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

hello aaargink,

this thread showed up in a wacom-autocad search... I have used the Wacom intuos 4 tablet for several years off and on and have yet to find a really good set up.  before acad v 2013 I have been using the tablet and pen as a pointer with the tip disabled, then a mouse in my left hand to right and left click.  one can keep the pen on the tablet and get a good tactile sense for where the pick box is located.  carpal tunnel totally goes away for me with this pen.  but with the new ribbon setup the buttons in the ribbon do not respond to the click of the mouse.  wondering how you have tablet configured.  do you click with the pen?

Hola amigos,

Hace un par de semanas compré una tablet wacom bamboo, y funciona muy cómodamente, como es natural, me encontré con el problema del "scrolling".

Para 3Dsmax se puede hacer zoom presionando ctrl+alt y el botón de paneo en el lápiz, con esto se obtiene un zoom muy cómodo al arrastrar el cursor hacia adelante o atrás.

En Autocad el problema del scrolling fue más complicado de solucionar:

a) Lo primero es bajar el programa Stroke iT, es un freeware, búsquenlo en la web.

este programa reconoce gestos al mantener presionado un botón del lápiz (click derecho para que no interfiera con el paneo del middle click) 

b) luego debes crear o modificar 2 gestos que te parezcan cómodos para hacer zoom-in y zoom-out en Stroke it.

c) baja el archivo sxp de Autocad para Stroke it:

Obténlo aquí

luego cárgalo en Stroke it, (File>Import Config) 

d) reemplaza 2 de los comandos que trae por defecto por "zoom in" y "zoom out"

lo que haremos será asignar a los dos gestos hechos en Stroke it dos comandos de zoom para autocad  ;B

E) edita los comandos reemplazados (los nuevos "zoom in" y  "zoom out") 

ZOOM OUT :en el menú "action" borra el gesto que trae por defecto y asigna uno de los creados, luego en el submenú "new command" edita en el cuadro de comando reemplazando por:

[ESCAPE]_zoom[RETURN]s[RETURN].5X[RETURN]

ZOOM IN: asigna el gesto creado en el menú "action" y en el cuadro de comando edita reemplazando:

[ESCAPE]_zoom[RETURN]s[RETURN]2X[RETURN]

voila!

ahora tienes los gestos asociados a Autocad.

como podrás notar el zoom es regulado por el comando Scale, y no es igual al scroll del mouse pero funciona muy bien, pruébalo es muy cómodo y práctico.

saludos

Can anyone translate the above contribution?  It looks fraught with interesting info!  

I came across this exchange Google-ing for help.  I have to get off the stationary mouse and onto a pen if I can for Design Suite 14 and CS6/PS6 usage, along with attempting to use the new sketch and raster functions.  I have an old Wacom UD1218R serial PC tablet I can resuscitate, but there are no drivers for WIN7/64 Pro and all the registry hacks etc. are beyond me.  For starters do I need to convert it to a USB hookup in order to then proceed with the rest of the fix?  Has anyone actually gotten the old boards up and running with all the pressure sensitive levels and buttons working?

I noticed above that people are having issues with the ribbon and the tablet. is this going to work going forward - ripple effects, ribbon etc. and is a replacement tablet a necessity?  It seems that the new suite sketch programs are looking for a board tie-in as well.  look forward to hearing from you all,

Best,

dsi1

dsi1,

The information above it´s for Autocad use, in order to minimize the no-mouse-scrollwheel-shock. I have no ideas or experience on old wacoms but  you could try the wacom forums, as far i understand this forum its dedicated only to autocad related issues.

good luck on that 

still wish there was a translation of the above piece so I could see if there is info that I can apply to my own purposes.  I am curious if the new tablets work properly with the ribbon in AutoCAD products before making a new heavy investment.

@dsi1

translate.google.com

Hello friends,

A couple of weeks ago I bought a wacom bamboo tablet, and it works very comfortably, naturally, I found the problem

Hello friends,

A couple of weeks ago I bought a wacom bamboo tablet, and it works very comfortably, naturally, I came across the problem of "scrolling".

For 3dsmax you can zoom by pressing ctrl + alt and the button on the pen pan, with this you get a very comfortable zoom by dragging the cursor forward or backward.

In Autocad scrolling the problem was more complicated to solve:

a) The first is to lower(download) the Stroke iT program is a freeware, look it up on the web.

This program recognizes gestures to hold a pen button (right click to not interfere with the pan's middle click)

b) then you must create or modify two gestures that seem comfortable to zoom-in and zoom-out in Stroke it.

c) low(download) Autocad sxp file for Stroke it:

Get It here

Stroke it then upload it (File> Import Settings)

d) replace 2 commands that comes by default with "zoom in" and "zoom out"

what we will assign two gestures made ​​two commands Stroke it for autocad zoom; B

E) edit commands replaced (the new "zoom in" and "zoom out")

ZOOM OUT: in the "action" delete the gesture that comes by default and assign one of the created, then the submenu "new command" published in the command box replaced by:

[ESCAPE] _zoom [RETURN] s [RETURN] 5 X [RETURN]

ZOOM IN: assigns the gesture created in the "action" and the replace edit command box:

[ESCAPE] _zoom [RETURN] s [RETURN] 2X [RETURN]

voila!

now you have the gestures associated with Autocad.

as you will notice the zoom is regulated by the Scale command, and is not equal to the scroll of the mouse but it works great, try it is very comfortable and practical.

regards

wacom for autocad because of your wrist? >< *palm to face*  that would make anyone laugh

use it for what its intented.

get a Contour mouse or another ergonomic mouse for your wrist

Interesting all the answers about not using a Wacom tablet with AutoCAD. Well, I have been using a Wacom Intuous4 tablet for 12 years and AutoCAD since release 11 (1990). And have always used tablets, of course, tablet digitizers for the DOS versions of AutoCAD.

I can tell you this, nothing beats the pen tablet! You can apply settings to the pen buttons, the touch ring and the tablet buttons individually! For example, in AutoCAD, I just hover over the pen, to the area I want to zoom in and use the touch ring to zoom in/out. To pan, I have assigned a pen button to it, just hold the pen button and pan away! For 3D navigation, I use the pen button+Shift button on the tablet. The tablet buttons have ESC, Shift, Ctrl, ALT, L-mouse click and R-mouse-click assigned to them.

When it comes to command input in AutoCAD, I use the icons. Clicking on a command icon with the pen doesn't require you to drag it from one point to another as you would do with a mouse, not helpful with sticky surfaces or a dirty mouse. The area of the tablet is representing the whole screen. I draw/design 50% quicker than people using a mouse. 

For people working with 2 screens, as I do, there is a button on the tablet called Display Toggle, which allows your cursor to jump to the same location onto your other screen. 

So, in brief, people saying get a MAC (which is completely BS as AutoCAD for Windows has more features than AutoCAD for MAC). 

For people who are interested in some missing features in AutoCAD for MAC:  

1. Interface looks nothing like the Windows interface (uses the clunky MAC interface)
2. No Express Tools (No Move/Copy/Rotate and Stretch Multiple!!!)
3. No ability to add third-party Addons.
4. No customizations other than LISP (no .NET API support!)
5. No support for Object Enablers (impossible to exchange files with verticals like Civil 3D, Electrical, Mechanical and Architecture).
6. Using 3D tools is limited.
7. The cost is the same as the Windows version. What?

 Hope this helps.