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?

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?

Top 3 Tips When Choosing a Wacom Graphics Tablet

Posted on March 2, 2012 by admin

There are three important things to consider before buying a Wacom tablet.

Use/needs – This is the first thing you should figure out before browsing for a graphics tablet. If you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, you might be overwhelmed or believe that you need them once you start looking.
Features – Once you know exactly why and how you will use your Wacom tablet, you will know which features you need.
Size – This is important. You should consider the dimensions of the entire Wacom tablet as well as the active drawing area. It’s great to have more active area space (I believe the bigger the better) but having owned several in the past, what I’ve learned is that it also comes down to your desk working area and sometimes having something too big may not be practical.

I’ve learned that knowing exactly what you need from a graphics tablet is the key to choosing the best one for you. Maybe write out a list of how you would use the tablet regularly and then read my full graphics tablet reviews for more details about each tablet. You can also click on the menu at the top of this page to be taken directly to the Wacom tablet you want to read more about.

Everyone Likes To Be Liked

Posted on December 19, 2011 by admin

And I’m no different!

The Wacom Tablet Reviews Facebook page is where I post about new deals and low prices I find for Wacom tablet accessories. For example, I found a really good rebate offer from Dell for the Bamboo Create Pen graphics tablet.

Okay, so you don’t have to “Like” the page, but it’s worth checking out.Â It’s also where you’ll find my updates and other info that you may not find on the regular site! 🙂

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.

Cintiq 24HD Demonstration

Posted on September 23, 2011 by admin

Nice demo video of the new Cintiq 24HD.

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

Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablet

DigiPro Graphic Tablet with Cordless Pen

Genius G-Pen 4500 Tablet with Mouse and Pen

Wacom Bamboo Touch TabletÂ – This tablet is the lowest priced of the Wacom tablets, but it only uses your hands and not a pen.

Crayola ColorStudio HD iMarker Digital StylusÂ – Not a drawing tablet, but great if you already own an Apple iPad.

Flexible Digital Graphic Tablet by iVistaTabletÂ – List price is a little high, but you can usually find it for $35-$40 on Amazon

I-Pen Kidpix Pen Mouse

Lapazz FunPad Pressure Level Graphic Tablet

How to Choose a Wacom Tablet

Posted on September 18, 2011 by admin

A Simple Guide to Choosing the Best Wacom Tablet

Choose based on level of artist/ designer:

Beginner/ Entry level – Never used a graphics tablet.Â Only knows pen and paper.

Intermediate – Has digital graphics software experience and could benefit from using more than just a mouse to create.

Advanced/ Professional Designer – Works in the design field as a designer and/or animator. Already uses a tablet, but wants/needs something a step up.

Choose based on type of artist/ designer:

The Casual Artist – Likes to draw or paint in their free time, but wants more than a sketchbook.

The Casual Photographer – Wants to manipulate photos.

The Hobbyist – Enjoys arts and crafts projects. For example, scrapbook making.

The Serious Photographer – Wants to enhance, manipulate or alter photographs with precision.

The Serious Graphic Artist/ Designer – This person is an artist and might be using a beginner-type tablet. Wants to translate their classic skills into digital skills.

Kid-friendly

Choose based on budget:

High > $500

Medium $200 – $499

Low < $200

Also, check out the Wacom Inkling and the Bamboo Stylus for the iPad if you are looking for something other than a graphics tablet.

What qualifies me to review graphics tablets?
I’m a freelance graphic designer and I’ve been using graphics tablets for years. I have experience using Wacom and non-Wacom tablets. Back when there were barely a handful of affordable tablets available, it was easy to decide on which one to buy. Today there are numerous graphics/ digital tablets available for novice to professionals and in different budget ranges.

