How do I get the most out of my Wacom?

February 4, 2009 10:19 AM

Help me get the most out of my new Wacom tablet.

I recently received a new Wacom Bamboo as part of a customer appreciation program. As a graphic designer, I have always wanted one of these for my own. The last one I used was probably circa 2000 and I'm sure that the technology and tools have drastically changed. I am interested to know if there are any must-have applications, tools or ways to use a tablet these days.

So, what makes your Wacom shine? What programs can't you live without? How can I take this tool and do wonderful, creative things with it?

I already own Adobe CS3 and Corel Draw 12. I've used Painter in the past, but it's been so long ago that it wasn't even owned my Corel yet. Is it worth the money? What sites have well-done tutorials? Who out there is making amazing stuff with their Wacom and how do they do it? Are there any interesting hacks for the Wacom that improve its functionality?

I'm one of those rare designers that works on a PC, but I do have access to Mac. I have drawing, watercolor, illustration and graphic art experience. If I find that the Wacom is one of those things that boosts my career or makes formerly difficult tasks easy, I'll probably upgrade to an Intuos or Graphire...but so far, the Bamboo has proven to be pretty nice.

Thanks!

posted by bristolcat to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

I love browsing the web with my Bamboo tablet and Opera. Closing windows is a flick of the wrist, and so is opening links in tabs, back/forward, refresh. Takes about a week to get used to but now I've thrown away the mouse.
posted by tasty at 2:34 PM on February 4, 2009

I know you didn't mention games, but I just discovered that "Crayon Physics" is actually ideally suited for tablet play. It's a charming puzzler that lets you draw shapes in order to guide a ball to a star.
posted by Monster_Zero at 9:12 PM on February 4, 2009

I use my tablet for eeeeeverything. It's much more enjoyable than a mouse (or trackpad), and FireGestures is a firefox addon that has dozens of useful gestures, the ability to map your own, and extra scripts.

this vlog has a bunch of digital drawing and painting tutorials/demonstrations. A personal favorite is his series of photo reference speedpaintings which inspired me to do a lot of practicing with my tablet.
posted by itesser at 6:47 AM on February 5, 2009

My tablet PC is always running MS OneNote for sketching research ideas. Evernote isn't close, but is free and still very functional. I'm actually considering getting a MacBook and an external Bamboo for my next computer purchase.
posted by monkeymadness at 11:30 AM on March 16, 2009