Dual monitors with a wacom tablet

I currently have a dual monitor setup and was thinking about picking up an wacom tablet for photo editing, is there a problem running this type of setup i heard that some people have problems with the tablet and dual monitors.

Using a Wacom with dual displays myself - I set one of the hotkeys to toggle which display I'm working on, so it maps to the full screen area of each display.
To drag a file/window across screens I just tap on the object in question and press the button, which carries the thing across with the cursor.

I like that idea. What i heard was that there was problems with dragging from one monitor to the other.

Don't have any problems myself. Multi-monitor isn't as intuitive as using a mouse, but workable. I have a mouse just in case, but haven't used it in years - it's 10 years old and still works well.

lonerider519 wrote in post #17705836
I currently have a dual monitor setup and was thinking about picking up an wacom tablet for photo editing, is there a problem running this type of setup i heard that some people have problems with the tablet and dual monitors.

I've been using dual monitors since Windows 95, and a Wacom since about 2001, no problems at all with dual monitors.

lonerider519 wrote in post #17705836
I currently have a dual monitor setup and was thinking about picking up an wacom tablet for photo editing, is there a problem running this type of setup i heard that some people have problems with the tablet and dual monitors.

I'm running 6 24" U2410 (3 per row, 2 rows) on an Intuos 4 large without a single issue in Pen mode. It just maps 1/6 of the tablet surface per monitor. I also set a button that switches to a single mode (it's in the control panel for the Wacom) so that the whole tablet can be dedicated to a single monitor for 1:1 drawing if needed.

My secondary box has 3 Eizos with a Intuos 4 medium...same result. On the other hand, the Wacom mouse buttons suck. The Panasonic switches they use tend to die about every 4-5 months (starts to double-click on it's own or will let go in the middle of a drag). Ordered a set of the newer Omron switches and changed them over...haven't had a problem since.

Using any of the pens or airbrush across the multiples seems weird at first. But, you'll get use to it after a while. Or, you can just kick it to the single monitor mode when necessary...

You are a madman!

I write a lot of code, manage a bunch of servers, and also photograph, so 6 full monitors with about 3-4 windows open on each screen. It reduces the alt-tab switching time and makes it easier to reference info from one window to be used in another.

For Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, it's nice to be able to have all the tool panels open on the right monitors with the main canvas in the middle. Reference images or "full image preview" windows on the left side. Too bad that LR sucks and can't understand that one may have more than a dual monitor setup. It likes to kick the secondary screen randomnly onto the left this week but right one next week.

docholliday_sc001 wrote in post #17705955
On the other hand, the Wacom mouse buttons suck. The Panasonic switches they use tend to die about every 4-5 months (starts to double-click on it's own or will let go in the middle of a drag). Ordered a set of the newer Omron switches and changed them over...haven't had a problem since.

The Wacom mice are pretty terrible overall to begin with, always tossed mine in some drawer and the Intuos 5 doesn't even come with a mouse, I think they finally got the message.

The thing that matters is aspect ratio, the reason I use display switching is because the pen would otherwise have a thin strip of active area wasting like 60% of the tablet surface, but if I had a 2x2 setup it would be fine to map it across all displays.

Wacoms have a precision mode that's usually defaulted to one of the hotkeys, it temporarily maps the tablet surface to a smaller area around where your cursor was, so it's a quick way to get extra control. Or you can get a bigger tablet

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #17706593
The Wacom mice are pretty terrible overall to begin with, always tossed mine in some drawer and the Intuos 5 doesn't even come with a mouse, I think they finally got the message.

The thing that matters is aspect ratio, the reason I use display switching is because the pen would otherwise have a thin strip of active area wasting like 60% of the tablet surface, but if I had a 2x2 setup it would be fine to map it across all displays.

Wacoms have a precision mode that's usually defaulted to one of the hotkeys, it temporarily maps the tablet surface to a smaller area around where your cursor was, so it's a quick way to get extra control. Or you can get a bigger tablet

Actually, the mice are really nice, especially when in Pen mode (not mouse mode). It's just the button switches that are cheap. I hate the Intuos 5 and it's touch setup, almost impossible to highlight a line of code smoothly without having to pick up the pen. With a mouse sitting on the surface, it's simple to grab and highlight as necessary.

The aspect ratio is pretty even when using 2 rows of 3 monitors...it was horrid with just one row of 3. When I had just two monitors, I actually used two of the Intuos 4 smalls with each one mapped to a single display and the buttons on the outside (left tablet with "left buttons" and right tablet with "right buttons"). That actually worked really well.

Precision mode was really annoying, so I just remapped it's button to something more useful and added more via the size or number of tablets.

docholliday_sc001 wrote in post #17706716
Actually, the mice are really nice, especially when in Pen mode (not mouse mode). It's just the button switches that are cheap. I hate the Intuos 5 and it's touch setup, almost impossible to highlight a line of code smoothly without having to pick up the pen. With a mouse sitting on the surface, it's simple to grab and highlight as necessary.

The tablet sits directly in front of me with the keyboard behind it, so it would be uncomfortable to use with a tablet mouse anyway. Never used the touch functionality, the non-touch version simply wasn't out yet when I bought it.

Can be useful sometimes, I guess it's more for drawing than photo work since you can more easily define your line art. With a large-size tablet like mine it's not nearly as useful as it likely would be on a small one.

Personally I prefer to map the tablet area to one screen at a time, and then use a toggle to switch between them. Gets a little less graceful with 3 or more monitors, but very workable for just two.

Touch options do seem kind of hit and miss with people. Personally I like multi-touch input, and often use it for things like rotating the canvas, zooming, scrolling, etc. It becomes a very natural interface once you get it configured to a way you like.

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #17706767
The tablet sits directly in front of me with the keyboard behind it, so it would be uncomfortable to use with a tablet mouse anyway. Never used the touch functionality, the non-touch version simply wasn't out yet when I bought it.

Can be useful sometimes, I guess it's more for drawing than photo work since you can more easily define your line art. With a large-size tablet like mine it's not nearly as useful as it likely would be on a small one.

Yeah, I hear ya. I have one tablet on the tabletop in front of the keyboard and a small, in portrait orientation, next to the keyboard for quick grabs.

I do a lot of drawing in both Illustrator and Painter/ArtRage, the precision mode doesn't help much. It is actually easier to map a zoom in/out button set and deal with it that way. When I'm working in AutoCAD/Solidworks, I've used precision mode to get some complex corners together and that's about the most use I've found for it.

Luckless wrote in post #17706938
Personally I prefer to map the tablet area to one screen at a time, and then use a toggle to switch between them. Gets a little less graceful with 3 or more monitors, but very workable for just two.

Touch options do seem kind of hit and miss with people. Personally I like multi-touch input, and often use it for things like rotating the canvas, zooming, scrolling, etc. It becomes a very natural interface once you get it configured to a way you like.

The bad part about mapping one screen at a time is when you have canvases that span across multiple screens or when your tool palettes are on another monitor. If the app has hovering/floating "pucks" that disappear when not in use, it works great (such as in ArtRage or Sketchbook Pro), but really sucks in Illustrator, Photoshop, or LR where you have to open and collapse the tool panels to do anything.

Thanks Guys i went out and bought the intuos pro medium and i love it. I am still playing with it and just set up the dual screen and it seems to work fine. I just have to set up all my short cuts and and custom settings.