Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Technique 12: Using Tablets and Pressure-Sensitive Devices

Save Time By

Choosing a tablet

Configuring stylus settings

Practicing with your tablet

Whether you’re a Photoshop professional or hobbyist, you may find yourself wishing, at times, for a better or easier input device than a mouse. Some folks that I’ve spoken with consider drawing with a mouse like trying to draw with a chunk of wood or a bar of soap. A drawing tablet and pen (also called a stylus) can be an answer for those artists who want a more reality-based drawing experience. (See Figure 12-1.) Using a tablet and stylus feels much closer to sketching with a tra-ditional pencil or pen than using a mouse on a mouse pad does.

Figure 12-1: A drawing tablet and stylus can easily double your output and increase the overall speed and quality of your Photoshop work.

A drawing tablet and stylus can be used anytime that you need to perform some type of painting or stroking. This includes using any of the brush tools, Dodge and Burn tools, Eraser tools, Pen tools, Stamp tools, Healing Brush and Patch tools, and selection tools. (Did I miss anything?) As you can see, virtually every tool can be used when drawing or editing with a stylus.

Another feature of a tablet and stylus is the pressure sensitivity that enables you to draw more realistically. With different strokes, you can create lines that are thicker or thinner, more opaque or translucent, depending on the amount of pressure that you use as you drag the stylus across the tablet.

But, before you go off and buy a tablet, take one out for a test drive. Find a friend who has a tablet, bring some coffee and muffins, and doodle for an hour. Or go to your local computer store and check out the tablet display. Don’t expect great results right from the start when drawing with a stylus. The feel is different from a traditional pencil on paper. Although the stylus feels more like a traditional pen or pencil, the tablet doesn’t feel like paper. Artists who are used to working with traditional media will need to get used to this. You need to practice and practice, and then practice some more to find out how you like to work with a tablet, what brush settings you like, how hard you like to press, and many other factors.

When buying a tablet, one big question is which one? Several tablet manufacturers exist, including AIPTEK, GTCO CalComp Inc., Summagraphic, and Wacom. Most of these include Windows and Mac drivers, but some only include Windows drivers (sorry Mac users). The best known of these com-panies is Wacom. Wacom’s tablets are generally considered the best artistic input devices because of

their added levels of sensitivity (1024 compared to other manufacturers’ 512) and their tilt capabilities. (When you’re drawing with a Wacom stylus, the width of the stroke can vary depending on the angle or tilt at which you hold the pen.) Also, all Wacom tablets are Windows and Mac compatible. However, pick a tablet based on your needs and your pocketbook. Super-sensitivity may not be something you need, and a $130 tablet is a lot less expensive than one that sells for $549.

Another question that comes up when considering tablets is which size should you buy? Tablets come in a range of sizes including 4 x 5, 6 x 8, 9 x 12, and 12 x 18 inches. Consider the type of work that you do, how big your strokes tend to be when drawing, and the size of your monitor. If you have a small monitor and buy a large tablet, you’ll be all over the monitor in no time; or if you have a large monitor and buy a small tablet, you may find that you use up the tablet area before you’ve touched half the available monitor area. I have a 21-inch monitor and use a 9-x-12-inch tablet. They work together really well. Most of the time, I don’t use the entire tablet area, but when I get painting, my strokes can get quite large and I don’t run out of room on the bigger tablet.

When you’re editing and working on images in Photoshop, hours can go by like nothing. (You may at some point think, “Wait a minute! I’m sure I looked at the clock only a few minutes ago, but the clock says it’s been two hours!”) Cricks in the neck and aching arms are standard territory for many graphic artists. Some people use a stylus instead of a mouse because of arm fatigue or carpal tunnel syndrome. Instead of having to move the cursor by dragging a mouse around, you can just point and tap. This avoids the excessive wrist and arm mousing motions that can lead to pain.