Wacom Intuos 4 Medium

Review of the new Intuos line from Wacom.

What?

Wacom Intuos 4 is a digital tablet with pressure sensitivity up to 2048 levels and tilt-support. The new model in the Intuos (aimed at professional users) line is better than ever. Intuos 4, like the older model, comes in four different sizes: Small (only 6 express keys and no OLED display, no mouse), Medium, Large, and Extra Large (has a built-in USB-cable, which sadly is unattachable).

The Medium, Large and Extra Large versions have 8 express keys (Customizable within individual applications through the Wacom driver) and assigned OLED displays for each function assigned to each express key.

Dimensions and weight for the different sizes

S

• Dimensions (W x D x H): 309 x 208 x 12 mm
• Weight: 0.7 kg

M

• Dimensions (W x D x H): 370 x 254 x 12 mm
• Weight: 1.0 kg

L

• Dimensions (W x D x H): 474 x 320 x 14 mm
• Weight: 1.8 kg

XL

• Dimensions (W x D x H): 623 x 462 x 28 mm
• Weight: 3.5 kg

What’s in the box?

• Intuos4 M pen tablet
• Intuos4 Grip Pen
• Intuos4 Mouse
• 5 standard nibs
• 1 stroke nib
• 1 flex nib
• 3 felt nibs
• Pen stand
• Thick-bodied replacement grip
• Colour identification rings,
• Driver CD-ROM (driver, manual in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch)
• Quick Install Guide
• Software Download Programme booklet

Hardware (Tablet, Stylus, and Mouse)

Tablet

The Wacom Intuos 4 tablet includes a lot of technology, the most important features are the touch ring, the express keys and the active area where your stylus will enable.

The active area of the medium tablet is 223.5mm x 139.7mm, this is the area that you can move the stylus over and cause movement on your cursor. Since tablets don’t work with the same technology as a mouse (you can change how the stylus interferes with the screen, so it acts as a mouse, independent moving of where you put the stylus), it reacts to where your stylus actually touch the tablet compared to the active area you have assigned to your screen.

Put short, if you place your stylus in the left corner on the tablet it will appear in the right corner of your screen, not just continue the track of the cursor as a mouse would. As a general rule “wide” tablets suits widescreens better, but all this is pretty general, let’s get back to the Intuos 4 tablet.

The innovative design of Intuos4 allows you to maximize the productivity of both hands. By placing all of the ExpressKeys and the Touch Ring on the same side of the tablet, they are in the perfect position for use with the hand that is not holding the pen. Simply rotate the tablet 180° degrees, and change a single control panel setting, to adjust the tablet from a right-handed to a left-handed configuration. It won’t get much easier and it’s a splendid solution to solve the problem..

Touch Ring

The finger-sensitive Touch Ring allows you to control up to four different functions (function is changed by clicking the middle-button on the ring) in each application for on-the-fly adjustments such as zooming, scrolling, brush size, canvas rotation, and more. These functions can be changed to more or less anything you want, and also to be set up for every application you want, with customization in the Wacom Control Panel.

Express Keys

Set-up the Intuos4 Express Keys to activate your own unique, time-saving shortcuts and modifiers in each of your applications. With Intuos4, remembering your shortcut settings is now as easy as casting a quick glance at the tablet. Each ExpressKey is now equipped with an accompanying illuminated display providing a constant reminder of the key’s application-specific function.

Stylus

Loaded with Wacom’s new tip sensor technology, pressure sensitive response begins at only a single (1) gram of pen pressure. When combined with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, the Intuos4 Grip Pen captures the most subtle nuances of pressure. The cordless, battery-free pen puts two customizable side switches right at your fingertips and features a contoured barrel with a cushioned grip. The grip can be changed if you prefer a lighter, or heavier, feel to the pen. The Wacom Intuos 4 Grip Pen works with Intuos4 tablets only.

Mouse

Completely redesigned, the new five-button mouse moves the cursor based on both the direction and orientation of the mouse, for smooth, accurate tracking across the tablet surface, if it didn’t need the tablet to work I would replace my mouse with this one instantly.

The five-button Intuos4 Mouse is an alternative to the pen, for those who might prefer mouse input for certain tasks. The Intuos4 mouse uses the same cordless and battery-free technology as the pen working smoothly on the surface of the tablet. The mouse includes an integrated middle button, a rolling finger wheel, and two additional buttons that can be used for quickly scrolling up and down. The buttons can be customized for a variety of functions and actions in the Wacom Control Panel. The Intuos4 Mouse works with Intuos4  tablets only.

Software (Driver)

The Wacom Intuos4 driver gives you a large variety of customization for your tablet and the different functionality. The Express Keys can be configured to any keystroke, built-in setting (Radial Menu, Ctrl, Alt, Grab, Precision Mode, Settings), and modifier. You can choose a general setup for your Express Keys, like when browsing or doing anything general in Windows or Mac you can use the default setup, then you can add a different set of keys or combinations for every individual application you would like. For example, you can have a different set of Express Keys for Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, Maya, 3DS Max or anything you choose.

Here are the most mentionable improvements in Wacom’s software for Intuos4

Radial Menu

A programmable radial menu which replaces the linear pop-up menu used in older Wacom driver software. The radial menu can be assigned to any button on the tablet, pen or mouse. The hierarchical radial menu displays a circular pop-up, divided into wedges, with each wedge assigned to a function or submenu. The radial menu can be used for keyboard shortcuts, navigation, media control, application launching or other functions. The radial menu is much better-suited to pen use compared to the old the old pop-up menu.

Display Toggle Mode

The display toggle allows you to alternate the tablet mapping between multiple monitors and all displays. So if you start with your default mapping of all displays, and you have two monitors, you can press the display toggle once to restrict the tablet mapping to your primary monitor, press it a second time to restrict tablet mapping to your secondary monitor, and press it a third time to return to the default mapping of all displays. This features was previously only available for the Wacom Cintiq pen display, but has been carried over to the Intuos due to popular demand.

Precision Mode

Precsision mode slows the cursor down for improved control and precision for detail work. This mode can be assigned to any button and works as a momentary switch so that when the button is held down, the cursor is slowed down, and when the button is released the cursor returns to normal mapping.

Verdict

All in all, the new Wacom Intuos4 digital tablet is a very delicate product, it should suit every need for both the aspiring, the advanced and the proffesional digital artist. The only downsides is the quick wear on the nibs (can be avoided to some extent by not putting as much pressure on the stylus, remembering to change the nibs often so you don’t wear them down as quickly, and buying a small plastic/paper sheet to cover the surface of the active area as it’s a little rubbery), the software not fully supporting non American keyboards (will be updated in the next driver version), and that it’s quite expensive (although not really a downside, you’ll get so much in return if you’re into digital art).

Sources: Wacom.com