I'm considering getting a new Imac when it comes out. I am definitely getting a Cintiq 24HD. So, I'm wondering how Mountain Lion, Photoshop and Wacom tablets play together. I'm hearing some worrying things, things that might make me stick with Windows. So I ask you all, should I expect problems between these three?
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Mountain Lion, Photoshop and Wacom
- Thread starter odnarbssagib
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I am a day or two away from pulling the trigger on a Cintiq 22HD (it's less expensive than the 24HD and much much lighter).
I'm still running with Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro (early 2008, 3,1) and don't expect too much difficulty getting Wacom, SL, Photoshop and Painter to play well together. I HAVE heard that there are a glitches in the Wacom drivers that need to be fixed for Mountain Lion, but I can't recall any specifics. And Wacom can be sluggish to update their drivers at times.
Overall, I'm really excited to add the Cintiq to my workflow. After 10+ years with Intuos tablets, it will be nice to once again actually watch my hand when I'm drawing/painting.
I'm still running with Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro (early 2008, 3,1) and don't expect too much difficulty getting Wacom, SL, Photoshop and Painter to play well together. I HAVE heard that there are a glitches in the Wacom drivers that need to be fixed for Mountain Lion, but I can't recall any specifics. And Wacom can be sluggish to update their drivers at times.
Overall, I'm really excited to add the Cintiq to my workflow. After 10+ years with Intuos tablets, it will be nice to once again actually watch my hand when I'm drawing/painting.
I prefer the 24HD because of the stand and because I want a fuller color gamut. I've been doing some research and there are some complaints with wacom, mountain lion and photoshop.
How is Painter working for you? I hear Painter 12 is very buggy in Mac and slow as well since there is no 64-bit version yet.
Painter 12 works fine for me on the Mac Pro in my sig, as does Photoshop, ZBrush, and Sketchbook.
As for the Wacom, your Cintiq should be just fine if you use driver 6.1.5-7. MAKE SURE that driver is available for your model.
Intuos 5's cannot use this driver and Wacom has been insanely slow at fixing the issue. It will work with Intuos 4's. They blame Apple but the fact that the older drivers work just fine puts the ball right back in Wacom's court. (I know I've been back and forth with them over and over.).
Not using the 6.1.5-7 driver may result in input lag after you press an express key. This is devastating for programs like ZBrush. It doesn't happen to everyone so I'd try the current drivers first.
As for the Wacom, your Cintiq should be just fine if you use driver 6.1.5-7. MAKE SURE that driver is available for your model.
Intuos 5's cannot use this driver and Wacom has been insanely slow at fixing the issue. It will work with Intuos 4's. They blame Apple but the fact that the older drivers work just fine puts the ball right back in Wacom's court. (I know I've been back and forth with them over and over.).
Not using the 6.1.5-7 driver may result in input lag after you press an express key. This is devastating for programs like ZBrush. It doesn't happen to everyone so I'd try the current drivers first.
Thanks. The Cintiq 24HD works with the 6.1.5-7 driver. That's another reason why I plan on getting that one over the 22HD. Spending this amount of money and opting for the Mac ecosystem is problematic because there are zero such issues on Windows. Moreover, I will never have to wait for a new computer to be released if I go Windows.
Not sure which way I'll go just yet.
Not sure which way I'll go just yet.
The fuller color gamut would be nice, and the way the stand can adjust to hang below the surface of the desk is cool, but at 67lbs., I think I'd throw my back out every time I tried to move it. In my setup (2 x 23" Cinema Displays plus the Cintiq), I will need it to be a bit more mobile. So I'm compromising with a little less color and a lot less heavy.
I'll be ordering it once I finish building a new desk to accommodate it (hopefully I can finish it this weekend).
I have not had any major issues with Painter 12, though I'm frustrated they haven't released the 64-bit Mac version yet. It seems snappy enough for my purposes, though it does slow a bit on large files. I did a 16" x 30" inch illustration earlier this year at 300 res and I had to keep the number of layers down to 4 or so or else it got a bit sluggish. But that's an extreme example. Most of my Painter work is around 20" x 20" at 300 res and it seems to work fine. Painter is definitely not as smooth as Photoshop, and most digital illustrators seem to prefer Photoshop, but I really like the way the brushes work in Painter more than Photoshop. The interface for brushes is closer to the way I would work with traditional media, so I'm more comfortable with it.
Thanks. The Cintiq 24HD works with the 6.1.5-7 driver. That's another reason why I plan on getting that one over the 22HD. Spending this amount of money and opting for the Mac ecosystem is problematic because there are zero such issues on Windows. Moreover, I will never have to wait for a new computer to be released if I go Windows.
Not sure which way I'll go just yet.
I wouldn't say zero.
