What Kind of Tablet Should I Use?

[mapmage]

Okay guys, another noob question from yours truly. What kind of digital drawing tablet should I use for mapmaking?

[KaiAeon]

Forget about Huion. I have one but it's incompatible with Gimp.

[Kellerica]

I think it depends a bit on your current situation. Just how new to mapmaking are you, and how sure are you that art is something you'll want to do more of? What I'm getting at here, is basically, how much money are you planning on using. If you just want to test things out, you might consider getting a smaller, cheaper one (might even find an older one to buy second-hand) and upgrade later.

I myself started with an ancient Wacom Intuos, a small one, that I used for a year or two. I then made the rather large leap and upgraded to the Cintiq 22HD I'm currently using. The Cintiq series is the display tablet. That one, while an absolutely amazing product, is a big investment and honestly there could be a very convincing case made that I never should have bought mine at such an early stage I have no regrets, but it WAS a lot of money. For me it felt worth it, as my hand coordination never could quite get the grip of the small monitorless tablet. Drawing with one was a constant struggle and beyond frustrating. BUT I know a lot of artist who create amazing art with those, so that is definitely something that is very much my personal issue.

So yeah, in a nutshell, my advice would be to first to get a smaller, cheaper one - I for one can recommend Wacom's products, they tend to be quite trustyworthy - and see how that feels. You can always upgrade later on.

[Tiana]

Any tablet. Kell's journey is similar to mine. I started with a new medium Wacom Graphire, moved to an Intuos, then moved to a Cintiq13, and then a Cintiq24HD which I am currently using. Yes, they are very expensive. I bought mine secondhand from a designer who was upgrading to a Cintiq MobileWorkstation, which I dream of, but I do really like this tablet... any tablet will do you though, you might as well start with the cheapest Wacom available. I recommend not going tiny, but the medium sized at least... I think it's 6x9? You'll find only 4 inches is very cramped to work within. I used a medium intuos for YEARS upon YEARS before getting my first secondhand Cintiq. I also recommend Wacom's products. I have not tried an off-brand tablet. I'm wary of their incompatibilities with say, Mac or non-Windows 10 computers, they tend to be more fussy about drivers and harder to mix and match, whereas an older Wacom will probably plug and play with drivers for many systems available. But XP-Pen DOES have far cheaper prices and you might want to give it a go!

[mapmage]

Wow, thanks guys! This is really helpful. I've only been at cartography for a few months, so yeah, the Wacom sounds like it's at my speed.

[Ilanthar]

I'm still using my Wacom Intuos (medium size) and have no need to change it.

[eepjr24]

Forget about Huion. I have one but it's incompatible with Gimp.

Interesting. What version of GIMP and tablet? Lots of folks on the GIMP forums have gotten them to work with new drivers.

- E