You need this is you want to digitally paint. (Wacom Intuos3 A5 Wide)

Member Name: stefstefstef

Product:	Wacom Intuos3 A5 Wide
Date:	09/04/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: sturdy, no batteries, good pressure senstivity.

Disadvantages: Buttons get pushed easily, expensive

I have owned the Graphire 3 wacom and this one, I can't actually notice so much difference, but maybe I would if I went back to the graphire!

This is really the thing for anyone who wants to digitally paint, the only thing better is the Cintiq, which costs thousands of pounds! This also has the added advantage over the Cintiq that your hand doesn't cover any of the painting area as you work!

This has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, twice that of the Graphire, which means this would act much more like an actual pen.

The Wacom pens don't need batteries, unlike other brands of tablet, they are also really reliable! I found the customer support very good for my Graphire, and even based in Germany, a step over Indian call centres lol.

I would recommend "Corel Painter" with this, which is very natural, and very geared towards traditional artists, but I find it very complicated. Or you can choose "Photoshop", which is easier to work with, but less geared towards artists, and more towards photographers (though I use it to paint)

I like this size over the next size up, as moving your hand further means the lines get shakier, so I prefer this size and it is more comfortable and also easier to move around in a bag!

The only thing to watch out for it the buttons on the side, they often get touched by your hand while you are drawing, so you should maybe turn them off!

In a nutshell this is for digital artists and expert photograph retouchers, If you just want to doodle, or use it for writing you would only need the Wacom Graphire or Bamboo

Summary: For digital painters and photo retouchers in photoshop

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