Wacom Practice - Adapting to the use of a Tablet

[@dantebellino5111]

First of all I'm commenting 3/2023 and this video and downloadable practice files are a huge benefit. Thank you for this helpful tool. I have finally purchased a wacom tablet and my brain just wouldn't accept or click into the use of the tablet vs the mouse. I've been using your practice method for a day and half and already am doing 200% better. I think if I keep this up and add some of my own practice drills I should have it mastered. Anyone struggling with switching to a tablet this is the ticket. Thanks again.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

You are so welcome, I'm glad that I found it useful!

[@diaspiano]

Let me share my story with you, maybe it can help: I was having a really hard time with getting used to drawing with my tablet, and after two weeks practice I figured I just couldnt do it, so I had to change something. So after a LOT of trial and errors I discovered the secret the worked for me. For my surprise, the problem was mch more simple than I thought: it was the ANGLE of the tablet. I was trying to draw with the tablet flat on the desk, while looking at a vertical monitor. This disconection is waaaaay too hard for the brian to get used to (at least for me). So I got the box that the tablet came in and elevated the top and suported with the cd box that comes inside. It fits perfectly (looks as almost its designed for that) and now I can draw at a 45º angle, and man will I tell you, is WAAAAAY better and easier for the hand eye coordination. So I dont know if this works just for me, so you can try it yourself and see if it works for you. Oh, and another thing that helped a lot was to decrease the difference between the size of the tablet realted to the monitor: I have a small tablet and a huge monitor, so it is too hard to control if you set the mapping to the whole screen. So I have monie set to just a portion, so the size is a little more similar with the tablet size (although this problem is much easier to get used to than the angle stuff). Good luck :)

[@AnhNguyen-mk3ng]

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! I've been using graphic tablets for several years, on and off but it's never been a great experience, just something that I try to make do with since I love digital art and its' flexibility while the display tablets out there are so much more expensive. II'll give your tip a try and see how it goes. Thanks for sharing!

[@marielohr1947]

Thank you for this fantastic suggestion! I will try that!!

[@rainb0w347]

OH MAI GAWD I LOVE U!

[@MAINFRAMELaboratories]

This is actually genius. I'm gonna model a 3d printable tablet stand and I'll post it here when I'm done. EDIT: Here's the STL I made www.dropbox.com/s/h89j4h8wl28uxj2/stand%20v2.stl?dl=0 I designed it to be more universal, so it purposefully doesn't span the whole width of a tablet. EDIT 2: I realize now that I probably didn't have to model this, they definitely already exist.

[@gonxking7597]

@@MAINFRAMELaboratories yes but your model was great

[@rhydermike]

This video's great. Thanks for making it. I'm on day three of owning a tablet, and just hearing someone acknowledge that orientation difficulties are normal was helpful in itself as I'd assumed that it was just me. Anyway, I've done the exercises, and I'll come back to them tomorrow.

[@ZenitsuKunn]

Hows your tab experience after 8 months, Mike?

[@ALExIA483lovesBLOOD]

Thank you so much! I bought my first tablet yesterday and I was very demorilized because I've been using the mouse for desing since I had my first computer years and years ago and I didn't feel comfortable with the pen and the tablet area, eventhough I've always been drawing with pencils and watercolor. I was looking for something like this! Thank you again!

[@TheSpeenort]

When I was a Cubmaster and needed volunteers, I found that asking busy people was more productive - they would fit you in.

[@kathharper]

Thank you Heather... I know you posted this a long time back but I found this after struggling with my tablet for the past three weeks... and still having problems coordinating the pen. I will try these exercises as a warm-up before my daily digital painting sessions and see if it helps! The small detail stuff is the worst (of course) when you're learning so getting this now ... HOPE!

[@HeatherLahtinen]

You are so welcome!

[@MichaelSutton]

What a simple but awesome tutorial, I've owned a tablet for a few years and have had a love-hate​ relationship with it, till now that is, I never realised till watching this that my issue was muscle memory, ive always struggled with where to piut my tablet when using It and now fing having in front of me instead of being off to the side works much better, thank you for this and also for the three down loads.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Keep with it, Michael! I still love mine!

