Wacom Bamboo learning curve

Ryan L · Jul 28, 2010

Holy crap and am I frustrated...I bought the Bambo Touch and pen today since I have been hearing how much easier it is editing with a tablet. I hope this is an easy learn because its driving me crazy. I would love to hear from others who have bought into the tablet scene. I am holding back from using the mouse or touchpad on my laptop for now, but wow I didnt think it would be this bad. I just seem to want to drag it across the tablet like a mouse, but you just cant.

magkelly · Jul 29, 2010

There is definitely a bit of a learning curve on using a graphics tablets, particularly Wacom tablets. One thing that really helped me was the XO exercise my one design teacher taught me. You spend an hour or so making rows of O's then crossing them out with X's, until it feels more natural. It sounds dumb but it really did help me to get more control from my pen tablet ultimately. Also, make sure you have the latest Wacom drivers for your OS. That can really screw you up if they are not up to date for whatever OS you are running.

I've not actually heard a lot of really good things about the Bamboo tablets actually. They seem to be far less efficient than some of the pro Wacom tablets according to the reviews I've seen. I eventually chose not to get one of those when my old Aiptek finally gave up the ghost after several years. I went with a Monoprice tablet instead and so far I'm pretty happy with it. It's not the latest Intuos, but it's pretty darned good for a non-Wacom tablet and it was very reasonably priced comparatively. The pen is better on the Wacom's though.

There is a tutorial DVD out there for Wacom tablets and a book that goes with. They're both pretty good and they can usually be found on Amazon. If you're really stuck I'd suggest you try finding one or the other, but really it's just a matter of time and a little practice. You'll get the hang of it.

For the record though I still don't use mine as a mouse, except when I am actually drawing. You can, but I still much prefer my trackball for non-drawing related stuff. Whatever is most comfortable for you that is what you want to aim for.

KmH · Jul 29, 2010

Using a pen tablet is definately different than using a mouse, so it will take some time to make the transition. For many people, it can be a couple of weeks.

The Bamboo is small, which makes pen movement accuracy much more difficult compared to mouse movements.

In the past I have used all of Wacom's sizes and have, for me, settled on the medium as the size that is the best trade off of desktop space used, to editing aplomb. I currently use the Intuos 4 medium, and don't recommend anything smaller.

I do all my computer work/web surfing with the pen and haven't touched a mouse in months.