Dear IAMSAM, you wouldn't happen to have any suggestions for practice, or links to tutorials for use with the pen tool? would buying and using a wacom tablet help?
CAAS,
Like RM, I have also recently purchased a Wacom Bamboo Capture and here's my take on this subject.
The PEN TOOL is a working element within Photoshop and you need to learn how it works, what it's capable of, as well as when or what situation require or would best be served by the pen tool. How you control the tool is mute.
The mouse or the Wacom tablet is just a mechanism in which to operate Photoshops Pen Tool. As long as you have a full understanding of the Pen Tool, how you operate it will be strictly be up to you and what works best for you. I'm terminally left handed. For some strange reason I operate the mouse with my right hand and I, of course, operate the tablet with my left. This orientation works well for me because I can operate both devices simultaneously.
Unlike Chris, I have had a rough time with my tablet. I've had a hard time with the "hoovering" of the pen and I loose control of the cursor when just navigating, I find this frustrating. But......(in mouse mode) when the pen is in contact with the surface of the tablet, I have absolute control of the tool! However, this absolute control is negligible when compared to the mouse! For me, the tablet, in pen mode, is most useful during painting or drawing techniques.
As far as tutorials, when I was learning the tool, I just went through as many tuts as I could. I found that not all tutorials are the same and that some included great tips while others left important aspects out. I prefer video tuts and I blazed through Youtube. Refine your search to Photoshop Pen Tool Tutorials.
You'll find that the pen tool is definitely one of the most widely used Photoshop tools, it is fairly easy to learn and a critical skill that you'll be lost without.
Good luck!
here on the left is my ps ver. and on right is an attempt to use a vector program to clean it.
