Intuos3 A3 Wide

Open up Wacom’s new Intuos3 A3 Wide and one thing immediately becomes clear. This tablet is a monster and space is a real issue. Unless you have a desk that’s wider than it is long, you may want to swap that deep CRT for a modern flat-panel display such as Apple’s 30-inch Cinema Display or Dell’s 30-inch Ultrasharp widescreen flat-panel monitor. These displays would both take advantage of this tablet’s widescreen 16:10 work surface.

The Intuos is great if you’re not one for reading manuals and instead like to plug in and go. Under Mac OS X there is rudimentary support for the tablet without any extra software, but to take advantage of the 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity you’ll want to install Wacom’s drivers. Installation is quick, and the CD comes with a helpful array of introductory animations.

With the drivers installed, the A3 Wide works like a dream. A quick road test in Photoshop was a liberating experience, with brushes turned into tools of incredible detail. To really take advantage of the tablet’s pressure and tilt sensitivity, however, you’ll want to try it in Corel’s Painter. Painter Essentials 2, a cut-down version, is included.

The default cursor mapping is Absolute Positioning, which means that the top right-hand corner of the tablet corresponds to the top right-hand corner of your monitor, and so on. This can take a bit of getting used to, but with a bit of practice it becomes a very natural way to work.

You may choose to adjust the tablet and pen’s default settings – Wacom’s preferences come in the form of a control panel accessed from the Start menu in Windows and System Preferences in Mac OS X. Despite feeling cluttered, the control panel is laid out well and there is a wealth of options to tweak.

Wacom clearly realises that because of the size of the tablet, your keyboard is not going to be within easy reach, and on either side of the tablet’s work area are a collection of ExpressKeys that by default correspond to Command, Shift, Option and Space. With the control panel you can change these to match any modifier or keystroke combination or even launch specific applications and scripts. The tablet also comes with a Touch Strip, which allows you to scroll around or zoom into your work. Best of all, the ExpressKeys and Touch Strip can be set independently on the left and right-hand side of the work area, essentially doubling your options.

The Grip Pen is weighted well – sturdy enough so that it corresponds to a real-world pen or brush, but light enough so that you can use it all day. However, you may find the tablet’s lack of tilting ability frustrating.

The large work surface lends itself to more expressive strokes and highly detailed work when you would never have to worry about running out of space. If you require a tablet, then Wacom’s Intuos3 A3 Wide solution is ideal, provided you can spare the room.