Digitizing Tablets

It depends on what you want to do, and how you want to store and modify your designs in future.

Have you considered just using a simpler 2D drawing (paint, Visio, etc) or CAD program? Also, I believe you can get apps for this sort of thing for touchscreen tablets (iPad, etc).

Additionally I have had a lot of success with simply drawing 2D designs by hand and then scanning and importing them onto the computer either as a picture or into CAD itself (both with some limited modifiability).

What exactly are you trying to do?

I have been using TURBOCAD for a while now. I was wondering if the use of a digitizing tablet would save time.

Again it really depends on what you are drawing and how detailed the drawings are and what modifications you want to make to the drawings in future.

Without knowing this it is hard to say which may be better for your particular case.

AutoCAD WS for iPad

Mouse-based navigation has largely, if not totally, displaced digitizing tablets.

A tablet is simply an input device that supplements the mouse in whatever graphics software you use -- CAD, Photoshop, etc.

They generally offer a pressure-sensitive pen/stylus that can be used in raster graphics (i.e., Photoshop) for things such as drawing lines of varying thickness, or density. The harder you press, the thicker/heavier the line.

Please take a look at the Samsung Galaxy II. I've been looking at it myself for times when I need to do a fast recordable sketch in the field or when discussing things with a client when not in the office.....better than lugging around a heavy laptop all day on a construction jobsite!

I received a Wacom Tablet as an award... After trying it out a couple of times, I gave it back, to be used as a raffle item. I prefer the built-in track pad on my MacBook Pro.

As I've said before, the secret to using a trackpad is to slide the finger to near the intended destination. then ROLL the finger to the final point. I saw no advantage to the tablet over the trackpad...

I should have mentioned that I like the trackpad so much that I bought one for my desktop iMac as well.

A lot depends on habit. With a trackball, I'm constantly holding my hand just above the ball to avoid moving it, so my wrist gets tired in just a few minutes. I learned to use a mouse when there was only one button, so I hold the mouse between my thumb and three fingers, using the index finger to press the button. It is painful for me to reach a left button, so I continue to prefer a one-button mouse. Even so, I can feel carpal tunnel problems starting when I do use the mouse. I can use a trackpad for much longer before I start tiring. Occasionally, when I have been doing a lot of drawing, I do switch to the mouse to use a different set of muscles for a while, but always return to the trackpad.

Because of their added range of sensitivity, as mentioned, they are very good where sketchy fluid sweeping lines are needed, or delicatley brushing in detail.

If your work is more point-to-point vector type of stuff, they will work, but easier than a mouse? In the field probably, but in the office, it is mostly down to how you feel about it. There was a thread recently about mice and their alternatives, and a thread a while back about tablets.

Jim

Ajami, the pen tablet like the Wacom (not the one with the screen!) will not work the way you would expect. I tried it with my CAD software and it's very awkward. It's very difficult to adjust the scaling between the motion of the pen and the generation of the geometry on your PC screen. The tablet has a smaller area to work on than your screen therefore the pen movement must be scaled up and it's a very unnatural feeling for sketching. You also have to hold down the pen button with your finger while you sketch and that's not comfortable either. My Wacom is sitting in the corner collecting dust. The ideal solution for you is to look at a tablet as Captain Moosie suggested such as IPad or Samsung. They have really nice apps for sketching which work really well with a stylus (pen with conductive rubber tip).

I use an IPad and the Sketchbook Pro app. What's really nice is with the IPad I can take a picture of a piece of equipment in the field, bring it into Sketchbook, then mark up the image with dimensions, notes, etc for later use back at the office.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the comments.

It seems that the tablet will not work for me. No ringing endorsement anywhere!

No wonder so few stores stock them, and they are never displayed on a counter so one can try them out, like they do with laptops.

If you go to an Apple store, you can try a trackpad for desktops. They call it the 'Magic Trackpad'. Unfortunately, it does not appear to work on non-Apple computers, and the probability of them having any CAD software installed is close to zero.

BTW, I have a friend who is running SolidWorks with no problems on his Mac.

there are many rester to vector converting software which helps you to convert the jpg,pdf to 2d cad.

for the solid model digitization you need a 3d scanner to get data as stl and then you can convert it to dwg.obj or any other formate