Which tablet?

I want to get a tablet for my partner for Christmas. We do mostly photography, but she does lots of digital art and she used to be a great sketch artist with paper and pencil.

I just want a graphics tablet, not a tablet computer. Any recommendations. Wacom?

If she'll be using Photoshop and/or paint programs, then the Wacom Intuos Pro is worth its extra price. I've got some previous ones that are the Large format (which is good if your partner does more drawing with her arm). Then I've got the medium size for stashing in a laptop bag along with a 15" laptop (the one I have is the previous model from the current one, and has the same features). It comes with several different nibs that provide soft or harder tactile give. The texture of the surface is also pretty good (newer models feel more like a pad of paper). It also has a toggle ring that you can assign things like changing brush size, and the pad supports hand gestures (so you can zoom, rotate, pan with your fingers). It also has a wireless kit included (some other lines have it as an add-on).

Wacom Intuos Pro Medium size

Cheaper Wacom Intuos:

Wacom Intous Medium

If you're on an even tighter budget, there's a knock off brand that seems to get decent reviews: Huion

I recently started using the Intuos Pro Medium, and I absolutely love it! I also purchased the art pen, and like it better than the standard stylus. The art pen allows you to spin the brush in your hand to rotate the brush on your screen.

Wacom also makes a Paper Clip that lets you put paper on top of the tablet to draw on, and it transfers the drawing to the computer.

I found the Intuos Pro Large was way too big for a normal size desk, the medium is still big, but the active area of the tablet covers the screen size nicely.

You just have to decide if the Intuos Pro is $100 more, for someone just starting, it may not be worth that extra hundred bucks. The one listed above looks pretty nice.

Thank you for the replies. The Intuos Pro Medium looks good to me. The paper clip sounds great.

Thanks again!

Get an IPad Pro, 12.9

The OP specifically said he was looking for a graphics tablet: not computer tablet.

I'd ask her which tablet she wanted, not some bunch of strangers on a forum...
we're all going to get is seriously wrong!

joeseph wrote in post #18494463
I'd ask her which tablet she wanted, not some bunch of strangers on a forum...
we're all going to get is seriously wrong!

She doesn't have a clue what she would like.

I got her the Intuos Pro Medium size, sitting here waiting to be wrapped.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback!

I first learned digital illustration with the original Intuos. Intouses have only improved for interactivity and tactile sketching since. Even apart from the gesture touch features, I think the new Intuos Pros have a great selection of nibs and the texture of the surface is more like paper. It should be a huge success if she finds herself getting into computer Art.

microsoft surface pro?

I am an artist and photographer and I'll have to add my vote in for the Wacom as well. I used to have a large tablet but my hand had to travel too much to be effective. I switched to the medium and it works so much better. Using a tablet is not like working on paper so the larger size is actually a detriment. With software you can zoom in for detail work or zoom out for longer flowing lines and gestures. It also fits in my laptop bag easily.

I'd say that when it comes to deciding between the medium vs large tablet form: medium does have its advantages for being portable. It is more popular, and I think the right choice for the OP. It's also a more natural fit for artists who are used to drawing with their hands at 8x10 - 9x12 inch sketch pads. But the large has its merits if you're coming from a fine arts background where you're starting with arm gestures and are used to drawing in paper formats that are above 18x24. My background is medical illustration and fine detail drawing of the human form. It's better to get the right proportions and perspective if you first block in your forms (gesture)...and for large format, that's drawing with your arm. Putting in details afterwards with my hand (and palm resting on surface/ or mahl) then just becomes easier. For me, large format still has its merits in that it has more give for doing my initial gestural drawing...and then breathing room for detail work.

We got it setup and figured out several things today, including the Bluetooth connection. She seems to like it so far. And after playing with it, and looking at a couple video tutorials, I think I might be able to use one for retouching. I'm not a graphic artist like she is, but I can see the advantages for retouching photos.

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.

KatManDEW wrote in post #18526179
We got it setup and figured out several things today, including the Bluetooth connection. She seems to like it so far. And after playing with it, and looking at a couple video tutorials, I think I might be able to use one for retouching. I'm not a graphic artist like she is, but I can see the advantages for retouching photos.

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.

I don't have a Wacom, too expensive for me, but I do have a cheap Trust brand one. I love it, and have used a series of them for over 20 years. I too am not really an artist, but I realised pretty quickly after I got a digital camera that for those editing tasks that need precise movements, such as tracing outlines, or painting in around areas the pen was much more natural than using a mouse. Which finally made the tablet a useful tool.

I watch a lot of younger people who can do this sort of work with the mouse, and have noticed that many of them are of an age where they were learning to use a mouse at the same time that they were learning to colour with crayons, let alone learning to write with a pen or pencil.

Alan