The Wacom Intuos has been around a while and the brand has earned a reputation in the digital art and design industries for good reason. It’s often the first choice of professionals even though they do have some good competition today. If you purchased an older Wacom Intuos secondhand and didn’t get a user manual with it, this quick guide will help you to set up your tablet.
1. Getting the correct driver for your wacom tablet
First things first, you need to make sure you download the right driver for model of Intuos. This may seem obvious, but if you’ve picked up an older tablet, it’s easy to accidentally go and download the latest Wacom driver only to find that your device isn’t actually supported anymore. You’ll see this if you are using a tablet like the Intuos 3 for example.
So when you visit the Wacom website and drivers page, be sure to type in the model of your tablet. You can usually find the model number on the back of your device if you are unsure.
BEFORE you install the driver, if you’ve used any other tablets on your computer, it’s best to uninstall the drivers for those first. Then reboot your system and install the new driver.
At the time of writing, the latest Wacom tablet driver version is 6.3.46-1.
The last driver version compatible with the Intuos 3 is v6.3.15-3.
For the first generation of Intuos released in 1998, the driver version you’re looking for is 6.1.7-3.
2. How to set up your screenless Wacom tablet – Intuos, Bamboo and Graphire
Whether you’re using the latest Intuos Pro, or an older Wacom Graphire or Bamboo, the process to set it up will be much the same depending on the features available. After you’ve downloaded and installed your driver, you can plug in your tablet and open your tablet settings.
Change your shortcut express keys
Many screenless tablets today come with a few express keys along the side. You can program these to your most-used shortcuts in your favorite painting app. For some, this is a very useful feature, but many ditch them completely and prefer to just use their keyboard.
To program your keys, first open your Wacom Tablet Settings application. For most Wacom tablets, the interface and layout of this application doesn’t vary much. The images below are for setting up a 2013 Intuos Pro.
You might be wondering though: “what should I even program those keys to?”
This will depend on a few things:
- how many keys you have;
- the art software you are using;
- and how familiar you are with that software.
To start, the default settings for your keys will be fine. Many drawing and painting apps have the same basic shortcuts for the same tools or actions that your tablet is likely programmed for already. For drawing and painting, is a basic express key setup might look like this:
- Tablet settings
- B – Brush
- L – Lasso
- Alt (eyedropper)
- Undo
- Zoom In
- Zoom Out
- Space (Hand tool)
This is just a suggestion and is by no means THE recommended shortcut set. If your tablet has a touch ring like the Wacom Intuos Pro, then you can have one of its functions set to zoom in and out. This would then free up two keys for something else. You will likely change your keys a few times as you become more familiar with your software and find your own workflow anyway.
Change your pen pressure curve
Tweak your pen’s tip feel or pressure curve by selecting the pen in your settings and adjusting the slider. If you move it towards Soft, you won’t have to press as hard to get a bold line. Shift it towards Firm and you will have to apply a lot more pressure to get a dark line. You can have more control over this adjustment by clicking customize and moving the points on your pressure curve.
Mapping your tablet to the right screen
You may experience some strange mapping when you plug your tablet in for the first time and are using two screens. The pen could draw across both, or draw on the wrong screen. To change this, go to the Mapping tab in your pen settings and adjust the screen area.
This is also where you can change the orientation of your tablet if you are left-handed and it has express keys only along one side.
Customize your on-screen radial menu
Customizing shortcuts doesn’t stop at just the express keys. Newer drivers also allow you to set up a couple of on-screen menus too like a radial menu and an express menu. This gives an added layer of custom shortcuts to use that can speed up your workflow in different programs.
In your tablet driver, make sure to have your Functions selected.
Then, if you have multiple per-app profiles, select the program you want to customize a menu for. If you have no profile, All Other will be universal and the menu will activate no matter which app you have running.
You’ll first need to assign a key on your tablet to bring up the menu under the Express Keys tab.
Then go to the On-Screen Controls tab and tap Radial Menu. Your options will then appear on the right.
3. How to use your Wacom Intuos tablet
Getting comfortable with a screenless drawing tablet takes time. It’s a weird thing at first to be looking at a screen in front of you while your hand is drawing on a different surface. But, you don’t need to look at a mouse on your desk when you move it to know where your cursor will go on the screen, right?
It’s the same with a graphics tablet. Over time, you’ll know exactly how the movements of your hand will relate to your cursor on the screen. It’ll become like second nature. It just takes time and practice.
Play with drawing simple shapes and shading them so that you can get comfortable with the pressure response and develop that hand-eye coordination. Don’t go straight into trying to draw your first epic piece just yet because you will just get frustrated with yourself.
Smaller tablets can easily sit off to the side in place of your mouse. Larger ones (8×6″+) will likely be more comfortable placed directly in front of you on the desk.
A screenless tablet like this can promote better posture as well. If you have any trouble with the shoulder of your drawing arm, consider placing the tablet a little lower in front of you on your desk’s keyboard tray. This way you can draw with your elbow closer to your body, set at roughly 90 degrees, and that could reduce a bit of the strain on your shoulder. Of course, consult a medical professional about this if you have ongoing pain.
Wrapping up
That about covers the basics of how to set up your Wacom Intuos tablet. If you feel like there’s another important element that should be included, or you are still having trouble with something, be sure to leave a comment below.
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