How to build yourself a "Cintq" - Part one: Useful notions on Wacom digitizers.

My first: an untouched Intuos 4 L and a AUO LCD. Alas, not so good colours.

The last: an Intuos 2 A5 with an Ipad screen Small, but that's all that can stay on my sitting room desk. Almost perfect, size apart.

As big as I like it: an Intuos 2 12x18" + a 22" 16:10 HP screen
The screen is wider than the table, but there are ways around it.
Also, please note the complete lack of hotkeys - on the tablet.

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If you ever heard of it, a "Cintq" is a screen on top of a Wacom professional digitizer (i.e. an Intuos).

If you re a traditionally trained artist that uses drawing software, you probably lusted on one.Or have one.

By the way, old "big" Intuoses" have a separated logic board below a big antenna board... the corresponding Cintiq have an antenna board integrated in the construction of the LCD panel and almost exactly the same logic board.

So it is not that they are "like a" - a Cintiq really is (or used to be) an Intuos with a screen on top.

It is not difficult to do on one's own, with virtually no specialized tools and simply buying some off-the shelf complements on ebay.

To date, I made three of these contraptions, at increasing levels of self-satisfaction.

Of course, if you are a professional and have the budget, you will be better served with a Wacom Cintiq or one of its competitors, mostly the quite satisfying and fast improving offerings that use UC-Logic digitizer technology (Yiynova, Huion, Ugee, UC-Logic), that usually command far less money, for a level of performance not so different (fickle drivers apart, which is where they still fall short).

The accounting for a professional is not the same of a hobbyist or a student - the acquisition of a 2300$ Cintq 27QHD (or a 1000$ Yiynova 22") on one's own personal wallet is much reduced.

And whatever competitive edge may be given by a newer machine, it is usually worth the expense.

On the other hand, if you are not a professional with the related perks, it may be worth your time.

More so, if you think that there is some craft to be learned  in the process.

The main trick is to know which screen to place on top of which tablet.

If you already have a Wacom's tablet, do not worry... there is most probably one screen out there waiting to be ripped by you to be reborn as a "...q", and a community (Bongofish) of tinkerers dedicated at doing this trick, so you may find an already established recipe (a more or less detailed how to) for your tablet.

Also, if you had an old tablet-pc with a Wacom pen that has died (or it simply can't open the new Adobe CS software that you need to use), take a stroll there.

Tablet PC are "cheap" Intuoses (usually, lacking the tilt info) using internal Serial connection. They can be converted to USB - more, they can be converted to BE reprogrammable USB machines, emulating much more modern hardware.

So that newer Wacom drivers can be used with them.


If you do not have a tablet... take a moment before buying one.

Here are the main specs of the various generation of Intuos (usually, they are the model that gives the better results - because they were designed as back-end of Cintiqs to begin with? maybe - though someone has managed to build a usable one with a Monoprice - i.e. a rebranded UC-Logic - A4 tablet).

1. Ultrapad, series GD-
   
   • Serial
   • 100 lines per mm of resolution (2540 lpi; 5080 the A6 sized)
   • Accuracy 0.25 mm
   • 100 points per second (200 in forced mode)
   • 256 Levels of pressure (why, oh, why? I'd love one of these)
   • 60 Levels of tilt inclination
   • 4:3 Aspect ratio
   • Maximum size: 18"x24" (good for a 30" 4:3 screen)

   
   
   
2. Intuos (or Intuos 1, to distinguish it from the current "Intuos" which, really, is the last iteration for the Graphire-Bamboo NON professional line), series UD-
   • Serial or USB interface
   • 100 lines per mm of resolution (2540 lpi; 5080 the A6 sized)
   • Accuracy 0.25 mm
   • 100 points per second (200 in "forced mode" -  usually it goes at 100, averaging the two values; it can be useful having the raw data arriving at full speed, if you use a stabilized art program or a third party, long window stabilizer, like Lazy Nezumi or the built-in moving window stabilizer of the Linux driver)
   • 1024 Levels of pressure
   • 60 Levels of tilt inclination
   • 4:3 Aspect ratio
   • Maximum size: 12"x18" (good for a 21" 4:3 screen) 
   • Wacom has discontinued support after Windows XP- it is possible to install the drivers in later versions of Windows (8.1 and 10; 9 appears to be recalcitrant) by using some more or less elaborated procedure. Serial connection machines are a case apart, as they can be interfaced to USB through a micro-controller that can be programmed to  emulate a more modern tablet. It is possible either by modifying the machine, or by concocting a "translator" box... both solutions have their perks. The Linux driver supports these tablets.

