Thinking about adding a Wacom (or similar)

[niumang]

yes, no problem, You can Take design in Flexi to a whole new level with a drawing tablet like wacom. Enjoy direct, hands-on control when creating. keep your design experience enjoyable and exciting.

 

[DL Signs]

I use an XP-Pen Pro drawing tablet, when I'm not using it for drawing it sits on a stand and stays connected as an extra monitor. When set as an extended display you can use the mouse with it just like any additional monitor, or just drag any program to it and use the pen when you want to draw. Very versatile.

 

[gnubler]

I developed painful carpal tunnel syndrome from using a mouse. Switching over to a stylus/table resolved the issue. I've been using the same Wacom since around 2010, it's never failed me.

 

[somcalmetim]

Work great but I still mostly use mouse even on my Cintiq...the mouse will wiz across multiple monitors but on a Cintiqu you have to do a screen switch thing if you want to draw on your other monitor...plus your hand/arm can block a bunch of screen real estate as you lift it all the way up to the screen to draw on.
A medium size drawing pad with no screen works better as mouse replacement....you still look straight at your normal monitor to see your cursor movement controlled by the stylus/pad...your arm doesnt block the screen as you draw and you can set a pad to control the mouse over multiple monitors...

Only problem I have had is I cant click-drag-right click to duplicate on CorelDraw when using the Wacom Pen...I had it working years ago on my first pad and loved...it also helped me get over some carpo deum from my first 17+ years of constant designing with mouse...now I use mostly mouse on my cintiq and I swing it closer and grab the pen for some freehand vectorizing...

My buddy got a cheaper non Wacom unit with no problems, but not sure what spec differences there were

 

[Boudica]

I used a wacom tablet in my past life, lots of photo editing. Once I got the hang of it, I loved it. Then after a few years, for one reason or another... It left my "toolbox" at that job, and I learned to live without it. I guess I'm fairly adaptable. It's great for editing work, but overall... Hot keys are a better friend to the "mouse hand".

 

[jcskikus]

Actually I think the Wacom tablets may be seeing the end of the line. These days you can do the same thing with laptops like the Microsoft Surface or the IPad Pro

Not true as there are a ton of animators that use tablets to create. I use Windows and Apple computers, laptops, and tablets. Depending on the job dictates what I use. I prefer larger tablets when working on some signage and animations, so I can see all the tools and step back and see what I am making without having to squint.
With 3 new models from Wacom and now third-party suppliers making stands for them like Xoot, I doubt they are going anywhere any time soon.

 

[Bobby H]

I've been using Wacom tablets for a long time on my home computer setups. They're great for some tasks. But the steaming pile of crap known as Windows Ink has ruined any tasks involving pressure sensitive functions. For some stupid reason I don't understand Wacom's tablet drivers require Windows Ink workspace to be enabled in order for the stylus to have any pressure sensitive functions. If I enable Windows Ink in the driver it doesn't take long for me to lose my temper and want to destroy something.

One aggravation: the handwriting text entry pop-up window. If I click into a text entry field (such as the one for writing this post in a web browser window) or a string of text in CorelDRAW, Illustrator, etc this handwriting pop-up jumps in the way. Windows Ink disregards the fact I'm using a full blown computer with a physical keyboard attached. I try disabling the pop-up in the OS settings, but it often keeps coming back like a zombie. It's just so stupid. Why would I want to hand write some text into a pop-up window when I can type it far faster? Windows Ink seems to think my computer is a smart phone or a tablet. And speaking of tablets, I do own an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. That has an on-screen hand-writing pop-up available. But iPad OS turns it off by default and it is easy to enable or disable in the OS settings (unlike Windows Ink). My smart phone is a Samsung S22 Ultra and I previously used a Note 5; both have S-Pen styluses. I'll use the stylus to hand write notes, but I never use the stylus to hand-write text into text entry fields. I'll use the swipe-capable keyboard instead. It's faster.

Then there's this #%@$ing little circle icon thing that appears whenever I press down the pen tip and drag it on the tablet surface. There is a lot of functions that involve clicking-dragging the pen tip. The "scrubby" animated zoom functions in Photoshop and Illustrator rely on it. All the little slider controls in various UI elements require click-drag actions. Same goes for editing anchor points on paths. The little circle thing disrupts all of that. I've tried all kinds of things to disable it and even try registry hacks I've seen in other forums. None of it works. The only solution is disabling Windows Ink in the tablet driver.

Windows Ink is one of the few features that makes me wish I was using a Mac rather than a Windows PC. I'm certain Mac users don't have to put up with anything similar to this Windows Ink nonsense. Wacom has had issues with their drivers lately, but when the driver is working properly it's possible to use all of the tablet's features on a Mac without wanting to pull your hair out. My own solution is just using the iPad Pro for any pressure sensitive drawing functions.