Install guide: Wacom drawing tablets with GIMP - Gimptalk. Installing Wacom tablets for use with GIMP. Introduction. This guide tries to help you getting your Wacom graphics tablet to work with GIMP. It is divided into parts.
![Wacom Graphire4 Cte-440 Driver Wacom Graphire4 Cte-440 Driver](http://mac-more.com/image/cache/data/wacom/ArtSketch_Intuos_4_Wacom_Pen_Stand_Nibs-e1322564104975-650x650.jpg)
First is a small intro on which tablet model to pick. This is of interest for people with any operating system (Linux, Windows, Mac). The major part of the guide otherwise deals with installing Wacom drawing tablets for the Linux operating system. If you have Windows, the only section of interest for you is the last one; .
![Wacom Graphire4 Cte-440 Driver Wacom Graphire4 Cte-440 Driver](http://www.vincenwoo.com/vincenwoo/site_wacom_et_mapomme/wp-content/pix/volito.jpg)
Latest driver for Bamboo Pen & Touch / Bamboo Fun. Windows : Version 5.3.5-3 Multilingual: Download (38.25 MB Gli ultimi aggiornamenti del driver per tutti i prodotti e sistemi operativi. Download Sterowniki, download Tablety, download Wacom, sci
![Wacom Graphire4 Cte-440 Driver Wacom Graphire4 Cte-440 Driver](http://i.imgur.com/HOw2bDi.png)
If you have a Mac, scroll to the last section Installing Wacom tablets for use with GIMP (Macintosh), written by staff member Cyrilshark (thanks!). You might also be interested in reading the replies in this thread since eventual problems and solutions with tablets are being discussed there.
A summary of some of the most useful ones (or notes of found bugs) can be found at the bottom of this document. They are generally considered to make the best tablets and Wacom tablets are what most professional artists use as well. They are also the only ones you can expect to get to work under Linux with any certainty, through excellent Linux driver support. That said, there are plenty of tablets brands out there that are a lot cheaper than the Wacom ones, and some people have been happy with those. Just remember that many of the pens in those have batteries that need recharging regularly, or even wires that can get in the way. The Wacom pens require no batteries and no wires. Anyway, if you go with another tablet brand you can't use this guide; you need to address your questions into our General Help forum and hope someone can help.
The Wacom line of tablets cover a wide range of models ranging from $1. Since this question has been asked of me so many times, I will try to make a recommendation here so I can refer to it. But do remember it is only my personal opinion. Here we go: If you are looking to get your first tablet, get a Wacom . That's right, that is the smallest and cheapest Wacom tablet you can get. Since you want to use it with GIMP you can do without the extra programs shipped with the . In this case lowest price does not equal low quality.
This one will last you forever. Many ask why they should not get a bigger- size tablet, with more surface to draw on. Even if you can afford the bigger model I actually discourage this - - there is no need. Unless you are a real- life painter who is used to move your hands in large vivid motions, save your money (and wrists) and go with the smallest drawing surface. The resolutions of these tablets are so extreme that you will still have perfect control.
If you want to move your brush over the entire canvas, that is what GIMP's zoom function is for anyway. As for the higher- level professional tablets like the Wacom Intuos, you should remember that the step up from mouse to tablet is far larger than ever the step between different tablet models. Frankly I would still be using my entry- level Wacom tablet if it had not been so old its cable no longer fit my computer (it was not even an USB). Quite likely the Bamboo is the only one you'll ever need. Very few have actual need for the extra features of professional tablets, and if you ever do, you will already know enough not to have to read this guide about it .. Now, assuming you have your tablet, let's move on.
Installing Wacom tablets under Linux. The linux distro you use changes the details of how things are installed, but mostly it should be the same. Linux fully supports most of the Wacom product line these days, including the newest pro tablets in the Intuous line. Pressure sensitivity (and tilt, rotation etc of a high- level tablet) .. If it doesn't you just need to check some more things. I'm running Debian here, but it's essentially the same for other distros. It used to be rather tricky to get the tablet to run, but these days it's really rather simple.
Gimptalk - Premier Gimp Community: Install guide: Wacom drawing tablets with GIMP - Gimptalk - Premier Gimp Community.
