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This article is from May 4, 2009, and is no longer current.

Review: Wacom Intuos4

17

Score: 95
Pros: Beautiful design, great feel. New buttons, TouchRing, and Radial menu are useful additions that let you drive a huge number of functions from the tablet.
Cons: No way to access menu items using the Mac driver; no way to share settings among multiple machines.
It always surprises me when I discover that an otherwise gear-laden photographer lacks a Wacom pressure-sensitive drawing tablet. I forget that not everyone understands that a Wacom tablet is an essential piece of post-production equipment, like a computer. For that matter, anyone who works with image editing, painting, or illustration software needs a Wacom tablet. Graphic designers, illustrators, visual effects artists — if you ever brush on a paint stroke, it’s silly to use a mouse.
The reasons are simple: A pen/tablet interface makes painting — be it big broad strokes or fine detail work — much easier and faster. It’s more comfortable on your hand and, thanks to pressure sensitivity, more expressive. Because the tablet can send pressure, tilt, and bearing information to the computer, you can create calligraphic brush strokes, and other effects that work just like real tools. And all without clenching your hand into the tight little claw a mouse requires.
Although there are other tablet makers, Wacom stands apart because of its extremely well-made products, battery-free pen technology, and a range of tablet sizes with prices starting at $79 for a 4″ x 6″ tablet. Because Wacom tablets have long provided low-profile, comfortable designs and excellent pen tracking, the company has focused on improving the additional features that a tablet can provide.
The most recent example of this improvement is the Intuos4. While it has a number of Wacom’s ideas from the past, it’s also a very different tablet from its predecessors. The Intuos4 ships in four sizes: small ($229), medium ($369), large ($499) and extra large ($789) (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The Intuos4 ships in four different sizes.

Wacom has completely re-designed the tablet, and the result is beautiful. A combination of glossy and matte black finishes, the tablet is very thin with gently curved edges (Figure 2). As befits a device that you use with your hand, the Intuos4’s beautiful design makes you want to touch it. (And, though this has no effect on the tablet’s functionality, I’d like to give a shout-out to Wacom’s packing designers who have crafted a box that is as beautiful as the tablet.)
Figure 2. This is the medium Intuos4.Click on the image to see a larger version.

The Design
The tablet part of the Intuos4 is mostly unchanged. A large bezel contains the active area of the tablet, which has a different finish from the rest of the tablet’s surface. The active area is flush with the surface of the bezel, with only a slight separation between the two.
A side panel houses the tablet’s extra controls: eight buttons and a wheel like the controller on an iPod. (For this review, I looked at the 6″ x 9″ medium tablet. The small tablet has six buttons.)
Wacom has often struggled with its tablets’ handedness. If the company puts the buttons on the left side of the tablet, where most people will use them, then it’s awkward for lefties. If the buttons are at the top of the tablet, there’s no way to use them with your off hand without reaching over the drawing area. But with the Intuos4, Wacom has finally produced is a truly ambidextrous device. The tablet is perfectly symmetrical on both axes, which means you just flip it over to move the side-mounted controls to the other side. In both cases, the cord exits the tablet on the same side as your brush hand. Using the Wacom control panel, you can tell the driver which orientation you’re using, and it will automatically change its tracking orientation accordingly. This is an elegantly simple solution that works very well.
The active surface of the Intuos4 is different from its predecessor. It’s got a little more grab than the Intuos3, so the pen doesn’t skate across the surface at all, and the feedback is extremely close to writing on a pad of paper. My only concern is how it will wear over time. I’d hate for it to become slipperier, as it has such a nice feel now.
A new pen ships with the Intuos4 (Figure 3), and while it has the same controls as previous pens — a two-position rocker switch on the side, and a pressure-sensitive eraser on the end — the pen’s guts are different. The nib is now far more sensitive, requiring only one gram of pressure to register a response, and it’s sensitive to 2,048 levels of pressure. The eraser has a different finish to it, and when you flip the pen over to use the eraser it feels different from the writing end. Like a real eraser, it has more resistance. You have to push it a little harder to get it to move, which is good as you’ll be less accident-prone.
Figure 3. The new pen.

The Tablet
A mouse is a relative device. Move it to the left, and your cursor moves to the left. By contrast, the Intuous4 has a direct correspondence to the screen. Each corner of the active area maps to a corner of your monitor, so when you put the pen on the tablet in a particular place, the cursor shows up where you would expect it to, on-screen. (You can change the mapping so that it works more like a mouse, but I’ve never found a good use for this option.) Thanks to the feel of the surface, using the Intuos4 is very intuitive — it’s just like drawing on a piece of paper.
Some people have trouble when they first start using a tablet because they’re not used to drawing in one place and looking at another, as you do when sketching with pencil and paper. But they usually adjust in a day or two.
The Wacom control panel provides options for limiting how much of the tablet surface is active, and how much of the screen the tablet effects (Figure 4). If you have a particularly large screen, and find yourself having to move your hand a long way to get from one side to the other, this can help you reduce the amount of physical motion required to use the tablet.
Figure 4. Using the Wacom driver software, you can control how much of the screen is affected by how much of the tablet. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The Pen
Almost all modern painting and drawing programs recognize pressure sensitivity and use it in various ways. For example, in Photoshop, default pressure sensitivity controls brush size. Press harder and your brush gets larger, with the maximum being your currently selected size. But you can also opt to control opacity and shape with pressure, or color, ink scattering, and much more. Photoshop’s Brushes palette provides simple checkbox controls for activating different pressure sensitivities (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Photoshop’s Brushes palette lets you activate different properties for pressure sensitive control.

