# Cintiq 12wx & Photoshp CS3?



## FaeMinx (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi.

I'm looking for some advice / guidance on how to configure my Cintiq 12wx to work nicely with Photoshop CS3. Imagine that I've never done digital art before, so I don't know what tools are usefull / used most often... I.e. what keyboard shortcuts should I map to the 10 buttons and 2 touch strips on my Cintiq?

I also have all the pens - Grip, Classic, Art pen, and Airbrush... So advice on how best to use them would also be appreciated.


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## Kyuuman (Sep 9, 2012)

I guess I have a few recommendations when I did own a 12WX (now a Samsung Slate 7).
- Anything you're working on, take the piece window, plop it on the Cintiq and hit F twice to full screen. Press tab to bring back your menu. This will emulate working on canvas/paper the best. I would have Color, Brushes and Layers windows collapsed and sitting to the right on the Cintiq and the toolbar on the left.
- An obvious setting for the right (or left) touch strip is brush size ( [ ] ) and/or Zoom.
- For keybinds - I'd recommend a button set as X (switch foreground and background colours)

This could be a very long post about work flow in Photoshop. I would suggest just doing a few sketches/pieces and observing what could be interrupting your workflow and change the tablet settings accordingly. 

Can I recommend trying out Paint Tool Sai?


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## FaeMinx (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks for the reply.

After fiddling for a while, this is the config I settled on (for now):
View attachment Config.jpg.doc
(delete .doc extention)

Brush size/Brush hardness is the left touch strip toggled by the shift button.
Zoom in/Actual Pixels is the right touch strip.

I've only configured my Grip Pen for now: front rockerSwitch is [Space] for moving my canvas around and back rockerSwitch is [Alt] so I can pick colours on the fly.

I searched all over but could find no way of adjusting brush opacity on the fly short of pressing the number keys 1 - 0 (10% - 100%), so looks like I'll have to keep my keyboard nearby.

Canvas is worked on exclusively on the Cintiq - PS CS3 Program windows with all tools stay on my HD Monitor.

I've heard Sai mentioned before. What does it have that CS3 lacks? 
I wasn't looking to spend any money, and thought that seeing as I already have Photoshop it could do the job?

P.s. Is it normal that only .doc files can be attached? How are images inserted into a post?

EDIT: How does the Slate 7 compare to a Cintiq? I personaly have decided to ignore the Tablet phenomenon completely untill one is released with Wacom grade pressure sensitivity technology and *isn't* capacitive...  o.o
What happened to your Cintiq?

EDIT EDIT: If I want my final image to be 1920x1080, should I work in a higher resolution and scale it down when finished... and what dpi setting should I use? At present I've set it to 300 dpi.


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 9, 2012)

All tablet PCs with Wacom technology only have 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. 

300 ppI is fine usually it may save you time to do a thumbnail at a lower ppi then scale it up so everything looks good. Of course it will look pixelated due to being raster, but at least you can get composition down/

72ppi is for web and what you'll probably want to post it at.

Sai is more lightweight but does not have a lot of features that Photoshop has. It has better blending. If you want something lightweight to draw with, there are free alternatives like Fire Alpaca or AZ Drawing/AZ Painter and then you can finish up in Photoshop.


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## FaeMinx (Sep 9, 2012)

I wasn't even aware that there *were* tablets out there with 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. I'm very much out of the loop.  

Why would it save time to do a thumbnail in a lower ppi? 
I would've just zoomed out untill my entire image fits on screen (or is a small enough size to work with).

I had a quick look at the programs you suggested (but didn't download them)... Still not seeing any obvious reason for using them instead of doing everything in Photoshop...???  o.o  (not really interested in making animated gifs at this point in time, may change my mind in the future)...


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 9, 2012)

FaeMinx said:


> I wasn't even aware that there *were* tablets out there with 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. I'm very much out of the loop.
> 
> Why would it save time to do a thumbnail in a lower ppi?
> I would've just zoomed out untill my entire image fits on screen (or is a small enough size to work with).
> ...




There is sometimes lag working at a really high resolution depending on the brushes you use. Especially if you're trying to figure out composition and values at that stage.
Working zoomed out doesn't necessarily mean those brushes get smaller. This can also be countered by programs that take up less space/aren't ram hungry. I'm not saying you have to do it, these are suggestions you can try out for better workflow since you asked. It's fairly common for artists do use several different programs to work on a single image. 

Those programs are not necessarily for making "animated gifs" They're painting programs. 

All tablets are ...is pretty much a laptop without the keyboard and depending on their OS. Having used a Motion Computing tablet, they're like the ancestor of thinner tablet PCs. A Samsung Slate runs Windows, and Microsoft will be coming out with its own tablet called the Surface. 

