Get the biggest one you can barely afford! Just as you would want a pallete as big as your canvas, when feasible, you really want a tablet as big as your monitor. I work on a 6x8 intuos 2, I wouldn't want to work on anything smaller. I'm dreaming of the 12x19 but I'll probably have to settle for a 9x12 in the future.
A bigger tablet means you can draw with your arm vs just wrist flicks and when you watch Gabe's video you can see the advantage of that Inking with Photoshop
As for price if you're a student you get a discount if you're not find one or a teacher and convince them to let you use their discount!
A big tablet is soooo worth it. Also check out Wacom's refurbed link: refurbs
9X12 seems to be the acceptable standard. It's what I use.
BE WARNED:
Using a tablet does not make you a better artist.In fact, you will have to re-learn almost everything because it is a very different experience.
One tip: Tape a piece of paper ofver the tablet to get a more familiar feel. Once you get the hang of that, take it off, switch out tips and work with your pressure slider.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!
End Of Man - Ill/emp Troller <- First 50.
Robosaurus - Robo/Dark <- Second 50
Urban Viking - BS/Regen <- Unplayed
*Altaholic*
*giggles* that's the first time I've seen that video. Amazing the difference using a tablet makes.
*throws her mouse across the room*
Calm down Hexy, just have to wait for your b-day and hope someone actually listened.
�Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!� - Thomas Gray
I disagree with Alex about buying the largest you can afford. I've used Wacoms for 15 years and have come to prefer mid-size to smaller ones. I use a 6" x 8" and love it because a smaller stroke can cover the surface from one side to another. The larger ones require more arm motion and I prefer wrist and finger control. For small details, you just zoom in.
Besides, the smaller ones fit on my lap/desk easier, and are easy to store. My large one is a beast and was hard to manage around my desk setup.
Well... messing around with the settings you can always designate a smaller portion of the tablet as the work space, then tape it off with some painters tape or whatever.
It all depends how you draw.
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Well... messing around with the settings you can always designate a smaller portion of the tablet as the work space, then tape it off with some painters tape or whatever.
It all depends how you draw.
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*agrees*
It also depends on how much room you have for it. I have a seperate work station where my art computer will be going when I get around to it. So for me, the larger size works fine, not only that, but I like the option to play with the settings and fine tune per drawing.
�Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!� - Thomas Gray
Hey, my birthday's comin' up!
WHO LOVES ME THE MOST?
Guys?
Anyone?
Too bad they don't make this in the larger versions!
Hello Tablet!
*screeches with joy*
OMG I sooooo need that!
~edit~
I should probably note that I'm a HUGE Sanrio fan. My mom and step father just came back from vacation and stopped at Build-A-Bare Workshop and made me a Hello Kitty 
�Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!� - Thomas Gray
You know, I have that same tablet but it's just plain white. In theory I -could- put a drawing or something under the plastic cover and do the same thing :P
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You know, I have that same tablet but it's just plain white. In theory I -could- put a drawing or something under the plastic cover and do the same thing :P
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Ya but it wouldn't have the cute little pen holder!
�Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!� - Thomas Gray
Is there any giant difference between an Intuos2 and an Intuos3? Because one of the two is cheaper. I'll let you guess which one that is.
I believe its levels of sensitivity.
Also, drivers and software. The 3 is one generation after the 2, (durr.)
The new intuos3 also have spiffy buttons and scroll thingy on the two sides and there are no longer macros on the top! You can set side buttons for hot keys like space bar and ctrl and such. nice idea but I find myself using the keyboard and the scroll pad is a nice idea too but I turned it off after my hand kept on scrolling by accident.
I do notice the sensitivity difference, at work I use a 9x12 which I love, but my intuos 2 works pretty dern good as well. I got to play with a cintiq at Comic Con which is uber sweet but waaaaaaaaay too expensive...
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I believe its levels of sensitivity.
Also, drivers and software. The 3 is one generation after the 2, (durr.)
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Yeah, I guess counting down would kind of limit your product line.
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You know, I have that same tablet but it's just plain white. In theory I -could- put a drawing or something under the plastic cover and do the same thing :P
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...wow wait, you can do that? o_o I didnt know that plastic layer.. lifted..or moved.. or..anything...Damn, you could TRACE pictures right on there!
