Hello Liz,  I would suggest that you scan the line drawing, bring it into
photoshop and play with the curves to get the quality that you like.   I
have found that the scanners grayscale setting for line work keeps the lines
smooth. This will allow you to keep the line quality  of the original
artwork. If you need to trace it with the wacom, use the airbrush or brush.
Choose a small brush, turn the opacity down and make sure the setting for
you stylus is pressure sensitive so you can vary the wieght of the line.
This will give you an antialiased line that is not jagged.
Good luck
P.S. To all, I got on the Sci- ARt list about a month ago and am enjoying,
and learning quite a lot from all of the comments and ideas that are brought up.

Thanks to whoever set this site up.  It's great!
Dorothia






At 11:03 AM 12/19/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello Listserve folks!
>
>I need some hints on using the Wacom Tablet. I know a lot of you have used
>this technology for quite a while, but I'm dealing with archeologists here,
>and on an archeological time frame, I'm whipping along at lightning speed,
>technology-wise! In any case, I'm really just learning how to use the pen -
>I'm tracing scanned pencil drawings of sherd profiles - for the most part not
>real complex. (Using Photoshop - the pencil tool) I'm having difficulty making
>a smooth line, or doing this with any speed - frankly, I can do this quicker
>by hand, but we need it in digital form for publishing the reports. My lines
>look like they were done by a little old lady with too much caffein in her
>system (neither of which is true of me, for those of you who I haven't met at
>conferences, by the way), and then I spend a long time tidying up the line so
>it's smooth. I tried putting a piece of paper over the smooth surface of the
>tablet so the stylus of the pen has a little more grip, but that makes it much
>more work for my hand, and it tires out. The improvement wasn't much anyway -
>not worth the trade-off of tiring my hand out.
>
>Is this just something I will eventually work out with experience, or is there
>some trick to smooth, accurate drawing with the tablet?
>
>Thanks for any help you can offer!
>
>Liz Hansen
>Sketchbook Graphics
>and
>Sr. Illustrator - Center for American Archeology
>Kampsville, IL
>
>
****************
Dorothia M. Rohner
Scientific Illustrator
Engineering Animation, Inc.
ISU Research Park        T 515.296.6088
2321 North Loop Drive    F 515.296.7025
Ames, Iowa 50010-8618    [log in to unmask]
www://www.eai.com