Do I need a pen and tablet?

In message ,
Rafe B. wrote:

What with wireless optical mice, we've come a long
way -- mice are much more sensitive and accurate
than they used to be.

That must be a recent thing. Last I checked, wireless mice could only
report 50 locations per second; not enough to make me feel connected to
the computer. I run my PS/2 corded optical at 200 reports per second.
--


John P Sheehy

Gregory W. Blank writes:

Thats an opinion & you should state it as such ...

Since I'm not omniscient, it's reasonable to expect others to take
anything I say as opinion. In any case, I'm not going to put IMO at the
end of every statement I make.

... the Pro Lab I deal with and worked for never
use any thing but the computer mouse.

That's their loss, not mine.

They; I should add do hundreds of scans a week,
for simple spotting the mouse is perfectly fine
and alot less expensive its also works well for
more in depth retouching.

That's what I thought, until I bought a Wacom. Now I can't believe the
time I wasted and the garbage I produced because of the constraints of a
mouse.

Preparing scans adequately requires more than just removing a few spots,
too.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

On 26/7/03 2:31 am, "Gregory W. Blank" wrote:

A pen and tablet is _mandatory_ for any serious work in Photoshop.

Thats an opinion & you should state it as such,....the Pro Lab I deal
with and worked for never use any thing but the computer mouse
They; I should add do hundreds of scans a week, for simple
spotting the mouse is perfectly fine and alot less expensive
its also works well for more in depth retouching.

Having used a Wacom Graphire for a number of years now I find it
unbelievable that anyone who has used both could find a mouse any more than
barely adequate in comparison for image editing.

I found the benefit of the pen and tablet to far exceed the price.


Pat
--
Photos at:
http://www.shuttercity.com/ShowGalle...ll&AcctID=1251

Paula Sims wrote in message al.net...
I have scanned several thousand photos in and am now going to use
Photoshop to touch them up. How helpful would a pen and a tablet be or
should I just stick to my mouse? If I should go with the pen and tablet,
which one?

BTW, can a pen and a tablet be used (or connected to the computer) at
the same time with a mouse? I'm left-handed (I use pen with my left
hand but use mouse with my right hand), so I'd need a tablet that can
be used on the left side of the keyboard, while at the same time
having a mouse on the right-hand side.

I know that many tablets have a wireless mouse included, but I have
understood that those mice are usually not very good. So I would like
to have the tablet but also a separate wired optical mouse connedted
at the same time. Will this result in problems? My operating system of
choise is Windows XP, if that matters.

-Antti

Antti Heiskanen writes:

BTW, can a pen and a tablet be used (or connected to the computer) at
the same time with a mouse?

They can both be connected and available. If you literally try to use
them simultaneously, they'll "fight," because the pen tries to position
the cursor at an absolute location on the screen, while the mouse tries
to move it relatively to another location. It doesn't hurt anything,
but it serves no purpose.

In contrast, you can switch instantly between them if you want, moving
first the mouse and then the pen, or vice versa. The pen is normally
configured to use absolute positioning so that a given spot on the
tablet always represents the same spot on the display, whereas a mouse
is normally configured for relative positioning, so that moving the
mouse moves the cursor from wherever it currently is, without
respositioning it in an absolute sense.

I'm left-handed (I use pen with my left hand but use mouse
with my right hand), so I'd need a tablet that can be used
on the left side of the keyboard, while at the same time
having a mouse on the right-hand side.

I have a set up like that, except that I have the mouse on the left and
the tablet on the right. I'm right-handed, so I keep the tablet on the
right for very precise work, and the mouse on the left for simple cursor
operations. It took a bit of getting used to, as I previously had moved
the mouse with the right hand, but now I'm accustomed to it and it works
great!

I know that many tablets have a wireless mouse included,
but I have understood that those mice are usually not
very good.

Skip the included mouse. Just get the tablet and use your existing
mouse. I have a Wacom tablet at my right and my old, reliable Microsoft
mouse at my left. The mouse is cranked up to maximum speed, so that it
covers the entire screen with about one inch of movement. This works
well for fast operations, whereas I can use the tablet for slow or
precision stuff.

