I look back on the days when I had to draw everything by hand. As computers became more sophisticated, software such as Paint came onto the market as a simple drawing program. At the time, this replaced the pencil drawings by drawing a picture using straight lines and curves, adding color to them to make them stand out. However, Paint was limited, not only in color but in what you could do. If users didn’t have any experience whatsoever in drawing on the computer, they would spend hours just to create a simple 2D drawing. That’s when I discovered Adobe Photoshop. It had more colors, more features such as scanning in those drawings and layering, for those who like doing Computer Graphic Imaging (CGI). Still, users had to know a thing or two about drawing on the computer.
So what about you and me? If you like to draw and have that urge to share your drawings after storing them on some site like Photobucket or in an online art community such as DeviantArt, to enhance an image would take far too much time. The solution? I introduce to you the Bamboo Digitizing Tablet, by Wacom!
The Bamboo comes with software to install your tablet’s drivers on your computer. Nowadays the latter isn’t really necessary thanks to the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) most platforms now have.
Drawing is made easy with the pen this tablet comes with. Yet the tablet isn’t limited to drawing for those who are with the new age of digital signing in Microsoft Word 2007. The battery free pen has two sides, with the blunt end being the eraser. But be careful when using the eraser side! I’ve had to change the eraser setting to draw a few times before realizing that I did not press down on the writing side hard enough. With the 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, it doesn’t offer a lot.
I wonder if you could replace it for another with more. I have yet to try the latter but may consider it an option if I want to pay for an upgrade, which costs a little less than the $65 price of the tablet. It would be well worth it for those who aren’t heavy handed. Though it may take some time to get used to, in the long run, you might find yourself stuffing your colored pens, crayons, pastels, and pencils in the closet. The itsy bitsy spider might keep them company for you. The pencils I may actually need but only for the rough draft and right before I send to my scanner.
My animation teacher had recommended this tablet to me and with a professional’s advice, it was a good choice. Though I may not do drawing or animation for a living, for a hobby, it has become a big help! Now I know how the animators and comic strip artists’ drawings are done. And the Bamboo tablet by Wacom is only the tip of the iceberg!