How many of you retouch on a tablet?

[UnknownSouljer]

Just taking an informal poll of sorts.

I finally picked up a Wacom Intuos 5 Medium (which is the same thing as the Pro, I know all the other minor differences, but I won't outline them here). It's my first tablet and I'm just working on getting used to it.

I'm looking forward to (eventually) faster and better retouching time. I can already see the potential, but of course it's taking a little time to gain the dexterity for it.

So, who retouches on tablets? Do you have any secrets? I'm really curious about what people map their buttons and scroll wheels to on this thing.

On the pen I've kept click, right mouse click, and Pan Scrolling (which makes this a much easier device to use one handed).

And I've started to map different buttons to different apps. Of course most notably Photoshop.

I will mention that I have some problems with the touch implementation though as it's not the same as Apple's. Specifically in regards to gestures. There is no 3 finger swipe left and right to change Spaces. And for some reason it doesn't do click and drag. And unfortunately there is no way I can see to change those options so ironically I have my Magic Trackpad nearby to switch to for certain types of movement.

 

[Anh N.]

I bought one also a while ago, but did not have the patience to stick through to get used to it. I kept falling back to the mouse to edit. But from everyone else I know love to use them to edit. I will have to just hide the mouse away and just bite the bullet and learn.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

I bought one also a while ago, but did not have the patience to stick through to get used to it. I kept falling back to the mouse to edit. But from everyone else I know love to use them to edit. I will have to just hide the mouse away and just bite the bullet and learn.

I hear it takes about a week of time exclusively working with the tablet to get up to speed. And then you start getting faster after that. The hard part is removing the temptation to use other methods. You more or less have to accept that your productivity will go down for a week and work through it.

I guess it's similar to learning a manual transmission vs an automatic. If you allow your only form of transportation to be the manual, you'll figure it out. It isn't "hard" just nothing to it but to do it.

For reference, I haven't actually started retouching on this thing, but I am doing stuff that requires dexterity. I'm cutting together a movie in Premiere and also just doing basic stuff in Lightroom (just moving sliders etc, not actually retouching in the sense of using a brush, clone stamping, etc). Next week I'll start actually using it to do retouch work, I just have a deadline on this other project right now. But it is worth mentioning that even basic tasks feel harder (right now). Learning how to precisely click on links on websites as an example requires entirely different movement. And how to rest in while working with it is another part of it.

I've mapped down the surface area too to keep from needing or using the entire space. I'm starting to wonder if I should've gone with a small. I did get a really good deal on this though.

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EDIT: LOL, over 110 views and no one wants to even admit that they do or don't use a tablet? Sheeeeesh. I just thought it was a slow morning. But I guess not, people are avoiding this thread.

 

[madFive]

Sounds like fun! I don't own a tablet at the moment, but love using the stylus on my Note4 and could definitely see how that'd be nice for LightRoom and the occasional painting type work with the right size touch-screen. I don't see many of my other graphics apps working so well on the smaller screen as I normally use 2 or 3 monitors for PhotoShop, Flash, Premier, etc. And I am very big on using lots of keyboard shortcuts to maximize productivity on the desktop - wouldn't want to slow down that much by using touch-screen exclusively.

Looking forward to seeing where this tech goes in the next few years, but I'm not ready to adopt any time soon.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Sounds like fun! I don't own a tablet at the moment, but love using the stylus on my Note4 and could definitely see how that'd be nice for LightRoom and the occasional painting type work with the right size touch-screen. I don't see many of my other graphics apps working so well on the smaller screen as I normally use 2 or 3 monitors for PhotoShop, Flash, Premier, etc. And I am very big on using lots of keyboard shortcuts to maximize productivity on the desktop - wouldn't want to slow down that much by using touch-screen exclusively.

Looking forward to seeing where this tech goes in the next few years, but I'm not ready to adopt any time soon.

Well the idea with the tablet is that it's just a mouse replacement. It's highly recommended to use the keyboard with shortcuts. If you (or anyone else) hasn't already, I highly recommend watching Pratik Naik's "The Art and business of High End Retouching" on CreativeLive.

Day 1: It's a shoot with Felix Kunze and Pratik on set. The basic idea is (quoting): "If you want to look like Gucci, you can't shoot like Walmart." In otherwords, you have to start with an excellent product first, and not try to save thing in Photoshop later. So it "answers" questions like: How did you get those nice highlights or shape the face so well? It's called, proper lighting/techniques etc. I think everyone on this board knows that already, but it at least goes to show you how the source images were shot and not just working on some sort of unknown image from nowhere.