[@justmavi7999]

Came to learn where my tablet should be sitting on table, learned positive philosophy about time. Great value, I need a comfortable office chair too, 9/10

[@laurelchristensen5239]

Thanks for making this video! I just got a Wacom tablet for my birthday and these exercise files are super helpful with getting used to the absolute positioning.

[@richerifkind3506]

just came across buying my 1st tablet this week , so will definitely be using these. thnx

[@RyanHalvorsen]

Just got one too. It’s driving me crazy and my hand hurts within the first 30 minutes.

[@ThomasChaote]

thank you for this. greatly appreciated. I was thinking how to train my hand a little... my first day with tablet was already fun, but now wanna sit and get seriously training. Cheers :)

[@arnav6236]

I strait yo did a lot of these in pre school and now I see the value

[@sunnyflowermama]

A little more challenging than I thought it would be. Great practice!! Thank you!

[@HeatherLahtinen]

+Tina Mamula You are welcome!

[@jayvee0404]

Excellent video Heather. Nice and clearly spoken and easy to follow. Thank you. I downloaded the exercises and found them a big help. I saved my first attempts on each exercise so that I can compare when I attempt them again. My main problem is that I have a bit of a shaky hand so not sure how I can get over that. Even so, I will do the exercises again to see if I'm improving, before letting loose in Lightroom. I have subscribed and will certainly be looking at more of your videos. :)

[@delgibbs]

I bought a Wacom months ago, tried it one time and gave up. I'm going to pull it back out and try these exercises and see if I can get good at it. Thanks so much!

[@HeatherLahtinen]

+Del Gibbs Great! Good luck!

[@fla-bushcraftprepper941]

Our Wacom tablet, if we hold the pen tip about 1/4 inch from the tablet face, we can mover the mouse cursor where we want. Then put the tip on it, to effect change or draw. We can adjust the sensitivity of it, so we could get it to detect better, when we want to move the cursor on the screen. Tilting the tablet also helps, as the screen in 90 degrees and so tilting the tablet, lessens it to 60 degrees offset.

[@andysartz]

Hi, Heather! This video is just what I needed, thank you! I just bought my first drawing tablet, and it's as frustrating as I feared it would be lol But I'm sure with time and practice, I'll get better on it. I just didn't know how to practice, and that's why this video is just perfect. Thank you!

[@freddievaldez6587]

Very nice video. Refreshing and helpful. Thanks for the upload.

[@FarmerWan]

What a great resource. Simple exercises that actually help. Thanks for the video.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TeamDayaShankar]

No, I ACTUALLY HAVE loads of time.. I have quit my job, last year and since then taking things up - whatever gets my interest! Just what I have always wanted to do in life! So- Yayy! And thank you for this lesson! I will keep at it.. :) Have a good day, random internet folks.

[@2triangles]

This is a good idea. Thank you from Virginia.

[@elvis4032]

wow ty for this. i did it on ps but did the exercises. after the first try i seen some improvements in my drawing. def gonna keep doing these exercises.

[@oceandrew]

Wow that was extremely helpful. A vast improvement in just minutes. Thanks.

[@marcosjpinto8450]

Thanks a lot for this video and the graphics. Really helps a lot. Cheers!

[@munkeepilot]

This was absolutely the video I was needing to watch...thank you!!

[@cubecast1]

This is excellent! Thank you so much for making these demo images!

[@SteveTalamantes]

One thing I did was I put away my mouse and forced myself to use the Wacom for everything on the web as well as photoshop. In about three days of doing this it was becoming much easier to use the Wacom....by the way I dont even use my mouse anymore only unless I am gaming.

[@JMulvy]

Thank you for the exercise files. Very useful and much appreciated.

[@meiners95]

this was very useful. thank you heather! i will look at your other materials as well. thank you!

