Installation & update
About program installation and update, hardware, operating systems, setup, etc.

Anyone using Intuos tablet?

I bought a Wacom Intuos Pro, thinking it might be faster and more pleasurable than a mouse, as well as easier on the wrist. It works properly, but I haven't been able to develop the speed of mouse input. (yet)

Does anyone have any tips or experiences to share in how to set up and use a tablet with a pen? Is this experiment doomed to failure? Or do I just need to tough it out for awhile?
Richard
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Richard Morrison, Architect-Interior Designer
AC26 (since AC6.0), Win10
5 REPLIES 5
Jacques Toerien
Participant
I have an Intuos (3D) Medium tablet and I only use it in Affinity Photo. I tried using it in ArchiCAD but I was just so much slower. I may try again, I feel like there is a trick to this pen vs. mouse business...It does feel much better on the wrist but getting the right / middle click set up is a pita.
2012 13" Macbook Pro 8GB Ram, OS X 10.14.6
2010 Mac Pro 2x 6 Core 2.93Ghz Xeon, 48Gb Ram, OS X 10.14.6, RX 580

To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem. - Douglas Adams
DGSketcher
Legend
I know it isn't the same but I have an apple desktop trackpad which I got with similar intent of distributing wrist wear & tear. I found it way slower than the mouse, I don't know if we have evolved autonomous mouse brain function or the it may simply be the click-hold-drag function feels difficult on a touch surface. I still use the trackpad for simple screen navigation, but hardly ever touch it for CAD work.
Apple iMac Intel i9 / macOS Sonoma / AC27UKI (most recent builds.. if they work)
Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi, I have been using intuos tablets since 1997, now I'm on a cintiq companion. A tip I have to suggest is to raise the cursor snap range in work environment.
Jacques Toerien
Participant
Going to give this a go again in the next two weeks. I don't like giving up!!
2012 13" Macbook Pro 8GB Ram, OS X 10.14.6
2010 Mac Pro 2x 6 Core 2.93Ghz Xeon, 48Gb Ram, OS X 10.14.6, RX 580

To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem. - Douglas Adams
matjashka
Enthusiast
I was forced to switch to an Intuos because of some weird joint strain I developed.
I did this to force myself to extend my arm movements, as opposed to a mouse, and it definitely helped. Oh, and it's the largest Intuos model.
It's more work vs. a good multi-button mouse. I spent more than a week nailing down the settings for a dual-monitor setup, but it's never going to be as fast as a mouse in ArchiCAD.
The most annoying part of it is having to "park" the pen each time you need both hands to type. You can't just drop the pen on the tablet. Zooming is also challenging, I resorted to enabling limited touch gestures which I can do while holding the pen. Sometimes I zoom with left hand using the touch wheel.

PM me if you'd like more detail.
Matt Krol [LinkedIn]
BHMS Architects and Planners, Chicago
AC 10 ... 26 USA