Wacom Cintiq 12WX 12-Inch Pen Display
by Wacom
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Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: WacomAudio: English (Original Language)
Platform: Windows XP
Model: Cintiq12WX
Color: Black
Product features:
- Finger-sensitive Touch Strips and ExpressKeys
- Scratch-resistant glass surface
- Anime Studio Debut 6 [OLD VERSION]
- Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium [OLD VERSION]
- Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium[OLD VERSION]
- Pixelmator [Old Version]
- Anime Studio Pro 6 [OLD VERSION]
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Wacom Cintiq 12WX 12-Inch Pen Display
Customer Review: Not for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
I've used it for more than a year. Get yourself over to Itunes and download the Pixel perfect tutorials by Burt Monroy [large version]. He uses the top of the line wacom tablet, but it's the same with the 12wx. The hardest thing with using the 12 is configuring it. I mention how in the Euro forum. The manual is only fair. So make sure you have access to the Euro forum at Wacom.
While the bad things are fresh in my memory I'd like to explain how to work around them.
CONFIGURATION
poor usage at the extreme edges. For me this was a simple fix. If you can't move the wall, move the tool. You can't move the edge of your monitor screen. So you move the tools. With Photoshop, I don't use full screen, I resized the work area in all my adobe programs to come up with about 1/2 to 1 inch visible desktop. This way I NEVER go to the EXTREME edges. So I never have the problem of accessing the extreme edges. A simple configuration fix that doesn't require years of forum chatter on making an impossible hardware change to the tablet.
I had a unique problem with it. It wouldn't hold the settings from one day to the next. I use Vista with a user account vs an admin account [security]. For this reason the cintiq needed a special way to find the settings that were saved in the user account folder. I had to add a PATH to those settings so it had access. No problems since.
I bought this 12 wx, because the intuos 4 [small] I bought was like drawing blindfolded. I've never thought of drawing by remote. that's the intuos line.
Now for plusses: it has 2 touch pads Identical for keys, left handed or right handed. Once I got going with configuration, I added some stick on labels below the keys to tell me what I had on the keys.
I had to quit using the scroll bars, these keys weren't sensitive enough to be reliable.
You can also define those keys for each program you use. wacom thought of everything.
The power cord is very sturdy and flexible. You'll be moving this tablet, and a stiff breakable cord would be more trouble.
And someone else commented about portability. It is movable in a small area. but portable, it isn't a laptop, though you can use it with a laptop. The tablet itself is about the same size as a laptop, but you'll need a diaper bag or specially designed bag to carry all the extras that power it.
It is also sturdy plastic. I heard rumors of the drawing area coming loose. Wacom replaced those.
For usage.. This is where it shines once you get it setup correctly. I installed, uninstalled, replaced the settings nearly hourly for the first few days-months. It's been a year since I touched the settings now.
I'm no artist, but I can draw & trace. Trace - not an option with an intuos.]
My drawing has improved from unreadable text to near calligraphic perfection. IOW: If you can't draw with a pencil and paper, don't expect the cintiq to change that. As my use continued, my drawing and usage of the tablet improved.
The power switch is recessed. Chances of breakage by contact are nil.
I wouldn't even consider dropping this then complaining about durability. Don't drop it even on a carpeted floor.
Jittery pens was a complaint. I've never seen it, and I have arthritis. Everything I hold jitters. The contact with the pen to screen starts to take effect approx. 1/2 inch from the screen.
Pen pressure with PS is very good. Like an old quill pen, longer you have contact with the paper, the more ink flows. Cintiq interprets pen pressure for that effect. This is a PS configuration.
To use the cintiq for web browsing, was more configuration than I had the patience to try. Having both screens open at the same time with web browsing, things would freeze. Until you found something you'd selected [or an ad popup selected for you] had opened in the other window and was waiting for your action. Annoying...
Some people say they no longer use their mouse. I wanted to be one of those, but IE and the web didn''t cooperate. So I assume those using the cintiq for EVERYTHING were just blowing smoke, or they've been using it for more years than I've had computers [15 years]. I prefer to think it was lies. It's good for what it was designed for. Transferring hand motions to screen via specially designed software specifically for drawing and writing.