I support a lot of these for a living and Windows has just as many issues. Its not Windows fault though, its Wacom. Their drivers are generally crappy on both 7 and Lion/Mountain Lion.
Wacom takes FOREVER to make stable drivers.
I work on very large 300dpi illustrations and I haven't updated the Wacom driver for a while.
Not had any problems. I've got Mountain Lion and a 27" Apple monitor, Wacom 24HD + latest Photoshop and speed is fine, but then I've got a 12 core MacPro with 64 gig of ram and SSD startup and scratch discs. SSDs certainly speed everything up.
Not had any problems. I've got Mountain Lion and a 27" Apple monitor, Wacom 24HD + latest Photoshop and speed is fine, but then I've got a 12 core MacPro with 64 gig of ram and SSD startup and scratch discs. SSDs certainly speed everything up.
I have to disagree here. At work we rarely have to touch the Macs, yet the Windows machines often have issues with Wacom tablets (again, not Windows fault, its Wacom's drivers).
Generally you'll see the tablet stop responding, or really frequently, for users of the wireless tablets (Intuos 4) the blue tooth stops working.
There's also constant issues when using the on screen menus (they don't show up) or the tablets will switch handedness.
A simple reinstall usually fixes the issues for awhile but I'd definitely say the Windows drivers are buggier than the Mac ones.
EDIT: I should say too that no matter what OS you choose, or tablet, if you run into problems feel free to ask me here. I've probably ran into about every Wacom one you can imagine and I can check your configuration and see if I can recommend a specific driver for an issue you may have. I have a huge spreadsheet at work with working drivers for different Wacom devices for different hardware/OS configurations.
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Thanks! I might take you up on that, as my Cintiq 22HD should be arriving sometime this week.
Hi, I have just bought a macbook pro running mountain lion and have an old A3
Wacom Intuos 2. I cannot get the computer to see the tablet, I have tried the latest ones from Wacom with no success. Their customer support didn't help much and ended by saying they no longer support the Intuos 2. Apple says it no longer supports applications that run on power pc and will probably have to buy a new tablet!! Really don't want to have to buy a new one! Any help working around this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, I have just bought a macbook pro running mountain lion and have an old A3
Wacom Intuos 2. I cannot get the computer to see the tablet, I have tried the latest ones from Wacom with no success. Their customer support didn't help much and ended by saying they no longer support the Intuos 2. Apple says it no longer supports applications that run on power pc and will probably have to buy a new tablet!! Really don't want to have to buy a new one! Any help working around this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Uh oh you may pretty much stuck on that one :/ Intuos 2 to my knowledge only has a power PC wacom utility that would run on intel chips using x11.
Unfortunatley the spreadsheet I have at work only goes back to Intuos 3 :/
Hi, I have just bought a macbook pro running mountain lion and have an old A3
Wacom Intuos 2. I cannot get the computer to see the tablet, I have tried the latest ones from Wacom with no success. Their customer support didn't help much and ended by saying they no longer support the Intuos 2. Apple says it no longer supports applications that run on power pc and will probably have to buy a new tablet!! Really don't want to have to buy a new one! Any help working around this problem would be greatly appreciated.
That's because the latest drivers don't support your Intuos 2. Wacom drivers are unfortunately not unified like graphics card drivers are. If you actually look at the drivers page, you'll see the last driver that supported your model was Driver 6.2.0-w4. Here's a direct link: http://cdn.wacom.com/U/drivers/mac/pro/WacomTablet_6.2.0w4.dmg
Even though the driver doesn't say it supports Mountain Lion, it should work. Heck, I'm using an original Intuos (back when they were still made in Japan instead of China) and it seems to work alright under 10.8 using the ancient 6.1.5-2 driver.
Updated drivers for 10.8?
I recently purchased an iMac and was considering getting an Intuos5. I'm wondering if anyone were still experiencing difficulty with their Wacom tablets when using Mountain Lion? I'd hate to shell out a few hundred dollars for a product only to find that it does not work properly. And for those who said Windows machines had fewer issues, would you recommend getting Parallels to address those on the Mac?
I recently purchased an iMac and was considering getting an Intuos5. I'm wondering if anyone were still experiencing difficulty with their Wacom tablets when using Mountain Lion? I'd hate to shell out a few hundred dollars for a product only to find that it does not work properly. And for those who said Windows machines had fewer issues, would you recommend getting Parallels to address those on the Mac?
I'm using ML on an iMac with Wacom Intuos 4 and Photoshop and have never experienced any issues at all...and I use mine a lot.
