where do i place the tablet on my desk?

wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

I find my tablet works best if I use it in the same place as my mouse. You can use the tablet as a mouse-mat, or drape a mouse mat over it. Or you can just swap the two around as and when you need either.

wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

Get a smaller tablet then you will have plenty of place for your tablet. 15-20 years ago I started with 12×12, then 9×11 and have been using 4×5 for 4×5 years and much happier.

"Fat Sam" wrote:

wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

I find my tablet works best if I use it in the same place as my mouse. You can use the tablet as a mouse-mat, or drape a mouse mat over it. Or you can just swap the two around as and when you need either.

Me, I use pen for everything and haven’t touched the rotten for nearly a decade now.

On 12 Jan 2007 08:40:47 -0800, wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

anywhere, as long as it’s not under your glass (or draft) beer

Dave

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:38:55 +0200, Dave wrote:

On 12 Jan 2007 08:40:47 -0800, wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

anywhere, as long as it’s not under your glass (or draft) beer

I’m left-handed, but I use the mouse (trackball, in my case) with my right hand. When I use my graphics tablet it has to be on the left because I can’t use the pen with my right hand.

—

Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:24:53 -0600, Joe wrote:

"Fat Sam" wrote:

wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

I find my tablet works best if I use it in the same place as my mouse. You can use the tablet as a mouse-mat, or drape a mouse mat over it. Or you can just swap the two around as and when you need either.

Me, I use pen for everything and haven’t touched the rotten for nearly a decade now.

Funny how everyone has different preferences, but I received a Waco tablet for Christmas, some years ago. I played with it for a while, then unhooked it and stuck it in a box somewhere. Nothing is as accurate as a good mouse, especially nowadays with optical mice. I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but the reason the mouse is so accurate is because of the way you hold it. If you have the right size mouse, your fingertips touch the mousepad. By using your fingertips as leverage, you can move the mouse in very small increments. If grip the mouse in your normal postion, then use your other hand to wrap around the front of it, you have extremely precise control over the cursor.
When I used a tablet, I found that you had to accept where the cursor was onscreen and where the pen was sitting on the tablet. You couldn’t raise the pen off the tablet, move it to a more comfortable position, and continue what you were doing, like you can with a mouse. Also, you don’t have as much control over the cursor, since your palm is resting on the tablet, and your pen holding fingers control the cursor. Even if you try using your other hand to hold the bottom of the pen, you still can’t control the cursor like you can with a mouse.
Like I said though, everyone has different preferences.

Talker

Talker wrote:

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:24:53 -0600, Joe wrote:

"Fat Sam" wrote:

wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

I find my tablet works best if I use it in the same place as my mouse. You can use the tablet as a mouse-mat, or drape a mouse mat over it. Or you can just swap the two around as and when you need either.

Me, I use pen for everything and haven’t touched the rotten for nearly a decade now.

Funny how everyone has different preferences, but I received a Waco tablet for Christmas, some years ago. I played with it for a while, then unhooked it and stuck it in a box somewhere. Nothing is as accurate as a good mouse, especially nowadays with optical mice.

That’s very normal as for ages I have been reading so many talks about Photoshop is hard to use, PSP is as good or even better than Photoshop and many similar.

IOW, Practicing! practicing! just like many years ago when you first touched the mouse, it may take few weeks to be able to chase its tail, few months to get used to it, and may be 10-20+ years to master it.

So just like mouse, but since you already know how to chase the pointer it may take few days to control the movement, 1-2 weeks to get used to without having mouse, and probably 3 weeks to get rid of the bad rotten habit <g>. And if you spent 2-3 weeks some years ago then you may already mastered the pen by now, or if you continue to keep the tablet in corner of the room then 10-20 years later you still don’t know how to use pen.

I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but the reason the mouse is so accurate is because of the way you hold it. If you

Holding mouse? <g> I would agree if you say how to rest your hand on the mouse <bg> with pen, I am holding it while typing or I don’t have to drop it on desk then trying to find it.

Just imaging you have are holding a pencil while walking, on plane, car etc.. you should be able to do other thing while having the pencil in your hand.

have the right size mouse, your fingertips touch the mousepad. By using your fingertips as leverage, you can move the mouse in very small increments. If grip the mouse in your normal postion, then use your other hand to wrap around the front of it, you have extremely precise control over the cursor.

The beauti of tablet that it’s no matter if the monitor is 20 inches or 20 feet, the working area will always fit the screen size no matter how small/large the screen may be. Mouse, when it reaches the end of desk or mouse pad you will have to lift it up and place at some point then start over and over again.

When I used a tablet, I found that you had to accept where the cursor was onscreen and where the pen was sitting on the tablet. You couldn’t raise the pen off the tablet, move it to a more comfortable position, and continue what you were doing, like you can with a mouse.

That’s the price you have to pay for by keeping the tablet in the box for years. Tablet, from the very first tablet I had around 20 years or more ago, none of the pen have to touch the surface of tablet for the pointer to appear and to take effect (except for pressure level then you have to press on the tablet). Or you should be able to see the POINTER when the pen is about 1/4" – 1/2" above the tablet.

