If anyone is looking into dipping into Photoshop but don't want to fork out the big bucks to buy the app and then have nothing to do with it, may I recommend a piece of hardware. The best part is that Photoshop Elements comes bundled as well as a few other apps depending on the level of product you buy.
The device in question is called the Wacom Bamboo. The Bamboo is a small, entry-level graphics tablet. It comes with a stylus but no mouse. It leaves out the mouse because it is also a touch device, much like a trackpad, iPhone or iPad. It features a technology called multi-touch which is explained in the video below.
Multi-Touch Explained
The Stylus
A stylus is similar to a pen without any ink. The surface of the tablet and the stylus itself interact to make over 1,000 levels of sensitivity. This sensitivity can be used to make a brush more or less transparent as it's applied or to increase or decrease the size of the brush.
In some programs, the stylus can be used as a handwriting device. While it's not as fast as typing it can be a more natural approach for certain people.
The best description I have ever heard about the difference between using a stylus as opposed to the mouse is like drawing or writing with a fine pencil or writing with a bar of soap. It really offers a level of control that is simply impossible with a mouse. Now, depending on how hard you push or how far you tilt the pen you will get reactions from brushes that let you paint or apply effects to your images.
There are several benefits to using a tablet outside graphics and multimedia. Wrist strain and carpel tunnel syndrome pain are greatly reduced when a trackpad and/or a stylus is used. It takes some time to get accustomed to pointing with the stylus but it often becomes something most users cannot work without.
I mentioned bundled software. Each of the Bamboo tablets comes with a few pieces of software to help you get the most out of your tablet. The entry level Bamboo comes with an app called Sketchbook Express from Autodesk This app mimics real world brushes and paper and is a really fun way to get ideas on paper (pixels actually).
The top level, Bamboo Create come with three apps: Sketchbook, Painter Essentials and Photoshop Elements. If you were to go buy all the bundled software separately you would spend much more than the cost of the tablet.
The Bamboo offers three models: Connect, Capture and Create and is priced at $79, $99 and $199 respectively.
Holy cow thanks for this information. I wasn't aware that this app even existed.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is going to help me have conversations with my husband! I love it! Thank you for the helpful information. :) Hanna
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool Photoshop program. Much better than Windows Photoshop, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good program. Its the basics, but it lets you come to understand a lot of editing photos. I use a lot of programs and this was my starting point, I still use it a ton for projects.
ReplyDeletethis is really cool, I've been really into photography lately and I'm always interested in using editing software to make pictures a bit more expressive and unique
ReplyDeleteThat's the coolest thing ever! I wish I knew how to do all of that stuff. That is crazy how you know my wife, it is a small world!
ReplyDeleteCrazy good! Loads of information here! It's crazy to see how technology is advancing and being applied.
ReplyDeleteInteresting...seems a lot more fun to use then the old school photoshop!
ReplyDeleteAbout how much would each thing run? Photography is a blast, but it is expensive to get into it.
ReplyDeleteI just got a graphic tablet and I love it. I use it all the time in photoshop and it makes everything so much faster.
ReplyDeleteI took a story boarding/animation class a few years ago and almost spent some the money to invest in a nice bamboo tablet. Looking back on it I really wish that I had done it.
ReplyDelete@ Nate, They run $79, $99 and $199. The mid and upper level come with Photoshop Elements.
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