How to Set Photoshop Elements to Work With a Pablo Tablet

Pablo tablets were produced in the late 1990s by KB Gear. Because KB Gear has since gone out of business, the Pablo tablet is no longer supported. However, it functions as a generic tablet device under today's operating systems without needing to install drivers. Although very basic, Pablo tablets are capable of interfacing with Photoshop Elements, Adobe's consumer-level version of its flagship photo-editing suite Photoshop. Photoshop Elements includes several user-adjustable parameters that affect the way the tablet's input is displayed onscreen.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Connect your Pablo tablet to an open USB port on your computer using the supplied cable. The Pablo is powered by the USB port and will turn on once connected. Because Pablo tablets were released in the late 1990s and are no longer supported, there are no drivers compatible with today's versions of Windows and OS X. However, both operating systems will treat the Pablo as a generic tablet device.
   • 2
     Launch Photoshop Elements. Its default screen appears. Photoshop Elements will automatically recognize any connected graphics tablets and make the related options available in the Options bars for the appropriate drawing tools.
   • 3
     Open the "File" menu and select "New" to create a new document. Alternatively, select "Open" and open an image you have already created.
   • 4
     Click on the "Brush Tool" icon in the Options bar. The mouse cursor changes to a paintbrush whenever you hover it over the image.
   • 5
     Click on the disclosure arrow on the Options bar above the image. A pop-up menu appears. If you hover the cursor over the triangle, a tooltip will appear telling you that this is the "Brush Tablet Options" menu. The settings in this menu affect the way Photoshop Elements interprets input from the tablet.
   • 6
     Place a checkmark next to "Size" in the pop-up menu to make the pressure applied to the Pablo tablet affect the size of the brush. When engaged, the brush size will increase the harder you push on the tablet's surface with the stylus.
   • 7
     Place a checkmark next to "Opacity" to make the pressure applied affect the opacity of the drawing. Very light pressure will produce a nearly transparent stroke; very hard pressure will produce a fully opaque stroke. Be careful not to press too hard on the Pablo tablet's surface -- the amount of pressure necessary for full opacity will be roughly the same amount of pressure applied when writing with a pen or pencil.
   • 8
     Place a checkmark next to "Hue Jitter" to cause strokes created using the tablet to vary slightly in color, of hue, as you draw. The harder you press, the darker the color.
   • 9
     Place a checkmark next to "Scatter" to make strokes drawn with the Pablo take on an irregular pattern. The harder you press, the less irregular the strokes will be.
   • 10
     Place a checkmark next to "Roundness" to make the pressure applied to the tablet correspond to the roundness of the brush tip. The harder you press, the rounder and more hard-edged the brush will become.
   • 11
     Disengage any of the options above to adjust the way the Pablo draws in Photoshop Elements. The options can be engaged or disengaged in any combination. When they are all disengaged, the brush tool will act as it does when used with a regular mouse. The Pablo tablet will also work in the same way with some other tools in Photoshop Elements, such as the Pen Tool and the Clone Tool.