Wacom Intuos4 Review
Sunday March 29, 2009
Sue Chastain has just reviewed the Wacom Intuos4 Graphics Tablet, and it looks like a winner. The tablet has been redesigned and there are significant performance improvements - double the pressure sensitivity of the Intuos3. Do pay attention to the note about backward compatibility: older software users won't be able to get the most out of the new Intuos4's performance. Check out Sue's Intuos4 review and Intuos4 photo tour.
Comments
Hi Helen,
Nice review. I have ordered a Intuos4 M tablet today. I do some furniture designing and some drawing/Sketching as hobbies. I wanted to know what do you recommend from the software choices available with the Intuos 4. Since I can have 2 of the 3 listed which ones should I download?
Thanks in Advance
Hi Manas,
Yes, Sue Chastain is an amazing asset for us here!
I haven’t used any of the software options listed – you might want to check out Sue’s reviews and her Graphic Software forum for help with this.
Being into design, I wonder if Autodesk might be useful for you. However as I said, I haven’t tried it so can’t advise.
I’m currently using Corel Painter Essentials 4, which is a brilliant little program that does everything I need.
If you have any existing graphics software, the Wacom website lists the ones that are compatible with the Intuos4 extended capabilities:
https://www.wacom.com.au/intuos4/enhanced-software
I got my tablet, had to download the autodesk s/w (because corel had some problems with their license keys) and you were right its not of much use.
They are giving Autodesk Sketchpad Express which is really a stripped down version….maybe need to get Corel Painter Essentials 4….
By the way have been reading your blog lately and its a pleasure…
Keep writing
-Manasvi (i guess i misspelled it last time!!)
Hi Manasvi,
oh that’s a pity you’ve found the software not to be very good. I guess the days of good free software are pretty much over – they’ve realized that software is where the money is.
Until you get a package, you might like to try Gimp. It’s pretty good and I’m finding it easy to use. I’m using the Linux version but it’s also available for windows. It might not take advantage of the full capabilities of the new tablet, but might do as a stop-gap until you get better software.
http://www.gimp.org/windows/
I wish I’d bought the CD-ROM of the Corel software, rather than download, as I only got the Mac version so don’t have it for my laptop.
Ah unfortunately my comment did not appear..something wrong with the system I guess…
Thanks for the note..I did download GIMP and best of all I managed to find a Portable Apps copy of it (Try http://portableapps.com/ its really very good). GIMP was more than I expected. Thanks. I also stumbled across another free software called Artweaver..looks promising
http://www.artweaver.de/
available in portable version too….
I think I would defer purchasing Corel for a few weeks and play more with these two….
Cheers
Manasvi
Free software is out there. Take a look at: blender.org
Thanks, Art. I’d forgotten about Blender – I’d seen it a while back but haven’t tried it out.
I found this roundup of 3D modeling apps -
25 Free 3D Modeling Applications
There’s another industry-standard package that is freely available but the name escapes me at the moment. I’ll see if I can track it down.
Though for natural-media drawing you really want a raster drawing program. Some of these might have painting/drawing options, I’m not sure.
I got an intuos 4 tablet and it’s a great tools. Gimp works very well on Mac OsX. I’m looking for a free software that permits to assist 3d design or Cad design with a graphic tablet (line, spline, ellipse drawing detection). Any idea ?
Thomas, check out the programs in the comment above yours. Also go to graphicssoft.about.com, Sue Chastian has extensive reviews of graphics software.
Another great (free) drawing/sketching and painting app for Linux and Windows is MyPaint http://mypaint.intilinux.com/
If you ever wanted to see Wacom Intuos4 drawing tablet in action, now you have a chance.
This is a usability Video review of Wacom Intuos4 (Medium) digital drawing tablet. This is not your typical product review of its features and capabilities. Conducted over a month and a half period, this usability review portrays real user tests that tell you the truth about what they felt about this drawing tool.
Watch it here: http://bit.ly/3EdxOJ
Be sure to leave some comments about whether you as an artist will adopt the digital workflow using a digital drawing tablet.
Enjoy!
I stopped watching when the guy was unwrapping the mouse and wondering what it was. A load of timewasting and wasted bandwidth.
I liked your review and admire your way of writing.
I have also made a small review that has been published at http://www.stockholmviews.com/wacom-intuos-4-review/index.html , this review is written by me as a first time ever user of a pen tablet and therefore it might be useful for other Wacom board virgins to read.
Regards/Stefan