Today is the day the Expo floor opens and I cannot be more excited! One of the best parts of Photoshop World is going around to all the different vendors that you know and love, trying out new products and getting all that great knowledge straight from the guys in charge right to you. When I’m not in a classroom learning from one of the instructors I’m usually down there on the Expo floor, one place in particular. The Wacom Booth. I have known a lot of these guys for years and they are just the best. I love the tablets and the Cintiqs they just can’t be beat. Heck I’m using one right now. All of my images are finished these days on one or the other because i frankly can’t stand a mouse anymore. If you go by the booth and play with one of the examples they have set up you might find you won’t like a mouse anymore too.
This image seems to be the standard i use more and more often to show how much work into a photo. With all my Aviation work there is a a lot of finishing required. Usually it goes by in a few minutes, well this is one that took a lot longer. You can’t tell anymore but there was four other planes in this picture when i started and a number of photographers. With the help of my Intuos 4, which was the latest one out at the time this is an older image, the finite detail that had to be removed went away smooth as silk. I tried a similar image a while later with a mouse and it didn’t work nearly as smooth. Just amazing the difference you feel.
Now i have had a chance to play with the Intuos 5 and the 24″HD Cintiq they just rocked! The adjustable settings on the side make life much quicker and more organized especially for those that like to adjust everything possible to fit there style. The display on the new Cintiqs are almost too pretty to even touch. Looks aren’t everything. Besides being gorgeous they are by far the fastest way to process images that i have found. Now i might be a little biased about this but my eyes actually feel more comfortable looking at a Cintiq than a traditional monitor including my notebook screen. In this business eyes are everything so doing anything to keep them healthier is a good thing.
Any of you reading this and are here at Photoshop World it is definitely worth your while to go and check out these great tools at the Wacom Booth. For those of you that aren’t as comfortable with changing those setting the best way to learn is either to go to the booth while you are here or go the Wacom Blog. Best place to learn from the guys that make them. Also you can check out the PhotoshopCafe DVD Wacom Edition chalk full of useful tips to get the most out of any Wacom product. I have to warn you it is for CS5 so hopefully they will get a CS6 going at some point.