I got mine two months ago and it has been sitting on a shelf unused until I watched this video! All the button settings and my limited ability to memorize them gave me a brain freeze. You simplified the whole learning process: TURN ALL THE BUTTONS OFF and use the mouse & keyboard to change settings, tools, magnification, etc. All of that can be added back in later once you become used to working with the stylus. Result: I was able to colorize an old B/W image in half the time (perhaps even a quarter?) with the ability to get into tight spaces with the stylus vs trying to do so with a mouse. THANK YOU!
Aaron, I've been watching on occasion for the past mmmm... five-or-so years. I'm a professional photographer (and reluctant videographer) out here in Connecticut, and just want to thank you for your creativity, knowledge, humor, and most of all - your generosity. Great teachers are few and far between, and Phlearn, in my humble opinion is one of the most worthy RU-vid channels around. Keep up the great work, and one more thanks for showing me a few things about the Wacom tab (that I've been using for years) that either I never knew about, or thought of doing in different manner. All the best!
I got my Intros Pro tablet a couple of years ago when I had tendonitis in my right index finger from clicking and dragging in a Photoshop class at my local community college. I never learned it well and stopped using it when the tendonitis calmed down. I came across this video while watching one of of the PHLEARN videos recommended by my instructor in another Photoshop class and Aaron but in a link to this one. I checked it out and found it incredibly clear and helpful. Especially helpful was his clear explanation of the pen controls and the suggestion that most of the controls be disabled (including the buttons on the pad)! This lets me get to know the most essential movements first. I do hope to go on and learn to do more with the pad but Iʻm able to do that without being distracted (and frustrated) by all the other things that just kind of pop up as I use the tablet. Thank you, Aaron!
I'm on my way today to buy a Wacom tablet all because of your Great video presentation. I noticed the comment right below me about you being one of the most worthy RU-vid channels around, and I thoroughly believe that. You've made me a subscriber even though I don't use Photoshop. I'm starting a photography business with real estate now that I'm retired, because frankly, I'm bored to tears and could use the extra money. You prove to me that a tablet is the way to go for speeding up the process of working on the photographs for the client. Many thanks!
Thank you! I just got my first Wacom. The learning curve is small, so it will be no time before I am fully immersed. Shrinking down the live working space was huge... But... the brush and zoom shortcuts are game changers for me. You have changed my life! :) I appreciate you and this channel!
I've searched for every wacom set up tutorials but yours is the best and so much easier to understand. I've learned so many things from you. Thank youuuuu :3
if you use multiple screens, i recommend setting a button on the tablet to change which screen is focused. this is especially useful if you have an Apple Magic Mouse that needs charging. also, when dodging and burning with a mouse, set the flow to around 5%. lower the opacity if it's still too much.
I got a problem with this, I have a tablet whith a screen and I got another screen also connected but when I use my tablet it draw on the screen and not on the tablet. To fix this i set up my screen in duplication mode bur maybe you have an idea to fix it better cause it seems to be related to what you are saying in your comments, sry for my bad english
You are not just a Sir to me, you are also an inspiration Very few people have the power to educate everything beyond his knowledge . You do it pretty well.Thanks a lot dear Sir for continuously inspiring me to do my best. Thanks Sir for making my world so perfect. I am so lucky to have a Sir as wonderful as you are. We will always be thankful to you for all the hard work and efforts you have put in, for educating us. Happy Teachers Day Sir .
I can't thank you enough for this video, i have bought a Wacom tablet from Amazon many many months ago, but i found it to be extremely difficult to learn, i didn't know that i can download a driver and adjust the setting so that i only use a small portion of it, i had to move my hand from one side of the tablet to the other just to click somewhere, it was so awkward, but now i learnt that this option exists, thanks so much...
Thanks so very much, You are so talented & skilled with Adobe Software, and with your Photography abilities. I so much appreciate you imparting your knowledge. I am an old man age 84 who enjoys learning, I am convinced it helps keep my brain activity, and is certainly a great hobby since I have loss my physical mobility. You are greatly appreciated by me.
