Setting Up the Tablet

Like I stated, I use a WACOM Intuos3 A5 tablet. I have been using this one since 2006. The settings on your tablet will differ, but I believe there are settings that are similar across every brand and model. I will show here the settings I use and hopefully will guide you. Now, you may skip this part if you’ve already have a setup that you’re used to or if you preferred/familiar with using your tablet’s default settings.

As you will see in the image below, I set my tablet by specific software. I find that Photoshop differs slightly with Painter when it comes to interpreting the pressure sensitivity of the tablet. The image below specifically shows you my settings for Painter only.

[1] TILT SENSITIVITY.

How your tablet interprets the angle you naturally hold the pen and how Painter uses that affects the line art greatly. The default is set in the middle, but I set mine to normal. Any slight tilt on my part reflects on the work I do, specially when I use sketch pencils on Painter (see Image 2 below).

[2] TIP FEEL.

Pretty self-explanatory. Each of us has a definite pressure when we draw, so that should reflect on how you want the tablet to react to it. Now I keep mine at the Soft setting. One, because it keeps my hand loose enough to get natural strokes as possible, and two, actually preserves the plastic tip of the Grip Pen (my earlier Graphire tablet had its tip replaced twice in the first year).
Other than these two settings, the rest I keep on default. Again, this is more a personal choice for me, but I find that adjusting these two really help me in achieving the lines that I want.

Now on to Painter itself.