I had tried tablets before, even Wacom tablets. Having a digital drawing tablets were a requirement when I went to college for web design. Unfortunately I had never felt the tablet love before now. Previous tablets I tried felt awkward, were not accurate and had few options to really make me want to use them. Sensitivity had been lacking and static cling on the drawing surface made the last one wig out on me. I knew there were good tablets, but I didn’t want to spend $2000 on one! I wrote tablets off and learned to perfect my craft via mouse.

That is, until I saw the Intuos4 at the store. I sat there staring at it, pondering whether it would really be worth the $350 price tag. A sales lady approached me and we had a nice long chat about the features and previous issues I’ve had with tablets. I was sold. I then turned to the lady and said “Hey, that man over there in cameras is my husband. He’s looking for a new SLR. Do what you do best and get him excited about his camera purchase, then he’ll happily agree to buying me this cool new tablet.” Yes, wives are evil sometimes. Hey, it worked and us girls have got to work together. He did get a chuckle out of the scheming.

So I get the tablet home and giddily rip it out of the box. First, I have to comment on the size. I purchased the medium one and the drawing space is perfect! I was afraid that it would be too small to get a good feel for it or to feel natural, but its definitely adequate. By the way, the Wacom Intuos4 comes in several sizes ranging from small to extra large, so there is a size (and price) for everyone. Next I notice the pen holder, when you open it up it has 11 extra tips for the pen. I haven’t had a chance to play with those but I presume they give a different feel when drawing. The tablet itself has programmable hot keys that you can set in accordance with your drawing program. I use Photoshop and Pixelmator and found that these come in handy. Not only are there buttons but also a LED display right next to them to tell you what they do! You can also set your hot key buttons based on program, so if you use specific shortcuts in one program and not another it will recognize that.

Actual use of the tablet is awesome! It feels like you are writing on paper, just the right amount of feedback and grip along with a smooth (static-free) surface. The sensitivity is nice as well and allows you to press harder for a thicker line as if you were really painting or drawing. I have to say, that after only 2 months of use I really am enjoying this tablet and it has made my drawing time significantly shorter.

All in all, this is a quality tablet and if, like me, you were afraid to try them again (or for the first time) I think this would be a good no-regrets digital tablet.

I’ve long been a fan of Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro (the old non-screwed up version, lol) on my PC computers. Two years ago I found the Mac love and made the switch. Unfortunately my PC software was not compatible and I began a search for software that was tailored to the Mac work environment. Of course Photoshop is Mac friendly, but I wanted to see what else was available. This led me to Pixelmator.

Pixelmator is a layer based graphic editor for Macs. I was skeptical at first and I downloaded the demo on 2 different occasions to see how I’d like it and instead left it untouched each time. I was intimidated by the prospect of learning a new setup. Recently I made the leap and purchased the program, knowing that if I just did it I’d be forced to play with it more. Boy am I glad I did! The layout is very similar to Photoshop, so if you can use Photoshop you can use Pixelmator… but I must say I find Pixelmator’s interface more eye appealing.

I’m making these wallpapers available for download, I created these in Pixelmator using the provided tutorials. Try one for yourself! To download Desktop Wallpapers click on the image to open large image and then right click image and select save from the menu.

I now officially have a category for premade web site templates and premade logos. If you just want something quick and easy it may be just what you are looking for. Everything currently listed is a one of a kind, meaning I will only sell each template to one person. In the future I may offer limited editions for a lesser price but they would be able to be used by multiple web sites. For now, though, I’d like to give this a trial with one of a kind templates to see what the interest is. I will be adding more templates for sale as I have time and clear out my archives!

All of these templates come either as a HTML/CSS straight HTML file pack with the associated graphics or installed on your choice of cart. The carts that I work on include: Watersweb, Merchant Moms, Pappa Shop and Hyena Cart. But you are not limited to these carts. If you are unsure if I work on your cart just feel free to ask!

Find out whats currently available in the Premade Template and Logo Category!

May 2009