Having two pointers like this also is convenient when you need to type
things at the same time.

In practice, I use the tablet mostly with Photoshop and Illustrator, and
the mouse for most other things, although I use the tablet whenever I
need precise screen movements (the tablet can resolve 100 points per
millimetre and 1024 levels of pressure, so it is very precise indeed).

So I would like to have the tablet but also a separate
wired optical mouse connedted at the same time. Will this
result in problems? My operating system of
choise is Windows XP, if that matters.

There will be no problems. The two work together just fine.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

BTW, can a pen and a tablet be used (or connected to the computer) at
the same time with a mouse? I'm left-handed (I use pen with my left
hand but use mouse with my right hand), so I'd need a tablet that can
be used on the left side of the keyboard, while at the same time
having a mouse on the right-hand side.

I have an old 4x5 wacom with a cordless pen.
I love it.
I can have it working with the normal mouse.
I am right handed


=20
I know that many tablets have a wireless mouse included, but I have
understood that those mice are usually not very good. So I would like
to have the tablet but also a separate wired optical mouse connedted
at the same time. Will this result in problems? My operating system of
choise is Windows XP, if that matters.
=20
-Antti

I've had up to 4 "mice" connected at once on this system.

1 : (PS2) Logitech 3 button plus scroll wheel
2 : (USB) Kensington trackball, 5 buttons and scroll wheel
3 : (USB) Wacom "Graphire" tablet (approx. 6x8") (or whatever it's called)
4 : (Serial Port) Summagraphics large digitizing tablet (approx. 14x14")
with 4 button puck (or pen, have both)

Never had any problems during normal use but some additional comments seem
appropriate ...

Summagraphics was just too large for a desktop plus there seemed to be a
"lag" with detecting button presses.

The Kensington was a pile of junk

Wife loves the Wacom (arthritis in wrist so mouse is a problem over extended
period). She uses it mainly for Autocad stuff

I do NOT use the tablet, I've tried to like it but I can't find a convenient
way to hold pen and use the "side" buttons.

I'm also sure anyone trying to use the tablet in any 1st person shooter type
of game etc. wouldn't stand a chance against someone with a mouse

P.S. The "mouse" that came with the Wacom sits on a shelve unused. It only
works on the tablet's surface and although no moving parts is nice, the
mouse itself feels and acts "cheap".

Tom Elliott wrote:
BTW, can a pen and a tablet be used (or connected to the computer) at
the same time with a mouse? I'm left-handed (I use pen with my left
hand but use mouse with my right hand), so I'd need a tablet that can
be used on the left side of the keyboard, while at the same time
having a mouse on the right-hand side.

I have an old 4x5 wacom with a cordless pen.
I love it.
I can have it working with the normal mouse.
I am right handed



I know that many tablets have a wireless mouse included, but I have
understood that those mice are usually not very good. So I would like
to have the tablet but also a separate wired optical mouse connedted
at the same time. Will this result in problems? My operating system
of choise is Windows XP, if that matters.

-Antti

Mxsmanic wrote in message . ..
Antti Heiskanen writes:

BTW, can a pen and a tablet be used (or connected to the computer) at
the same time with a mouse?

They can both be connected and available.
...

Thanks for your very informative reply, you answered all the questions
I had about using a tablet! I'm off to purchase a Wacom Graphire 2 (or
Intuous 2 4x6 if I can find a good deal).

-Antti

Antti Heiskanen writes:

I'm off to purchase a Wacom Graphire 2 (or
Intuous 2 4x6 if I can find a good deal).

All Wacom tablets are good deals, simply because they are so useful.
Their usefulness is remembered long after the price is forgotten (to
paraphrase Gucci).

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Mxsmanic wrote:
Antti Heiskanen writes:


I'm off to purchase a Wacom Graphire 2 (or
Intuous 2 4x6 if I can find a good deal).


All Wacom tablets are good deals, simply because they are so useful.
Their usefulness is remembered long after the price is forgotten (to
paraphrase Gucci).


Hopefully, however, the person will find the tablet more useful than
most of the output Gucci was famed for. ;-)

Art