Also, try to give the mouse to someone or kid who never touched the mouse before to she how s/h chasing the pointer, and how his/her finger may play on the button etc..

Also, you don’t have as much control over the cursor, since your palm is resting on the tablet, and your pen holding fingers control the cursor. Even if you try using your other hand to hold the bottom of the pen, you still can’t control the cursor like you can with a mouse.
Like I said though, everyone has different preferences.

How do you handle the regular pen, or how do you COLOR (crayon) a small 4×5" box? do you have you palm rest on paper?

I have no idea what in your mind <g> Do you have some type of mechanical with the button that you can press to push more lead out? do you have to use other hand to push that button?

Sorry for asking so many question because I have been using pen only for years and those things have never crossed my mind, and I was lucky enough that I didn’t have to go through the list of odds you have in mind. Of course I have more experience with pen when you have more imaging <bg>

Talker

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 15:37:25 -0600, Joe wrote:

Talker wrote:

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:24:53 -0600, Joe wrote:

"Fat Sam" wrote:

wrote:

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

I find my tablet works best if I use it in the same place as my mouse. You can use the tablet as a mouse-mat, or drape a mouse mat over it. Or you can just swap the two around as and when you need either.

Me, I use pen for everything and haven’t touched the rotten for nearly a decade now.

Funny how everyone has different preferences, but I received a Waco tablet for Christmas, some years ago. I played with it for a while, then unhooked it and stuck it in a box somewhere. Nothing is as accurate as a good mouse, especially nowadays with optical mice.

That’s very normal as for ages I have been reading so many talks about Photoshop is hard to use, PSP is as good or even better than Photoshop and many similar.

IOW, Practicing! practicing! just like many years ago when you first touched the mouse, it may take few weeks to be able to chase its tail, few months to get used to it, and may be 10-20+ years to master it.
So just like mouse, but since you already know how to chase the pointer it may take few days to control the movement, 1-2 weeks to get used to without having mouse, and probably 3 weeks to get rid of the bad rotten habit <g>. And if you spent 2-3 weeks some years ago then you may already mastered the pen by now, or if you continue to keep the tablet in corner of the room then 10-20 years later you still don’t know how to use pen.

I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but the reason the mouse is so accurate is because of the way you hold it. If you

Holding mouse? <g> I would agree if you say how to rest your hand on the mouse <bg> with pen, I am holding it while typing or I don’t have to drop it on desk then trying to find it.

When you hold a mouse, you have the whole thing in your hand. You have four fingers that are touching the mouse pad, three fingers running down the back of the mouse, your thumb on the front of the mouse, and one finger on top of the mouse to operate the buttons. By having four fingers touching the mouse pad, you can move the mouse in very tiny increments. When you use your other hand to steady the front of the mouse, you have extreme control of the mouse. With a pen, you have only your palm on the tablet, and maybe your little finger. You have three fingers holding the pen, and those three fingers don’t touch the tablet. To move the cursor in small increments, you have to move the three fingers holding the pen, with only your palm being used for leverage. You don’t have as much control over the cursor doing this.

Just imaging you have are holding a pencil while walking, on plane, car etc.. you should be able to do other thing while having the pencil in your hand.

have the right size mouse, your fingertips touch the mousepad. By using your fingertips as leverage, you can move the mouse in very small increments. If grip the mouse in your normal postion, then use your other hand to wrap around the front of it, you have extremely precise control over the cursor.

The beauti of tablet that it’s no matter if the monitor is 20 inches or 20 feet, the working area will always fit the screen size no matter how small/large the screen may be. Mouse, when it reaches the end of desk or mouse pad you will have to lift it up and place at some point then start over and over again.

When I used a tablet, I found that you had to accept where the cursor was onscreen and where the pen was sitting on the tablet. You couldn’t raise the pen off the tablet, move it to a more comfortable position, and continue what you were doing, like you can with a mouse.

That’s the price you have to pay for by keeping the tablet in the box for years. Tablet, from the very first tablet I had around 20 years or more ago, none of the pen have to touch the surface of tablet for the pointer to appear and to take effect (except for pressure level then you have to press on the tablet). Or you should be able to see the POINTER when the pen is about 1/4" – 1/2" above the tablet.

Yes, but when you hold the pen off the tablet, how much control do you have? In a picture, can you clone out one pixel from a person’s eye? Can you trace around someone’s hair? No, not with any precision.

Also, try to give the mouse to someone or kid who never touched the mouse before to she how s/h chasing the pointer, and how his/her finger may play on the button etc..

Also, you don’t have as much control over the cursor, since your palm is resting on the tablet, and your pen holding fingers control the cursor. Even if you try using your other hand to hold the bottom of the pen, you still can’t control the cursor like you can with a mouse.
Like I said though, everyone has different preferences.

How do you handle the regular pen, or how do you COLOR (crayon) a small 4×5" box? do you have you palm rest on paper?

I have no idea what in your mind <g> Do you have some type of mechanical with the button that you can press to push more lead out? do you have to use other hand to push that button?