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Oh and another (tangentially) related question, does anyone know if there are any major differences between the Small, Medium, and Large Intuos5 models apart from relative workspace size? I read product overviews, Amazon reviews, etc. and I gleaned that the smallest was preferable for those focusing on photo editing but 8x12 (to me anyway) already seems hefty. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated; I'm new to the world of tablets and don't want to buy the wrong thing.
I purchased the extra large Wacom but only use a small central portion of it...probably about 6" x 10".
Having the extra space does make things really comfortable though. I rest my forearms a lot on it.
Mine is always on my desk and I do not travel with it. The smaller ones are useful if you are going to be out and about with your tablet.
I've used a medium tablet and found it hard to get used to the size coming from the extra large. With a fews days work it would have been ok I suppose.
I am looking at the 24HD but am unsure if I would find it difficult coming from a standard tablet. I am so used to watching the screen now and seeing everything. With the 24HD I would be 'covering up' my work. Although the precision would probably be greater on the 24HD.
Would like to hear from anyone who has made the move from standard tablet to Cintiq....easy?
Having the extra space does make things really comfortable though. I rest my forearms a lot on it.
Mine is always on my desk and I do not travel with it. The smaller ones are useful if you are going to be out and about with your tablet.
I've used a medium tablet and found it hard to get used to the size coming from the extra large. With a fews days work it would have been ok I suppose.
I am looking at the 24HD but am unsure if I would find it difficult coming from a standard tablet. I am so used to watching the screen now and seeing everything. With the 24HD I would be 'covering up' my work. Although the precision would probably be greater on the 24HD.
Would like to hear from anyone who has made the move from standard tablet to Cintiq....easy?
Just a couple of thoughts here -
I used for a short time a Cintiq 20 wide and had to use a third party app to get the correct screen resolution. It was not a big deal but then again, at the price of the Cintiq, one would imagine it would work right out of the box.
A few years ago, I used a Cintiq 20 wide for work purposes. I ran into a couple of problems that I hope others here could give some comment on (how to get around or alleviate)
Mostly Photoshop and some Illustrator --
1) When having to trace along images, at times either or both my hand and stylus would somewhat get in the way of viewing what I am doing.
2) If I had to go trace along a very large area that went from one end of the screen to the other, it required long arm gesticulation which once in a while is okay but gets tiring after a while.
Please understand, from the above that I only used the product for a couple of months and had to jump quickly.
I used for a short time a Cintiq 20 wide and had to use a third party app to get the correct screen resolution. It was not a big deal but then again, at the price of the Cintiq, one would imagine it would work right out of the box.
A few years ago, I used a Cintiq 20 wide for work purposes. I ran into a couple of problems that I hope others here could give some comment on (how to get around or alleviate)
Mostly Photoshop and some Illustrator --
1) When having to trace along images, at times either or both my hand and stylus would somewhat get in the way of viewing what I am doing.
2) If I had to go trace along a very large area that went from one end of the screen to the other, it required long arm gesticulation which once in a while is okay but gets tiring after a while.
Please understand, from the above that I only used the product for a couple of months and had to jump quickly.
The whole point of a Cintiq is to more closely replicate the action of working at an actual drawing board on paper. The downside of that is that sometimes your hand will get in the way of what you want to look at. The upside is you don't get the hand-eye disconnect that comes with working on a normal tablet.
Umm zoom out so that the line takes up less space on screen and will require less travel by your arm to trace?
TBH, Illustrator has a pretty decent auto-trace feature these days, so if all you were doing was tracing, I'd be inclined to let AI do the donkey-work and then just do clean-up manually.
Cheers
Jim
The screens have a matte finish and a strong backlight that makes fingerprints quite hard to see. I given mine a wipe with iKlear spray and a microfibre cloth about once a month.
Cheers
Jim
Here are some software suggestions for your daughter's tablet & Mac: Sketchbook Express & Sketchbook Copic Edition (both free from the Mac App Store); Pixelmator $30 also from MAS, --a pretty reasonable Adobe Photoshop alternative; and iDraw, about $30, a simpler & cheaper vector drawing alternative to Adobe Illustrator. All pretty decent ways to get started exploring your daughter's tablet.
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help w/ os x 10.8.2 and wacom intuos4 driver
hi there -
i am working on an imac (24 inch, intel core 2 duo) machine and am trying to install the wacom driver for intuos4. the driver does not install properly - and i get the "installation failed" message at the end of the install process.
can anyone please help ? the 6.3.4-3 as well as the 6.3.3-3 drivers fail the installation process.
thanks from bombay !!!
hi there -
i am working on an imac (24 inch, intel core 2 duo) machine and am trying to install the wacom driver for intuos4. the driver does not install properly - and i get the "installation failed" message at the end of the install process.
can anyone please help ? the 6.3.4-3 as well as the 6.3.3-3 drivers fail the installation process.
thanks from bombay !!!