Day 2: At the beginning he goes over his Photoshop hotkeys and tablet setup. I've basically moved over to all his hotkey bindings and it has sped me up a lot in retouching.
Then the rest of Day 2 and Day 3 it's him showing the exact series of steps that he uses on a retouching job. From clean up and D&B all the way to multiple ways to color grade. As well as exporting and print management.

It's a definite watch, worth the money if anything is on CreativeLive. Anyway, I bring that up to reiterate, that the "tablet" is just a pointing device that is just used as a more accurate and easier (after learning it) tool in comparison with a mouse and it's definitely to be used in conjunction with a keyboard. Pratik doesn't even use the bindable buttons on the tablet just so he can keep his hand precisely where all the shortcuts are bound to on the keyboard. I guess you could say that watching Pratik is what sold me on getting and using a tablet. I knew that I "should've" moved to one before, but this was the push I needed to finally get one.

(PS: Also look up his chops, Pratik is the owner of Solstice Retouch. He is the exclusive retoucher for JoeyL and a huge host of other serious clients. He's a heavy-weight even if lesser known in the industry).

 

[madFive]

Oh! Ok, thought you meant a tablet like an iPad or Adroid type device, and working on that exclusively instead of using a desktop. Yeah, if it's just hooking a stylus tablet to your desktop for input that's another story.

I had one ages ago but just never used it. Most of my work is technical illustration, not painting in nature, so I just didn't have much use for it. I can work a lot faster and more precisely with the mouse, not free-handing anything. I've been using a mouse for everything for 15+ years, so I'm pretty much used to it and can paint what I want with it no problem when the need arises.

Wish I did more painting type work that would use a tablet, but I just don't have much need for it.

I'll definitely give that video a watch. Always good to get a new perspective and tips on how other pro's work.

 

[MN Scout]

I have a really old USB Wacom tablet. I can kind of get it to work in Windows 7. Fun to use for the pressure sensitivity, but I haven't used it much because it is really small. I can see a larger one would be better.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Oh! Ok, thought you meant a tablet like an iPad or Adroid type device, and working on that exclusively instead of using a desktop. Yeah, if it's just hooking a stylus tablet to your desktop for input that's another story.

I had one ages ago but just never used it. Most of my work is technical illustration, not painting in nature, so I just didn't have much use for it. I can work a lot faster and more precisely with the mouse, not free-handing anything. I've been using a mouse for everything for 15+ years, so I'm pretty much used to it and can paint what I want with it no problem when the need arises.

Wish I did more painting type work that would use a tablet, but I just don't have much need for it.

I'll definitely give that video a watch. Always good to get a new perspective and tips on how other pro's work.

I think the basic idea is that using a stylus is more precise than a mouse. Not that it necessarily has to be used as a brush. But I am hoping it will improve my speed in D&B, clone stamping, healing brush, using the pen tool (for composites), and layer masks.

Right now, I'm using it as a total mouse replacement (just because it forces practice). So, no real brush strokes happening here, just using it to browse and click on things lol.

I have a really old USB Wacom tablet. I can kind of get it to work in Windows 7. Fun to use for the pressure sensitivity, but I haven't used it much because it is really small. I can see a larger one would be better.

I'm thinking the medium might be too big for me. An Intuos Pro Small might be the right amount of real estate. I think for retouching and general use it's better to have the tablet "mapped down" that is to say use less of the tablet surface so you don't have to make long elaborate arm movements that just slow you down and make you tired. Intuos Pro Small has "only" a working surface area of 4"x6". The medium is a massive 5.5"x8.8".

I definitely feel like a large tablet benefits artists creating something from nothing (EG: digital painters). But it's not as useful for me who primarily wants it to retouch.

 

[madFive]

For the first time in ages (possibly ever) I have a project coming up that will require a bunch of free-hand illustration type work, so it's time to eat my words in this thread! Just ordered a Wacom Intuos Art (medium-size) tablet last night - I am so excited about getting to play with a drawing tablet again!

I'll be using it to draw out lots of vector art in Flash, then taking those into Photoshop to do touch-up and texturing etc (or I may just do it all in PS, haven't decided yet). Should be fun!

Time to re-read this thread and see what kind of tips you guys had for working with stylus-tablets...

Edit - yeah after reading thread again, I doubt I'll end up using the tablet as a mouse replacement, think I'll just start by using it for free-hand painting/illustration and see where it goes from there. Also I'm not planning to do much with mapping the buttons on mine; since I'm so used to the keyboard shortcuts in my graphics apps, I'll just stick with the keyboard for most of that. Also the model I got only has a few map-able buttons anyways.