Getting started with Wacom Intuos

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jwsmith

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I've come across an unused Wacom Intuos 5 at work and want to try using it to edit photos (mostly LR and a bit of PS where necessary) to see if it's much easier or more intuitive than keyboard/mouse.

Initially I'm just trying to get used to working on the tablet and just sketching and scribbling around looking at the screen whilst my hand moves with the pen.

Are there any good resources or tutorials for getting started with this and from there building up to touching up photos?
 
It does take some getting used too... No specific resources that I know of, you will find various videos on YouTube but nothing beats simply using them....

Program the 'buttons' on the tablet (a number of videos with suggestions etc) and you only need to go to your keyboard to type in any text.

In LR they can be a little less intuitive for the various sliders but with practice that problem goes away. For localised adjustments IMO a tablet cannot be beaten. I now use a wacom tablet for everything....
 
PhilH04 said:
I now use a wacom tablet for everything....
Click to expand...
As I have done for years now. I hold the pen as you would any normal pen whilst using the tablet, but if I want to use the adjacent keyboard I just push the pen tip over with my thumb so that it lodges between my first and second fingers - this leaves all fingers of my right hand relatively free for typing. Thus I never have to put the pen down or pick it up.

This works well in my book - but it was never taught. You learn by doing. Have fun!
 
Thanks guys - scribbling around in PS is definitely helping get used to it. The biggest impact I've noticed seems to be having the tablet oriented squarely in front of me rather than off to the side and also defining the working area comfortably.

I spend most of my day working in terminals and just using a keyboard and so whilst I tried using the pen as a mouse replacement for a bit, I found it cumbersome to hold whilst still typing at speed.

Definitely enjoying just playing at the moment but have a couple of photos in mind to edit that I think will be good to practise with and could never be bothered to struggle with a mouse.
 
jwsmith said:
Thanks guys - scribbling around in PS is definitely helping get used to it. The biggest impact I've noticed seems to be having the tablet oriented squarely in front of me rather than off to the side and also defining the working area comfortably.

I spend most of my day working in terminals and just using a keyboard and so whilst I tried using the pen as a mouse replacement for a bit, I found it cumbersome to hold whilst still typing at speed.

Definitely enjoying just playing at the moment but have a couple of photos in mind to edit that I think will be good to practise with and could never be bothered to struggle with a mouse.
Click to expand...

Nope - use the mouse as normal, just swap to the pen when it's more natural/easier. I use mine for freehand drawing, edge selection and masking it's a dream so easy to accurately define points.
 
When I first got my Wacom I played a few rounds of minesweeper so I could get used to moving the cursor about with the pen. You eventually get used to it. Personally I don't really use it for Lightroom (since that's mostly slider based for me) but for Photoshop it's a lot more comfortable to use than a mouse/trackpad.
 
Wouldn't want to lose mine that's for sure.

I borrowed a friend's 5 to try it, bought one the next day :)
 
I've got 3's and 4's. I use them for photoshop, but tend to find the bigger the better, so have the larger A3 size ones.
 
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