Wacom 9x12 Or 12x12?, Which do you prefer and why?

I am looking to buy a Wacom Intuos3. The 9x12 and the 12x12 are similarly priced. Looking for opinions on which one to buy preferably from owners but also from those experienced via a friend, etc.

The only diff between the 2 is the price (slight) and size (3in).

Thx for you help!!
Jeni

Smaller...
Less is more.. etc..

I have a 4x5, and it's perfect. If I wanted to "draw," I'd go bigger, but for pictures, small works fine.

I have the 6X8. I bought the 8X10 for a scream but found it waay to big for normal editing of pictures so I returned it. For a graphic artist-yes; since all I do is work with 1 photo at a time;6x8 is all I need.

As others have said, if your need is for a pressure sensitive pen for photo retouching and similar, you don't need a huge tablet. If you buy a large one, you'll probably find yourself setting the active area to a fairly small part of the overall active area in the driver so as not to wear out your arm with long pen strokes.

I've got a little 4x5 Graphire 2. Now that I'm using a widescreen monitor, it's a little small, but still quite usable. It's not something I'm in any hurry to replace. 6x8 or thereabouts would probably be ideal. 9x12 would be far too big.

David

If you're doing stuff where you want the proportion of the screen to match the proportion of your drawing surface I'd go with the rectangular 9x12.

Years ago I worked at an agency that set me up with a 12x12 and it was just too big for graphics and retouching, I was quite literally fatiguing my arm reaching for the top of the tablet all day lomg ... I ended up mapping the top third of the tablet off with the software, and running a piece of gray tape across the surface so I knew where my live area ended.

I'm currently using a 6x8 and am considering upgrading to the 9x12 at some point, but I think the 12x12 is a bit much

I have the 4x5 Graphire as well. Don't think I'd want a bigger one.

I have the 4x5, too, and I'm not even using the whole 4x5 area. And this is for two screen's (20" and 19") worth of real estate. I've been thinking of going with the 6x8 just so I can get a little more resolution widthwise but I haven't really had a need to do that yet.

Like PacAce I also use the Wacom A6 (4x5 inch) Its great to reduce wrist/arm ache. Very efficient movement because a flick of the pen will get the cursor from one side of the screen to the other.

Artists generally prefer larger sizes for painting but they aren't so good for everyday tasks. The larger you go the more tiring it is to use.

Jenirose3, the sizes you are asking about aren't that different. Of the two I would advise on the 9x12.
The problem with the 12x12 is that the computer screen is not square so you will either crop some of the tablet area (in software and end up with 9x12 anyway) or the pen movement will not be the same ratio as the screen and may be a little difficult to use. (IE if you try and draw a circle it will come out as an oval.)

I would still recomend the 4x5

Cheers,

I have a 4x5, a 6x8 and a 6x11. I started with the 4x5 as I prefer a compact wrist/arm movement. I wound up with the 6x11 because of dual monitors. Works great.

Jack

I have a A6 (4x5) at home, which is fine for airbrushing, but as good as useless for drawing paths. I also work with a A3+ which I find too big, and an A4+ which is just about perfect. Might check out the A5wide in the near future for home, cause it seems an ideal compromise when working with two monitors, and isn't rediculously expensive as the A4 and bigger models are.

The smaller the pad, the more precise your movements have to be. I have the 9x12 and would have gotten a bigger one if it was available at the time.

If you want to travel with it, I'd go smaller so it would fit in your laptop bag.

But, if you don't have a 20+" screen, not sure if you can tell the difference between a 9x12 and a 6x8 pad.

I have the 9X12. The only reason why I didn't get the 12X12 is that it's too big to fit on my desk and that I would have to strain my back to reach that far. Otherwise, I would get the 12X12.

I got the 6X8. It is big enough for my 24" LCD...

you will probably be alright with the 6x8, i certainly have never found a need for larger. but of the two id stick with 9x12 personally