[@kristenchamberlin6030]

Thank you so much! I find my tablet offset works best for me but I am still having issues holding the pen. It is just uncomfortable the way it bulges out near the nib. I would love a sleek one more like a real pen, do you know if that is something that is available?

[@Tommy_007]

Hi Heather. Thanks for a good video. It has surprised me that Wacom doesn't provide such training videos explaining how to use and how to set up their tablets. I don't think this is easy. I believe that it would help many people be more productive. I'm a high school math teacher. During the covid period I bought a Wacom tablet (Cintiq 16) with a built-in monitor. I used it to teach and draw math online. When I draw/write, I look at the monitor on the tablet, so I don't have to use the hand-eye coordination. It worked, but I really need to learn to use it better. I also think that I'm not using the tablet settings in the best way. Have you ever used a tablet with a built-in monitor? If you have, do you also look at the tablet monitor while drawing? Or is it (despite this option) better/more productive to look at the normal monitor (and not the tablet) while drawing? My intuition says no.

[@Dakito_688]

I am a beginner digital artist I am having difficulty to draw digitally Thanks for the tutorial

[@tallaganda83]

Straight away I can do accurate masking etc my issue is doing things like menus, scrolling and setting it up correctly.

[@kayalskettle4063]

This is sooooo helpful! Thank you !

[@HeatherLahtinen]

I'm glad you like it! I recently worked with Wacom to create a new course... it's in production right now. But until it's finished, it's on super sale. Try this link with coupon code: flourishacademy.mykajabi.com/offers/UnFwQfYK?coupon_code=WACOM

[@asandovalhatchet]

Thank you for the practice files and exercises! I'm excited to get going with my tablet. Awesome video!

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Thank you, Alberto!

[@mikenaughton4298]

Thank you for this very clear tutorial.

[@cwjs]

Thank you really helpful, I do have a small problem, when I try to draw the lines etc, I have trouble seeing where the brush is on the picture as the background is white and the brush is represented by a small light circle it is only when I go over the dots that I can see where I am. Is there a way of making the brush cursor more prominent.

[@drcoolit]

have you also used those tablets that have the built-in monitor so that it's something of a mirror of the computer screen? I have an older Mac using OS 10.6.8 and while there are some of these "blind" tablets (such as the one you demonstrate here) that work with this older OS I'm not finding any of the tablets with built-in monitors that work with these older systems. But I also wanted to find out from you whether 1) have you used the type tablet with the actual monitor built in and 2) if you tried that, did you still opt to go back to these blind tablets?

[@toddroy9558]

If you have a problem with the tablet, is there a version where you can edit directly on the picture?

[@tclarke971]

Really great exercises. Thank you!

[@carolmoorhead8400]

Super helpful! Thanks Heather!

[@Roy7..]

Thank you so much Heather I'm practicing as I write this

[@umeshgallage9347]

I'm gonna start it now!.. See what's gonna be after few days :)

[@paulsmile9548]

I'm thinking of dropping my wacom for a XP-PEN Deco 01 , or Deco 03 , I haven't read anything really bad the XP-Pens yet.

[@TheHamidshahzad]

i just love this video ...

[@SalaF90]

this was so helpful thanks Heather

[@HeatherLahtinen]

+Salvador Flores Thank you!

[@plavix2215]

You know what is the most frustrating thing with my new tablet? That i thought it would make things much easier and i would learn drawing, with that i mean shading, because i can always delete and draw over and delete and draw over. And i would have a million colors to choose from,etc.etc..... benefiting from the digital aspect..... All to enhance my real world drawing. lol Now i have to learn digital drawing... But i am practicing. I found like u that drawing lines and alike helps and i practice every day a little bit. Btw do you know about the fact that u cant draw with the pen if u only very softly touch the surface? I mean with that, that the pen tip has be pushed half a mm inside until it starts with the softest sensitivity level. Is that normal? Or do i have a damaged pen? Your video helped me a lot. You are very kind. :)

[@WendyDB]

This video is very usefull 🙂👍🏻 Where can I download the files to practise? I didn’t find the files on your websites.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

It was in the description, but here ya go! Download exercise files here: www.dropbox.com/sh/ufpcy61lyw2gnhw/AAB6G1uBPOLabNCAocZuMahwa?dl=0

[@JuanCarlosHerediaMayer]

Great ideas for beginners like me. Thanks from sharing.