I’m left handed & I also don’t always have a large desk traveling so I occasionally need to use my Wacom in my lap. The buttons on the side work great for it. I use the scroll wheel for rotate & brush size, the other buttons for Brush, Clone, Healing tool & X (to switch colors). His settings are great but you can add to them✌🏼
thank you SO much for this tutorial. I just found an old Wacom tablet in my new office and had no idea how to set-up and/or use it. After this video, I was able to more than double my work speed on a simple project. Thank you, thank you thank you
Thank you, very helpful , just got a new medium wacom yesterday and found it difficult to use and was ready to take it back. I have watched other videos from PHLEARN and found your directions very very helpful with a little humor. Great video, now I am able to use my tablet. I can't say it enough THANK YOU.
Thank you for this very informative tutorial. I have a medium tablet that I barely use simply because I'm not familiar with it. This video will certainly help me setting it up. I really like your "idea" of turning off everything else on the tablet, and simply using the keyboard in those areas. However, I can certainly attest to a better way to make the mouse or track pad smoother with your dodging & burning: Simply use a much lower Flow. I set my Flow to no more than 3, 4, or 5%. This allows you to "build up" the ink density very slowly, which, in turn, allows you more control. That said, I can certainly see where mastering the tablet will allow even more control.
Finally!!! I found a legit tutorial on how to set up and start using my Wacom Intuos Pro! I've had it for almost 2 years and barely use it because I couldn't find a proper guide. I appreciate it!
I bought small one yesterday. this morning watched your video and will set up this afternoon according to your tips. you are wonderful teacher, with details hints and tips to follow!
YO AARON, YOU ARE THE BEST MAN. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO. BLESS YOU! I have also been a subscriber of Phlearn Pro for a couple of months now and I have to say I'm loving it.
Aaron, you did a great video instruction; I was struggling to use my Wacom, trying to use every key and function of the tablet and pencil with no success. You took a very direct approach, and now I am happy and using my Wacom Intuous. Thank you! Now I'm going to take the 30-day course to retrain my Photoshop knowledge.
Fantastic tips. Just ordered my first Wacom tablet to help with photo editing. I would have liked to see more setup information about the shortcut buttons and wheel on the tablet rather than them simply being disabled because that's what you do. I've learned a lot from this video though and will explore the things I still have questions about once my tablet arrives this afternoon.
I am SOOO Glad to hear you pronounce WACOM the proper way! So many others don't pronounce it properly - but I knew you would!! PHLEARN ROCKS and so Do YOU!!!!
Thank you for this video, Aaron! Ashamed to say I bought my Wacom Intuos tablet long ago, used it for one project, and then put it away. Finally got it back out to try again! This was very helpful.
Thank you - this was really usefull! I got an XP-PEN Deco 01 V2 on official store for under $100. I had a small bamboo tablet (I don't know what kind) that I got years ago but I never used it really. I don't know if it was buggy but it never worked right for me. Maybe I just never got it set up right. It was just too small for me to use anyway but this current one works great for me. I've used a tablet at my job but I wasn't familiar with how to draw with one so I was worried I wouldn't be quick to learn how to use it but it was very easy to set up and use.
Kudos! My tablet has now gone from dust collector to a tool I can use! BTW, I will try this but how would you set up your tablet for Lightroom? Again many thanks!
Thanks for this! I just bought my tablet about 3 days ago and this has helped me immensely. I've been using Photoshop and Illustrator for over a decade and this is really a complete life-changer!! Can't wait to check out more of your videos to help!!
I actually have the Right/Click on the Pen set to Pan/Scroll. It's extremely useful to be able to Pan/Scroll as you're zoomed into images so you're able to move around the image quickly working on an image. Try it out!
That's a good question, I bought the small version following a previous video advice and in my experience it's really much more than enough. I can only see anything larger will take up too much space on the table. However I keep keep tipping over the pen when it's in the "cradle", and have to hide it from my cat when not in use... 😅 Did they find a solution for that?
I would assume it's the difference in newer hardware, Wacom Pro Pen 2 (8192 levels of pressure w/ the Medium (PTH660) vs. 2048 on the Small (PTH451)), USB-C port, Medium weighs about as much as the Small (1.54 lb vs 1.5 lb), and is thinner (0.3 in vs 0.5 in).
