Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Designing using a Trackball
- Thread starter zoran
- Start date
-
- Tags
- trackball
- Sort by reaction score
Why aren't you still using them though and in what do you reckon that they are worse than a mouse?
I stopped using them because I moved to a different state and got a job where I was expected to use the equipment provided as is. Once I got to a point where asking wasn't out of line it came down to price and a basic, but usable mouse cost less.
Eventually I moved into the acrylic Apple mice and forgot about the trackball. Each subsequent job has had a mouse already provided with the computer and getting a trackball would by this point have been more hassle than it was worth.
I'd use on again but I am not actively looking for one.
As to the last part of your question, I don't think they are worse than a mouse - except perhaps that sitting there they occupy more space I guess.
But with a trackball you get better control.
I really can't answer that. The majority of what I do is edits to existing files. It's rare when I am using any of these tools to actually design something and that's usually for myself if that's happening.
So, I haven't used a trackball in Illy very much.
From the look of it, i can't really imagine someone working in illustrator with a trackball, or even designing bezier curves in photoshop, i just hope there is someone that can prove me wrong on this
It takes practice, but absolutely can be done. I used to work with a few type designers, who drew beziers all day who worked only with trackballs. While not illustrator or Photoshop, the drawing process is identical. The side buttons are useful to program angle constraints and resting your wrist on the bottom of the ball housing and using your fingers to move the top gives you a lot of control.
Today, most have moved from a trackball to a wacom pen, but both are easy to draw with.
Isn't this palm/wrist immobility tiring for the hand to be so many hours still/unmovable?
Why do u suppose this has happened and those users didn't remain to using the trackball?
I used to use a Kensington Expert Mouse (pictured below) for years and years. But they stopped updating the software driver at some point and I couldn't customize the buttons anymore. They have since resumed updating the drivers on a more regular basis, but I've moved on.
As others have said, you do get used to it – despite the fact that it seems like the mouse would be more accurate. For me, the key was to have one that had a large trackball that I could literally rest my entire hand on.
As others have said, you do get used to it – despite the fact that it seems like the mouse would be more accurate. For me, the key was to have one that had a large trackball that I could literally rest my entire hand on.
After the Kensington stopped working with an OS update (long time ago, so I don't remember which one specifically) I tried a logitech and a few others, but they were nowhere near as easy to use or as accurate. Nobody offers a trackball the size of Kensington's Pro model, so none of them really worked for me. I eventually switched back to using a mouse (several different brands, but eventually just settled on Apple's Magic Mouse).
I'm so used to using a touch-capable mouse now that I just haven't had the desire to switch back to Kensington's trackball, even though they've re-committed to macOS driver updates.
I'm so used to using a touch-capable mouse now that I just haven't had the desire to switch back to Kensington's trackball, even though they've re-committed to macOS driver updates.
What kind of design are you doing? I mean, what apps are u using with the digital pen?