CS3 doesn't have Opacity settings on fly. The only ones I know is Painter 12, and Sketchbookk Pro. Sketchbook pro I actually recommend because it has an interface that's a match made in heaven for Tablet PCs (On Screen) and Cintiqs. Since you can save in PSD format you can then finish your drawing in Photoshop. In addition it has ruler tools that I haven't seen many other programs. 

Sketchbook Pro 6 youtube below

[yt]joOKmoXu99c[/yt]

In Painter 12 is very confusing to most beginners who are used to Photoshop methodology. It may also turn people off because people are confused by brush behavior. It was just easier for me to pick up and use. Been one of their beta testers. 

One of my main beefs with Photoshop is the gimped pressure curve. It often makes Shoelace strokes and starts off too round in the first stroke. The Cintiq you have won't have this issue but I've seen it with the 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity found in the newer intuos like the 4 and above and the newer Cintiqs. 

This video demonstrates it.

[yt]GEAHBJo7C5g[/yt]

The other problem I have with CS 3 is the lack of good rotation (but this may not be a problem because you have a cintiq and should be able to rotate it yourself to overcome this issue). I feel this is rather essential working in digital media. Far too often people's work come out lopsided because they don't rotate or flip their images to check for errors.

I'd actually recommend a hotkey for "Horizontal Flip" in CS3 so that you can check for errors. 
If your Rocker switch is set to ALT (which is Eyedrop) see if you can use it in combination with the touch strips for Brush size [ and ] Since Alt[] Cycle through layers.

I know you can hack the "Precision Mode" into one of the keys as well but I never found it useful tbh.


You will probably want an Undo and Redo for CS3 you want CTRL+ALT+Z and CTRL+SHIFT+Z aka "Step Backwards, Step Forward"

I'd recommend a Color wheel for CS3 but the only one I know Magic Picker and that one is pay. http://anastasiy.com/

The free ones I know of are for CS4 and higher. Like http://www.coolorus.com/ and http://nerdchallenge.com/lenwhite/LenWhite.com/LenWhite.com/LenWhite.com.html


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## Kyuuman (Sep 9, 2012)

FaeMinx said:


> EDIT: How does the Slate 7 compare to a Cintiq? I personaly have decided to ignore the Tablet phenomenon completely untill one is released with Wacom grade pressure sensitivity technology and *isn't* capacitive...  o.o
> What happened to your Cintiq?
> 
> EDIT EDIT: If I want my final image to be 1920x1080, should I work in a higher resolution and scale it down when finished... and what dpi setting should I use? At present I've set it to 300 dpi.



Itâ€™s far more portable than the Cintiq 12WX and with the right amount of customization the pen can replicate similar pressure sensitivity (even though its 256 pressure levels). For me itâ€™s the fact I can take it with me to work, town, etc. and still use it as a sketchbook/canvas. There is the argument it doesnâ€™t have quickkey buttons / sliders, but there is an amazing user-made application that sits on the screen giving those controls to the artist (with the ability to disable touch).

The most basic Samsung Slate 7 has 4GB Memory, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Gen i5 and 64GB SSD. This has enough grunt to handle virtually any application (Maya, 3DS Max, Photoshop, etc). For me the colour accuracy is far better than the Cintiq 12WX (very strong reds if memory serves) and the screen is (while not preferable) easy to view in the sunlight.
Oh and additionally there are wacom-enabled aftermarket pens that have even better pressure capabilities.

Check out my blog (fyi I don't do art for a living). All the pictures before the Angel are sketched, inked and painted on my Slate  There are quite a few pen-enabled "slates" coming out from now to 2013 onward. I suspect a good portion do not have the hardware oomph like the Slate 7.



Arshes Nei said:


> The other problem I have with CS 3 is the lack of good rotation (but this may not be a problem because you have a cintiq and should be able to rotate it yourself to overcome this issue). I feel this is rather essential working in digital media. Far too often people's work come out lopsided because they don't rotate or flip their images to check for errors.
> 
> You will probably want an Undo and Redo for CS3 you want CTRL+ALT+Z and CTRL+SHIFT+Z aka "Step Backwards, Step Forward"



Painter and Paint Tool Sai have the ability to rotate canvases and of course Photoshop CS4+. I had Undo bound to the lower button on the Pen.


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 9, 2012)

Kyuuman said:


> Painter and Paint Tool Sai have the ability to rotate canvases and of course Photoshop CS4+. I had Undo bound to the lower button on the Pen.