[@tomislavlukicloznica]

Thank you @Heather i needed something like that to help me with adapting, i have a question, is there any other practice like that ? Maybe something for circular motion would be great.

[@joybobrink8471]

Heather, do you select a portion of your tablet to work on or is the entire surface active? I find that if my arm rests at all on the tablet that it goes haywire. This might be answered in a different video....sorry if it is.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Joy Bobrink Don't be sorry, I don't have this answered elsewhere. I have the entire surface active and mapped to my large monitor (I have a smaller 2nd monitor for docking palettes, etc). I don't seem to rest my arm on the tablet, are you left handed?

[@joybobrink8471]

Heather Lahtinen Nope right handed, but my arm is probably lazy :)

[@skakdosmer]

Very good, and thanks for the canvases. Lahtinen sounds Finnish, but Heather doesn't - do you have like a grandfather from Finland? I just bought my first Wacom tablet, the Intuous Pro Medium. Well, actually it's my second - I have an old Wacom Volito that's only compatible up to Windows XP, but I never liked it much anyway. This new one is a quite different story, and I find myself very quickly getting used to it! Although I still have some distance in front of me to reach a near-perfect level. The most difficult thing is keeping the direction when I write. But that, for some reason, was never easy for me even on paper.

[@CorkyBallasdancewithme]

Hi Heather this is awesome, even though I am not very good at it, but at least I have something to try to learn with. thanks again for the this:)

[@HeatherLahtinen]

You're welcome!

[@rken100]

Cool I just got myself a tablet and way harder than I thought

[@harshitbatra2577]

How can I use the full drawing portion on my tablet to control just the central portion of my desktop screen where I have to draw, for example: I would like my top left of tablet to point to the left top of this KZbin video & the right top to the right top of the KZbin video providing me the whole space to draw minute things in a small dimension rather than letting my tablet access the whole of my monitor screen, leaving a very less working space of the tablet( (only the central portion where I draw or as per example where the KZbin video is running) as a useful portion for me. I want to use the whole working area of tablet to just control only a central portion of my monitor, nothing outside it, as if the tablet only has those dimensions of my screen to work on. Can someone help?

[@gregpoole2606]

Thank you for the resources. Very useful. ;-)

[@CorkyBallasdancewithme]

I bought the small cheaper version tablet called a pen touch, my question is how do you have your pin settings set as a default in Photoshop? Also is a more expensive tablet easier to drawl with like the intous 5 f? Having a tough drawing, thanks .

[@ProzKhmer]

Thank you for the video. I have a question. Where do I go to map the tablet to the 2nd Monitor only? I have a laptop as my monitor 1, and an extended 2nd monitor which is bigger screen and I like to draw with the bigger screen. Currently my tablet is covering both monitors, but I would like to use the table for the 2nd monitor only. How do you do that? Appreciate very much if you could tell me how. Thanks.

[@winnie8614]

Thank you so much!

[@RodrigoLaramapache]

Muchas gracias por tu video, me ha servido muchisimo :)

[@arhodes]

Thank you Heather, I need a lot of practice! 🤣

[@AlexGPark]

Thanks for the awesome tutorial. I tried to download the exercise files, but it seems that the files have been removed.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Sorry Alex, here is the link: www.dropbox.com/sh/ufpcy61lyw2gnhw/AAB6G1uBPOLabNCAocZuMahwa?dl=0

[@hasanbaaqeil42]

Thanks you thank you very much.. well done

[@ohitsashleighann]

Yaaayy I am so exctied to try this!

[@imanalius7691]

Thanks for the handy exercises!