Using the tablet PC input panel also took months of configuration. Hand writing recognition, I would say is still 20 - 50 years from perfection. Simpler to relearn how to write legibly and not the way doctors write.
It's a definite step up from using a mouse to draw on screen. It's both faster, and more accurate ie: pen pressure for step down color saturation. Can't do that with a mouse. Closest thing would be the gradient tool. And you can't use gradient on a pixel or two wide line. ie: colored string black to sun bleached brown.
It has a prop on the back. I learned from the props on my keyboards, that these things are NOT designed for sturdyness. Though I would expect Cintiq's prop to outlast a keyboard prop by at least a month. Better solution would be a table you can lay it on and adjust for tilt. I stick it in my open center desk drawer at a tilt angle, and it works just great.
When the choices in tablets are intuous [drawing blind] or the cintiq's [$1000- $3500] All depends to me on your purse strings and what you want to use it for. Professional, go with the top of the line. [See Burt Monroy's tutorials, and the tour of his studio], or just a hobbyist and budding artist, the 12wx is the way to go. I have no idea what the intuos can be used for..
Wacom Cintiq 12WX 12-Inch Pen Display
Oh, and this is a BIG OH!... You need a video card that powers dual displays. Well you don't really, but if you want to ever use the web again, you will need such a card. You can use the cintiq as primary display without a dual display video card. You just need to let your bios know that it should direct all video to the cintiq. You now have a useless monitor taking up valuable desk real estate. And you need to relearn how to use a pen vs a mouse.
Selecting a video card. Think long and hard, and do your research.. It took me weeks and I had to get a card compatible with my 2 year old machine. Tech changing every hour, my card was nearly obsolete when I got it, and the top of the line current cards were too advanced for my 2 year old machine.
Power supply being a major factor. I had a 500 watt from an XP machine collecting dust. 600 watts being the norm for the new cards. How much of your machine do you want to replace, just to add a video card ? And no one knowing the difference in PCI-E or PCI-E 2. This was the hardest one to get over. No one could agree on compatibility between PCI-E and PCI-E2. I probably could have gone with a PCI-E2 card, but those that agreed on compatibility were in the minority. And there wasn't a lot of research to make an informed decision. This was a year ago. Available research may have improved since then. PCI-E2 is better than PCI-E. Cost is negligible, unless you can't use PCI-E2.
These are just reminders:
Before you install the card, or the cintiq, download the newest updates 1st.
then install the card 1st. Get the card working correctly so you don't sit there trying to configure 2 things at the same time.
The Cintiq's updates are a big change from what comes on the cd. You don't even want to install the CD drivers for the tablet. It'll just mess you up later with the windows OS and multiple users.
Except for price I can't find a thing to complain about with the 12wx.
Description of Wacom Cintiq 12WX 12-Inch Pen Display
The Cintiq family of interactive pen displays enables creative professionals to work naturally and intuitively, by using Wacom's patented, professional pen technology directly on the surface of an LCD display.Wacom offers three options for working directly on screen: the all new high definition Cintiq 24HD, the popular large-format, second-generation Cintiq 21UX and the low-profile Cintiq 12WX. These high-quality displays, combined with the Cintiq pressure- and tilt-sensitive Grip Pens, offer world-class levels of precision, control and comfort for editing digital images, applying effects and filters, sketching, painting and modeling. The amazingly responsive pen-on-screen performance closely replicates the experience of working with traditional brushes and markers while offering all the benefits of a digital workflow. The Cintiq's scratch-resistant glass surface is completely flat from edge to edge, allowing the hand to glide easily over the entire surface. Both Cintiqs offer adjustments that allow them to be set up in different working positions and at different viewing angles. They also come equipped with finger-sensitive Touch Strips and ExpressKeys that can be customized to execute commonly-used shortcuts and modifiers to speed and simplify any workflow. The Cintiq pen controls the cursor in any application and provides pressure- and tilt-sensitive effects in supporting applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, Corel Painter and hundreds of other applications. Cintiqs are compatible with both Mac and PC platforms.Digital Cameras and Photo Categories
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