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OntheRez Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #1 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. Seems like this is best forum for the question. How do you deal with multiple input devices? I'm using a tablet more and more as I slide deeper into PS 6. I currently have a Wacom Intuous5 medium size. The moving back and forth, storing the tablet on its side when using the keyboard, and the fact that there are many short cuts that require the keyboard is all making me a bit batty. I am running an older Mac 30" cinema display that has a wide deep foot and currently shove the keyboard up under it when using the tablet. When not in use I lean the tablet against the display. Neither elegant nor efficient. Would really appreciate other people's solutions. Robert Feb 06, 2013 at 11:29 PM

Bifurcator Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #2 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. I addressed it by designing and building my own desk with just such notions in mind. I was a cabinet maker in a previous life tho so I guess that matters. The desk I built was for developing and rendering CG at the same time tho and not really for photography - but I guess the same things apply. At the time I needed collapsable surfaces for two notebooks, dual 21" CRTs (now dual 24" LCDs), KVM switching between them and between 4 and 8 workstation boxes, a land-line and 6 cell phones. I made mine from oak and hard-cedar. You may not need to build your own desk but the idea carries. There's those dampened arms that can hold a KB, or your tablets, and heavier duty ones for your desktop LCDs. And so on and so forth. If there's a custom cabinet maker in your area you can also draw up some plans and get an estimate from him. Feb 07, 2013 at 03:35 AM

OntheRez Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #3 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. Thanks for the response. As a former (and still occasionally practicing) carpenter, builder, furniture maker that's sort of the conclusion I was coming to. I was hoping for a quick, easy, cheap solution, but as my former university stat prof was fond of saying,"You can't maximize all the variables in any equation" The arms are something I hadn't thought of. I'm wondering where such might be available or even what they'd be called. Off to Google to look around. Thanks, Robert Feb 08, 2013 at 05:20 PM

Bifurcator Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #4 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. Yeah, the DIY designs and assemblages I've seen can get pretty wild. I had the thought of putting everything on floating podiums once. Maybe something akin to this: http://www.akp-inc.com And of course there are all kinds of gadgetry you can get that work with an existing (or custom made!) DT surface - some of them very elegant, some more practical with very tested common design features. And of course like most Photo Gear there are "just-as-good-as" products from the Chinese for half to a third the amount although at that point I usually start thinking about going native instead. When searching for an item in a rough category I like to search by image myself. It <usually> lets me preview a whole range of products from a multitude of different makers and shops. And of course slightly different keywording <often> produces totally different results. Feb 08, 2013 at 08:05 PM

cgardner Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #5 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. From reading the narrative it seems you are using the tablet flat on the table in use then storing it vertically out of the way to use the KB. A simple solution would be to place tablet and keyboard both on a felt-backed board you could slide on the working surface with your hands. That would allow you to conveniently put one or the other in front of you, or split the difference. A stationary trackball in the middle to replace the need for a mouse pad would solve that problem. I've used Kensington trackballs on all my computers since the late 80s and never had carpal tunnel pain or cramping. Something else to consider along with that sliding idea or separately would be to angle the tablet on a stand. I'm sitting here typing on my iPad3 which from day one has been mounted on one of these nifty rotating stands buy Merkury Innovatons LINK. Its pictured vertically in the link but rotates into landscape. They have other stands which might work with your tablet or you could DIY. Combined with a wireless KB it has the same ergonomics as using my iMac. This is my layout: Because I use a trackball vs. mouse I can keep it and the iMac KB off the desk with an under-table articulated KB shelf I found at IKEA. When using iPad and computer together I just push the iMac back a bit more and put the pad stand in front of the iMac screed and it's wireless KB off to the side on the table (I rarely need it in that configuration). The stand might take bit getting accustomed in terms of fine motor skills but you may find as I did the viewing angle being identical to the computer as a plus. I also find its actually easier to draw on the angled tablet with my right elbow supported on the table vs. flat and the right elbow in the air, but I'm using my same finger of the iPad as I use to move the trackball on the iMac with similar ergonomics. YMMV if using a stylus but it might be worth a try. Feb 09, 2013 at 01:39 PM

OntheRez Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #6 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. Bifurcator, I got many of the same hits you did on your gadgetry search, but learned something completely new from you about Google: that one can search by image. Guess I'm still a prisoner of my pre-browser computer era and never even considered the image idea. A big thanks. Lots of interesting stuff there. Years back I purchased a high end, uber-adjustable Herman Aerlon chair as I've broken both my back and a hip along the way. Can't sit in a regular chair for very long before my butt starts screaming bloody murder. My desk looks much like Gardener's. From IKEA, met the criteria of cheap and easy Also, since I'm required to report as well as shoot (i.e. write the articles), I long ago got a Matias keyboard. My highest recommendation. Cgardner, your set up looks familiar though I don't use an iPad or a trackball. The thought of putting the tablet on an articulated arm is a great one. I'm definitely going to explore that. Not sure why I can't get on with the trackball as it solves all sorts of real estate problems. I've tried a couple of times though it's been a long time. That looks like a Logitech in the picture. Do you have a recommendation for a high precision trackball? I'm one of those guys who flunked finger painting in kindergarten Can't draw a straight line even with a ruler. The tablet has been quite a learning experience particularly the idea of brushing. Still working on it. Thanks to both of you for your excellent assistance. Robert Feb 09, 2013 at 05:21 PM

RDKirk Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #7 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. That's why I use a small tablet. Feb 10, 2013 at 08:13 PM

cgardner Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #8 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. Trackball pictured is circa 2000 Kensington Orbit. I have never one ordered off Kensington site. Order a noon one day on the porch the next morning with free shipping. Driver senses acceleration and is user adjustable. Very precise if moved slow but a quick 60 degree arc sends it across my 24" screen. Like it because when taking finger off cursor doesn't move. They aren't very expensive so there's not much downside risk trying one. Feb 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

mhayes5254 Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #9 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. Why not leave the tablet in a fixed location to the right of the keyboard and just move the mouse out of the way as needed. I have an advantage that I am left handed but have always used the mouse with my right hand. That works great with a tablet. I keep the tablet on the left of the keyboard and use my left hand there, Keyboard in the middle, mouse on the right. I can easily switch around without moving anything. However, since I have gotten used to the tablet, I rarely use the mouse at home and just use the tablet for everything, not just PS editing. You should give that a try, and just leave the tablet in place of the mouse. Feb 11, 2013 at 01:22 AM

Bifurcator Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #10 · Juggling input devices?? Keyboard and tablet. If they ever make a nice track-ball that can also be moved around like a mouse I might go for it. Trachballs are great for some things but others seem to require a mouse - at least with my motor-skillz. And having both hooked up and switching back and forth between them isn't ideal. OnTheRaz, Sculpted keytops is all that's missing in the new Mac Keyboard designs IMO. I dig the current design but sculpted keytops would make it nicer. Feb 11, 2013 at 01:36 AM

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