   
   
   
3. Intuos 2, series XD-
   
   • Serial or USB interface
   • 100 lines per mm of resolution (2540 lpi; 5080 the A6 sized)
   • Accuracy 0.25 mm
   • 100 points per second (200 in forced mode)
   • 1024 levels of pressure
   • 60 levels of tilt inclination
   • 4:3 Aspect ratio
   • Maximum size: 12"x18" (good for a 21" 4:3 screen)
   • The tools have a unique serial ID.
   • Wacom has discontinued support after Windows 7 - it is possible to install the drivers in later versions of Windows (8.1 and 10; 9 appears to be recalcitrant) by using some more or less elaborated procedure. Again, serial connection machines are a case apart. Also, Windows 7 is already a 64 bit OS, so a possible choice is to have a dual boot system, with 7 as "dedicated drawing Environment"

   
   
   
4. Intuos 3, series PTZ-
   
   • USB interface
   • 200 lines per mm of resolution (5080 lpi)
   • Accuracy 0.25 mm
   • 100 points per second (200 in forced mode)
   • 1024 levels of pressure
   • 60 levels of tilt inclination
   • 4:3 Aspect ratio, or 16:10- (A3 size)
   • Maximum size: 12"x19" (good for a 21" 4:3, a 22" 16:10 or a 21.5" 16:9 screens)
   • The tools have a unique serial ID.
   • 8 hotkeys and two sliding strips - in two groups, one at each side; most people uses only the one on his non dominant side (it is not so difficult to relocate the wrong one, if one finda the correct FFC extenders - as they are the same pitch of eDP ZIF connectors, it is becoming easier to find them).
   • The tools have a unique serial ID.
   • (At the moment, the Intuos 3 is the more balanced choice... they cost twice as much of an Intuos 2, which means a good 40% less on an Intuos 4 - usually, and oly lack the 248 levels of pressure of the newer machines)

   
   
   
5. Intuos 4, series PTk-
   
   • USB interface
   • 200 lines per mm of resolution (5080 lpi)
   • Accuracy 0.25 mm
   • 200 points per second
   • 2048 levels of pressure
   • 60 levels of tilt inclination
   • 16:10 Aspect ratio
   • Maximum size: 12"x19.2" (good for a 22" 16:10 or a 21.5" 16:9 screens)
   • The tools have a unique serial ID.
   • 8 hotkeys and a capacitive wheel with 4 selectable modes - the tablet can be flipped, so that all the hotkeys are under the non dominant hand; The hotkeys have programmable OLED labels that can be massive pain to handle, in our context. Also, it is quite easy to damage the touch wheel. However, it is possible to build something useful without opening up the tablet.
     

   
   
   
6. Intuos 5, series PTK-[x]50, PTH-[x]50 (PTH are the the ones with a capacitive touch surface)
   
   • USB interface
   • 200 lines per mm of resolution (5080 lpi)
   • Accuracy 0.25 mm
   • 200 points per second
   • 2048 levels of pressure
   • 60 levels of tilt inclination
   • The tools have a unique serial ID
   • 16:10 Aspect ratio
   • Maximum size: 8"x12.8" (good for a 15,4" 16:10 or a 14.1" 16:9 screens)
   • 8 hotkeys and a capacitive wheel sliding strips - the tablet can be flipped, so that all the hotkeys are under the non dominant hand; No OLED labels.
   • All models can be made wireless with a plug-in module
   • All sizes can come with a capacitive tactile surface, to support gestures. During its commercial life, the average recommendation was to avoid the version with it, as it sometime comes in the way and, to some people, it revealed itself  a pretty costly source of frustration. Also - to date - nobody has managed yet to port it into a Cintiq form (touch can be added through third parts hardware, but then one has to write a filter driver to disconnect the touch input when the pen is over the active area) - so, it is a function that is useless to have for this kind of project, yet command some more money when you buy the tablet.

