)
• X-Rite ColorMunki – This is the best value in town and works great. I know it is a little more expensive than non-spectro versions, but this is something that anyone who cares about their print quality should own at a minimum (with the i1XTreme being the step up). I’ll also be covering the ColorChecker Passport soon too!

Memory Cards & Readers ($90 – $33)*

Lexar Professional ExpressCard
CompactFlash Reader

When I did my “Is a faster Compact Flash card worth the extra money?” article at the Olympics I burned my bridges with SanDisk and don’t expect to hear from them ever again. Why? Because they didn’t like me telling you the truth – despite the hoopla on Rob Galbraith’s web site, the reality is that many people only care about the performance of their memory cards in their camera as that is when performance can mean the difference between getting the shot or not. Using the fastest camera’s in the business – the D3s and 1D Mark IV (both in my guide) I proved that you really don’t get any benefit from the fastest cards. It’s also common for people to not have a reader on their computer that can keep up with the latest cards, so there’s a much better value to be found in the middle of the road cards which I’ve featured on my list – they will perform faster than your camera can buffer its data and they aren’t insanely expensive. I also tossed in my favorite ExpressCard reader which is the fastest CF reader I’ve ever used and can transfer data at speeds near its claimed 133MB/sec when writing to a fast SSD drive.

Accessories ($200 – $18)*

Sennheiser MKE 400 Compact
Video Camera Shotgun Microphone

This is just a collection of things that don’t fit in any of the other categories, yet I own and can’t live without. I demonstrate the Digital Target in my ExpoDisc review (which I also recommend) and I have a very old review of the Hoodman Loupe that still basically applies.  The shotgun microphone shown is at the top of my wish list as my audio sucks in my videos and this is the perfect solution!

* = Prices as of 11/23/2010 and may include mail-in rebates. Prices subject to change without notice and are provided simply as an approximate range.

Don't forget it is Instant Rebate Season!

and B&H has it’s own special offers too:

Conclusion

I appreciate B&H for helping me out here to bring you all of this info in these customized web pages and check back often as I may be tweaking them as we go for some last minute additions! I do not recommend products I do not love, so if you see it in this series then you can rest assured that I’d feel confident giving the product as a gift to a close family member or recommending that they spend their hard earned money on these products.

Happy Holidays to everyone of all faiths!

Be sure to visit Part I of Ron Martinsen’s Holiday Gift Guide 2010 on ronmartblog.com for huge savings from great companies like Nik Software, onOne Software, Photomatix, Topaz Software, and more! 

Disclosure

I may get a commission if you make purchase using the links provide in this article. Thanks for supporting this blog by using the links!

REVIEW: Wacom Intuos 4 –vs- Wacom Intuos3 and 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer combination

Intuos 4 Image from Amazon.com

Words and Images by guest blogger - David Pitcher

When Wacom announced their latest pen tablet the Intuos4 I jumped at the chance to upgrade and and hopefully replace the Wacom Intuos3 and 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer combination as the primary hardware tools used for my image editing.

Image Editing Environment

My current environment that I use for image editing is a Windows Vista x64 machine with 8GB of memory and driving two Apple 20" Cinema Displays. I have customized the Photoshop workspace so that I have the menu bar and the tool palette are the only items displayed on the left monitor, the rest of the screen is dedicated to display of the image. The second monitor has all the other common used panels, such as Channels, Layers, Actions, History, and Histogram, opened and expanded.

Primary Display

Secondary Display

Prior to upgrading to the Wacom Intous4, I had a keyboard and mouse sitting on top of the desk and used a sturdy keyboard tray to hold the Wacom Intuos3 6" x 11" tablet and the 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer. After the upgrade, the Intuos4 replaced the Intuos3 and SpaceExplorer.

3DConnexion SpaceExplorer

The key element of the Space Explorer is the controller cap which gives the device ability to control 3 different axis of movement. The controller cap can be pushed forward, backward, left, right, down, pulled up, twisted left or right, and tilted. These movements allow the controller cap to make adjustments to the working area of an image that is being edited in Photoshop. Having the controller cap perform these actions definitely reduces trips to the keyboard and covered the most common repetitive actions taken when editing an image in Photoshop.

Panning Images

The panning feature is an especially nice change compared to holding down the spacebar and moving a mouse all over the desk to pan a large image. I can keep a tablet pen in one hand and pan around the image using the controller to move the image to the place I wanted to edit or review at 100%.

