How to Setup a Wacom for Photoshop

This weeks screencast is a bit of a departure from my normal Lightroom and Photoshop tutorials as I thought now was the time to do a video all about the Wacom Tablet. In this screencast I will guide you through my setup and how best to fine tune your own Bamboo or Intuos tablet for use with Adobe Photoshop.I bought my first wacom back in 1997 and it was pretty much the same size as the little white bamboo that you see in the image below. In fact I have pretty much come full circle because it was only a few years ago I was rocking a full Cintiq setup until I decided to sell it to buy a new laptop.

I have used A5 and A4 as well as the A6 size I am currently using and I actually prefer to use the smaller sized tablet. I don’t know why but the smaller sized tablet suits me better than the larger tablets. This may not be the case for you but thats what I have found over the years works for me. If you take a look at the images you will see I am using 2 computer desks back to back with the iMac and other screen sitting on the far away desk and the cables dropping down in between. (I am not totally wireless, but getting there) Then the Wacom, Keyboard and mouse are arranged so that when I am using the graphics tablet my arm is supported by the majority of the desk.

Although sometimes depending on my mood I will have the graphics tablet over where the plastic com-pad is situated. If you want an amazing and durable mouse pad then get a Com-Pad. They are not only tough and durable but it will really help you to use your optical laser mouse accurately.

If like me you can be a little heavy on the plastic nibs that come with your graphics pen. (I wore down 3 whilst making The Big Picture – Shoot – Edit – Retouch). Then Warehouse Express sell the little Bamboo Nib replacements. They are a little on the expensive side for what there size, but you should not need to swap them out that much. I keep mine in the base of the pen holder as the white top part screw away from the base.

Finally…

One thing I did not mention was the old “sticky mouse disease” that you can get from a Wacom Tablet being attached to your computer. Never heard of it? Well stick your Wacom Pen in its holder and pop it on top of the middle of the Graphics Pad pretty much like in the image above and you will wonder why your mouse does not move far from a certain part of the screen. In fact this illness can be so bad, that I got a frantic call from a pro photographer who needed to get printing done yet could not get his mouse to work. He had reinstalled the drivers and done all manner of things yet his little old mouse cursor would not move a muscle.

He got on the phone to me and told me he would pay me double my daily consultancy fee to drive down to the North of England from Ayrshire and fix the issue. At the time I did not know he had been spending his hard earned pennies on a new A4 Intuos Graphics Tablet. Anyway this was a quiet Saturday and I had nothing booked that weekend, so I thought what the heck, the guy’s offering silly money for me to drink coffee and get my hands dirty on a computer and plus its a nice drive down the M74 to Northumbria. Three hours later, I arrived at the photographers studio, took one look at the setup, moved the pen and its holder 3 inches to the left and asked what’s for lunch? That was the easiest days wage I had ever earned.

SO DON”T LEAVE YOUR PEN ON THE TABLET!! Nuff Said… >

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