Hello and welcome to this tip on setting up a tablet with Tim Von Rueden!
Watch in HD =]
In this tutorial I will go through a quick look at setting up a tablet and showing how to edit the different settings for the tablet and pen. At CGCookie, we use Wacom Intuos 4 tablets and they are awesome to work with but in my opinion, there is hardly a difference between tablets besides the actual size of them. If you are looking to purchase one of your own, I would check the Wacom main website or Amazon.com normally has pretty good deals on a variety of different tablets.
So to start off let’s plug the tablet in and if no pop up window appears, since I am using a mac, I am going to open up the System Preferences and find the tablet.
↓ From there I take a look at editing the pen and express kets on the side of the tablet. ↓
If you find that your tablet isn’t working with the orientation correctly then you most likely need to download the newest driver off of the website that corresponds to tablet you are using. So for example I am using a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet so I would find the correct driver off of the Wacom website!
If you’re using Gimp, there are a few more steps to setting up your tablet properly (at least on my computer). Go to Edit -> Input Devices, and you should see the tablet as a selection (more than likely 2 or more selections). in the “Mode” drop down menu, if it says “disabled”, switch it to “Screen” for all of the selections, and leave the rest default. This should enable pressure sensitivity for your tablet in Gimp.
If the tablet is shown, but is grayed out, you’ll have to either reset the user preferences in the Wacom utility, or reinstall the driver.
That, at least, has been my experience with Wacom tablets and Gimp.
(I’m using 2.8)
And as always Tim, your tips and tutorials are digital gold. Thanks so much for all your hard work!
Thanks for your feedback! I’m sure Gimp users will appreciate this
still having a bit of a problem, gimp doens’t seem to see the tablet at all. all it has under input devices is the “Core pointer” and it is already set to screen. Next to pressure it says “none” and it seems there is no way to change that.
I know of a work around, i plug in my old pen tablet and launch gimp, then switch to the new tablet, however it’s very annoying. does anyone know of any fixes?
If your old tablet works, but not the new one I’d try and uninstall the driver for the old one and reinstall the driver for the new one.
Thanks for the Gimp tips, Dave! I’ve just started using it and couldn’t figure out how to get the sensitivity working and so I’ve been sticking with MyPaint and Krita.
When you say greyed out, do you mean the icon is grey or the whole selection is greyed out? And how do you change the sensitivity? It seems to require barely putting any pressure on the stylus to have a grey effect when using normal black paint brush.
Dave, when you say greyed out, do you mean the icon is grey or the whole selection is greyed out? And how do you change the sensitivity? It seems to require barely putting any pressure on the stylus to have a grey effect when using normal black paint brush.
Fixed. Make sure you use basic dynamics instead of pressure opacity.
Oh, you already fixed it. Right on. Well, regardless, I took this screenshot of what I meant by “grayed out.”
http://goliath914.deviantart.com/art/Gimp-Tablet-Config-Screen-340232234?ga_submit=10%3A1354146778
Double post but, does anyone know how to get pressure sensitivity in photoshop elements 9?
Thanks,
I lounge with my feet up covered in a blanket when I paint so I see using a keyboard as having to sit up.
Intuos4 med. I have the side buttons set up for everything. Lazy yes. Comfortable always
Sorry, forgot why I wanted to post. There are several video’s on utube on how to convert a tablet into a cintique. Here is just one.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TabletMod
This is neat, One of my friends did this and it was awesome to see it work in action!
It is a good tip for mac & windows users. But I found it difficult to configure Wacom Intuos 3 & Cintiq 21” (buttons) in Ubuntu.
This was pretty helpful! Thank you for posting this! Time to go test the tweaks I made!
Hey Tim, great tut!
I have a question that may look pretty silly, but when you’re drawing with the tablet, do you lay your hand on the tablet and draw using your wrist, or do you think that it is better to try to draw using the whole arm (like in traditional drawing).
Thank you.
Ha not a silly question at all, when I am using the tablet I find myself resting my wrist and side of the arm on the tablet. It’s all personal preference on that one and whichever feels most comfortable for you!
Would something cheap like a Wacom Bamboo pen or a Wacom pen and touch be enough? Sorry I don’t know much about tablets. I just want something that I can use for following your tutorials with
thanks.
YES, I had a Bamboo fun for most of my time during school and it worked great! I don’t believe in one tablet being significantly better than another, it comes down to personal preference and getting comfortable with the tablet.
Thanks i just got a the Wacom Intuos 5 med for my birthday today. This came in really handy.
Awesome tutorial…was wondering how to calibrate the pens pressure!
What program do u use to record Tutorials??
At CGCookie we all use Camtasia studios to screen record for our tutorials.
I have a question, Im new to digital art and I only have a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch. Is this sufficient to use or am I wasting my time? I want to be able to try and complete the tutorials on this site with it, but is my tablet too basic?
Your tablet is not too basic. For the first 2 years of using PHotoshop with a tablet, I only had a Bamboo Fun tablet. As long as you have the determination and drawing skills, the hardware won’t hold you back!