Darlene Epp Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Does anyone use a drawing tablet to design patterns with? I'm getting really frustrated, not to mention a very sore wrist, trying to use the mouse. I've even invested in a very good (& expensive) "air" mouse. No better than the other one. What I think I need is a drawing tablet and pen mouse. Opinions?? Experience? HELP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLRtoQuilt Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Darlene, You can get a wrist pad for your mouse. It helps support your wrist up, level with your arm and the wrist doesn't get so sore. I have one for my keyboard and love it. You can get it at any office supply store or I think even walmart has it. Hope this helps Char Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Hi Darlene, I'm not sure if this is what you mean. If you are looking for something high-tech....On my computer, I used a special pen on a tablet (instead of mousepad) to draw and enhance photo/collages for web design years ago. It was great - my son thought so too and snagged it for his drawing needs. Check it out at http://www.wacom.com They make all kinds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LA Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Hi Linda, Yep, that is what I use & I *LOVE* it! A little spendy, but worth it's weight in gold!! Fast & easy to learn, try one Darlene, I think you will be very pleased! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darlene Epp Posted January 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 HI Linda, Thanks for the feedback. What size do you use, and do wish it was bigger? I've seen a 12x18 available online in Canada. Sue M. says she prefers to scan in a pattern and then "trace" it. What drawing "tool" would you use to do that? I've tried to figure out the "layers", but so far it's just not happening in my brain! We're in Anaheim, CA for a few days of R&R. I thought sure I'd be able to find these drawing tablets down here, but the biggest I've found is 6x8. There is a larger variety of both brands and sizes available in my own home town at London Drugs in the VERY small computer dept.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 I haven't purchased one, but seriously considered it a few years ago when I was drawing (tracing) applique blocks in EQ. I remember reading about the wacam tablets on the EQ list. The general consensus at the time was that the smaller tablet was easier to use. Feedback on the tablets was very positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorris Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Hi Darlene I use the fitted line tool. I know Statler people use the 3 point arc but I think Stan said it wasn't the best tool to use, I've emailed him just yesterday to clarify so I'll post his reply when I have it. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyL Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 I don't have the CQ but I use the Wacom for designing quilt patterns. Can't even venture a guess as to how it would compare to what you're doing with the CQ but I love the pad and can't imagine doing any drawing in Corel without the pad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darlene Epp Posted January 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Linda, when you use the drawing tablet and then import the drawing, do you still have to trace over what you drew, or can you immediately save it as an autsketch file, and then convert it for the CQ? Just wondering if it would eliminate the very time consuming tracing step, which I have managed to figure out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Darlene, It has been 4 or 5 years since I used my tablet and that was for photo enhancement, not quilting. Mine was the size of a mouse pad, about 6 x 8. My husband just reminded me that he bought it for me at a local computer show - we have them monthly. As a matter of fact, he is planning to go tomorrow. I'll have him look for one and get some pricing info. I'm certain that mine was only about $125. It worked on my old Windows 98 computer - that's how long its been since my son whisked it away. I'll let you know what I find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 These things look like they woud be great . The larger one are kind of expensive. But I would love the have a 12x12 for working on designs. Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 My husband went to the computer show but no WACOM products there today. The next show is in Feb. On hunch, I went to eBay and put in "wacom tablet" and got 178 items. There were some pretty good buys there,too. Maybe I can replace the one by son hijacked from me. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LA Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Hi Darlene, Sorry I didnt see your post. You should be drawing in autosketch when using the tablet. Then all you will be doing is the fine tuning but not the retracing. Here's a link that should help you~ http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/9x12.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherie Walters Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Darlene, So far I have drawn most of my CQ patterns with a mouse following a scanned picture on the screen. Although I have drawn one or two pics freehand with the mouse on its pad, I find it easier to use a cheat sheet on the screen to follow with my mouse. In these cases I have drawn the pic myself, scanned it into autosketch, locked it into its own layer then drawn over it with a combination of straight line, fitted curve and 3 point arc (basically which ever fits the best). It is worth noting that I have been unable to use the trim tool to join different types of lines, eg fitted curve to an arc, BUT if your gap is small, the conversion program will overlook the gap, and produce a nice CQ file for you. The disadvantage is though, that because autosketch sees the arc and fitted curve as two seperate entities, it will not allow you to merge your drawing with the 'a format' file to produce a windows metafile for use in the notes page. I find the layer tool useful, but it did take a while to get the hang of it, so stick with it. You can use the on-line help manual to give you some hints on using the layer feature. The trick is in noting which layer the scanned pic is in, then opening a new layer, going back and locking the scanned pic layer, then setting the new layer as the current layer. I have been thinking about purchasing the tablet for my drawing. Those I have spoken with suggest that the Wacom tablet is superior (though I have no hard evidence of this). One of the people I spoke with used it to draw embriodery patterns in much the same way we would draw our quilt patterns. One comment that made a lot of sense, was to buy a seperate tablet that will go onto any computer, and not buy a computer/laptop which has it built in, as if your computer breaks sown, you have lost your drawing tool. The wacom tablet apparently comes with an acrylic sheet that you can lift to put your own drawing under, if you need to follow it with the pen. But if you are skilled enough (ie, don't need a cheat sheet) than you can draw your pattern straight out . You need to draw the file into autosketch, save it and then convert it with the DXF to CQ program. I hope I have been some help. Cheers Cherie in Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 I want this tablet too. I am going to do some real buttering up this week. My husband is being so patient of my spending while trying to get my Quilting business going. He's really been great. I'm not sure at what point he will say enough for now. This tablet would be awesome to use. I think I will get the 12x12 or 12x19. Mother's Day is coming. Another gotta have tool!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busybee Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Darlene: It sounds like you have carpal tunnel in you wrist. Or tendonitis. Trying a brace and trying a wrist pad for mouse will help but will not go away. If you hands or arm going to sleep at night and hurts , even up the arm its time to check the Doctor. lol Nita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Tammie YOu go girl. I am also looking at these pads . I would love to have the large one. But I was thinking about it. When I am drawing a design I am usually not drawing it to scale unless I am transfering it to the quilt in some manor. But if am drawing to put into autosketch for example wouldn't the smaller less expensive one work as you can enlarge it with the CQ to the size you need. Wouldn't this work? Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Myrna I think you make a good point. I guess the reason I was wanting to bigger one is so that I can use it for other projects I am learning to digitize photos for my embroidery system. I would have a larger tracing surface to use with some of my photos that I might want to utilize shapes from. I mean we can also decrease the size as well as increase. Most of what I will draw will be small but it is tracing photos that I thought the larger surface would come in handy. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know anyone who has the larger size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 A quote from the website of House of Hansen. "They cost from $100 to $500 approximately with the size of the tablet being the major determining cost factor. We have a 4 by 5 inch model and a 12 by 18 inch model. This is the smallest and largest of the Intuos line. For tracing the larger the better. For freehand drawing, the closer the tablet size is to your monitor seems to be best; so that, if your hand moves one inch, the line on the monitor draws by one inch." Lots of Longarm information there that might be helpful to the beginner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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