Wacom Bamboo Tablet

[Liberata T.]

I have two quilt related resolutions for 2011. I bought a Wacom bamboo some months ago and it spends most of its time being moved from one place to another. It was more difficult to use than I anticipated. I want to use it with Bernina V6.

So I am asking those of you (especially Margo and Sewdreamy) for sources of training and any tips and tricks to using this techie addition to my quilting tools.

The second resolution deals with the Flynn frame, another purchase that has been sitting in its box for a long time.

[Margo C.]

Libbi, I only use my for the most basic drawing in my MS Paint program, so I really can't help you. There has been mention of an on-line PhotoShop Elements class (using the Wacom Tablets) on Machine Quilter's Resource. If that happens this year, I'll let you know about it in case you might be interested.

http://www.mqresource.com/home/

[Margo C.]

Margo, I would be interested in that class, so keep us posted! Libby, I have the Bamboo Tablet also, and haven't had time to bond with it, either!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

[Karen M.]

Add me to that list Margo...Santa brought me a Bamboo Tablet for Christmas and it has the photoshop elements in it...I finally opened it up and went through the tutorial and that wasn't so bad....as for the photoshop element bit....I am clueless. I thought I would play around with it and will eventually, but fear looms greatly over it all.

[Kathryn S.]

Add me to that list Margo...Santa brought me a Bamboo Tablet for Christmas and it has the photoshop elements in it...I finally opened it up and went through the tutorial and that wasn't so bad....as for the photoshop element bit....I am clueless. I thought I would play around with it and will eventually, but fear looms greatly over it all.

Kake, don't be afraid of photoshop elements. I know, when you're staring at that blank screen at first you feel clueless. I did for sure. The thing is, there are a lot of beginner books out there on Photoshop Elements and they take it step by step. It's primarily for photo editing, and you'll do things like adjust exposure, color balance, cropping, etc to your photos. I'm sure there are online tutorials for using the program as well.

It's a great program that takes some practice. Sort of like quilting, now that I think about it.

Kathy
PS if you get a book, make sure that it is for the version of Elements that you have.

[Karen M.]

Add me to that list Margo...Santa brought me a Bamboo Tablet for Christmas and it has the photoshop elements in it...I finally opened it up and went through the tutorial and that wasn't so bad....as for the photoshop element bit....I am clueless. I thought I would play around with it and will eventually, but fear looms greatly over it all.

Kake, don't be afraid of photoshop elements. I know, when you're staring at that blank screen at first you feel clueless. I did for sure. The thing is, there are a lot of beginner books out there on Photoshop Elements and they take it step by step. It's primarily for photo editing, and you'll do things like adjust exposure, color balance, cropping, etc to your photos. I'm sure there are online tutorials for using the program as well.

It's a great program that takes some practice. Sort of like quilting, now that I think about it.

Kathy
PS if you get a book, make sure that it is for the version of Elements that you have.

Thanks Kathy....I will go online and check that out.

[Betty J.]

I have a Wacom Intuos4, which is a little different from the Wacom Bamboo I understand, so I'm not sure how this relates to your setup. I think primarily it's that my tablet is a little bigger, but I think that shouldn't be a big drawback now that I understand its use.

It took me a little while to get so I could really use it happily. I bought "The Painter11 WOW!" book by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis who also uses Wacom with her CorelPainter11 software which I use mine with to do most of my design work. I have found, however that book a little more focused toward painting, but it has helped me a lot with the software...not much about the tablet though.

Basically, I kept referencing the "Help" buttons available with the various software and found some hints on the Internet (unfortunately I didn't save the sites). In the beginning, if you just keep trying until your mind picks up rather quickly the concept of looking at the screen and drawing on the tablet without looking at it. If you keep at it you will learn it and with each question you have keep looking around and trying things until you solve that particular question and them move on to the next question.

I don't know if Bamboo has pens and brushes you can select, but I found this makes a big difference with my tablet. Experiment with them and with the size of the stroke until you find the ones that make you happy. I also found there are buttons in most of the different softwares to adjust the sizes to your liking (though not, I think in Bernina software).

After admittedly climbing the learning curve, I can now comfortably work use my tablet with my Bernina software, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Electric Quilt 7, and CorelPainter11. But it didn't come overnight and the only help I had was the help buttons, the internet sites, and that book.

Now I absolutely think it will make a HUGE difference in my quilting and embroidery designs.

Sorry, I don't have a clearer answer, but I think perhaps I need to work on some with illustrations...something I'll try to do soon and post them here--perhaps next weekend.

[Betty J.]

P.S. Feel free to post a specific question here and I'll see if I can answer it clearly.

[Karen M.]

BJ...thanks for the info...I think I am ok with using the pen and bamboo tablet it is the photoshop Elements that I need to learn. I ordered a book today that is made for the less computer literate of us...it is for the iMac. I think with it in my hands and the internet and maybe you to question I will start to understand....at least enough to use it. I will see how helpful the book is when it comes. I appreciate you offer for help....thanks

[Liberata T.]

Thanks for the offer and I will probably take you up on it. The Bamboo I have has the features you mention.

I was watching a Bernina Webinar in which Amanda Whitlatch took a photo on fabric and added embroidery and her own design elements to the photo in the Bernina V6 software using the tablet. The point of the video was the V6 software and the Bernina embroidery module, not the tablet. The technique combined TQS classroom on photos on fabric with the Bernina products. I couldn't get the tablet to work as I had hoped so just used the tools in V6. I loved the result in a postcard I made for my quilt group exchange last fall. I would also love to use it to try out quilting designs.

[Liberata T.]

Another author to check out for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements is Scott Kelby. I have an older book of his that is for digital photographers. Rather than teaching you the software, it is written more like a recipe book, where you follow a set of steps to fix photos with different problems. It's not How do I use each tool, it's if you have this problem, use this tool and try these settings. You don't learn in detail about each tool, but you do learn how to use some of the tools to acheive a specific outcome. The more recent books for the newer versions of the software may be different from the one I have - but I suspect he will keep the same style as it works really well.

Karen

[Margo C.]

Libbi, I LUV your postcard!!!

[Betty J.]

Libbi, I, too, love your postcard. Wish I could sit down face to face with you and see how you want things to work and see if we could get them to do those things. I've an idea you have many of the same concepts of working with today's tools that I do. Cheers.

[Anne B.]

I've just sent an email to Carol at http://www.QuiltUniversity.com asking whether she has any classes that cover these sorts of tools. She does have lots of EQ classes. I hope she'll pick up the idea and teach us all how to use Photoshop and Bamboo!