Hanvon ArtMaster III

In the same way that vacuum cleaners came to be known generically as ‘Hoovers’, our industry tends to refer to graphics tablets as ‘Wacoms’. This situation has suddenly become more complex with the arrival of Hanvon on the market place. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Wacoms, the Hanvons have appeared after a long period of litigation in the US courts that seemed to start in 2008. Hanvon’s patent attorneys argued, successfully as far as we can tell (from the 35-page verdict handed down from the courts as a turgid piece of legalise!), that the patents were invalid and have thus been able to bring out their own version of the graphics pen and tablet. Hanvon are no strangers to the to the field as they have been active in Handwriting Recognition, Biometric Recognition and OCR Technologies since 1985 – graphics tablets are thus a natural extension of this interest.

Colour Confidence took over the UK distribution of Hanvon tablets in January 2008 and the range covers six ArtMaster III sizes (13x8- inches down to 6x4inches), along with other products such as the interactive LCD screen SenTip.

Hanvon ArtMaster III

We tested the ArtMaster III 9x6-inch unit which is sold by Colour Confidence at a competitive £229.16 ex VAT. The tablet is cordless (when working on its battery), as is the pen. It boasts 2,048 levels for pressure and a spatial accuracy of ±0.1mm. The tablet also has push-button facilities for the common modifier buttons (Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Space) along with a touch ring. The touch ring allows the user to zoom, scroll, change or vary brush size and rotate the canvas.

Testing devices such as this is always tricky and certainly near impossible to put numbers against! You have to do real work, over a period of time to get a true feel for how it reacts to real images and real retouching tasks. Even so, for those unfamiliar with graphics tablets the initial usage can be a revelation – nothing comes close to a graphics pen and tablet when it comes to soft masking, painting and retouch work!

Outside of imaging the pens also have other uses as the systems come equipped with five sets of software for the following:

· PenWrite – Easily convert your handwriting into text in any text editor such as Microsoft Word (multi-language recognised)
· PenSign – Create easy handwriting signatures for document or letter sign-offs
· PenMail – Handwriting functionality for Outlook Express or Windows Mail, allowing you to send handwritten copy electronically
· PenMark – Mark and annotate any on-screen document
· WhiteBoard – Create an electronic whiteboard, then save project, present and demonstrate!

Such facilities are invaluable in industry (for meetings) and schools; they are also excellent if you are working on an art director’s brief and trying to highlight modifications by circling areas and hand-writing notes on a page – this can then be emailed or be part of a video conference.

A Quick Tutorial
In case you are unfamiliar with graphics tablets (in seminars we usually note about 20% of delegates who have not used one) here are the basics:

1. The tablet and pens take the place of your mouse; you can usually have both plugged in at the same time although if you leave the pen resting on the tablet the mouse might act strangely!
2. The pens are pressure sensitive. As you press harder you can get more ink density, a wider stroke, a teardrop fade or a larger ink footprint – you set the parameters to your choosing in the Brush Pre-set (in Photoshop that is).
3. Pens are sensitive to location, pressure, tilt angle and rotation angle. This enables them to act like calligraphic brushes or pens with stroke widths varying according to the angle of the brush to the tablet. Wacoms also make an airbrush pen which has a flow wheel as well. 4. Although some people use the pens all the time and do not have a mouse installed, most typists, and those working with spreadsheets, are better off with a mouse.
5. Large tablets are not necessarily better than small ones. People who buy larger ones often end up electronically sizing the pen pressure area smaller. The pens also span across multiple monitors if required. 6. Graphics tablets work within the operating system but a number of programs are ‘tablet savvy’ responding to pressure rotation etc. The important applications are Photoshop, Corel Painter, Photoshop Elements, Corel PhotoPaint, along with subsidiary programs such as CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. In conceptual terms it is the applications that benefit from gestural movements which can exploit tablets – the more like painting with a brush or writing with a pen, the better a tablet will be!

In the top left panel the brush control has been set to Fade which creates the tear-shaped marks (in black, painted underneath the panel). Such arrangements are perfect for creating eyelashes when retouching.
In the top right the Scattering panel adds rotation to its list of options.
In the bottom right hand panel, the CS5 Art Brushes are selected and this gives a dynamic view of the chosen brush (shown top right, boxed in red).

CONCLUSION

While the jury is still out on longer terms aspects of using the Hanvon, the initial indications are good, and with such a competitive price, it is bound to make a serious challenge in the market place.

Colour Confidence are the main UK distributor and may be visited at: www.colourconfidence.co.uk

What our members say
Why I like the Societies: Access to business and technical resources. The forum. Probably the Convention but I'll let you know after I've been! - David J
Find out more about the Societies here

Convention testimonials Just a quick mail to say a huge Thanks for a great weekend, I really enjoyed it. I learnt loads and I hope that the people who attended my talks got a lot from them. The feed back at them was great ..and loads of great questions asked during them. Podge
Find out more about the Convention here

Photo Quote: For me, the creation of a photograph is experienced as a heightened emotional response, most akin to poetry and music, each image the culmination of a compelling impulse I cannot deny. Whether working with a human figure or a still life, I am deeply aware of my spiritual connection with it. In my life, as in my work, I am motivated by a great yearning for balance and harmony beyond the realm of human experience, reaching for the essence of oneness with the Universe. - Ruth Bernhard

There are 227 days to get ready for the SWPP Convention and Trade Show at The Hilton London Metropole Hotel ...
which starts on Tuesday 8th January 2013