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I got a wacom! a pen and am watching videos!

I use a tablet with a laptop. I don't take the tablet with me to school since I'm usually just typing papers or notes, but at home it is all I use.
 
I agree with the posters who've said you have to force yourself to use it for everything in order to develop the eye-hand coordination skill. But I also agree with you about having to use a mouse for web surfing. I can't live without my scroll wheels!

I took a class from Jessica Sprague a number of years ago on Pen Tablet Basics. The parts that were most helpful were all the doodling exercises - make yourself spend 30 minutes every day just doodling with the pen and tablet in Photoshop, and try tracing photographs* - and the lessons on customizing the buttons on the tablet. I don't know what model you have (I have a Wacom Intuos 4 PTK-640) but if it has programmable buttons, they will change your scrapbooking life! I've got mine set up to duplicate the current layer, create a new layer, give me the hand icon so I can drag the canvas ... and my scroll wheel has 4 sets of functions: scroll/zoom, cycle blend modes (THE BEST!), brush size, and step forward and backward (through your document history, which is also THE BEST). If you want more info on how I've customized my buttons, I'd be happy to share.

* Tracing photographs in Photoshop made a big difference for me, and I actually ended up using the results on several layouts. Drag in a photo, size it the way you want it, and then create a new layer on top of it. Select a brush, and then start tracing. When you're done, hide the photo layer. The less details you trace, the more artsy your results will be. It's great practice, especially when you can't think of what you want to draw. Hope that helps!

Love-Doodles.jpg
 
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Oh and I need to add that there are pretty rad functions in the brushes menu... pen pressure and custom brushes (alot you can get for free) are so fun to play with!
 
it keeps tilting my canvas, and it does things I don't want it too...I am not going to cry over a tablet..bhahhah..but I want to!
 
It also helps getting the bugs out if you get an updated driver directly from wacom.
 
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