Hello Everyone,
I am now the proud owner of a Wacom 24″ HD Touch Cintiq. I have to admit I really love it, and I am having so much fun with it. Previously, I have owned an Intuos 3, 4, and 5 touch, and I have loved them all, but this is the first time I have spent a great deal of time and put a lot of thought into setting up the Wacom Tablet Properties. I hope the effort I made will prove useful to you. I have 9 videos showing each step and explaining the reasons behind my decisions. And then I have a quick 10th video making an image using my settings. I show you how to use the Corel Painter Customize Keys functions to add shortcut keys to Painter commands that do not have them. And, I offer an HTML document with the shortcuts that I created, which I hope you will use when setting up your tablet.
In the last video I said I would do a quick painting using my settings for my Cintiq, but I ran out of time. I had to go to Mississippi to help my sister transition from rehab back to her home. I promise to do a video as soon as I can after I get back. But for now…here are the “how to” videos.
Video 1 – An Introduction…I talk a bit about what I will be covering in all the video tutorials.
Well, that was a mess…I just hit the publish button by accident and released an incomplete post on the unsuspecting public. My apologies…I’ll try to finish the post before I publish again.
Moving right along…the second video isn’t about setting up the Cintiq…nope…it is about an enhanced feature in Corel Painter 2015 called Arrange Palettes. This feature has a simple arranged palette that is new to 2015 and it is fabulous. So, to understand why I have used the setting that I use, you need to understand Arranged Palettes. Check out Video 2:
Video 3: I continue with Arrange Palettes, but this time I have created my own using the Simple Palette provided. I explain how you can switch between two different arrange palettes, which is very sweet. I promise, after this video we will actually start setting up the Wacom.
You know, I just realized that I didn’t make a pretty picture to show on these videos to make them look more interesting in the blog. I forget about that sort of stuff…oh well…the meat and potatoes are still here.
Video 4: I set up my Wacom Art Pen and Grip Pen for use in Corel 2015. It doesn’t matter what Wacom device you have, these settings should work for your.
Did I mention that there are nine videos…way too many, right? Well, the videos are very detailed. Fast forward through the videos you don’t find interesting…or not.
Video 5: I configure the Express Keys. It is probably now that I should mention that my settings may not be the best ones for you. Each person should set up their Wacom tablet to work with their workflow. I do tell you why I use the settings that I use…hopefully that will be of interest to you.
Video 6: I talk about the Touch Ring and I think I found some cool ways to use the Touch Ring. But you know, it doesn’t matter how cool they are if I don’t actually use them. One of the most important aspects of setting up your Wacom device is to practice using it…make it a part of your painting experience. I’m practicing a lot with mine…and frequently changing settings to find a more efficient way to use the Cintiq.
At the end of Video 6, I realized that I was using a shortcut key that I had created using Painter’s Customize Keys function. You must have a shortcut key to program a command for your Wacom tablet or Cintiq, so now I need to show you how to do that in Painter. BTW, Photoshop has a similar function.
Video 7: Learn the power of Corel Painter’s Customize Keys. At the end of this post, I will provide a list of all the shortcut keys that I am using.
Video 8: In this video I talk about Display Toggle. This Wacom function allows you to use multiple displays. If you only have one monitor, then you can skip this video.
And finally, I saved the best for last.
Video 9: I cover the Radial Menu in this video. For my money, the Radial Menu is the most powerful function available for Wacom tablets and Cintiqs. The Radial Menu makes it possible to program a huge number of commands and have them at your fingertips. It is very cool and very useful, but most folks do not use it much. To create a useful Radial menu, you must give it a bit of thought and time. Program it in a way that will work for you. I love using the Radial Menu. Check out the video.
Okay, as promised, here is an html file that lists the Shortcut keys that I used to set up my Cintiq. You can use the list to program Painter’s Customize Keys and set up your own Wacom Device.
I have mixed emotions about posting my Wacom backup settings. I have no experience with giving these to anyone. If you have a Wacom 24″ HD Touch Cintiq and are using Windows 7, the file might work for you. I do not believe it will work for anyone using a Mac, nor do I think it will work with any other Wacom device. But, if you are foolhardy enough to try it, be sure to back up your current Wacom settings before doing anything.
Well, that wraps up this blog post. I hope you find it useful.
