Gwyneth George

I too have a drawing pad. Don't use it much as I'm not really an artist/designer, but I have found it excellent if I want to accurately delete the background around people in photos (in a similar manner to Astrid deleting closely around each layer of decoupage). It definately gives me more control than using a mouse when trying to do detailed work like that. I had my young niece doing the same thing, when I wanted a picture of someone with more acurate outline than the lasoo tool could pick up done quickly and I didn't have the time to sit and do it. She picked up the technique after me only giving her a few minutes pointers on how to do it and what I wanted done. I think a play with it on a blank graphics area first, going through each of the options one by one to see what they do, is a good idea. That way you'll find out the capabilities of the particular one you buy.
GG