I created this web site as a way for people to find and easily choose which Wacom tablet to buy. >> Read more in my FAQ here! <<

Digital Art Software Part 4: 3D Art & Animation

Posted on September 14, 2011 by admin

My Top Picks for 3D Art and Animation Software with Product Descriptions

Manga Studio Debut 4

Sketch original art with a mouse or tablet, scan in existing art, or import artwork or graphics to get started
Invigorate your artwork using color, express motion using speed lines, apply dimension with screen tones and add dialog through built-in word balloons
Export professional quality manga from Manga Studio Debut 4 to various Mac and Windows file formats such as JPG, BMP, PSD, TGA, PNG, TIFF and PICT
Dynamic help offers instant access to information about tool palettes and menu options

Poser 8

Affordable, powerful, yet easy to use 3D character animation solution
Includes 3D character tools and over 2.5GB of ready to use scene content and figures; no need to model 3D characters from scratch
Includes 8 brand new, ready-to-pose, fully textured human figures with over 400 morphs and body controls to fully customize each character
Renders photorealistic or stylized images and videos for print, web or animation projects
With included Wardrobe Wizard, fit your Poser clothing assets to the new Poser 8 figures

Adobe Photoshop Extended CS5

Tools that let you create and edit 3D and motion-based content.
Go beyond traditional image editing by bringing 3D elements to your 2D artwork directly within your favorite digital imaging application
Digital imaging applications, which now offers an easy on-ramp to 3D image creation.
Fast performance on 64-bit hardware systems,
Smoother interactions thanks to GPU acceleration, and dozens of time-savers throughout the application.
Solution for advanced digital imaging, delivering all the capabilities of Photoshop CS5 plus breakthrough tools that let you create and edit 3D and motion-based content.
Access your assets in the context of what you’re working on by using the customizable Adobe Mini Bridge panel in Photoshop.
Easily manage media with more flexible batch renaming, and access your assets in the context of what you’re working on by using Adobe Mini Bridge panel in Photoshop.
Select, adjust, paint, and recompose images with tremendous precision and freedom.

Autodesk Mudbox

Digital sculpting and texture painting solution ideal for 3D/2D artists, fine artists, web and multimedia professionals, traditional sculptors, students
Work interactively in an environment in which high-res 3D models retain their subtlety, realism, and detail
Provides an organic brush-based 3D modeling experience that includes 2D and 3D layers to easily manage sculpting and painting iterations on multiple meshes and maps
Designed by professional artists in the film, games, and design industries
Interoperates well with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max, as well as with other 3D software applications, making it a natural choice for experienced artists

LightWave 3D

Feature-rich 3D animation, modeling, and rendering application
Soft-body dynamics, particles, unlimited render nodes, and more
New animation tools; new file formats; workflow enhancements
Optimized speed; improved visual feedback and rendering flexibility
More powerful modeling; includes Motion Mixer 2.0

<< Prev: Digital Software Part 3

Digital Art Software Part 2: Advanced Software

Posted on September 12, 2011 by admin

My top picks for advanced photo editing software

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo

PaintShop Photo Pro X3 lets you manage, adjust, edit and share your digital photos all in one place
Organize, rate, tag and sort with photo management tools
Manually adjust groups of RAW photos with RAW Lab
Quickly fix common photo flaws with Express Lab
Email photos, print online or at home, and send directly to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr

Adobe Photoshop CS5

Breakthrough capabilities for superior image selections, image retouching, and realistic painting; and a wide range of enhancements.
Create and refine images using state-of-the-art photography tools that deliver superior results
New creative possibilities that enable you to select, adjust, paint.
Accelerate work flow with fast performance on 64-bit hardware systems, smoother interactions thanks to GPU acceleration.
Access assets in the context of what you’re working on by using the customizable Adobe Mini Bridge panel in Photoshop.
Easily manage media with flexible batch renaming.

Adobe Illustrator CS5

Used by design professionals worldwide,
Adobe Illustrator CS5 software provides precision and power with sophisticated drawing tools, expressive natural brushes,
A host of time-savers, and integration with Adobe CS Live.
Take advantage of exceptional precision and power to create distinctive vector artwork.
Combine highly controllable drawing tools with expressive natural brushes and dramatic effects to make unique, striking designs.
.. And character styles, paragraph composition, underlining and strikethroughs, transparent effects, and more.
Incorporate vector artwork into essentially any project and deliver resolution-independent graphics across media.