Enjoy,
Skip
Hi Skip,
Thank you so much for sharing your 24″ HD Touch Cintiq videos. I just watched them all. I have the same Cintiq you do. I love it, but I do have some issues with it. I also have a Mac. I do have the new driver for Mac. Both my grip and art pen intermittently paint with ink. It doesn’t matter which brush I use. It happens more when I change color. I tap my pen on the monitor and no ink or paint. Either way, I often draw or paint, and there is no paint/ink on my Cintiq monitor. I am not sure why this is happening. I was told the new driver was going to fix this problem, but it has not. Have you noticed this problem. Otherwise, the Cintiq is great.
By the way, I am a member of Digital Art Academy, and the site is down today this is why I am returning an email via your blog.
Thank you so much,
Gail deMonet
Hi Gail,
Yes, DAA was down yesterday, but I believe it is up today.
I have had some problems with my Cintiq, too. Like were told, I was told that the new driver would fix the problem; it didn’t. In my case, my cursor disappears intermittently. It does this in Photoshop, Painter, Camtasia, as well as on the desktop. It is very strange. But for the most part the Cintiq is working very well.
Thanks for your comment,
Skip
Hi Skip…loved your last class. You have a great teaching style. Very enjoyable and very understandable.
I have a Wacom Cintiq Companion, which I love and might one day be able to afford a 24 HD.
I have a question that I have been unable to find an answer for so far so I am hoping that you might have heard something…assuming you have greater and wider contacts with artists using Painter 2015.
It is about the compatibility of the N_Trig stylus with Painter 2015. I would like a smaller tablet to take with me where the Companion is still a bit too large.
I am looking at the Surface Pro series and there are a few others coming out and they use the N-Trig.
Thanks for any info you can give me on this topic…
Hey Michael,
Glad you enjoyed the class.
I think the N-Trig works very well with Painter 2015. I currently have a Surface Pro 3 and enjoy it very much. I don’t particularly like working that small…as you know I have 2 30″ Monitors and the 24″ Cintiq…so working on the Surface Pro 3 small screen is a big change for me. The stylus for the Surface Pro 3 is an N-Trig stylus. You get 256 levels of pressure and to be honest, it seems like enough. I hope it improves with later generations, but it works fine.
Please remember that Painter allows you to decide if you want to use RTS or a Wacom device. The choice is yours. So with a Surface Pro, you can use Painter setup for an RTS device or connect your Intuos 5 to the pro 3 and use it. I do like that the Surface Pro 3 is a Windows device.
Hope this is helpful,
Skip
Hi, your shortcuts and settings are no longer available for download. Would you be so kind as to share them again please? I am runnign windows 8 and have a wacom intuos 5. I’m very curious to see how the radial menus work. I am somehwat new to painter and would like to try out this technique. Thank.
Hey,
I apologize for the problem with the link. I’m in Mississippi and have been here since Christmas Eve helping my sister, a stroke victim. All of the information about the wacom Cintiq and the settings are in Georgia where I live. I just have my lap top with me. I didn’t think I would be here for a month or more, so I didn’t bring everything with me. When I get back to Georgia…I will re-upload the information and set new links. The old links cannot be reset since they expired…at least I can’t figure out how to do it. Again, I’m sorry for the delay and hope to have the information up soon.
Enjoy,
Skip
Sorry to hear about your sister Skip. I ended up creating a majority of shortcuts based on your instruction so thank you for that. If you are able to relink your setup, i would like to compare mine to yours because like you said in the videos, they can get pretty in depth.
Hey Jason,
The links have been updated. Sorry about the problem and the delay in getting them up. Let me know if you still cannot access them.
Enjoy,
Skip
PS: I have changed stuff since the post…always tweaking…but the links are from the date I posted the blog…so they should match with the videos.
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Are the videos for setting up radial menus still available? I do not find them on your website.
Hi. Yes the tutorials are still available. There is a search function in the Skip Allen Paints title bar. If you type Radial Menu you will get links to blog posts about the radial menu. Here are a couple that might help.
How I Set Up My Intous 5 Touch
How I set up my Wacom 24″HD Touch Cintiq
This one is about making palettes instead of pie shape
Using Wacom On-Screen Controls for Multiple Applications
Hope this is what you are looking for…Enjoy, Skip