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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/867
114 MacDirectory
REVIEW
INTUOS 4 DIGITIZING TABLET > A WORLD-CLASS PLATFORM
There are a number of competitors in the
world of digitizing tablets but the
unquestioned leader is Wacom. Their
prosumer Bamboo line, professional Intuos
line, and LCD Cintiq line are the dominant
forces in their categories and Wacom's
continuous efforts in R & D allow them to
set the standard by which all others must
be measured. As expected, the newly
introduced and highly anticipated Intuos 4
line raises the bar yet again.
The Intuos 4 is available in four models
with active areas ranging from 6.2"x3.9"
to 24.5"x18.2". They boast an amazing
2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, can
recognize +/-60ยบ of tilt, and their cordless
pens have a near-zero starting pressure
that is one-tenth that of the Intuos 3.
Onboard controls are arranged in an
ambidextrous design with a touch ring and
express key buttons along one side and a
concealed slider on the reverse that is used
to switch the tablet's tracking orientation
between right- and left-handed positions
while simultaneously revealing the
corresponding USB cable port.
The touch wheel has a center button for
switching between four user-defined
modes, such as zooming, scrolling or
canvas rotation. Modes are indicated by a
series of LEDs along the inboard edge of
the ring. There are eight user-definable
express key buttons (six on the smallest
tablet) that are distributed above and
below the touch ring and the three larger
models feature a prominent set of backlit
icons next to the express keys.
Lefties might hope that the concealed
slider would simultaneously shift the mask
for the express key icons to a left-handed
configuration, but this is not the case. You
can, however, choose to dim or complete-
ly extinguish the icon backlight. Except for
the cool factor, this is no big loss. Now, if
the tablet were to have a flip-up panel and
a set of swappable icon masks, that would
have been very cool. Perhaps next time.
The control panel follows previous designs
and accommodates other models,
including older products that you may
have lying around. In addition to providing
a wide range of options for the express
keys, touch wheel, stylus buttons and
mouse controls, it offers the capability of
toggling between single and multi monitor
configurations. While this may not be of
value to those who use a monitor for
palettes, it does make for easy painting
and retouching. On the downside, the
toggle does not affect cursor speed,
resulting in either an extremely slow cursor
when in dual screen mode or an extremely
fast cursor single screen mode.
The Intuos 4 stylus features a tiny ceramic
capacitor that is not only amazingly
sensitive but better maintains its sensitivity
over its life, which is guaranteed for 20
million strokes. The stylus is 3/4" shorter
than its predecessor and an indistinguish-
able .5 grams lighter and is quite
comfortable. The programmable five-
button scroll wheel mouse provides angle
detection and the placement of buttons in
front of and behind the scroll wheel is a
nice arrangement. If anyone has ever
wondered at the price of a replacement
Wacom stylus, it is because half of the
technology of a Wacom tablet is found in
the stylus. Unfortunately, stylus support is
not backwards compatible, so if you are a
fan of the Intuos 3 art pen or other instru-
ments you will need to wait for their debut
and then pony up. One last hardware
goodie: the pen holder contains a set of
replacement nibs and a nib puller.
Rounding out the package is a software
bundle composed of Nik Color Efex Pro
plug-in filters for Photoshop and
Photoshop Elements plus a choice of two
of the three Applications: Photoshop
Elements, AutoDesk Sketchpad Express
2010 or Corel Painter SketchPad. They
are decent apps for starters, particularly
Photoshop Elements.
The Intuos 4 series is every bit the
thoroughbred and is a worthy successor to
the Intuos 3. The sensitivity and control
are magnificent, the onboard controls are
well designed, and the gloss and matte
black-on-black styling is very attractive. If
there has ever been a device that could
persuade mouse-bound designers to
finally experience the capabilities of a
drawing tablet, the Intuos 4 is the tool for
the job. For serious tablet hounds in the
graphics and painting fields no persuasion
is required. The Intuos 4 is a genuine
world-class platform.
Product Wacom Intuos 4 Digitizing
Tablet
Made by Wacom