Well, I bought my Intuos S tablet 4 months ago, I was really excited, but once I've use it, it was so strage for me and I couldn't handle all the setup and options, so I've put it on a shelf...What a great suprise to see such awesome video when I needed it the most :D Now I'm excited again, to unpack my tablet and finally use it! Thank You so much Phil! You are awesome!
Ave I did the same thing. I just have a small tablet and I was so overwhelmed I did just what you did. After watching the video I’m going to give it another try!
I just bought the medium the other day. I downloaded the drivers and got it registered. Now I just need to get it set up. This video was very useful. I can't wait to start using it. I've been learning how to blend exposures this year. I bought Lumenzia just for that. I noticed that most of the photographers on RU-vid were using a tablet. The fact that you have pressure sensitivity makes the tablet very valuable as a tool. Dodging and burning should be a lot easier with this.
I wasn't even in the market for a tablet but since you took a mouse to the head for us I went ahead and got one using your link because that look like it stung just a bit.
I love having the zoom on the wheel of the wacom and the click and drag combination for brush size as well as the undo button on the function keys. This way I can use one finger instead of two on the keyboard. But I also understand if you’re used to doing everything with a keyboard it’s really hard to change a workflow.
@phlearn Hey Aaron, reiterating D'n Jeff question below, will you please explain what is the advantage in buying a medium if we are mapping only a small portion to use? Is there any other advantage in buying a bigger size?
this is great info, thanks! the remapping of the tablet tip was a critical one for me...i hated using the tablet because i hated having to move my hand so far to navigate the screen...one "gotchya" that may help others was when I was trying to map a portion of my tablet to the full screen...it wasn't working and i couldn't figure out why...when setting things up, there are three rows that appear (device, tool, application)... i didn't realize i had my After Affects application selected...once i switched to 'all other applications' i saw the changes take effect..
I spent days trying to figure out why I couldn't use my pen on the right side of the my screen. My right hand was not resting on the tablet so the pointer would stop in the middle of the screen. * But now I UNDERSTAND (4:32) that I must change/shrink my *TABLET AREA* to about 25 % of my tablet.......AMAZING ! THANK YOU . *(PROV. 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding;)*
Thank you sooo much for this tutorial! Just bought the Intuos pro small and have set it up easily thanks to you... and learned some stuff in the process!
I gave up using my Wacom Intuos Draw a year ago, but I picked it up again tonight and gave it another shot. That part where you taught about setting the Tablet area was quite useful, and it became less stressful to draw.
Well, this old timer had some health issues back in 2019, to cut a long story short, got back into PS, and my very old Wacom tablet was dragged out of the jumble Got a Mac Studio Ultra and started over, had forgotten all your tricks all those years ago, Aaron to the rescue, thank you , it all came back Regards, Gary ............... AU
Two things. One love your content just came across your channel and I am getting into RU-vid and want to learn more with Adobe apps and so on (sub from me) Second that looked like it hurt getting hit in the face with a mouse lol. Thanks for this. This is my next purchase
Thanks for this video, I use the Wacom tablets for more than 15 years now. I just upraded to the latest. Also I don’t use the buttons or touch fearure in Photoshop. You can turn off the touch feature with a slide button, next to the power button. I do use the touch when using other apps.
What an amazing tablet with insane functionality - let me show you how to turn most of that off so you can get the most out of it - lol thanks though helpful
This video was exactly what I was after. I am in the market for a graphic tablet and you answered practically all my questions. Thank you for the helpful tips and informative video. 👍
I left after, I think it was, the third time he said "I'm going to turn everything off" and disabled a wide swath of the device's functionality. I was afraid if I stuck around I'd eventually be watching some dude using a $400 trackball.
