Getting Started with Your Tablet
So how do you start practicing with a tablet? When you consider how many brushes and brush settings are available, it can be a bit overwhelming.Simple is best. Select a medium-size brush — say about 20 pixels in diameter, with a hardness setting of 100 percent. Stick to black and white for now. Create a new white canvas by choosing File>New, and then doodle! Draw circles and rectangles, and get a feel for how the stylus moves on the tablet surface.After you get comfortable using a simple brush, start experimenting with the brush combinations in the Brushes palette. Many settings use pressure sensitivity and pen tilt to shape brush strokes. I discuss creating brushes and selecting pressure-sensitive brush settings in detail in Technique 23.
nik multimedia offers some great filters and plug-ins that extend the capabilities of Photoshop. penPalette is an excellent program that lets you set up filter effects such as color, tone, and noise by using custom dialog boxes (shown in the following figure). Then, using your tablet and stylus, you can brush the effects on in the areas where you want them. Check out penPalette at www.nikmultimedia.com .
