Wacom Bamboo Tablet, the Bamboo Splash

Posted on December 7, 2012 by admin

This seems like the best and most affordable Wacom digital drawing tablet available.

Wacom bamboo tablet, the Splash

I don’t know how I missed the Bamboo Splash announcement! I’m either slacking or Wacom didn’t make a major announcement about it because it’s pretty inexpensive compared to their other drawing tablets.

Wacom doesn’t have a link to retailers on their site, but I found one on Amazon for $69.99. Click here to read more or buy.

The Splash is most similar to the Bamboo Connect. The only difference I can find is that the Bamboo Splash includes ArtRage and Autodesk, where as the Connect only includes AutoDesk.

This is an important difference if you are planning to use this tablet for art.

The Bamboo Connect is being advertised as a great tool for note taking and signature capturing. You can use it to draw, but you’ll need to own the right software for that already, like Photoshop or ArtRage.

Wacom bamboo tablet, the Splash

I recommend the Wacom Bamboo Splash an inexpensive and high quality drawing tablet for anyone looking to expand their drawing abilities. It may be small, but it’s really not any smaller than an iPad and as far as I know, you can’t use Photoshop or ArtRage on an iPad.

This Wacom tablet will make a great Christmas gift for someone who wants to make the transition from traditional drawing to digital drawing. Click here for more info or buy.

New Bamboo Stylus Pocket

Posted on September 18, 2012 by admin

Bamboo Stylus Pocket

Wacom just came out with a new Bamboo stylus that seems exactly like the old one except it can expand so it is smaller than the original. Wacom boasts that it can be stored in the headphone jack of your iPad or other touch screen device, but I can’t figure out how just by looking at it.

So far, I haven’t found any videos of the Bamboo Pocket stylus in use.

What do you think?

Perks to Wacom Bamboo With Anime Studio 8 Upgrade

Posted on March 9, 2012 by admin

Wacom and Smith Micro have formed a partnership. In doing so, upgrading Anime Studio 8.1 will allow artists to use finger gestures on the Wacom Bamboo multi-touch tablets. The update also contains 30 new features and performance upgrades.

Multi-touch allows animators, graphic designers and digital artists to be more efficient and save design time. You can use more than one finger at once which saves time performing ordinary commands. By making the process more user friendly, digital artists can use finger taps and gestures to design, create, adjust scenes and objects as well as zoom, drag and drop, scale and rotate designs.

Anime Studio Pro is retailing at $199.99 and Anime Studio Debut is $49.99. Currently, Debut is selling for $34.99 and Pro is priced at $139.99 on Amazon.

If you don’t own a Wacom Bamboo tablet, you can read more on my Wacom review site!

Which Wacom Tablet To Buy?

Featured

Posted on March 2, 2012 by admin

Here’s my top five Wacom tablets list. Click on the menus at the top for the full reviews!

My Top 5 Wacom Graphics Tablets:

Wacom Cintiq 24HD Multi-Touch Tablet / Display (Links to Amazon)- Best of the Wacom tablets. The Cintiq 24HD multi-touch is the largest graphics tablet display and is considered the holy grail of drawing tablets. For serious and/or professional artists, designers and animators.

Wacom Cintiq 22HD Tablet / Display (Links to Amazon)- Expect the same high quality as the Cintiq 24HD, but for about $500 less and about $1000 less than the 24HD multi-touch.

Wacom Intuos5 Pen Tablet – Excellent for a professional designer/artist. Available in different sizes and a wireless option.

Wacom Bamboo Splash Tablet – Great for an artist who has never used a tablet before and seriously wants to make the leap from standard drawing to digital.

Wacom Bamboo Create Pen and Touch Tablet – Great for someone who is interested in the same things that the Bamboo Splash offers, but wants more drawing space. Also, this Bamboo tablet is bundled with more software than the Bamboo Splash.

:: Click here to read more or buy a Wacom tablet from Amazon! ::

Buying a Wacom Tablet:
I’m a self taught graphic designer who has used several different graphics tablets throughout the years and I’m offering my personal Wacom tablet reviews here. Having been disappointed by other brands, I was happy when I found Wacom. I had some confusion researching which Wacom tablet was right for me so I thought writing this Wacom tablet site might help other people make a decision.

For me, Wacom is the frontrunner in graphic design tablets. I believe they are a great company and more importantly, they design and produce high-quality products. I’ve used the other brands in the past and have been disappointed.

How to Choose a Wacom Graphics Tablet
Graphics Tablets for Kids
Wacom Cintiq 24HD Graphics Tablet Display Review
Wacom VS a PC Tablet
Which Wacom Bamboo Tablet is Best for Image Editing?
Why Buy Wacom Intuos4?

New Intuos5 Launched Today!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Intuos5

Wacom launched the new Intuos5 in Europe today! It will be in the U.S. soon, but no date yet.

