Re: [Gimp-user] Beginner's questions about Gimp & Wacom on Linux for a kid-friendly setup

[Simon Budig <simon budig de>]

Hanno Zulla (abos hanno de) wrote:
> my child draws (a lot).

yay!  :)

> 1) Wacom as a mouse?
>
> Is it "normal" to have the wacom tablet double as the screen pointer
> device? The default setup seems to be that the graphics tablet also
> controls the mouse pointer on Linux.
>
> I tried to find out if I can somehow setup the pen to be used in the
> Gimp graphics window only, but while possible, this seems difficult to
> do. Is the default setup also the desirable setup on Linux or if not,
> what do I need to change?

Personally I always have the tablet also control the mouse pointer. That
way you don't have to change input devices just to confirm the odd
system dialog or something else. Also for GIMP you can then use the
tablet to pick tools etc. from the palette (which you can also do via
keyboard shortcuts of course, which is a sane option as well).

If you don't want to have this you can use the "xinput" tool to detach
the wacom from the "virtual core pointer".

> 2) Different Wacom pointers?
>
> The tablet driver creates four devices - the pen, the eraser, those were
> easy to setup and work as expected. What about the other two options
> offered, finger touch and pad? Should I disable them or what are their
> use for a digital artist?

Well, try it. I don't have a touch sensitive tablet here, so I don't
have any experience with that.

In the GIMP preferences you should enable the tablet (sub-)devices as
extended input devices (or disable them - as you prefer). You then can
have them configured to different tools, i.e. by using the respective
input device to pick a tool from the toolbox it gets attached to it, and
GIMP automatically switches when you change the tool. This is pretty
fancy for the intuos-pens with their individual tool-ids, but it should
work fine with the different tools from your tablet.

> 3) The Wacom buttons?
>
> There are four buttons on the graphics tablet - by default they are used
> as mouse clicks. Can I use the button to choose tools? If so, how should
> I configure them for productive use within Gimp?

(sorry, can't help you there)

> 4) Wacom & Gimp - your workflow on Linux?
>
> When you use Gimp with a Wacom tablet on Linux, what is your workflow,
> what are your shortcuts?
>
> How do you use the Gimp toolbox while using the Wacom pen - do you use
> keyboard shortcuts or do you use the pen (as a mouse pointer, see
> question 1) to access the toolbox and select your tools?

I recommend keyboard shortcuts. The basic tools are all available via
single-stroke shortcuts. And as mentioned above I'd stick to the tablet
controlling the core pointer as well, that makes it easier to control
the other stuff that happens to pop up in Gimp from time to time. The
wacom tablets typically are good for that kind of stuff, since the pen
gets detected a few mm above the tablet, making it possible to preview
where you're going to click.

I hope this helps,
        Simon
-- 
              simon budig de              http://simon.budig.de/