What bamboo pad to buy?

tenrdrmer

I am looking at getting my wife a bamboo pad for christmas and would like to know others oppions. I would also like to know if the smaller pad is fine for photos and game art or should i just go for the big one. Also there are some options depending on what i buy as far as Photoshop elements, corel painter, or both? any thoughts on what those program are capable of?

Thanks

tenrdrmer

Grr' the damn poll submitted before i was done making it.
So there is Bamboo pen with corel painter for $69.00
Bamboo pen with Photoshop Elements for $99.00
Bamboo Craft with both for $129
and the Bamboo Fun with both an a larger active area for $199.00

Thanks

BackUpAndDown

It all depends on the size of your computer screen. If you have a large screen but a small pad it will be hard to do any kind of detail.

I use a...
13inch macbook
Medium intuos4
and photoshop Cs4/Illustrator

As long as you stick with the Wacom brand you can't do wrong.

nulo

BackUpAndDown said:
As long as you stick with the Wacom brand you can't do wrong.

other than that. is it for professional use? will you be creating 4k paintings with it? or will you be retouching family photos?
if it will be more of a toy go with any bamboo (with pen)
if you need it for professional work go with intuos

tenrdrmer

Thanks for the reply guys. Would you recommend Photoshop essentials or Corel Painter? this will be mainly for family photos but i may try it out for art at some point.

Snow

Forget the stupid bamboo. Get Intuos 4 medium. You will never go back and it is an incredible investment. When I bought mine I wasn't even used to tablets, but once I got used to it, it is the same as drawing on paper. Mine is just amazing. I can sketch like crazy in MyPaint (which is an awesome free painting program btw).

goliath

If an iPad is a consideration, I strongly suggest you go with iPad. I had a bamboo for about a week and I returned it and spent some extra money and picked up an iPad. Best. Decision. Ever. I just wasn't getting what I wanted out of the bamboo and being an artist, felt that the iPad was significantly better in all aspects. Plus there is a TON of cheap art apps that are amazing.

Like I said I don't know if the iPad is an option but do consider it.

gyroscope

iPad! iPad! Droooool.....(I've been drooling since March....yuk!)

Hi tenrdrmer, if you do go the iPad route, here's an article about some of the art apps for it:

http://artculture.com/featured/art-apps-gallery

Eastbound

I just got my Bamboo Pen and Touch and it's awesome. DO NOT GO THE iPAD ROUTE!

Get an iPad if you want, but not for the purpose of a tablet. Not nearly as efficient. The tablet has shortcut buttons, is much much cheaper, and has over 1000 levels of sensitivity. The iPad has one. It is a much better experience than trying to use the iPad (which I did like for art, too, but then I got my tablet).

tenrdrmer

So back to the question of what software is better. FYI i cannot afford the Intuos 4