So if for some reason you've still never tried a graphical tablet for your image retouching or digital illustrations, seriously stop waiting around. Worst case scenario is that you find that you really don't like it so you turn around and sell it. Best case, you revolutionize your retouching habits; pretty much a no-brainer. You can pick up used tablets online at huge discounts or you can buy new if that's your thing. For the sake of retouching, just try one out. Give it about a week if it's your first time with a tablet. Here is an awesome video with some tips and tricks you can apply to get you flowing right out of the gate.
From quick switching foreground to background colors via a key re-mapping to backing up your tablet settings in the event something happens, this is a pretty straight to the point video. The key mapping is a cool trick as if you find that you don't use some buttons you can remap and further customize the tablet to suit your own workflow. You may find some tips more useful or more applicable to you depending on your retouching preferences and your specific tablet. On top of the quick and easy tips and tricks, these guys are giving away a tablet via their YouTube Channel in a couple weeks time so make sure if you're interested you go through the steps of entering their contest.
Leave a comment down below with your thoughts on tablets. Are you into them or are they not for you? Personally, I picked up my tablet on Craigslist a long time ago for around $30. It's a Wacom Bamboo Create, pretty simple and definitely not the highest end model out there. With that said, it's an absolute workhorse and has helped to speed up and improve my retouching work flow dramatically since I started using it. I'm at the point where I honestly don't think that I could retouch my images without a tablet anymore.
Before investing in a Wacom, I got a wireless Huion to try my hand at editing with a tablet. It performs surprisingly better than expected, and it was only a fraction of the cost of a Wacom. I'm sticking with Huion.
My last old Wacom didn't survive the driver purge to Windows 10, so I decided to drop $35 and $80 for Huions in small and large sizes, respectively.
I think Wacom still has a decisive edge when it comes to smooth big-arm movements on a big tablet for drawing and painting.
However, when it comes to the pencil-like movements I do on a small tablet for photo editing, the Wacom has nowhere near a level of superiority it should have for that exalted price difference. Sorry, Wacom, but for $35 bucks, the small Huion is a runaway bargain.
My wacom tablet is so old...{How old is it?}. My wacom tablet is so old that I cant even think of a funny joke, SMH!
I want one! Would suit me just perfect for editig all my newborn photos.