You still need to know how to use the terminal to issue basic commands in Linux though. But as long as you can become root, can read and can use the cp command, you should be fine. Wacom tablets running on Linux is a possibility because of the hard work of the . Bookmark that page, but for now the installation instructions on there is mostly for things you don't really have to do manually anymore (for those still running old Linux kernels). Read below instead for now, and remember that page if you need to troubleshoot in more detail later. They have much more detailed and general instructions than I can give, especially for different Linux distributions and bleeding edge versions of the driver.
For example the GIMP configuration section is at the end, and if your tablet is working normally except for pressure sensitivity in GIMP, that's maybe a good place to start. Just remember that the mouse cursor should move also without the pen tip actually touching the tablet. If you have to press down the tip to move the cursor, the tablet is in fact just working as a mouse and is not really installed at all. Especially the sections Setting up the configuration of the tablet and Setting up GIMP are essential for proper function of the tablet in GIMP. So before giving up on any of the other steps, make sure these are done right or it won't work anyway. Make sure you have a suitable Linux kernel.
First of all, try to upgrade your linux kernel to at least version 2. Beginning with this kernel, much of the linux- wacom core drivers are already shipped within the kernel and don't have to be loaded or compiled separately as earlier. This helps, trust me, I've spent way too much time through the years compiling wacom kernel modules. Anyway, by the time you read this, the stable linux kernel version is a lot higher than this so it should not be an issue. If you already has a suitable kernel, you can probably skip this section. These days you don't need to recompile anything; a stock kernel 2.
There should be a package in your distro for this. In debian you do (for example)apt- get install linux- image. Pentium processor (your kernel version will likely be different by the time you read this). Install the xserver- xorg- input- wacom package, or the equivalent package for XF8. That might well be all you need to do. Jump on to the next sections to test the tablet is recognized and configure your xorg. Jump back here only if things still does not work after all other steps.
If it still doesn't work, read on, you need to download the bleeding edge drivers directly from the developers. Go to the linuxwacom homepage and download the newest package. You might want to play around with picking the . For my dual- screen setup, my Intuous. Even if the following instructions doesn't work right away for you, actually picking a slightly older (and possibly more stable) version of this download might actually work better. Just keep that in mind. OBS - - You need to be root from now on.
After you have downloaded, for example the linuxwacom- 0. You want to save the resulting directory someplace. I have them in /usr/src . The Linux- wacom package includes a lot of sources and ways to create the drivers manually. But since you have the 2.
All you need is the latest driver, which you can find in your newly created directory under the prebuilt/ subdirectory. Run the install script. That both installs the driver wacom. They are good to have. Copy them to /usr/local/bin.
Now, install the driver. Simplest is to just copy wacom. Check if you have an older version already - - do locate wacom.
If you find one somewhere in the /usr/lib directory, that's the one you want to replace. Common places to copy the driver to is. Checking that the tablet is talking correctly to the Linux operating system. Disclaimer: Re- testing this section for myself, I found that the wacdump didn't output anything for me, despite the tablet working perfectly. I did get output when running the wacdump command from a terminal though (try Ctrl+Alt+F1 to bring up a terminal). Just so you don't panic if you see no results.
If the tablet is working anyway, just don't worry about this section. Check your tablet by running wacdump /dev/inputs/XXX , where XXX is likely .
If you didn't install the driver manually in the previous step, debian has a separate tool package named wacom- tools you have to install before getting the wacdump functionality. The /dev/input directory is the gateway through which info from the tablet hardware (as well as other input devices such as mice, keyboard etc) enters the operating system.
The wacdump takes a look at this input and shows you the values coming in. Pick a device then move your various input devices to see which one is measured by that device. The wacom one will be easy to recognize since it also lists things like pressure and tilt etc. If you see stuff happening here, you know the device is feeding info to the OS properly. Now you just have to tell the OS (more specifically, the X- server) what to do with that info. Continue on to the next section. Go to the linux- wacom homepage docs for further troubleshooting if the tablet doesn't work.
Also try jumping back to the previous section to install an older/newer wacom. That might really be worth the trouble of trying. So the cursor is not moving, or it's moving and you have no pressure or tilt - - it's working mostly like a normal mouse? For this you need to configure your X- server config file. This you can find in either /etc/X1. X1. 1/xorg. conf depending on your x- server.
Open this file in a text editor. Make a copy of it first, if you haven't done this before. Now you go to the Linux- wacom docs . Note the different settings depending on if your pad is connected by USB cable or not (all new tablets are). You will add at least a . If you have a Intuous.
This is the buttons on the tablet.