Inkling, made by famous tablet maker Wacom, has been getting a lot of buzz on the Internet since its introductory video (shown above) appeared two days ago. Inkling is a tool that records your pen-on-paper sketch and transfers it to your computer. The tool will convert your designs to vector or raster formats, and even allows you to interactively work with layers as you draw on paper (quite a novel concept!).
The Inkling kit includes an ink pen, refills, a USB cable, and a receiver for recording and transmitting your work into the computer. It’s slated for a mid-September 2011 release.
My initial reaction after watching the video was “Wow! This is amazing!” but I wanted to take a few days to process the information before writing about it. Having some time to reflect, I still think Inkling is amazing for what it does, particularly at the $199 price point. It’s positioned as a tool designed for developing rough concepts and creative brainstorming, i.e. the front end of the design process.
Personally, I don’t see myself having the desire to own one. I’ve grown quite accustomed to an all digital workflow, using my erstwhile Wacom Intuos4 tablet. For those rare instances where I need to bring in traditional work into the digital realm, I have a scanner.
I really see Inkling as a tool meant for three types of artists:
- those who prefer the tactile feel of pen-on-paper to digital drawing.
- those who desire an interactive method to take their initial sketches into a digital format.
- those who don’t want to deal with the added expense of purchasing a tablet / scanner / Cintiq.
That said, I feel like I’m not the target audience for the Inkling, but I am curious to see how this product grows and develops over the years. Will you be getting one? Why or why not? Sound off in the comments below.
-Krishna
I’m actually very intrigued by this and will probably pick one up. I do wish that it was mechanical pencil-based rather than ball point, though… I tend to ease into “sketchy” mode better with lead.
Take one to conventions so you have copies of doodles and sketches. It’s a lot more portable than a full size tablet.
I’m not sure if I’m completely sold on it until I see some actual Illustrator data from it. From a technical perspective, it looks like the pressure sensitivity works exactly like a normal wacom stylus, but the coordinate tracking is unique to this device. From what I read, it actually “plays back” the data, so you can edit it before it goes into the application.
I’m waiting on reviews. It’s a bit suspicious that they didn’t show much actual art created by this thing in the videos. But then again, Wacom usually delivers so I have hope.
If it works well, the gadgeteer artist in me will not be able to resist!
I fall into the category of preferring the tactile sensation of pen on paper. I also seem to do better sketching on paper than I do on a Wacom tablet. I’m waiting to see how it performs in the wild before I buy one but there’s definitely a better chance of me getting an Inkling than a Cintiq just due to the price points.
You make some good points Krishna. I can’t say just yet like others. It’s almost one of those things I’d have to lay hands before I could say one way or another. I’m leaning towards having one more so as a geek than just the cartoonist wanna-be I am. I can see a lot of applications for this. It might even make a great way to take notes in meetings. I could see using it just doing sketches. I could also see it really cool for conventions, it’d great to keep sketches and book sketches you give to folks. While I’ve gone nearly 100% digital this would be the best of 2 worlds. Dang, I just talked myself into getting one.
When I first saw it, I went all Christopher Walken “WOW”.
But then, this uses a ball pen. I don’t know about other artists, but I just can’t sketch/draw with a ball pen, I hate the feel to it.
I’m still an old school sketcher with a nice combo of blue line pencil/HB pencils. Scanner will always do the trick for the rest.
I am getting one. Why? because it’s the ideal tool when I am traveling for long periods of time if I want to sketch something and then finish it up in photoshop. Basically it’s a portable scanner and drawing too all in one.