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XenceLabs versus Wacom – there’s a clear winner

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The graphics tablet scene has been hit hard with the launch of a range of tablets by XenceLabs. Founded in 2019, XenceLabs is formed mainly of former Wacom employees. According to them, they were stuck in a rut and hitting brick walls put up by upper management when they were at Wacom. The designers, developers, and engineers could not smash through this brick wall and decided to go ahead and make XenceLabs to break free of the corporate shackles. Of course, I wasn’t really there, so I can’t say for sure, but this is the narrative they share.

XenceLabs currently offers us a small handful of tablets: the Medium SE, the Medium, and the Small. The sleek design is not only aesthetically pleasing but also offers us a comfortable and convenient pen experience and feels like a premium product, particularly in the Nebula White color. Wacom offers similar devices. To be honest, they were offering them first. A sample of the range includes the Wacom Intuos, Wacom Intuos Pro, and Wacom Cintiq Pro. So different price range for different uses and creatives.

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Ergonomics of graphics tablets

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The perfect graphics tablet doesn’t exist. But you’ll eventually adapt to the weird specifications and ergonomics issues of your tablet model and make it perfect for you. This adaptation process made by your body (in regards of the ergonomics flaws of your hardware) will have an impact your health on the long run. It might also affect your pleasure to draw and paint…

Since 2002, I bought and used a lot of tablets to try to build the best setup I could. It came as a necessity to ease my full days of digital painting. Nowaday, my quest for the best graphic tablet still continues as the technology keeps evolving years after years. If you want to read more about what I used and why, read my maintained “Tablet history log” article, from 2002 to today. But beyond the choice of the hardware itself, I also studied other aspect about it. And the first one that comes to my mind is the ergonomics of my desktop position. So, let me share with you my experiences about ergonomics.

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DIYP reviews the Wacom Intuos – The ultimate editing travel companion for photographers

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I’ve been a big fan of Wacom tablets for years. Whenever anybody asks me what tablet to buy, my response is usually “Whatever’s within your budget that has Wacom written on it”.

So, when Wacom announced their new entry-level Intuos tablets earlier this year, I was intrigued. It’s seen a few updates over previous generations. And now I’ve spent the last few weeks getting to know one.

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Driver update: Wacom tablets are now working with MacOS 10.13 High Sierra

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MacOS 10.13 High Sierra was released back in September 2017, but Wacom users who upgraded noticed that their tablets wouldn’t work. Wacom has approached DIYP to let the community know about the latest news: they have released a further driver update that lets your tablet work with High Sierra MacOS system software.[Read More…]

Wacom’s entry-level Intuos tablets just got a huge new upgrade

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A graphics tablet is one of the most essential pieces of kit one can own as a photographer or retoucher. Sure, you can edit with a mouse, but a tablet makes life so much easier, and faster, and more accurate. While you’re often good with pretty much anything that has the Wacom name stamped on it, the really good ones have traditionally been rather expensive.

The Intuos is the low budget entry into the world of Wacom tablets, but they’re quite basic. And small. Now, though, with the new 2018 range of Intuos tablets, they’ve seen some pretty significant upgrades in size, sensitivity and capability.

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Wacom tablets won’t work with MacOS 10.13 High Sierra until late October

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MacOS 10.13 High Sierra is officially released and available for download from September 25, 2017. However, if you want to keep your Wacom tablet working, it’s better not to upgrade just yet. Wacom is announcing a driver update will be ready by late October, so it’s safer to wait with the upgrade if you want to keep using your tablet uninterrupted.

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Wacom’s next Cintiq will have a huge 32-inch screen

Wacom has announced two Cintiq Pro models, which should replace the current Wacom Cintiq 27QHD. One of them will be their largest pen display so far, with a huge, 32-inch screen. The other model is smaller, with the 24-inch display.

Both models are improved over the 27-inch Wacom Cintiq 27QHD. They come with the new Wacom Pro Pen 2, which also has improvements over the previous model. The new displays combined with the pen should provide the artists with the best drawing experience yet.

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Art student figures out you can save money on Wacom nibs by using spaghetti

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It started as a simple joke. Creating a meme for a bit of a laugh. Brittany Botehlo is an 18 year old self-taught digital painter in Dallas, Texas. When recently cooking spaghetti, she decided to stick a small piece in the end of her Wacom tablet pen. And, why not? It’s an amusing idea.

It turns out, though, that there was a little more truth to this joke than expected. Twitter responded to her post asking if it really works. Can you really replace a Wacom nib with spaghetti? Apparently, you can, and Brittany posted a video to prove it.

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Want better portraits? Rotate your canvas while retouching.

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Once, the idea of rotating my canvas when retouching was jarring to me. I knew it was something my peers were doing but I just couldn’t be bothered to try it myself.

After a few one on one lessons where I was “forced” to do it by David Neilands, I actually found a surprising improvement in not only the end result but also in identifying problems quicker with fewer revisions.

Rotating the canvas is actually a technique that was popularised by Pratik Naik of Solstice Retouch. The guy knows his stuff, he won retoucher of the year last year!

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