The Graphire 3 Studio XL is a relatively affordable and fun package for aspiring artists looking to create original freehand artwork on their computer. The tablet-and-pen system picks up every nuance of your movements and its support for pressure-sensitive applications and tools will help you to produce extremely natural results. However, using the pen, mouse and tablet takes some getting used to, and even those with good eye-hand co-ordination will probably struggle to keep the screen cursor following the same direction as your hand movements on the tablet. Nevertheless, Wacom is a market leader and generally owns the consumer tablet market, so you know you're getting the best of modern tablet technology in the Graphire 3 Studio XL.

Pros: Pressure sensitive; transparent frame; great software
Cons: Frame is hard to lift; pen is bulky and lacks a quality feel


The Graphire 3 Studio XL is the top-of-the-range model in Wacom's consumer line of pen tablets. Targeted at home users who use digital photo, video and graphics applications, the Graphire 3 Studio XL builds on the Graphire 2 by adding new features, more visually appealing hardware and a wider variety of software.

The package consists of an A5-size sapphire-blue tablet, matching pen and mouse, and a suite of software. The tablet is rectangular in shape (276x257x18.1mm, 800g) and comes with a handy transparent photo frame that flips up and lets you insert material to trace over. You also get a translucent pen holder for storing the pen when not in use. When travelling, a recess at the top of the tablet can be used to secure the pen.

The tablet supports a resolution of 2,032dpi - double that of its predecessors - an accuracy of around 0.5mm (from pen) and reading height of 5mm (from pen). It has an active area of 209x151mm, while the pen has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity. The pen also has a pressure-sensitive eraser for making corrections and a double-sided switch that can be programmed to create shortcut keys for standard application functions. The pen enables absolute positioning (where the position of the pen tip on the tablet corresponds to the position of the cursor on the screen), allowing you to use it like a regular mouse. However, this is a rather awkward and cumbersome process, which is why Wacom also supplies a ball-free wireless mouse. The mouse includes two buttons and a scroll wheel that functions as a third button.

Using the pen, mouse, and tablet takes some getting used to. For instance, in Pen Mode, the tablet's active area is a mapped representation of your computer screen, allowing you to position the screen cursor using either the pen or mouse. However, the mouse has to be used on the tablet and using the pen to navigate menus and drag-and-drop is an intricate and time-consuming process - even those with good eye-hand coordination will probably struggle to keep the screen cursor following the same direction as your hand movements on the tablet. You also have to remember that the pen is activated as soon as it nears the surface of the tablet's active area (within 5mm), so you have to make sure that the pen is in the correct position to register the correct positioning of the pointer on the screen. To click, you can either tap the pen onto the tablet or press the pen tip with enough force to register a click. Double-clicking follows the same process, only repeated in succession.

Once you've mastered the basics of the system you will then be able to reap the rewards of a graphics tablet. Most impressive is the way that it responds accurately to your hand movement, which will be a real boon to those who want to create freehand images on their computer. The Graphire 3 Studio XL also support pressure-sensitive tools, allowing you to vary brush characteristics such as width, colour and opacity by pressing harder or lighter with the pen onto the tablet. There's also a pressure-sensitive eraser on the opposite end of the pen that works like an eraser on a pencil, allowing you to erase graphical elements partially of fully depending on how hard you press the eraser onto the tablet.

Software supplied with the tablet is impressive and allows you to edit and manage your images quickly and relatively easily. Additionally, Wacom has developed an easy-to-use driver control panel that lets you customise the pen's tip and eraser 'feel', its double-sided switch, the mouse buttons and the tablet/monitor mapping. Adobe's Photoshop Elements 2.0 is supplied for editing, printing and e-mailing images, and ACDSystems' ACDSee 5.0 is an excellent application for managing and viewing images and videos in more than 50 media formats. Wacom also supplies a photographic filter plug-in for Photo Elements, penPalette LE, and Pinnacle Systems' Studio 8 SE for editing video and creating DVDs, although we're not sure why you'd want to edit and author DVDs using a pen and tablet.

BIOS, Feb 04, 04 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Input device