A few months ago I decided I needed a Tablet for doodling directly to the computer. In the past when I wanted to draw an illustration or embellish someone’s photo with a mustache, I would have to draw it out on a piece of paper (or photo as in the case of the mustache), ink it, wait for the ink to dry a bit, erase the pencil lines, scan it and then manipulate it in Photoshop.
I haven’t had a chance to use it nearly as much as I would like, but wow, what a piece of technology.
From reading many a review, it seems Wacom is the top class manufacturer. There are other, cheaper tablets, but after reading a few very negative customer comments, I decided to pay the little extra for quality.
Having narrowed down my decision to Wacom, I then needed to choose a size. They make tablets from the tiny 4×5 
I chose the Widescreen 6×11 over the standard 6×9 because I have a dual monitor setup and read with dual monitors or widescreen monitors, a wide tablet is best. I’ve ended up using it mostly on my left monitor which is a standard size. I guess I should use it more on the right wide screen monitor, but it works just fine as it is. But if you only have one standard width monitor, the normal 6×9 may be better.
Here is a doodle showing a few of the preset shapes, airbrush and pencil settings. I am sure this piece of modern art will make Peggy Guggenheim’s head turn:
The best thing about this tablet is it has “1,024 levels of tip and eraser pressure sensitivity”. This means you can go from very, very light to very, very dark just by pressing harder on the pen. While I didn’t personally count all 1,024, I am sure they are all there.
The setup was easy and without issues. There is a short learning curve, though. It took a few minutes for me to realize the magnetic sensitivity wouldn’t be affected by my laying my palm on the surface. You simply hold the pen as you would a pencil. You can even turn it upside down to use it as an eraser (at least in Photoshop you can). I’d say within a few minutes you will get the hang of it and within an hour you will have explored the main features.
I am super pleased with it and would highly recommend it for any budding (or budded) artist.
