If you are an artist or if you do any type of photo work in programs like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Corel Painter or any of the other dozen or so image editors then you have no doubt found that using a mouse for some tasks is rather hard. Masking out complex objects, drawing, painting and things of that nature just don't translate well to a mouse. Human beings are used to doing those things with objects shaped like pens, pencils, crayons, paint brushes and the like. Things that are long and slender. Things that you can control with the angle at which you use them, how much pressure you apply control how much pencil, paint, chalk, etc. is laid down. A mouse on the other hand rolls and it moves the cursor but you don't have angle control, you don't have pressure control you don't even have the same hand comfort that you get with a pen or pencil or crayon. Basically using a mouse for these highly creative tasks is like using a brick to paint your walls. Sure your getting paint up but it isn't pretty. It isn't fun and it sure isn't effective.
No what people that use these types of programs and do these kinds of things on their computer need is a pen tablet. A pen tablet is a small board like device that comes with a pressure sensitive pen and even a cordless mouse. The pen can work differently based on the angle you move it over the tablet and it is pressure sensitive so that the harder you press the more digital paint, chalk, etc. you put down. In fact it is so realistic that using a program like Corel Painter or Adobe Photoshop and their natural media tools you can do watercolor painting, oil painting, draw using pencils and crayons and markers and chalks and more. Best of all these programs offer you an almost limitless number of brush styles, sizes and shapes and a near limitless number of natural media art tools and paper types.
But, it doesn't stop there. A pen tablet at least for myself is the single best and fastest way to mask out objects. It doesn't matter if it is a complex object you need to mask out or a simple one, it is just faster and easier with a pen tablet.
For those that don't want to replace their mouse outright with a pen tablet you don't have to worry, most pen tablets including the world's best Wacom now comes with a cordless mouse you can use instead of the cordless pen. You simply use the tablet as a mouse pad. You can quickly switch between the pen and mouse without doing any more than just setting the mouse or pen aside and picking up the other controller. It is that easy. Best of all the drivers for the Wacom tablets even allow each controller to have different settings that it will change to automatically when you switch controllers.
For a long time one of the downsides to a pen tablets is that they were corded. Now the pens and mice are cordless, but the tablet itself needed to be connected to the computer by serial port in the old days or USB ports that is until recently. Wacom has now taken care of that problem as well. They now offer their Graphire 6 x8-inch pen tablet with wireless Bluetooth capability. That means you can move your tablet and pen/mouse away from your computer (up to 30 feet). Now you not only have creative freedom for you work, you have mobile freedom as well. There is also one less cord to clutter up your workspace and one less cord to worry about tripping over.
Now I will be the first to admit the Wacom tablets cost more than some other brands, but I can also tell you that you get what you pay for. Wacom is the master when it comes to pen tablets. They have been the leader in the field from the start and no other company comes close to the quality, sophistication, ease of use and driver compatibility. If you want to get a pen tablet that is going to be easy to install, easy to use yet powerful enough for any job then go for Wacom. The Graphire Bluetooth is no exception. Once I got my Bluetooth transmitter (one doesn't come with it) I had the tablet up and running in less than 5 minutes and I haven't had so much as a single hiccup. It works with my Windows XP system perfectly and it works with all of the software I use for creative work including Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter the two programs I turn to most.
But, don't think for an instant that a pen tablet is only good for graphics work. Many applications from Microsoft Office to presentation programs to online conferencing systems can make use of one and there is nothing better for note taking than a pen tablet, it works like pen and paper and gives you the same results only in digital form.
The Graphire Bluetooth also comes with a very good selection of software to get you started. You get Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0, Corel Painter Essentials 2, nik Color Efect Pro GE, EverNote Plus (for jotting instantly retrievable notes) and JustWrite Office 4 (for annotating Microsoft Office Documents). I have also found pen tablets to be very useful when giving large presentations. Because of the Bluetooth wireless you can sit down out of the way and be comfortable as you do the presentation. This also brings up battery life. Being that this is a cordless tablet there is a battery. On a single full charge of the battery (AC charging pack included) you can get up to 25 hours of battery life. That is a lot, I can't imagine people using one for that length of time without stopping. When you do just plug it in and let it charge, it uses a lithium Polymer battery so you don't have to discharge it fully before you charge it. In fact the battery lasts longer if you don't completely discharge it.
The Graphire Bluetooth comes with two Express Keys on the tablets top, these can be custom programmed using the driver software do whatever you want from keystrokes, mouse clicks and more. In the top edge of the tablet there is pen storage and it comes with a little plastic desktop holder for the pen as well. You can even remove the protective cover of the tablet and place a photo or some other piece of artwork down and then put the plastic cover back customizing the look of your tablet. The pen has the pressure sensitive pen on one end and a pressure sensitive eraser on the other. In most programs like Adobe Photoshop turning the pen upside down switches you to the eraser tool. There is also two programmable buttons on the side of the pen right in easy finger reach, like the buttons on the tablet these can be custom programmed as well. The mouse is a three button mouse with the third button being the middle scroll wheel. Yes, like most modern mice this mouse includes a scroll wheel, a mouse feature I wouldn't do without. Also, the mouse has no ball or sensor, no moving parts at all. So there is nothing to get gummed up. However, the bottom of the mouse is covered in a felt like material that after about a year gets dirty and icky and unfortunately, I haven't found a way to clean it or replace it. This is my single and only complaint with the Graphire line of tablets. The more expensive Intuos tablets don't have the felt bottom and so they don't have this problem.
The Wacom Graphire Bluetooth 6x8-inch wWireless pen tablet is simply fantastic. It is easy to setup, easy to use, the pen and mouse are comfortable and it really makes your daily computer work and creative efforts a breeze. I just love being cordless.
Note: As I said the Wacom tablet DOES NOT come with a Bluetooth transmitter. For our review and testing I used the Belkin F8T012. This is a very small USB transmitter that offers support for Bluetooth v 1.1, 1.2 and 2.0 compliant devices. It is USB 2.0 plug and play which makes it a snap to install. It comes with a manufacturer's lifetime warranty. It can allow you to use devices up to 330 feet away (not all devices allow this, the Wacom works up to 30 feet away). It supports PC's running Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 or XP or Macintosh computers with OS X v10.3 or higher (drivers for the Mac are supplied by Apple). I found this small transmitter easy to install and use and best of all it can be used for almost any Bluetooth device including LAN Access, Headsets, file transfers, fax, and more. It has a price of: $49.99 on the Belkin web site. You will need one of these if your computer doesn't already have Bluetooth capability. I have come to trust Belkin, they make great products that are affordable and very easy to install and use.
