Wacom Inkling Testing

Wacom's new Inkling device is finally available and we purchased an evaluation copy. It is a pressure-sensititve pen that records your drawing and allows you to import it directly into your computer, bypassing scanning. It's pretty sweet. Here's how it works:

You clip the sensor to the top or side of your paper or sketchbook and then you draw! The sensor clip has buttons that allow you to start a new layer, or a new file. I made a few layers in this sample drawing:

Layer 1

Layer 2

Layer 3

The pressure-sensitivity is really pretty good. Here is a hi-res version of the image if you want to take a look. (click to embiggen.)

These are the Photoshop examples. It imports your art at 600dpi, so the resulting file is pretty useful. As a final comparison, here is the same image scanned on an Epson 10000xl:

You can also bring the files into Illustrator, which is even cooler!

The Illustrator file is separated into layers, just like the Photoshop one, and it applies a default calligraphic brush to the strokes. And since these are now vectors, you can resize your art as big or small as you like! The Inkling will support drawing up to an A4 sheet of paper.

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty sweet device. I'm not entirely sure of all the ways it could be utilized, but if you don't want to lug a tablet around with you when you work outside of your home/studio, this would be a great alternative.

Student Staff Training Program

This was one of our big projects last summer. Click to read the whole thing!