Is it my Wacom tablet or PS?

[Painterskip]

I wasn't sure where else to post this, so if I chose wrong, feel free to move

I am now using PS CC...have been for a year. Have been using PS since before V4 I guess.
I also have a Wacom Intuos 2 tablet. The smallest size. They say it's the 4 x 5 size but I set it up to use the entire tablet, which is about a 7" x 8" usable area. Been using it for a very long time....couldn't be without.

My question is regarding sensitivity. Not pen pressure but more like when you are trying to move something like a guide or selection and be accurate about it....or even text. It seems that when using the pen it's sometimes hard to be exact. I know I can have things snap to guides and all that....and now that I think about it, when working on photos and I'm using the pen, it seems to work just fine regarding sensitivity.

So my question is this....if I went and bought something like a Wacom Intuos 5 Pro, medium size, would I notice a difference?

Thanks in advance

 

[MrToM]

Probably not.

There were issues with Win7 and Wacom.....Microsoft using the word 'Tablet' just to confuse everybody....and to add insult to injury it had nothing to do with 'Tablets', (in the true meaning of the word), anyway! It just stuffed them up!

Disabling anything and everything to do with 'Tablets' in Win7 sorted most problems out.....Wacom may even have an updated Win7 driver by now that Win10 is out.

On the PS front:
Things like guides, and any other NSO, (Non-Scaling Object), are snapped to your SCREEN pixels and not to the image.

Its for this reason that guides can in fact be positioned ON a pixel....in several (32) places to be precise, rather than exactly BETWEEN two pixels....as you'd expect.

(Its also for this reason that you should get into the habit of using 'Shift', (with snaps on),when dragging out guides....they will snap BETWEEN pixels, not ON them....little tip )

Pixels on the other hand, say as part of a copy paste routine, cutting and moving or just moving a layer will snap to the pixels in the image.....even if 'Snaps' is completely off they have to align with the other pixels in the image which is a kind of pseudo snap.....stands to reason really.

Using the 'Pen' tool or creating shapes also uses the image pixels.....again with 'Snaps' completely off 'anchor' points will still 'snap' to between pixels....as it should do.

This is all standard behaviour in PS, regardless of what instrument you use to do it...GFX pen, mouse or a finger!

If you have a specific 'snapping' or 'alignment' problem let us know.....someones bound to have fallen fowl of it before.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[Painterskip]

Thanks, MrToM! Good info that I probably should have known given how long I've been using these programs.

I do seem to recall having 'issues' for awhile when I first got Win 7. Haven't had problems for a few years though and I plan on sticking with Win 7 as long as possible.

Stilling wondering though. What advantages, if any, would a much newer and slightly larger Wacom tablet provide me?
BTW, I posed this question re upgrading to a newer tablet to Wacom and all I got in return was a sales pitch on buying a new tablet

 

[MrToM]

...Thanks, MrToM! Good info that...

No worries.

...I plan on sticking with Win 7 as long as possible...

You, me and several thousands of other people I shouldn't wonder.

...What advantages, if any, would a much newer and slightly larger Wacom tablet provide me?...

Personally I prefer the smaller area....less hand movement....my 7"x5" Bamboo is plenty big enough, in fact I've made it smaller in the settings to about 2/3 the width, and why have more 'pressure' points.......unless you always work in 32bit images.

I don't see any advantage other than it would be 'new'.
If you have a dual screen setup and want to cross over the two then a slightly bigger version may....may....be better....I dunno.....7"x5" is big enough for two screens in my opinion.

Some people on here have nothing more than the cheapest of tablets...I did too for several years, and have no problem using them at all......they all do more or less the same thing....the differences being more buttons and twiddly turny things on them....or the ability to be able to be 'touched'.....well....who needs that in a GFX tablet if you are a serious user?

Build quality may be considered a factor but anything with 'Wacom' written on it is usually a good bet.

Other than that I dunno really.......personal reference will play a big part but that's something nobody can advise on.

I usually replace mine when it wears out....usually when I can start to feel 'grooves' in the surface but i always try to keep the same size and features as before.....just a 'new' one.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[Painterskip]

Once again, thanks very much for the very helpful info. After allowing what you wrote to 'sink in' and actually 'thinking' about what is going on when I'm working, I discovered something that should have been very obvious to me and I'm somewhat embarrassed to mention it here

So the way I've been working for years now is like this....

I have my little, 8 plus year old Wacom tablet sitting to the right of my keyboard. When I'm doing stuff where I don't use it, like going online, I have an old mouse pad on top of it and use my cordless mouse, which I like. When I'm doing Photoshop work, I move the mouse pad and grab the cordless pen. Here's where I've been messing up.....
Instead of always using the pen to move or create selections, I would sometimes use my cordless mouse. I also have the old Wacom mouse, but I'm not happy with the movements...it's slow. But that's the key, in a way. The cordless mouse doesn't have near the accuracy in movement as does the pen or the Wacom mouse (used on the tablet surface, of course).
So I think that's why I've been having issues when moving layers and selections....it's only an issue when I use the wrong mouse.
Does that make sense?
All I know is that now I try to use either the Wacom pen or the Wacom mouse when in Photoshop.
And you saved me some $$$ from not going ahead and ordering a new tablet Thanks!

 

[MrToM]

...Does that make sense?...

Absolutely!

I've used a pen for many many years and really only use a mouse for things like scrolling through fonts....but that's all.....I couldn't use a mouse for actual PS work...in fact its rare I use a mouse at all.

Its ultimately personal preference but I'd advise using 'a' pen as much as possible.....it does feel strange at first but once you get used to it...

I have my two pen buttons set up with 'middle' click nearest the nib, and right click. That pretty much covers everything especially when used with Ctrl, Alt and Shift combinations....and that seems to be true across most 'graphic' applications too.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[IamSam]

I'm left handed, I have my tablet on the left and I have always operated the mouse with my right hand, obviously on the right.

I still use the mouse for the Pen Tool with my right hand. It's ten times faster and more accurate with the mouse on this tool. But most of the other tools I operate with the Pen.

I have the tablet Pen set up the same as MrToM.