Zooming Images

By pushing down or pulling upward on the controller cap you can control the zoom level of an image. The simplicity of zooming is another of my favorite features and is something I do often while editing an image.

Adjusting Brush Size

The icing on the cake of controller cap feature is that you can twist the cap left or right to make brush size adjustments. No more reaching for the keyboard and tapping the "[" and "]" to increase or decrease the brush size which I do very often when creating masks and doing some dodging and burning.

The Space Explorer also has 15 programmable buttons which you can configure for common Photoshop keyboard shortcuts. I have configured these buttons to perform the following actions:

• - and + buttons mapped to navigate History backward and forward
• L and R buttons mapped to decreasing or increasing Brush Hardness
• Fit button mapped to resize the image to fit the screen
• 2D button mapped to swap Foreground & Background colors
• Shift, Alt, Ctrl buttons remained the default
• 1,2,T,and F buttons were left in their default configuration

The software provided with the SpaceExplorer is easy to install on Windows XP or Vista x64 in conjunction with Photoshop CS3 Extended and CS4 Extended(excluding the 64 bit version). To fully leverage the benefits of the SpaceExplorer, you will need to configure Photoshop to utilize the device by adding a custom keyboard shortcut for the Photoshop Automation menu.

I found the software at first difficult to use and to customize the buttons. I was also not too pleased with the overall reliability of the software under either of the operating systems and either version of Photoshop. Often the controller cap would stop responding to commands while in Photoshop and would require exiting Photoshop and launching the configuration tool again and other times would require a system reboot.

Wacom Intuos3 6" x 11" Pen Tablet

The Intuos3 comes with 4 programmable buttons and a vertical touch strip. Since I had the SpaceExplorer, I rarely used these buttons or the touch strip and kept them at their default configuration of emulation Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Space and Zoom for the touch strip.

The mouse never left the original box and I never thought for a minute about using it; I did not want another device on cluttering up the workspace.

I configured the tablet so that drawing surface was mapped to the same area as my primary image editing monitor. This gave me a 1:1 mapping of the displayed image and the tablet surface area which worked very well for me as far as pen stroke movement compared to the relative area covered on the displayed image. The only downside, was that I needed to use the mouse to activate and change settings of Photoshop panels displayed on the second monitor.

The pen has a two-position rocker switch located on the grip of the pen which you can customize it's functions. I mapped the lower switch position to activate the Photoshop Erase tool while pressed, and mapped the upper switch position to activate the Photoshop Fade Command.

The provided software is easy to install and configuration of the tablet and pen and can easily be reached from the Control Panel. Reliability of the software and drivers was never a problem and always worked as desired. The tablet and pen are fully configurable and functional even with the 64bit version of Photoshop CS4 Extended.

Wacom Intuos4 Large Pen Tablet

The Intuos4 is what I consider a significant upgrade from the Intuos3 series. The difference in the tablet capabilities is not so much the new pen that can detect up to 2048 different levels of pressure, but the inclusion of a programmable touch ring and 8 programmable buttons each with an OLED display.

I was happy with the dimensions of the Intous3 6" x 11" tablet that I had been using and desired to get something about the same size. With the new Intuos4 the sizing options are slightly different and you can select from a small, medium, large and extra large tablet sizes. The Intuos3 6" x 11" fall in between the Intuos4 Medium with an active area of 5.5" x 8.8" and the Intuos4 Large with an active area of 8" x 12.8". I decided to go with the Intuos4 Large since it maintained the same aspect ratio and I did not want to step down to something smaller.

Installing the tablet was no different than the Intuos3 and has the same familiar Wacom configuration interface with a few new tabs added to accommodate the new features. This is includes tabs for the Touch Ring, Display Toggle, and Radial Menus.

I kept the same 1:1 display mapping configuration that I has used with the Intuos3 tablet, so now I had a tablet surface area of 8" x 12.8" mapped to the area of the 20" Apple Cinema Display monitor. The 2" increase is surface was definitely noticeable but did not take long to adjust to. I also decided to keep the same pen configuration that I had before minimizing the amount of new settings that I had to relearn.

I first customized the actions of the 8 buttons included on the tablet which Wacom refers to as "ExpressKeys". There are two groups of 4 buttons with the Touch ring separating the two groups.

