From Sue Chastain,
Your Guide to Graphics Software.
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Wacom is the most widely-known pen tablet manufacturer, and have a fine reputation which is well-deserved. In 1989, Wacom introduced the first cordless, battery-free, pressure-sensitive pen, and their Intuos3 is the third generation of Wacom's professional line of graphics tablets. Intuos3 supports tilt control and 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, the highest sensitivity of any graphics tablet available today (double that of Intuos2). Intuos3 comes in 4x6, 6x8, 6x11, 9x12, 12x12, and 12x19 sizes.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Good on-screen tutorial included on the installation CD.
• Comes with 5 extra pen nibs - three standard nibs, a felt nib, and a spring-action stroke nib.
• Pen feels more substantial than my old Intuos pen, and the rubber grip is more comfortable.
• No power cord to get in the way. Tablet is USB-powered.
• No batteries to change. Pen and Mouse are cordless and battery-free.
• A wide-format 6x11 size is available for multiple monitor and widescreen display users.

Cons

• Current software does not allow you to copy settings from one application to another.
• Pen stand slides around and can become lost. (I would prefer a non-slip base or attachable stand.)
• Scrolling with the mouse wheel is "bumpy" rather than smooth.
• Large footprint (actual tablet size is much larger than the active area).

Description and Features

The Intuos3 Grip Pen features a two-button rocker switch, eraser, and soft, comfortable, cushioned grip, and uses no batteries. The Intuos3 pen supports 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt sensitivity. Both the tip and eraser respond to pressure and tilt angle. The pen comes with 5 extra nibs, including one felt tip and one spring-action stroke nib.

All Intuos3 tablets also include a ball-free, cordless and battery-free 5-button scrolling mouse. They say the Intuos3 mouse offers 4 times the resolution of an optical mouse, though I couldn't tell a difference. The mouse can be used with either the right or left hand.

Additional accessories can be purchased for Intuos tablets, such as an airbrush or inking pens. The ToolID recognition feature of Intuos allows you to program individual tools for specific functions.

The menu strip of previous Intuos models is replaced with a set of programmable ExpressKeys and touch strips in Intuos3. The 4x6 Intuos3 includes one set of ExpressKeys and Touch Strip for right-handed users. The 6x8 and larger tablets have dual ExpressKeys and Touch Strip on both the left and right sides of the tablet.

ExpressKeys are a set of 4 programmable keys which can be used for mouse clicks and keystrokes. Common ExpressKey assignments are for Ctrl/Command, Alt/Option, Shift, and Space, but they can be reassigned globally or on a per-application basis. ExpressKeys are 'chordable' so you can press a combination of keys at the same time (Ctrl+Alt, for example).

The Touch Strip is a finger- and pen-sensitive inset area which can be used for scrolling, zooming, adjusting brush size, or other functions. The touch strip can be operated by sliding the finger up and down, tapping, or touch-holding your finger on the touch strip. The touch strip also responds to pen motion along its innermost edge. You can program one or both touch strips to respond only to pen input.

The Wacom Control Panel allows you to customize settings for all aspects of the tablet, pen, and mouse. The Control Panel allows application-specific settings, so you could, for example, set the touch strip to zoom in Photoshop, but scroll in other applications. In addition, Intuos3 comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 3, Corel Painter Essentials 2, nik Color Efex Pro 2 IE, and Wacom Brushes 2. Wacom Tablets are Macintosh and Windows compatible.

In Conclusion

I find the Intuos ExpressKeys and Touch Strip to be much more useful than the menu strip featured in older models. One of my favorite things about the Intuos3 is the inclusion of additional stroke and felt tip pen nibs, especially the felt tip which seems to grip the tablet rather than sliding across it. Although I did have some initial problems with cursor freezing, Wacom worked hard to resolve them with a driver update.

As much as I love the Wacom Intuos3, I must confess, I don't use mine very much. I find it hard to let go of my very comfortable Microsoft Intellimouse — although I do switch to the graphics tablet for long periods of photo editing and graphics work, or when my arm becomes fatigued from long hours of mousing.

Less-expensive graphics tablets are available from other manufacturers, but Wacom is clearly the leader in this field. Wacom's technology, technical support, software features, and longevity as a company are unequaled. If you spend long hours working with graphics software, an Intuos3 is certainly a worthwhile investment, and most graphics professionals would call it an essential tool. Non-professionals or travelers may prefer the less-expensive Graphire4 pen tablet.