The most talked about feature is theÂ multitouch gesture support and “Express View” head-up display software and soft-touch feel. You will be able to create custom gestures while the head-up display shows current tablet settings on your computer screen. The gestures are similar to an Apple iPad where you can use 3 fingers to zoom in or out, for example.

The new Intuos5 will support all standard Windows and Mac multitouch gestures. The different tablet sizes are 13×8″,Â 6×8″ andÂ 4×6″.

With the new Wacom tablets avaialble, I suspect the Intuos4 tablets will go down in price. Intuos5 is currently priced atÂ Â£200 toÂ Â£430 in Europe.Â They come in threeÂ sizes, 13×8″,Â 6×8″ andÂ 4×6″.Â The small is priced at $229.95, medium at $349.95, and the large at $469.95. A pen-only version of the small tablet will also be available, but a price has not been confirmed yet. An optional wireless accessory kit is available to convert your Intuos into a wireless tablet to make it more convenient and comfortable.

I’m not sure how much better the Intuos5 will be compared to the Intuos4 model. So far, it seems like they are trying to keep up with technology by adding standard and custom gestures. Some people may argue that this new feature is not enough to make them upgrade. I can see how designers who are new to using a Wacom tablet and are used to using gestures will enjoy this new Wacom tablet the most. I want to keep an open mind since it launched today and there aren’t enough reviews yet, but based on what I know, I do not recommend upgrading yet.

Wacom Intuos With Meet the Masters DVD Bundle

Posted on December 20, 2011 by admin

For those living in Europe, you are fortunate because Wacom is including Meet the Masters on DVD with an Intuos4 purchase (excluding the XL). This DVD provides great tutorials from internationally known designers

The DVD includes:

Digital drawing and painting in Photoshop – Learn to create an entire illustration from scratch, from setting up a workspace to sketching, drawing and colouring techniques.
Photo Illustration – Follow digital artist Uli Staiger as he uses Photoshop to create a breath taking composition. Through the process, learn about everything from 3D tools and blend modes to masking and layer adjustments.
Drawing in Illustrator – Find out about the different brushes in Illustrator that create a wide variety of effects in images.
Painter crash course – Explore Corel Painter’s artist’s tools and use them to create a piece of artwork from start to finish.

There is picture-in-picture video of the teachers using the Intuos4 pen tablet. There is also a mode called watch & work that displays the tutorial in a small window on screen allowing you to practice along with the video.

If you are only interested in the DVDs, they can be purchased separately or together on the Wacom estore.

I’m a bit jealous that we don’t get this same deal in the U.S. I have no idea why they don’t make it available here, but it’s a very good deal for anyone in Europe who is interested in buying an Intuos4 right now.

My Cintiq 24HD Tablet Review is Up!

Posted on November 29, 2011 by admin

You can find it on this site at Wacom Cintiq 24HD review.

Wacom Bamboo Comic Drawing Tablet

Posted on November 8, 2011 by admin

Wacom Bamboo Comic pen and touch is for aspiring anime artists in Japan only.

wacom bamboo comic manga pen tablet

On my recent trip to Japan, visiting the famous electronics district in Akihabara was a must and it was amazing! One particularly large store was selling the Wacom Bamboo Comic pen and touch tablets. I hadn’t even heard of them before. If I had the extra money to spare, I would have bought it, but it’s possible it wouldn’t be compatible with my OS anyway.

It is a drawing tablet specifically for manga artists and features the Pixia Edition. Illust Studio Mini, Comic Studio Mini, Corel Painter Essentials 4 and Pencil LITE. These applications replace the standard Adobe Photoshop Elements and other software that come with the U.S. Wacom Bamboo packages.

wacom bamboo comic manga pen tablet

There is no word on whether the Wacom Bamboo Comic will ever be available anywhere besides Japan. The closest version we have to the Bamboo Comic is the Bamboo Pen and Touch. We don’t benefit from the comic and manga specific software. That doesn’t seem to stop artists from being able to create manga using any of the Wacom pen tablets though.

For example: http://youtu.be/I0-Je3brwvs

New Wacom Bamboo Tablets Ad/Demo

Posted on October 21, 2011 by admin

I haven’t had a chance to play around with the new Wacom Bamboo tablets, but here’s the official advertisement for the new line. I especially like how you can add a wireless input option to all three for an extra charge.

Wacom Bamboo tablet ad on Youtube

Graphics Tablets for Kids

Posted on September 19, 2011 by admin

Kid-friendly versions of digital drawing pads

Your young child may love drawing now, but the idea of dropping a lot of coin on an expensive Wacom tablet that might get broken easily is not something I would want to do. I’ve put together a list of fun digital tablets that are intended to not break your pocketbook or your heart if your kid decides to use it as a hammer. Click on each link to read more about each one on Amazon!

Genius: the Kids Designer Graphic Tablet