Hello Everyone,
A couple of weeks ago I got my new Wacom Intuos 5 tablet and I love it. So I decided to do a series of videos about how I setup and use my tablet. But first, we need to talk about installing drivers. This post will have two videos, one for a Mac and one for a PC.
Wacom suggests that before you install a new driver you should uninstall the present driver. After uninstalling, then you install the new driver. The following videos walk you through those steps. I think most of you know how to do this, but there are always newcomers to the blog who do not.
The first video is for a Mac.
Update: A friend, Miguel, suggested another way to open the Wacom Tablet Utility, which is different from the video. If you have trouble with the way I show in the video try this:
1. Click Command+Space Bar to bring up Spotlight.
2. Start typing Wacom Tablet Utility
3. The choices will appear in the window that opens as soon as you start to type. Click on the icon named Wacom Tablet Utility and then follow the suggestions in the video.
The second video is for a PC.
Update: I left something out of the following video that is very important. Do the following before you do anything in the video.
1. Go to your Start Menu > All Programs > Wacom Tablet > Wacom Tablet Preference File Utility
2. In the Wacom Tablet Preference File Utility select backup.
3. Save your backup to your hard drive, but be sure to make a note or something so you will remember where it is.
4. Watch the video and after you have finished installing the new driver, return to Wacom Tablet Preference File Utility and select restore. That will restore your tablet settings and you will not have to do them all over again.
I haven’t mentioned a Bamboo tablet driver. The Bamboo tablets are more pressure sensitive these days. Most have 1024 levels of pressure, the same amount as the Intuos 3. I imagine that a lot of people use the Bamboo with Painter 12. I have never owned a Bamboo, so I cannot tell you anything but what Wacom suggests. It is similar to suggestions for the Intuos and Cintiq lines. Here are the suggestions:
Windows 7/Vista Bamboo Driver:
Disconnect the tablet from the computer
Open your Start Menu and then the Control Panel
Open Programs and Features
Uninstall any listing here for Bamboo or Pen Tablet and then restart the computer
Windows XP Bamboo Driver:
Disconnect the tablet from the computer
Open your Start Menu and then the Control Panel
Open Add or Remove Programs
Uninstall any listing here for Bamboo or Pen Tablet and then restart the computer
Mac Bamboo Driver:
Open your Applications folder and locate any Bamboo or Pen Tablet folders you have
Use the Utility in each of these folders and click ‘Remove’ under ‘Tablet Software’
OK, that’s it for installing and uninstalling Wacom tablet drivers.
In my next post we will begin to set up my tablet. I say begin because for me, the best way to set up a tablet is to have it open while I paint. When painting I will see functions that I use all the time. It will be those functions that I will want to add to the tablet. So look for the next post. I hope you enjoy this one until then.
Skip
Thank you Skip for another helpful video. I bought my first Wacom tablet (Intuos 5) a few months ago and I having a hard time with it. I find the tabs on the side inconsistent with how much pressure to use. Sometimes I don’t get a response at all. The touch mode is just the opposite. If I leave it on the slightest movement triggers it! I hope you new video will address the proper way to use this tablet.
The next videos will be about using the Intuos 5, which I love. I also love the touch controls and find them very useful. Anyway…I’ll explain my take on setting it up and hope that it is helpful for you. Thanks.
Just out of curiosity, do you plug your wacom in before of after you install the new driver?
Hi Kathi,
I actually never unplug and plug back in. Wacom suggests that you unplug before you uninstall and then install a driver. After installation you plug back in.
Hope this helps,
Skip
Hi Skip
I have been using the Bamboo Create for the past year and recently updated the driver. Bad move for me. The Touch On and Touch Off settings using either the tablet’s button or the Bamboo Preferences utility still brought up a confirmatory text on screen, but in either setting touch was actually always on. Needless to say that was frustrating as the canvas kept moving around merely through my hand resting on the tablet while drawing with the stylus. Uninstalled and reinstalled a few times. Finally uninstalled, and then reinstalled the driver using the original CD. Works fine now. As I am still using XP, and I suspect the new driver exists only to try to support newer Win7 and 8 OS’s needs, I am not going to update this perfectly working Bamboo driver ever again.
I had been considering buying the new Intuos 5, but after reading some horror stories online in the Wacom site — example: http://forum.wacom.eu/viewtopic.php?t=12057&p=45787
I am going to wait until the dust settles. I know it is working well for you and many others, but I’ll still wait a bit.
And as always your ongoing creation of very useful brushes, and tremendously helpful and inspirational videos, is greatly appreciated. As much fun as I can stand
Hi Steve,
Go to your Painter Preferences and look on, I think, the interface tab. If not there, just check all preferences for Turn Touch on. You want to be sure the touch is turned on and it reduces the types of touch to two I think. Anyway, it may help with your issue. I keep mine turned off because I like to use some other touch features for the Intuous 5.
Let me know if it helps,
Skip
Hi Skip
Appreciate the timely response. The only touch related checkbox I can find in 12.2′s Preferences is in the General section and it is titled Enable Multi-Touch. In any case, the old Bamboo driver (from 2011) is working perfectly with my XP and Painter so I am going to leave well enough alone. (It’s just over 27 years since I got my first home computer (in a long line of machines at home and work) and my experiences and headaches over those many years has frequently reproven the saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”