   
   
   
7. Intuos pro: as far as I can tell, it is a simple re-badging of the Intuos 5, to accommodate the name scheme change that converted the Bamboo(s) replacement in "Intuos"

Penabled Tablet PCs, PL 700 etc. -  are usually derived from the UD serial Intuos, but with reduced precision (down to 508 DPI vs 2540 in the PL700) and accuracy (0.5mm vs. 0.25, again, in the PL-700),


The hardware is probably The Intuos UD series, "mutilated" at the firmware -driver level.

Case in point, a recent update has restored the tilt function (officially not present) in many of these machines.   Over time, it is possible that the precision and accuracy will be restored, too.

Each new series has added some frills and whistles but, let's take a look at what does count for drawing: pressure, position and inclination precision (and accuracy).

Pressure has gone from the  256 levels in the Ultrapad to the current 2048.

Now, I have a Intuos 4, a Intuos 2 and a Graphire (512 levels).

The difference between Graphire and Intuos 4 is noticeable (hardly, but still), the one between the Intuos 2 and the Intuos 4 is not visible (to me).

1024 levels of pressure are enough for me.

The spatial precision is a bit tricky... the difference the first generation 2540 lpi and the current's 5080 is visible ONLY drawing at very low zoom  with a drawing program that has no interpolation of the pen positions  - old software, or Photoshop (it is a frequent feature request that Adobe doesn't care to address - oddly enough, as Illustrator has both it and embedded noise filtering-stabilization caspability... notoriously, this makes for "wobbly" lines when using even teh "real" Cintiq, as there is always some noise and drift added by the LCD).  

Manga Studio, for example, has interpolation  - it is almost impossible to spot the jaggedness that afflicts lines drawn in Photoshop when the zoom goes below, say, a 10% value.

Tilt reading - no change whatsoever in 20 years - precision, 1º, accuracy +/- 2º , the pen stops working when its tilt  goes beyond 60º

So, for ALL models, spatial accuracy is +/- 0.25 mm - more or less, two pixel, on an average monitor.

By the way, precision is the confidence with which a measure of an entity (say, the x axis coordinate), can be repeated, accuracy is the degree  by which that measure reflects reality.

The not so stellar accuracy is the reason why some lines comes out "wavy", no matter how many times they are repeated - the tablet reads always the same points, but said points do not correspond to reality.

 So, as far as drawing goes,all Intuos are (pretty much, and limited to my experience) interchangeable - unless one is a professional with pretty extreme exigences  (drawing meters-wide posters with Photoshop would require an Intuos 4 XL or a new Cintiq 27 QHD, and a 3rd party stroke stabilizers like Lazy Nezumi -40$ the pro licence).

 The main reasons to chose a newer over an older tablet are drivers availability (complex and a bit tricky, THERE are work-arounds to install windows UD drivers in Windows beyond XP),compatible screens,  hotkeys and wheels-sliders.

Now, there are ways to  use keyboards, numeric pads - and even mouses  - that allows to re-create hotkeys and sliders, to supplement tablets that had none, so these are secondary points at best.

Revision note: there is one function available with a Intuos that has hotkey that is extremely hard to reproduce with one of the older, which is the "Change screen".
Changing on the fly the screen the digitizer output is mapped to, by pushing a button. 
It is very useful in a multi-monitor set-up and, as it is to be handled by the Wacom driver, it is difficult to "trick" using programmable pads.  

So, deciding which tablet do you want can be done overlooking this factor.

Remains drivers availability, screens availability, desired size and... budget.

My 22" is some 300$ worth of 2nd hand pieces, plywood and accessories (an internal powered USB hub, its adapter, and pieces of the stand).

A 2nd hand Intuos 4 of the same size, in fair condition,  is around 400$, alone - there are no Intuos 5 of that size, so the 4 XL tend to costs relatively more  - as tablet x square inch - than the smaller ones; usually,
Non-Cintiq Wacom of that size are often used for CAD, as cheaper replacement for the way more expensive(!) Calcomp Drawing Board series...
  
Now, on to screens...