Corel Painter offers even more options, with the ability to control brush parameters based on the tilt and bearing of the brush. With these options, you can create brushes that can’t exist in the real world.
The Wacom pen is completely customizable. In addition to changing the sensitivity of the tips, you can program the side buttons with different functions (by default, they’re set to right-click and double-click) and change the function of the eraser. You can set the buttons to deliver keystrokes, mouse actions, and much more, including such specialized actions as showing the desktop or launching an application (which can include an AppleScript on the Mac).
You can define different settings for different applications, and as you change apps, the well-designed, thorough software will automatically activate those settings.
The Controls
When you’re painting digitally, the keyboard is as important as the tablet. But because it can be awkward to switch between devices, Wacom has added various keyboard-like controls to its tablets so that you can keep your hands on the tablet. Over the years, Wacom added an eraser and buttons to the pen; programmable buttons that generated keystrokes; wheels that could be used to zoom; and touch-sensitive strips that could be programmed for zooming, brush size, and any number of other functions. With each new tablet design, Wacom has kept some of these innovations and discarded others.
With the Intuos4, the position of the tablet’s buttons is a little more convenient. But what really makes them usable are the displays next to each button (Figure 6). When you configure a button, you can also give it a title, which is displayed in the screen, so you no longer have to memorize which button does what. It’s an extremely functional addition that also looks great on the tablet.
Figure 6. The titles save you from memorizing each button’s purpose.

As with the pen controls, you can define different buttons sets for different applications. As you switch applications, you’ll see the button tags change automatically.
If eight buttons aren’t enough for you, you can also configure a button (or a switch on the pen) to activate the Radial menu, a new virtual menu that appears on-screen at the current mouse location (Figure 7).
Figure 7. The Radial menu provides a programmable soft menu that you can easily navigate with the pen.

If you click in the center (where the cursor appears by default when you invoke the menu), the menu will cancel. But, by simply sliding the pen to one of the four wedges, you can execute the associated command. You can even create sub-menus off of the main Radial menu.
For example, the upper wedge is a sub-menu, which takes me to a menu of Layer-related commands (Figure 8).
Figure 8. This submenu is configured with layer-related commands.

If you spend a little time configuring these menus, you can have a huge assortment of commands available entirely by pen stroke. Unfortunately, the Wacom software doesn’t let you assign menu commands to a control. However, Photoshop lets you assign keyboard commands to every menu and submenu function. So I set up keyboard shortcuts for the options I wanted, and then configured the Radial menu to generate those keyboard shortcuts.
Unfortunately, there’s no way of outputting any of these settings, so you can’t move them to another machine. If you move your tablet around from computer to computer, you’ll have to configure the Wacom settings on each machine, separately. For complex setups, this can be a headache.
The Intuos4 has yet another control, a scroll wheel with a big button in the middle that’s called the TouchRing. Just think “iPod wheel” and you’ll know what I’m talking about. There are four small LEDs next to the wheel that indicate four different wheel functions. Pressing the center button cycles through all four, so you can have four different capabilities on the wheel.
The wheel is ideally suited to zooming, changing brush size, cycling through multiple layers, and changing applications. I find it a little sensitive for accurate zooming, but it’s great for brush size. I’m not a fan of the touch strips on previous Wacom tablets, but the TouchRing is a great addition I use all the time.
Buy!
Wacom’s products are very dependable. I’ve been using Wacom tablets for fifteen years, and only once has one broken. Because of this reliability, most users probably don’t upgrade their tablets. The new features on the Intuos4 are good enough, though, that I recommend an upgrade even if you have a tablet now.
And for those of you who don’t already have a tablet, what are you waiting for?
 

  • Anonymous says:

    I agree that Wacom users rarely upgrade because the tablets are so well built and seem to work well forever! I have had mine for six years and still love it. I have been drooling over this new model though and your review will likely tip the scales. Especially since I have a relative that is a nature photographer and does not use a tablet! I can feel totally confident in passing along my previous tablet to him knowing it is still a great piece of hardware.

    One more thing for new users I have found is that adjusting to drawing on the tablet is more a matter of a couple of hours than a couple of days.

  • Anonymous says:

    Is there any advice for someone who has never used or had access to a tablet. I think I have heard that going big is not always the best idea when buying one, although I can’t remember why.