I have the Medium Intuos as in this video, but for all those posting about "Why use only the top left corner?", try what I do, which is to set the pen to "Mouse" mode in the preferences. Then, I can use the whole tablet, and to traverse the whole screen of my 27" iMac, I just "mouse" across it using the pick up - put down - drag thing with the pen. When I'm at the position of my picture where I want to be, I can work on the detail using the maximum resolution of the tablet. So - Mouse mode rather than Pen mode. Works perfectly for me, and I've been using Wacom tablets for 20 years or more. Incidentally, I've never heard them called "Warcom" before - I've always called them "Waycom". Like in bacon ;)
this was so so helpful. You are forever my go to to learn anything on my journey of photoshop so when my tablet arrived today and I saw you had a video I jumped straight to it. This has been a massive help, like all your videos. Thank you Aaron
Man, you confused me with the way you use your Wacom. Why would you spend all that money for a badass Intuos Pro, just to disable 75% of the features that make it cost almost $400? If you don't want touch and express keys, and you prefer a smaller drawing area, and you don't use the eraser, why not use that little $30 XP Pen tablet? For the way I use the tablets, though, I do use every feature. Well, the eraser not so much; I set one of my pen buttons to ALT, so i can quickly brush away any overspray. The second pen button is set to hand tool, so i can instantly grab the image and pan when I'm zoomed in to 100%. For using only part of the surface area, since that makes the sensitivity higher, doesn't it make you a bit less accurate for fine detail? That's like trying to draw a picture on a post-it note versus drawing a picture on a full A5 sheet of paper. The touch controls are SOOOOO valuable to me, too! Being able to pinch and pull to zoom is awesome. Using my fingers to adjust brush size and hardness is perfect. Express keys, set up with undo, new layer, and that "new layer from copy paste whatever" mess (ctrl+alt+shit+e... that is the worst most used key command ever made!) So, yeah, anyway, you've been using tablets for a really long time, so you're used to this setup, but i think it's totally misguiding new users. I look at my Wacom as a multi-tool, and the less i have to reach for the keyboard, the better!
I watch your videos eventhough I don't have Photoshop anymore. You could do videos about plants and *ill be there* watching. you are the right guy to do this and the right team that guarantees perfection.
Warning. Wacom tablets does not work so good with Windows at the moment. This is due to Windows INK. There are "workarounds" but its not optimal. Especially if you just shelled out a couple of hundred on a tablet like this.
Bakteria thanks for this info. Using my Wacom almost a decade but since my last Parallels/Windows update it doesn’t work properly any more. It is driving me crazy and I had go back to my clumsy mouse. On Mac it works still fine. Any ideas how to solve this problem? My workflow is horrible slow right now. Already tried to deactivate Windows INK but couldn’t find a button for that.
The second part with the shortcuts for brush size, opacity, and navigating the canvas is actually good for artists, but yeah, the settings part is awful. If you're just gonna use a corner then just get the small one instead. I wanna have mine big because I NEED IT TO DRAW.
@Jim Falgout I worked in image editing and retouching before as a day job while trying to get a foothold as an illustrator. A smaller tablet is enough for that. But several of those settings and stuff are not really suited for the way I used to work, because I approached it as I do digital painting and took advantage of the techniques I knew and was used to and the way the pen let me play with opacity, to the max. I know that everyone has their own workflow and quirks to do the job, but that pressure curve he uses is a bit insane for me. Still, I got some useful info I wasn't aware of and that I'm grateful for.
I watched my son-in-law use his and he stressed how using the side controls make his processing easier. Correct me if I am mistaken, but I think he used 2 buttons on the side of the tablet to adjust the size of the brush. With all due respect, this video is not what I expected. All of your tutorials are top notched, including this one for your presentation, but you basically turned this into a track ball. I am guessing I am looking for more options for the money spent instead of disabling 80% of the pad. Thank you for all of your wonderful tutorials.
He's using quite a big tablet for photoshop, normally something that big would be used for digital drawing or animation. If his tablet breaks I would highly recommend just getting a smaller tablet. Wacom really does have a ton of options.
Misleading title. This should be named "How to Set Up and Use a Wacom Tablet Like I Do" The feature I was actually eager to learn about isn't demonstrated in this video because this person chooses not to use it. Not a very comprehensive tutorial.
Mega like!! You helped me a lot.. I have a wacom tablet for a long time and I haven't been able to get used to it and I always returned to the mouse.... changing the tablet area was awesome!! Thanks a lot!!