ExpressKeys Configuration

Radial Menu

I mapped the first button to the new on-screen Radial Menu feature. I really think this is one of the best features of the new Intuos4. When the Radial Menu is activated, it is displayed on screen centered on the current position of your cursor. The menu consists of 8 individual menu slices that can be configured with predefined tablet features, mapped to custom keystrokes, or a submenu of another 8 menu slices.

I am still experimenting with how I think I would like to configure the Radial Menu, but at the moment have it configured with keyboard shortcuts for the Brush Tool, Gradient Tool, Move Tool, set default foreground and background colors, swap foreground and background colors, move forward and backward thru history, and a submenu for selecting layer/tool opacity.

On-Screen Radial Menu

On-Screen Radial SubMenu of Layer Opacity

Display Toggle

The second button is mapped to the new Display Toggle feature which allows me to change which display the tablet's surface area is mapped to. I found this extremely handy and it has completely eliminated the need to use a mouse while editing an image. I can now easily switch between my primary monitor where the image is displayed and the secondary monitor where all the Photoshop Panels are displayed. With my previous setup there was not an equivalent in functionality.

Precision Mode

The third button is mapped to the new Precision Mode feature which changes the amount of distance the on-screen cursor moves in relation to the pen. With the Precision Mode active you need to move the pen twice the distance to get the same distance covered on the display. This is really helpful when for me when working within very detailed areas of an image and I want to have more precise control of painting masks, or creating selections.

Pan/Scroll

The fourth button is mapped to the new Pan/Scroll feature. By pressing and holding this button down I can use the pen to pan an image around on the screen. This is very helpful when I am working on an image zoomed into 100% or greater. I click the button and move the pen in the direction I want the image to move. This feature is a direct replacement for the SpaceExplorer's panning capability of the controller cap.

Shift/Ctrl/Alt

Buttons 5, 6, and 7 remained at the default setting of keyboard modifiers Shift, Ctrl, and Alt. These keys are commonly used to temporarily alter the behavior of a Photoshop tools.

Show Settings

The eighth button is mapped to the new Show Settings feature which displays on screen the current configuration of the Touch Ring and all 8 buttons. I did not find this as useful as I initially thought it would be and ended up mapping the eight button to a Photoshop keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+0 which adjusts the zoom of an image to "Fit" on screen. This setting replaced the Fit button functionality of the SpaceExplorer.

The Touch Ring consists of an outer touch sensitive ring and an inner toggle button that you can use to select up to four different functions the ring can perform. I elected to configure the Touch Ring so that the first function would allow me to adjust the image zoom level and replaced the SpaceExplorer's zoom feature of the controller cap. The second function I configured so that I could adjust the size of a selected brush, replacing another capability of the SpaceExplorer's controller cap. The third Touch Ring function is configured to change the selected brush hardness. The fourth and final function is configured to cycle thru the Photoshop Blending Modes and is something I do often enough that this saves time and seems to make exploration of these blending modes easier.

Touch Ring Configuration

Conclusion

I am extremely happy with the new Intuos4 and is nice to see Wacom continue creating great quality products. The new Intuos4 has been able to replace all the functionality that I had with the SpaceExplorer, although not as convenient as the SpaceExplorer's controller cap. The stability of the Intuos4 software and the support for CS4 64bit far out weighs the slight differences in convenience. With the new tablet the need for a mouse and keyboard is further reduced and I feel I gain further efficiencies in my Photoshop editing workflow by not having to reach for the keyboard as much and the mouse is never needed.

You can learn more about which size is right for you by using this guide.

You can order one now from Amazon in the following sizes:

• Wacom Intuos4 Small Pen Tablet
• Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet
• Wacom Intuos4 Large Pen Tablet
• Wacom Intuos4 Extra Large Pen Tablet

Wacom announces new Intuos4 Pen Tablet

You can view a quick intro video here, but the main highlight is the new wheel that can replace the functionality of your Logitech SpaceNavigator (handy for fast brush size adjustments in Photoshop). It also features LED’s to display text along side the buttons, and a more sensitive stylus. It can also be flipped so it works for left and right hand users, and its digital LED text will flip for your orientation.

You can learn more about which size is right for you by using this guide.

You can order one now from Amazon in the following sizes:

• Wacom Intuos4 Small Pen Tablet
• Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet
• Wacom Intuos4 Large Pen Tablet
• Wacom Intuos4 Extra Large Pen Tablet