Hello! My name is Robert, and I have a question to ask all of you.
Do any of you know of a (preferably cheap) drawing tablet? I've look at a few, such as This one, this one and this one. I don't know what's considered a "good tablet" for drawing, as I haven't used one yet. But I was hoping you could all give me suggestions for a tablet that I could use to start off with.
Sorry I'm picky here, but, here's what I'm looking for:
I thank you for your time, and will look at all of your suggestions. So please, if you want to, send me a suggestion.
~Yours Truly
Robert Streck
Do any of you know of a (preferably cheap) drawing tablet? I've look at a few, such as This one, this one and this one. I don't know what's considered a "good tablet" for drawing, as I haven't used one yet. But I was hoping you could all give me suggestions for a tablet that I could use to start off with.
Sorry I'm picky here, but, here's what I'm looking for:
-
A "large" tablet, maybe around 14.17"x9.44"x0.39" (Found one with these measurements and it seemd alright)
One that comes with a glove (idk why, it looks cool (Not needed))
One that I can easily connect to my pc (Not a fan of wireless.)
Maybe one that has a rechargeable pen (not sure if they're all like that or not.)
Next to no chance of losing it's position at home/work.
I thank you for your time, and will look at all of your suggestions. So please, if you want to, send me a suggestion.
~Yours Truly
Robert Streck
A couple of things:
-The dimensions you need to look at are the dimensions of the "active area", which is the part that actually responds to pen input
-I'm guessing the glove comes with the cheaper one because accidentally touching that tablet with your skin while drawing will interfere with what you're doing
---My tablet doesn't do this. The pen takes priority, and touch can be disabled
-Not all pens require battery or charging
This is the tablet I have. It's been maybe 5 years and still works good.
-The dimensions you need to look at are the dimensions of the "active area", which is the part that actually responds to pen input
-I'm guessing the glove comes with the cheaper one because accidentally touching that tablet with your skin while drawing will interfere with what you're doing
---My tablet doesn't do this. The pen takes priority, and touch can be disabled
-Not all pens require battery or charging
This is the tablet I have. It's been maybe 5 years and still works good.
Wacom tablets are considered the gold standard, and for good reason. They're great, but pricey. There are two main types of drawing tablet you need to be aware of: ones with a screen and ones without. Tablets with a screen (like Wacom's Cintiq line) are basically monitors. You draw directly on the touch-sensitive screen, which makes it more similar to drawing on paper. However, these are usually much more expensive. If you're looking for something cheaper to learn with, stick to a non-screen tablet (like Wacom's Bamboo and Intuos lines). These are trickier at first because you have to train your eye to look at your computer screen instead of your hand. There is a steep learning curve, but you just have to keep practicing! (There are also machines like the Cintiq Companion, which is a laptop and tablet all in one. Very very convenient, but expensive.)
The charge on most tablet pens lasts basically forever, so you don't need to do anything special with them. Some cheaper tablets may require you to put a battery in the pen, but these last a long time.
You don't need a glove. AFAIK the only reasons to use one are to prevent smudging on a display tablet and to prevent your hand from triggering touches on a touch tablet. (Some tablets allow you to touch the screen with your fingers to zoom, pan, scroll, etc. My Intuos had this but I never used it because I could never make it work right.) If you find that you do need a glove, you can just use a piece of pantyhose haha!
I use a secondhand Cintiq now, but before that I used an Intuos Pro 4. It was an amazing tablet. It plugged in with only a USB (as do most non-display tablets) but did have wireless capability if you wanted it. (Wireless is NICE. My Cintiq has a million cords
) so I will always recommend the Intuos Pro. Before that I had a Wacom Bamboo fun, which idk if they still make, and before THAT was a Wacom Graphire 5. I have had nothing but great luck with Wacom stuff but that doesn't mean other brands aren't good too. Yiynova I know has been gaining reputation--Huion too, but it isn't quite there yet. Depending on your budget you might want to spring for a cheaper alternative, especially if you aren't sure if you'll take to it.
The charge on most tablet pens lasts basically forever, so you don't need to do anything special with them. Some cheaper tablets may require you to put a battery in the pen, but these last a long time.
You don't need a glove. AFAIK the only reasons to use one are to prevent smudging on a display tablet and to prevent your hand from triggering touches on a touch tablet. (Some tablets allow you to touch the screen with your fingers to zoom, pan, scroll, etc. My Intuos had this but I never used it because I could never make it work right.) If you find that you do need a glove, you can just use a piece of pantyhose haha!
I use a secondhand Cintiq now, but before that I used an Intuos Pro 4. It was an amazing tablet. It plugged in with only a USB (as do most non-display tablets) but did have wireless capability if you wanted it. (Wireless is NICE. My Cintiq has a million cords
) so I will always recommend the Intuos Pro. Before that I had a Wacom Bamboo fun, which idk if they still make, and before THAT was a Wacom Graphire 5. I have had nothing but great luck with Wacom stuff but that doesn't mean other brands aren't good too. Yiynova I know has been gaining reputation--Huion too, but it isn't quite there yet. Depending on your budget you might want to spring for a cheaper alternative, especially if you aren't sure if you'll take to it.
