Shake My Shaky Hand.

September 14, 2006 7:25 AM

I am getting an input tablet, the intuous 3, later today. I wanted to start drawing again, a minor skill for me, but one that has been compromised by the worsening of my essential tremor. That is, my hands shake too much to draw a good line. What might be a way of mitigating this effect while using a tablet, without resorting to vector graphics.

I am not seeking perfect lines. I have always liked the quality of line and a little imperfection is desirable. Tremendous imperfection, not so much.
I am on OS X, Tiger, have Photoshop CS, and would be willing to buy a plug in or perhaps new software.
(Oh, and if anyone knows a good book on computer-aided illustration, feel free to toss that in. Thanks.)

posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat to computers & internet (11 comments total)

It depends on what you want to draw and how bad your hands are. You can use the line tool in PS and apply a slight ripple filter afterwards to give it that hand drawn feel. Or you can embrace your trembling fingers and use it as your style. In the past I have drawn some very loose sketches in a style similar to someone with your problems.
posted by JJ86 at 7:40 AM on September 14, 2006

I'm not sure why you don't want to resort to vector graphics. If you draw using the pen tool in Photoshop, you can lay down a line made of many individual points, and even if it jitters a bit, you can then smooth it out and, if you want, render it so it's no longer a vector.
posted by odinsdream at 7:59 AM on September 14, 2006

k, hmc -- I'm glad you asked this, since I, too, suffer from ET, and it is getting noticeably worse to the point that it interferes with my drawing, which I used to be fairly good at (even made some money from at one point).

I have found that I can somewhat steady my hand while drawing by placing my left hand over my right wrist and gripping it gently but firmly while I draw with the right hand. (Reverse if you're left-handed, I suppose.) Less than ideal, obviously, but helps out in certain situations.

Anyway, please report back on how you like the Intuous 3.
posted by trip and a half at 8:24 AM on September 14, 2006

I too have ET, and it's also gotten much worse in the last few years. My doctor suggested to me in all seriousness that I have a glass of wine before I write a letter or do some other thing that requres legible products of a pen. Alcohol deadens the shaking noticably, though of course too much of it deadens the brain a lot. Obviously there's a pretty low limit to what you can do with this, but if you're drawing only occasionally and alcohol doesn't hit you too hard then it might work.

Another tack is to figure out when the shaking is worst. I shake more when I'm hungry and later in the day, so if I were to try and draw I might do it in the mornings after breakfast, for example.

Good luck.
posted by rogue haggis landing at 8:58 AM on September 14, 2006

Not sure what the best answer is here. Each has good tips. And it is always nice to know there are others with ET (since I don't know anyone personally and it is one of the first things people notice about me) -- though I wouldn't wish it on anyone, since it such a frustration.
I will try the wine (or scotch) and the hand on wrist technique, as well as the PS options. I am really interested how a pressure-sensitive tablet works with this -- and I will get back with you Trip and a Half with my results.
It's funny, RHL, my best working time is the morning, but it is also my shakiest time.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 10:00 AM on September 14, 2006

I Also have a slight ET. It seems to be exacerbated by small, detailed movements. I also have an Intuos tablet. Frankly, though, I rarely use it to do a fresh drawing. I still do the pencil/paper route, scan that in and then go to town with the tablet...mostly for coloration. Occasionally, I'll trace the line art with it.
As far as vector goes, even though you certainly can use the tablet to draw vector brush strokes, I find the results lacking and just a bit cold. I still have to go in and edit the lines. That process I use a mouse.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:14 AM on September 14, 2006

I'm fortunate to have rock-steady hands, however, I've noticed my Intuos magnified the movement of my cursor's tip to the point where it was visibly jittering on the screen. I know it wasn't my hand motion because the same thing happened if I just rested the input pen on top of the tablet.

It took a few years (!) for the problem to resolve (and yes, it drove me batshit insane so I'm very sympathetic to your situation) but here's what I did:

1) make sure you've got the latest driver from Wacom. What ships with the tablet is not always the most recent driver. Their website has the freshest stuff and it was only their very latest driver that cured my (older) tablet's jittering.

2) In the Wacom preferences, experiment with the tablet sensitivity (Tablet->Intuos Pen->Pen->Details). In my case, it was best to have it set all the way over to "Soft"

I'd imagine you'll want to set the click sensitivity to "High," or you'll get a lot of extraneous and unwanted clicks from unintended hand motion.
posted by jamaro at 10:53 AM on September 14, 2006

P.S. forgot to mention:

I do a lot of illustration work (professionally) and although I've been using one tablet or another since the late 80s, I've never ever gotten the hang of drawing something freehand directly into software unless I'm doing vector work. For everything else, I draw onto paper, scan in, and then tweak in Photoshop. I think I'm too fussy about the 'tooth' of the tablet surface/pen tip.

A friend of mine (also an illustrator) has issues with tremors and she ended up switching to drawing on large sheets of paper (butcher wrap sized), relying on her arm and shoulder movements to draw instead of her now-treacherous fingers and wrists. She then shoots the sketch with a digicam on a tripod to get it into PS for finishing.
posted by jamaro at 11:07 AM on September 14, 2006

I've noticed that my hand movements are much more precise when wearing a Smart Glove... you can find them at Fred Meyers, Walgreens, RiteAid, and tons of other places...

it fits tight, and has a wrist pad on the heel of the wrist, and a semi-flexible plastic backing... it's made to protect from carpal tunnel by providing support, and the support has made my movements less erratic.


I don't have ET, or any other treatable malady, I just drink a lot of caffeine :-0
posted by hatsix at 11:21 AM on September 14, 2006

yes, I've been playing with the tablet, and wished it had texture options for the surface -- it does not have the tooth I would like. I miss the feel of paper, but it should serve my purposes. I wonder if there is a technical issue with texture or whether wacom could offer different insets. It's like drawing on ice.

I like the possibility of resusing, undoing, playing, zooming in with more freedom is great.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 3:05 PM on September 14, 2006

I like the possibility of resusing, undoing, playing, zooming in with more freedom is great.

Definitely. I love my Wacom as it saved me from a rather nasty bout of RSI (I haven't used a mouse since).

Your tablet will be able to register a signal through about a 3/4" thick stack of paper, so you have some control over the slickness of the tablet surface: just tape your choice of paper over the drawing area. For me, it's more an issue of the super slick nib. You can fiddle about with that too, I sanded one of my extra nibs down with some super fine grit sandpaper to experiment with a better 'feel' and use that all the time for the paint tool in PS.

Have fun with your wacom :)
posted by jamaro at 4:38 PM on September 14, 2006