hello I just got a wacom intuos3 tablet =) for my poor wrists.
So it seems like it will be pretty tight for most everything especially photoshop, but I was wondering if anyone had experience setting up the tablet for AutoCAD. I'm not a power user of autocad but one thing I think I will dearly miss with the pen is the whole mouse wheel zoom/pan thing. Or is it easier to just use the mouse with autocad? Or is there a way around it?
in any case, any advise about setting this thing up autocad, illustrator or anything else would be greatly appreciated -- final review in 2.5 weeks!
for what its worth (and to add closure), I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in a couple years later. I kinda avoided the tablet because it was around final reviews and stuff and my wrist was a little better the next year. However, this semester I picked it up again -- and it is great! Between using the scroll bar on the tablet itself and getting used to it, its awesome for my body. A little slower than a mouse, but not by much.
Just wanted to add an update 2 years late. I've been outta school for a year working in a Vectorworks office. VW is a little more mouse intensive than AutoCAD so I didn't use the tablet for the first few months. But once my wrists started feeling it, I pulled it back out. Works like a charm. At this point its as fast as using a mouse.
I never got the hang of using the shortcut keys, but I do use the zoom strips all the time. I would not get a tablet without the zoom strips - it makes all the difference for CAD work..
I use a pen for autocad (since 2001). I scroll and zoom with my mouse using my left hand, and type and stylus in my right. I think this might require a modicum of ambidexterity, but it is FAST. And my wrist still functions.
so you keep a separate regular mouse not the tablet mouse to do that zooming?
when i use a stylus to work in CAD software i just use the zoom window zoom previous buttons more. but the mouse that comes with it is still good for the wrist but 1/2 as good as the pen i find.
Just another follow up. I somehow lost/snapped the button off of my Intuous pen and could not find the backup that came with the original box.
Sooo...I've been using my little bamboo (released by wacom last year?) and its been working fine. The price ($70) is much nicer than the intuos, though I'd grant that I like my larger intuos better, I'm not sure if I was buying today whether I would pay extra for the difference. I think there may be a noticable difference if you use the tablets with photoshop, but I haven't tested PS enough to say definitively.
That said I'm ordering a replacement button for my pen and will be happy to get my Intuous tablet running again.
Either way, I'd say that the mouse that comes with the tablet (ie if you pay extra for the "bamboo fun") is not much better than worthless.
FWIW I'm using the tablet in my left hand so the new Intuous4 with the control strip only on the left side is not gonna work with my drafting style (though I'd love to have the OLED buttons)
ha...I wish I was using autocad...we're using VW but more as a 2d line drawing program, so autocad (at least from my experience w/ autocad 2006) would be faster since it is the king of that type of work....
ouch. maybe you could download a demo of Bricscad xmcad progecad because since autocad is bloated and always has the buggyness it has inherently carried over from version to version(on purpose?) i feel they are a faster tool(s).
wacom TABLET and AutoCAD
hello I just got a wacom intuos3 tablet =) for my poor wrists.
So it seems like it will be pretty tight for most everything especially photoshop, but I was wondering if anyone had experience setting up the tablet for AutoCAD. I'm not a power user of autocad but one thing I think I will dearly miss with the pen is the whole mouse wheel zoom/pan thing. Or is it easier to just use the mouse with autocad? Or is there a way around it?
in any case, any advise about setting this thing up autocad, illustrator or anything else would be greatly appreciated -- final review in 2.5 weeks!
hold the button on the side of the pen to pan then use your other finger to zoom in and out from the long vertical strip on both sides of the pad
I've used a wacom tablet for 5 years. Not only is it good, others in the studio can't get on with it so no one multitasks on my computer!
For Photoshop it's great. The pressure sensitive
...pen comes into its own.
For Auto CAD you can't beat the scroll function on the mouse for zoom and pan. The pen can be a bit fiddly.
for what its worth (and to add closure), I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in a couple years later. I kinda avoided the tablet because it was around final reviews and stuff and my wrist was a little better the next year. However, this semester I picked it up again -- and it is great! Between using the scroll bar on the tablet itself and getting used to it, its awesome for my body. A little slower than a mouse, but not by much.
Just wanted to add an update 2 years late. I've been outta school for a year working in a Vectorworks office. VW is a little more mouse intensive than AutoCAD so I didn't use the tablet for the first few months. But once my wrists started feeling it, I pulled it back out. Works like a charm. At this point its as fast as using a mouse.
I never got the hang of using the shortcut keys, but I do use the zoom strips all the time. I would not get a tablet without the zoom strips - it makes all the difference for CAD work..
I use a pen for autocad (since 2001). I scroll and zoom with my mouse using my left hand, and type and stylus in my right. I think this might require a modicum of ambidexterity, but it is FAST. And my wrist still functions.
...or combine it with a space navigator at your left hand to zoom and pan
so you keep a separate regular mouse not the tablet mouse to do that zooming?
when i use a stylus to work in CAD software i just use the zoom window zoom previous buttons more. but the mouse that comes with it is still good for the wrist but 1/2 as good as the pen i find.
Just another follow up. I somehow lost/snapped the button off of my Intuous pen and could not find the backup that came with the original box.
Sooo...I've been using my little bamboo (released by wacom last year?) and its been working fine. The price ($70) is much nicer than the intuos, though I'd grant that I like my larger intuos better, I'm not sure if I was buying today whether I would pay extra for the difference. I think there may be a noticable difference if you use the tablets with photoshop, but I haven't tested PS enough to say definitively.
That said I'm ordering a replacement button for my pen and will be happy to get my Intuous tablet running again.
Either way, I'd say that the mouse that comes with the tablet (ie if you pay extra for the "bamboo fun") is not much better than worthless.
FWIW I'm using the tablet in my left hand so the new Intuous4 with the control strip only on the left side is not gonna work with my drafting style (though I'd love to have the OLED buttons)
tablet & windows. it's just the more powerful accurate imput device over all
ps stop using autocad geeze, it makes you look so enslaved and conformist.
ha...I wish I was using autocad...we're using VW but more as a 2d line drawing program, so autocad (at least from my experience w/ autocad 2006) would be faster since it is the king of that type of work....
ouch. maybe you could download a demo of Bricscad xmcad progecad because since autocad is bloated and always has the buggyness it has inherently carried over from version to version(on purpose?) i feel they are a faster tool(s).
Thought I'd follow up again 4 years later, now that I'm back on autocad (have been for a couple years now).
Yup still rocking the tablet. The windows 7 ripple effects and stuff are annoying....but still the best way to work. Cheers!
don't think i could ever use a tablet for autocad... for photoshop, it can't be beat