Page 1 of 2
Tablet input devices have been around for ages, but have been superseded for menu command input by sophisticated mouse operated graphical user interfaces and have always been less than ideal for direct graphical input due to the ergonomic disconnect between the input surface and the monitor display.
When you sketch on a paper layout pad the effect appears directly beneath your pen.
And that’s exactly what happens with Wacom’s Cintiq.
It’s a monitor you draw on.
And twiddle around as you work, and undo when you experiment with graphic effects.
Of course new tools provide new workflow opportunities and Sketchbook Pro developed by Alias and now acquired by Autodesk provides a range of tools ideal for direct tablet input.
The Cintiq 21UX is a 21.3" LCD with UXGA resolution of 1600x1200 providing a good layout pad experience.
A clever support mechanism allows remarkably easy and flexible positioning; rotation about the centre which is ideal for sketching arcs and tilt, typically flatter for sketching and fine detail with more support for the arm and wrist and more upright for airbrushing as it is easier to see colours building up by sitting back from screen.
On e minor disadvantage of the screen rotation is that however well the pen input has been calibrated, the inevitable parallax between the pen point on the surface and the LCD layer below also varies which can take a little getting used to.
The tablet surface is completely flat edge-to-edge presenting no discontinuity to the input pen and allows the use of drawing tools such as French curves, protractors, rulers, and templates if required.