Sorry for asking so many question because I have been using pen only for years and those things have never crossed my mind, and I was lucky enough that I didn’t have to go through the list of odds you have in mind. Of course I have more experience with pen when you have more imaging <bg>

As I said above, everyone has their own preferences. I’m happier using a mouse and you’re happier using a pen, so we just have different preferences.<g>

Talker

Talker wrote:

<snip>

Holding mouse? <g> I would agree if you say how to rest your hand on the mouse <bg> with pen, I am holding it while typing or I don’t have to drop it on desk then trying to find it.

I just <snip> to trim off the quote a little

When you hold a mouse, you have the whole thing in your hand. You have four fingers that are touching the mouse pad, three fingers running down the back of the mouse, your thumb on the front of the mouse, and one finger on top of the mouse to operate the buttons. By having four fingers touching the mouse pad, you can move the mouse in very tiny increments. When you use your other hand to steady the front of the mouse, you have extreme control of the mouse. With a pen, you have only your palm on the tablet, and maybe your little finger. You have three fingers holding the pen, and those three fingers don’t touch the tablet. To move the cursor in small increments, you have to move the three fingers holding the pen, with only your palm being used for leverage. You don’t have as much control over the cursor doing this.

Just imaging you have are holding a pencil while walking, on plane, car etc.. you should be able to do other thing while having the pencil in your hand.

I know how people hold the mouse and how first time user chases the pointer. But do you remember how you hold the *regular* pen? and the pen of tablet works exactly the same way.

For first time user the tablet pen may be a little harder to handle (that’s why I mentioned it may take 2-3 weeks to get used to) because whatever "active area" (tablet size) of the tablet will match the size of the monitor. So, if you have 20" monitor then (example)

4×6" = 3x smaller than monitor, or the cursor moves 3x longer/faster

9×12" = 1-1/2x smaller than monitor so the cusor movement is almost match the size of monitor

And I guess the cursor movement is probably the only thing new user needs to master, and just like mouse it will take few minutes to control the movement, and few weeks to get used to. Now, if you need to sign your signature then do you think mouse is easier? I guess not, and you may find pen is much easier because you will use as regular pen, sign fast without having to think

<snip>

That’s the price you have to pay for by keeping the tablet in the box for years. Tablet, from the very first tablet I had around 20 years or more ago, none of the pen have to touch the surface of tablet for the pointer to appear and to take effect (except for pressure level then you have to press on the tablet). Or you should be able to see the POINTER when the pen is about 1/4" – 1/2" above the tablet.

Yes, but when you hold the pen off the tablet, how much control do you have? In a picture, can you clone out one pixel from a person’s eye? Can you trace around someone’s hair? No, not with any precision.

I work with lot of headshot (closeup portrait) and I usually zoom in 100-300+% to work on skin-texture. And sometime I even replace the background with digital backdrop.

Yup! I can see damaged skin under layer(s) of makeup, and try to take a hi-resolution portrait of an elder person then zoom in 200-400+% then you may see thing smaller than hair <bg>

<snip>

Sorry for asking so many question because I have been using pen only for years and those things have never crossed my mind, and I was lucky enough that I didn’t have to go through the list of odds you have in mind. Of course I have more experience with pen when you have more imaging <bg>

As I said above, everyone has their own preferences. I’m happier using a mouse and you’re happier using a pen, so we just have different preferences.<g>

I thought we were discussing which is better or easier to use, and I believe that you may need to know how to use pen first before you can compare the difference. And of course I am glad that you are happy with mouse.

Talker

In article ,
says…

I have an intuos 9×11 and I work with a MacBook, but when I place the tablet in front of my computer the keyboard is too far and makes it hard for me to punch in shortcuts.
I was wondering what the best placement is for these tablets and if there is a solution I am not aware of.

With about the same size tablet and my laptop, I place it beside the keyboard, to the right (I am right-handed), and it works fine. Some place it on their laps, but I don’t like to work that way. On my big workstations, the tablet is in front of the monitor, and keyboards are in drawers. Sometimes, I end up closing the drawer, and have to reach "under" the tablet, just a bit, to hit the keys. I do not have a problem with the tablet offset from the monitor – but that my just be personal.

Hunt

Thanks for so many replies! I did try putting it on the right of my computer, but I use a laptop and its just so uncomfortable no matter where I place it. Seems that it places my computer too far away from me to use because of its size…. I just don’t know what to do!

wrote:

Thanks for so many replies! I did try putting it on the right of my computer, but I use a laptop and its just so uncomfortable no matter where I place it. Seems that it places my computer too far away from me to use because of its size…. I just don’t know what to do!

If you use laptop then you can ask the laptop to let the tablet uses your lab <bg> Anyway, unless you have jumbo size tablet requires more room, else with small one like 4×5" then you should be able to put it just anywhere.

– On your lap

– On the desk next to the laptop like mousepad for desktop

Me, after been using tablet for nearly or over 2 decades I never look at the tablet, and the pen is always in my hand while I type (just like holding a regular pen). Sometime I fprget to put it down when go do something then I put the pen in my pocket (not often).