Yes I know (as I said I'm one of Painter's Beta tester) but as I said this is moot since the person owns a Cintiq 12". I'm just going over slight differences. While later CS editions have this feature, it would be an issue if the person owned a Cintiq 24 inch since it has no rotation of the unit at all.


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## FaeMinx (Sep 10, 2012)

OMG!!!!!  Sketchbook Pro is *brilliant*!!!!   = o. O =

After you  mentioned it I had a look through my backup DVDs and sure enough, a  friend had actually sent me a copy of Sketchbook Pro 2010 a while  back... But seeing as I haven't done a scrap of art in years I had  completely forgotten about it...

It's so intuitive and natural -  Almost as if I'm actually working with pencil and paper (unlike  Photoshop)... The ability to rotate/zoom/move canvas on the fly is  fantastic!
Physically rotating the Cintiq means my cursor alignment will shift and can be highly irritating and disruptive... So doing it on the fly like this is an absolute godsend! =3

Listen to me - I feel like a kid in a candy store    *I LOVE THIS PROGRAM*!!!!   <3

@kyuuman:  That sounds very appealing... But no more big spending for me - It took  a good while to pay for the equipment I do have so now it needs to pay  for itself first.
Maybe in a few years I'll invest in a tablet - Portability like that would be awesome.

P.s.  Thanks for your help both of you. Now I just need to apply some rust  remover to my dormant skills... And get useto working digitally. Any  recommendations on tuition for using these two programs? I.e. from  sketch to finished image...?


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 10, 2012)

FaeMinx said:


> P.s.  Thanks for your help both of you. Now I just need to apply some rust  remover to my dormant skills... And get useto working digitally. Any  recommendations on tuition for using these two programs? I.e. from  sketch to finished image...?



There is nothing wrong with working both. I mean that there's nothing wrong bringing in your traditional sketch, and finishing it digitally.
The only way is really a lot of practice the more you use it, the more you're going to figure out your workflow.

That being said try heading over to http://www.ctrlpaint.com/ for lessons.

Really while I use different programs and have my favorites, the more I know how to draw and paint, the more it matters regardless of the program I use.


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## FaeMinx (Sep 11, 2012)

Many years ago that's what I did - scan in my work... but it took me *ages* to clean up the image. I guess my medium of preference is partly to blame - (0.3mm pacer pencil)... So i've never actually sketched then inked then coloured then shaded. I would do it all in one go and very rarely used colour. So once scanned I would have to meticulously clean up all the scratch/dust/smudge markes... smooth and darken lines... but even the best cleanup left me with the issue that I couldn't put clean lines on a seperate layer and paint underneath: Partial shading had already been done and thus I always had a lead grey to cream white gradient I would have to paint over if I wanted colour... and doing so would mess with the precision/look of my lines.

The simple answer would have been to learn to create art in a different manner, but life happened and my art got shelved.

Now I have a Cintiq, so instead of getting back into the old swing of things, I want to get comfortable working in a purely digital environment.
So far I've *only* worked with the Pencil in Sketchbook Pro (set to 0.3mm of course) and I have to say I don't think I'm going to miss natural media all that much. (My sketches ended up looking just as they would have on paper) Sketchbook Pro = WIN 
= ^ .^=

Yes, with natural media I have the advantage of greater precision and control, but I expect that as I become more familiar with the digital environment/tools the discrepancy will lessen. Besides, that discrepancy is MORE than made up for by the priceless ability to 'Step Backwards', Zoom, work in multiple layers, expand canvas size, and manipulate/transform/move/resize chosen elements on any layer. 

Now I can draw as I always have and my work is automatically clean regardless of persistent sketch lines and shading... simply because the background is a seperate layer.

Thanks for the link! I checked out the intro vid and it looks exciting... but I'll have to ration out those videos as I have to pay through the teeth for my data usage (I live in South Africa and use my cell phone as a modem).

When Furaffinity is back up I'll upload my *first ever* digital sketches.  :3


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 11, 2012)

The problem working solely digital is not going outside to learn. A lot of people who do not draw from life and limit themselves with digital only when they need to practice well a majority of their art is pretty lifeless.

Basically you cannot take your computer and Cintiq everywhere so you may as well not deny yourself a pencil and sketchbook.


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## FaeMinx (Sep 14, 2012)

This is true. 
Well, I'll keep a sketchbook with me for the rare chance I'll be out and about and not busy with anything more pressing.

Anyways, FA is back up and I've uploaded my first explorations into using Sketchbook:
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/faeminx/

:3


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 14, 2012)

Not too bad, definitely glad you're enjoying Sketchbook Pro.


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