[@satinderkumar2508]

Hello mam, 1 thing I would ask to u, is it any proper way to put tablet on table or any angle while using or any other way to hold stylus for sketching bcz I already work on Zbrush before 6 months but I am unable to make sketching or digital painting. I am very disappointed, can you plz suggest me...

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Sorry, I'm not sure!

[@fancylion6687]

I have a problem.My wacom tablet cancels out my wifi tp link thingy

[@sandesh6277]

New Subscriber Here. Thanks for the video.

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Great, thanks!

[@gabrielhawk]

Thank you Heather!

[@HeatherLahtinen]

You are welcome!

[@paulaeyre1091]

Silly question but when using the pen does the nib touch the tablet as if it is paper or does it float slightly above the tablet. Thanks

[@HeatherLahtinen]

It touches the tablet.

[@paulaeyre1091]

@@HeatherLahtinen Thank you

[@eight2one]

This is real talk. Thank u

[@toddroy9558]

Great video!

[@thanatophobicperson7517]

that is useless, just keep practicing and tracing some refrences, u will improve.... its been 4 months and i got my hand eye coordinated easily withnin 2 weeks, & i think main reason for me improving my hand eye coordination is me able to write in my notebook looking straight to white board during classes. U can also do some small things without seeing your notebook in daily life ...

[@abuma6782]

What size to get for photo editing

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

Is it possible to adapt it?

[@universalfreemusicaudiolib3942]

Thank you sis.

[@lostwolfy1970]

does the cursor move with the pen if you have the touch on?

[@HeatherLahtinen]

Yes, I believe so.

[@karthickshadowws2072]

hi mam. this video was amazing. i like it. iam begginer for this field. so please kindley help me. you have any tablet to not you using please give me.. thanking you..

[@ThatBeardedWhiteGuy]

that's gonna be useful ! thanks !

[@HeatherLahtinen]

You're welcome!

[@THIStm]

Great! Thanks!

[@ShannonRubinPhoto]

Thank you for sharing!

[@HeatherLahtinen]

+Shannon Rubin Photography Thank you!

[@scottmcinnis8583]

very good

[@hanthonypiano]

thx heather!!

[@mazin_0_0]

Thank you so much.

[@TomKaszuba]

Superb!

[@hgfuhgvg]

What mouse is that?

[@adeboyegrillo3408]

Looks like me, _a right handed guy_ writing with my left hand

[@datruth8106]

Thank You

[@antoniojaen467]

Many thanks for you effort making this. Like and Sub.

[@shaanminocha4079]

I have a Huion HS64 [ Wacom people plz don't kill me lol :(( ] But thanks for these exercises , They sure looks helpful and im gonna give them a try ☺️✨ I hope this would help me abit to improve

[@DRiPGOLD]

your so clutch

[@buddysteve5543]

I think I would rather use my iPad Pro 12.9" tablet with the Apple Pen to do this! Would make it much easier and more natural to do what you want! iOS has Adobe software products you and purchase and download for the iOS so you can practically do just about anything you can on your desktop machine but on a tablet!

[@ethanpenn5]

It's a nice ad, but due to the fact that you can't use 99% of the software in the mobile version, a pen with low pressure sensitivity, a glass screen that provides no grab for your pen, you're significantly better off buying either a Surface Pro or other Surface product if you want one device, or a Wacom Cintiq/Intuos or better yet, a Dell Canvas, if you're at all serious about digital art and want to get into the professional field.

[@newaccountnameisfantafurry3129]

who else thought she said fetish art instead of Photoshop xD

[@littleman787]

Came here for Wacom advice, not preaching about life...

[@Sketchrcat]

LOL - yeah using a tablet is disorientating; that's why, as a professional, I use a wacom cintiq touch - instead.

[@ethanpenn5]

Just got my Dell Canvas the other day. It's absolutely fantastic, though I still prefer my Intuos for work in ZBrush and Substance.

[@fuckingretard7538]

eZ fc

[@katz103]

Great information! Thanks so much. I'm going to try the exercises now.