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You know, I have that same tablet but it's just plain white. In theory I -could- put a drawing or something under the plastic cover and do the same thing :P
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...wow wait, you can do that? o_o I didnt know that plastic layer.. lifted..or moved.. or..anything...Damn, you could TRACE pictures right on there!
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That is, in fact, what it's there for. Read your documentation. 
I will also chime in and say that bigger is not better. It's persoanl preference, as with most things. I've worked on the smallest size for the last three years and the only real difference is that I use my wrist instead of my elbow. One is not better than the other, except in personal experience. If you draw from the elbow now, you likely will want a bigger tablet so you can continue to do so. One of the only advantages to the larger tablet, rally, is having the option of doing *both*, and being able to section the large tablet off into smaller virtual tablets with different settings, which the smaller tablets aren't large enough to do.
Intuos 2 versus 3... starting out, it's likely the 2 will be *everything* you need(Heck, a Graphire probably would be, but why drive a Pinto? Especially since the missing features on a Graphire will probably become noticable pretty fast. Pen tilt rocks). On the other hand, once you get into it a ways, you very quickly find yourself wanting those nice little side-buttons. I'll be upgrading to a 3 myself soon, just for those buttons. So it may be worth it to make the investment up front rather than waiting til you have a use for 'em.
Once you have a tablet, there are many things you can do to make your transition easier and quicker. FIRST, read the documentation. The tablet is simple to use, yes. But there are MANY subtleties and advanced uses you'll never know about if you don't read that stuff. Like the plastic cover being liftable for tracework. And application-specific settings. And sectioning off the tablet into sub-tablet regions. And a full set of exercises designed by Wacom to help you develop precision in using it.
That said, DO THOSE EXERCISES. In particular, there is one where you set up an image into a grid, and draw Xs over all of the intersections, and then circle each one, and then draw a dot on each one. Do this daily for a while, and you'll learn the tablet MUCH faster.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Get used to having your eyes on the screen and your hand on the tablet. Your hand/eye coordination will adjust, just like with a mouse.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Remember, this is digital. You can clean up messy lines easily, so don't worry if it's not smooth right at first.
Practice , practice, practice.
It can be helpful to see an experienced tablet artist work. If you get the chance, grab it.
There was one more thing... what was it.. right on the tip of my fingers... oh, yeah--
PRACTICE!
INTUOS3 IT IS!
Someday.
Yeah I long for the day I can afford a gigantic wacom with a gigantic monitor and a gigantic table to put it all on....
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Get the biggest one you can barely afford! Just as you would want a pallete as big as your canvas, when feasible, you really want a tablet as big as your monitor. I work on a 6x8 intuos 2, I wouldn't want to work on anything smaller. I'm dreaming of the 12x19 but I'll probably have to settle for a 9x12 in the future.
A bigger tablet means you can draw with your arm vs just wrist flicks and when you watch Gabe's video you can see the advantage of that Inking with Photoshop
As for price if you're a student you get a discount if you're not find one or a teacher and convince them to let you use their discount!
A big tablet is soooo worth it. Also check out Wacom's refurbed link: refurbs
[/ QUOTE ]Off topic:
In that video, how do you get the brush settings to go from small to large in one stroke? That's been boggling me ever since I saw that like a week ago.
I love my intous 6 x 8. It is a great size and this series is the serious artist line. It runs in the 260 to 290 range. They make a 4 x 5 for about 170.
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Get the biggest one you can barely afford! Just as you would want a pallete as big as your canvas, when feasible, you really want a tablet as big as your monitor. I work on a 6x8 intuos 2, I wouldn't want to work on anything smaller. I'm dreaming of the 12x19 but I'll probably have to settle for a 9x12 in the future.
A bigger tablet means you can draw with your arm vs just wrist flicks and when you watch Gabe's video you can see the advantage of that Inking with Photoshop
As for price if you're a student you get a discount if you're not find one or a teacher and convince them to let you use their discount!
A big tablet is soooo worth it. Also check out Wacom's refurbed link: refurbs
[/ QUOTE ]Off topic:
In that video, how do you get the brush settings to go from small to large in one stroke? That's been boggling me ever since I saw that like a week ago.
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The harder you press the bigger the brush is. I think you can mess with that stuff in the tablet settings.
You can alter what the brush does in ps by the brush settings. For instance some settings will make it get bigger as you press harder, some will effect how much ink you put down etc. so the pressure can effect many chosen atributes.
Thanks guys. Got it to work. 
Any recommendations? Cheaper, the better.