Wacom tablet for pixel art?

[yrizoud]

I would not put Photoshop at the top of the list. If OP sticks with it for all computer graphics, he won't realize what features he's missing out :
- A real indexed-colored mode
- "game-related" features (grid, snap-to-grid, tilemap tools)
- sprite-related aspects (anim preview, timing tools, onion skinning).

Even for doing the CG version of traditional art, I'd recommend to try Krita or MyPaint : They propose individual tools "Watercolor", "Large ink pen" etc. which is much more handy than having to customize Photoshop's single "brush" to reach the same behavior.

[PSNick]

Wow, I wasn't expecting so many replies! THANK YOU!

As far as I can see, pretty much everyone recommends buying a tablet. In some cases people use the mouse for something as small as the example I gave, for details or otherwise, but it would seem using the tablet would speed up other aspects of design anyway and I could use it for my Photo Manipulations as well (even though I have honestly not worked on them for a very long time).

As far as software goes, opinions seem to be somewhat varied, with some of the programs having a few advantages over others in some aspects or tools. I guess I'll have to give them a try and see how it goes!

I have just placed the order for the Wacom tablet I mentioned before, so hopefully I'll be able to share some of my creations. If you'd like to continue the topic with more opinions on the tablet or software, I'd be grateful to know what you think!

Finally, let me say it once again because you've really helped me decide on what to do. Thank you!


Nick.

[LarkoftheRiver]

The great thing about Wacom is.. Free software! They put in several programs for you to try in most tablets (I got Photoshop, Corel, Anime Studio, and others with both my Bamboo and Intous) so once you get it go to the Wacom site and download them all. I don't think specific pixel programs are included, but its fun to try out the different programs and find the one suited for yourself.

[Ai]

Even for doing the CG version of traditional art, I'd recommend to try Krita or MyPaint : They propose individual tools "Watercolor", "Large ink pen" etc. which is much more handy than having to customize Photoshop's single "brush" to reach the same behavior.

Actually this is false: For both Krita and MyPaint, brushes near-entirely determine the painting behaviour. The only 'special tools' are precision-related: eg. drawing straight lines, connected straight lines, curves, ellipses or boxes; they affect only the (virtual) pressure and location that the brush is applied with.

Photoshop (or GIMP) actually has *more* individual tools for different  paint types than Krita and Mypaint : Pen/Ink, Smudge, etc.. which are all just part of 'the brush system's of Krita and MyPaint. Personally this is why I find Krita and especially MyPaint's painting more approachable and understandable than other apps.


LarkoftheRiver:
It should be noted that it's also the case that a number of the programs proposed here are free or have a trial version :

Free: MyPaint, Krita, GIMP, GrafX2, MTPaint, Aseprite
Trial: GraphicsGale

It may be getting slightly OT but Blender could also be put on the Free list -- I've been finding recently it's great for constructing refs of 3d forms or even text -- with the large arrays of addons and non-destructive modifiers that can be applied to an object, I think of it as a kind of 3d inkscape in terms of it's capability for constructing clean/consistent mockups; With BLAM, it's possible to directly match the camera setup to the camera of your drawing. Also Inkscape itself, which is more on the drawing side than painting.

While I'm being excessively complete -- the GIMP-GAP suite of plugins for GIMP I have also found extremely handy for constructing animations. It's video-oriented, so you have to keep in mind that you don't 'set frame time' -- you just duplicate frames if you want them to show longer, and the actual time frames are shown for is determined by the FPS.  Pretty suitable for longer or more ambitious animations (eg, if you want a scrolling background with objects animating in front of it..)

[Kasumi]

It's worth noting the Aseprite is no longer exactly free.
You can download an older (and very stable) version for free. (I recommend it!)
It is also open source, so if you know how to compile things, you can get the latest version for free.
Or you can just buy it.

It is the only software I know that is paid-open source, heh.

[PsylentKnight]

Ah, that's a new development since I used it first. As I recall, it was totally free then, but I guess that was about a year ago. Damn, time flies.

Maybe the paid version has fixed the color issues I was referring to.

[EvilEye]

I highly recommend a small tablet ( I use a small size Intuos 3 ) if you will be doing any serious artwork.

Yes you can use a mouse for small scale stuff, but even for that a tablet will make things easier. For years when I first discovered I could draw stuff on the computer I used a mouse. Actually back in those days I don't know if there were tablets.

I got my current Intuos 3 off ebay for about 70$ used. It's the smallest size which I recommend actually. The larger sizes are more expensive and also more cumbersome to use IMO. So unless you can't afford 70$ I don't see why you wouldn't pick up a tablet.

[PSNick]

Well, apparently due to the lovely way my country works I can't import the tablet so it's being returned and I'm getting a refund.

Problem is, the Pen & Touch isn't available to buy here, I can only buy the Intuos Pro (or better) which instead of being at $250 is at $400. I'm considering buying it, but it's more than i thought I'd pay for something I'm not sure how much I'll use. It's just a little rant; I'll post again once i'm sure.

Nick.

[9_6]

Can you not et the bamboo one?

[PSNick]

Well, technically they do have a very small selection of them, but they're around $350-380 when the Intuos Pro is $400, so it makes absolutely no sense to buy them.

I just bought one in Argentina (Intuos Pro Small) and it should arrive to my city in a week, hopefully with no trouble