When it comes to back to school shopping, there are the “must-buys”. I’m guessing you have all of those by now, as your kids are well into school by the end of September.
But then there are the unexpected pieces of technology— the items that quickly go from being a “nice to have” to “where have you been all my life?!” And since this is something that is primarily marketing to digital artists, I thought I’d mention how I’ve been using it and the wellness angle I’m loving.
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I’m talking about the Wacom Intuos Pro S, a wireless tablet and pen that take the place of your mouse and make so many computing tasks easier. It’s primarily used for creative endeavors: Drawing, painting or sketching things with the included Wacom Pro Pen 2, feels very paper-to-pen, and the precision and control you get with the pen makes any stylus you put to the glassy surface of an iPad pale in comparison.
For digital artists…
Back in my graphic designer days (pre-iPad, pre-everything), I once had a mentor laugh at me, trying to draw something with a mouse. He said, “It’s like trying to draw with a bar of soap! You need a tablet!” and he was right.
I used Wacom tablets like this one throughout my career as a designer, and would have LOVED this wireless version, along with it’s newer touch and express key features that make it easy to really use it to replace your mouse and create shortcuts to repetitive tasks. I have the small size, which is smaller than an 8×10 piece of paper and makes it easy to slip into a desk drawer when I’m not using it.
So it’s a next-level product for anyone that’s into making digital art (pictured here on my daughter’s desk where she’s been Photoshopping up a storm). The medium and larger sizes even have a “Paper Edition” which lets you draw on paper with a special Wacom ink pen, and then the whole piece of art digitizes like magic so you can continue coloring it and creating effects in image editing software like Adobe Photoshop.
For the rest of us…
For the most part, my graphic design days are over. But I found an unexpected wellness angle to this product that has been delightful. Because it’s wireless, you can lean back in your chair, hold it in your lap, and use it to point and click, either with the pen, or the tablet’s multi-touch capabilities. Think of it like an iPad you can hold in your lap and use it to control your computer. You can shift your body in any number of more comfortable ways than leaning forward, elbows on the table, and tiring out your hand with micro, repetitive clicking motions with are a non-stop route to carpel tunnel.
It also puts you a bit further away from your screen, which will help your eyes be more comfortable, and the express keys can help you do repetitive tasks with greater ease and speed. And when I want to send someone a quick sketch, mark up a PDF or sign a contract, I already have a pen in hand that knows how to talk to my computer, so I can save some steps.
Is the Wacom Intuos Pro for everyone? Not necessarily. But is it just for digital creatives? No way. I’ve put my mouse and trackpad on a time out, and my back, wrist, eyes and neck and happier for it.