Heimdall's right. Cintiq is nice but it has a lot of cumbersome cords that can make positioning the tablet a bit of a pain. It's definitely my favorite tablet though in spite of that.
Yiynova is a terrible off brand, though, sadly. At least as far as their monitor-tablets go. The stylus broke the first day I got it, the female port on the tablet itself was too loose to keep the cord in so it continuously disconnected, and the screen itself was more like a laptop's screen than any kind of HD LCD screen.
Ugee works well and is a good cheaper alternative to the cintiq, but not as good as Huion from what I read. Experiencing the Ugee, there isn't too much you can do to edit its settings, at least with the 21 inch one. There are also no buttons. The screen is glass so scratches are harder to make on it, but there's also a slight gap between stylus and cursor as a result.
Genius is a great off-brand tablet if you're looking for something like a bamboo or intuos substitute, though both bamboos and intuos' are great. I had a 3 before my dog pissed on it and destroyed it, and it was delightful.
Turcom is also a crap offbrand, do not go with them.
Overall I reccommend:
Wacom
Huion
Genius
Ugee
I do not reccommend:
Turcom
Yiynova
Yiynova is a terrible off brand, though, sadly. At least as far as their monitor-tablets go. The stylus broke the first day I got it, the female port on the tablet itself was too loose to keep the cord in so it continuously disconnected, and the screen itself was more like a laptop's screen than any kind of HD LCD screen.
Ugee works well and is a good cheaper alternative to the cintiq, but not as good as Huion from what I read. Experiencing the Ugee, there isn't too much you can do to edit its settings, at least with the 21 inch one. There are also no buttons. The screen is glass so scratches are harder to make on it, but there's also a slight gap between stylus and cursor as a result.
Genius is a great off-brand tablet if you're looking for something like a bamboo or intuos substitute, though both bamboos and intuos' are great. I had a 3 before my dog pissed on it and destroyed it, and it was delightful.
Turcom is also a crap offbrand, do not go with them.
Overall I reccommend:
Wacom
Huion
Genius
Ugee
I do not reccommend:
Turcom
Yiynova
It really depends on a number of things when it comes to tablets
A ) are you utilizing it for your profession or is it merely a hobby?
B ) how much are you willing to spend on a tablet
Like MRB and Heimdall have mentioned - the Wacom brand is industry standard and pretty much is the go to for most artists in a professional and hobby sense. Plus side is, they have decent customer service and have multiple users helping each other out in trouble shooting. However, If you are merely a hobbyist or just starting out, I would hold off on jumping the gun and getting a cintiq (HD or the companion 2) seeing as they are very expensive investments (800$ to 2,000$ ea. Unless refurbished or hand me down) and save a bit of money but investing in a graphire/bamboo or an intuos instead. Until you are comfortable with digital artwork or are becoming more professionally geared. Another plus side to the Wacom tablets is the pens do not need charging or batteries and come with extra nibs. But the negative to the citiniq is not the wires but their length and the fact that they can mess up every so often and cause the tablet to glitch or not work properly which can be a bummer.
Now I will agree with MRB and say don't even bother with the Yiynova brand. They are terrible!!! The screen is super nice but it lacks pressure sensitivity and ability to work cohesively with other programs including windows (infact when I tried one it borked my computer twice and I had to reinstall windows both times.) and that their customer service is just as bad.
An option if you have money and are looking for versatility are the iPad Pro's with the Apple pen. They work wonderfully for many professional artists like Zeronis of Riot!Games and Charlie Bowater. And it is great for other uses than just artwork
A ) are you utilizing it for your profession or is it merely a hobby?
B ) how much are you willing to spend on a tablet
Like MRB and Heimdall have mentioned - the Wacom brand is industry standard and pretty much is the go to for most artists in a professional and hobby sense. Plus side is, they have decent customer service and have multiple users helping each other out in trouble shooting. However, If you are merely a hobbyist or just starting out, I would hold off on jumping the gun and getting a cintiq (HD or the companion 2) seeing as they are very expensive investments (800$ to 2,000$ ea. Unless refurbished or hand me down) and save a bit of money but investing in a graphire/bamboo or an intuos instead. Until you are comfortable with digital artwork or are becoming more professionally geared. Another plus side to the Wacom tablets is the pens do not need charging or batteries and come with extra nibs. But the negative to the citiniq is not the wires but their length and the fact that they can mess up every so often and cause the tablet to glitch or not work properly which can be a bummer.
Now I will agree with MRB and say don't even bother with the Yiynova brand. They are terrible!!! The screen is super nice but it lacks pressure sensitivity and ability to work cohesively with other programs including windows (infact when I tried one it borked my computer twice and I had to reinstall windows both times.) and that their customer service is just as bad.
An option if you have money and are looking for versatility are the iPad Pro's with the Apple pen. They work wonderfully for many professional artists like Zeronis of Riot!Games and Charlie Bowater. And it is great for other uses than just artwork
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