    Most of my work is knocking out backgrounds of product photos. My arm, shoulder and neck are bearing the brunt of a lot of time spent on the edges of phone cords. I hope that using a tablet would provide some relief. Any advice would be great. Thanks!

  • Anonymous says:

    Another graphic product that doesn’t support the Mac.
    Regards,

  • Terri Stone says:

    The Intuos4 most certainly does support the Mac.

    Terri Stone
    Editor in Chief, CreativePro.com

  • Anonymous says:

    I know this is a couple days since the question was posted, but in case you get to see this:

    For masking out photos, I would recommend the “medium” Intuos4 (or a 6×8 if you go with a previous model). The larger tablets take up a LOT of desk space in addition to the added purchase price. If you have a very large display (like 30″ +), then you might consider the Large tablet.

    If you do a lot of illustration work, drawing from scratch, it would depend mostly on your screen size, and your personal drawing technique. I use my whole arm when I draw, and I have a relatively large desk, so I enjoy my 9×12 tablet, and consider it worth every penny. (BTW, it’s over 8 years old, and still works great. I had to get a replacement pen about 6 months ago, but that’s the only issue I’ve had.)

  • Anonymous says:

    I’ve had a tiny purple Wacom tablet (that tells you how old it is) for years (and it still works great through all the different OSs) but I think it’s time to upgrade and get a larger, upgraded model. Perhaps I’ll retire my tiny one to my laptop. Thanks for all the great info!

  • Anonymous says:

    What size would you recommend for someone new to a tablet? I would like to use the tablet for general purpose stuff like touching up photos and beginner illustrations in graphics software like photoshop and illustrator.

  • Anonymous says:

    thanks site you Wacom users rarely upgrade because the tablets are so well built and seem to work well forever! I have had mine for six years sohbet and still love it. I have been drooling over this new model though and your review sohbet will likely tip the scales. Especially since I have a relative that is a nature photographer and does not use a tablet! I can feel totally confident in passing along my previous tablet to him knowing it is still a great piece of hardware

  • Anonymous says:

    I’m so used to using the trackpad on a MacBook Pro I feel sort of lost on the tablet. The Mac’s trackpad has gotten so advanced over the years that it’s like an extension of my hand. Making mask adjustments is so easy with the Drag Lock and smooth motion. This, being my first tablet, it so alien to me I’m finding it a little hard to get used to.

    I can, however, see the advantages of all the functions. And you’re right, the design just makes you want to touch it. All in all I am coming ’round slowly but surely and I think within a couple weeks I’ll have it down pat. Another thing I love is how you can rotate the orientation of the tablet to mirror your monitor when working in portrait mode.

    And, just for the record, I had the small version and it’s just not big enough. The M seems just right.

  • Anonymous says:

    What size would you recommend for someone new to a tablet? I would like to use the tablet for general purpose stuff sohbet touching up photos and beginner illustrations in graphics software like photoshop and illustrator.

  • Anonymous says:

    I didn’t think about your review I just want to tell you about a Wacom intuos review from a first time pen tablet user at: https://www.stockholmviews.com/wacom-intuos-4-review/index.html

    /S

  • Anonymous says:

    I understand that the tablets surface is 1:1 with the monitors size and that this is also adjustable, but what about irregular monitor ratios? If you were to adjust the area of the tablet to be worked on say… a 4:3 screen, how can you tell where the corners are on the tablet? If you get me.
    Is it possible to work across dual monitors?
    Also, a radical scenario, how would it function with a NEC CRV43 Wrap Around monitor? 0_o
    At $7,999, I don’t think anyone will ever have that problem for a long time. :)

  • Anonymous says:

    how do u get the words next to the buttons to show up? i had it then i left to go to the mall, and when i came back and hooked it up, it wouldnt do precision mode or anything!!!!! >:(

  • Anonymous says:

    It seems like the buttons are to be used with the left hand which is great if you are right-handed. Or you could just put down the pen every time you want to use one of those buttons :(

    I love the 10×13 Intuos 3 for all of my photo & design work. I used to have the 12×19, but it was acutally too large for my desk.

  • Anonymous says:

    hi may ask if u wanna use wacom do u have to connect it to my computer or u just can just use it without any com

  • Anonymous says:

    This article suggests that the new Intuos 4 works for lefties as it is “perfectly symmetrical on both axes” but in fact this feature is really based on the fact that the tablet is asymmetrical on the vertical axis. If it were symmetrical on this axis then rotating the tablet would result in exactly the same layout. Using this asymmetrical design the WACOM tablet allows the user to rotate the tablet and get a different layout, e.g. buttons on the right side of the surface.

  • DiabolusBR says:

    Hey, I have a wacom intuos pro tablet that I picked up to replace my Intuos 4 when it kicked the bucket. I LOVE it and they look have almost the same from the outside.
    https://pctechtest.com/best-wacom-drawing-tablets

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