I got a Wacom Inkling for my 40th birthday.
Because you know, I’m 40 now. Or, as I say it in my mind, I’m fucking 40.
How the hell did it even happen? Just the other day I was dashing around with my pimped Vespa, long hair in the wind and not a thought in the world, today I’m fucking 40. That’s shocking.

And I can’t even celebrate it properly. I mean, it takes three days to recover from a hangover now.

Anyway, I had a pre-birthday party last Saturday, and amongst other things I got a Wacom Inkling as a present.
The Inkling is a gorgeous piece of technology, meant to transfer your sketches from paper to a computer without the need of a scanner.
There’s a small sensor (pretty much the size of a Zippo) you clip to your drawing pad. The sensor records the strokes you draw with the included Wacom ball-point pen, and then transfers them to your hard drive via USB.

The pen is comfortable in your hand, its line is nice and the sensor not intrusive at all. And their advantage compared to the scanner is that I usually can’t be bothered to scan my doodles, whereas with the Inkling the entire process can be quite fun.

The sensor ha also a button to creates layers. That means that you can, for example, make a rough sketch on a layer and then draw a cleaner version on another one.
The software provided allows you to eventually manage and edit your layers, and also to play back your strokes in a time lapse video, which is a pretty neat feature.

Now, the only problem with all this is that I haven’t managed to make it work yet.
The sensor is VERY temperamental. Apparently the clip isn’t too sturdy and even small movements will displace it even slightly, resulting in messy lines when you upload your work.
Plus, for reasons I haven’t yet figured out, at some point lines start to get misplaced, to the point that the artwork uploaded isn’t recognizable, or, most importantly, usable.

I spent quite some time making experiments yesterday, none of them satisfactory. I would have been quite depressed if it weren’t for my other birthday present. Just looking at my new Buddy Christ makes me giggle.

Anyway. The good thing about the Inkling is that yesterday I made a whole bunch of sketches, which you can see below. Scanned, alas.

The following is the only one I managed to transfer without issues. If I could detect a bloody pattern I would avoid what causes the problems, unfortunately I haven’t been successful so far. I’ll post updates if I ever manage to understand what I’m doing wrong, if anything.

This is the time lapse of the drawing. Again, it would be great if it worked. Right now it just seems like the Inkling is rubbing in your face how it can mess your things up.

I’m really determined to get acquainted with it, despite its temperament. It’s really well designed, easy to use and quite light. Which is another plus when you’re fucking 40 and you don’t like to carry heavy equipment around any more.

by Paolo Puggioni