No matter how much the developers over at Adobe work on the Photoshop application there is one thing that they never can help, that is how we the user actually physically interface with the program itself. There have been many different controllers developed throughout the years for controlling a computer. The most famous being the mouse. There are Wacom drawing tablets, touchscreens, joysticks, dials, scroll wheels, headgear, voice-control apps (with mic) and the list goes on.

Griffin Powermate

One of my favorite devices for controlling how I use Photoshop is the Griffin Powermate. I find myself reaching for it and missing it when I work on a computer void of one. Some of the greatest aspects of the Griffin Powermate are it’s simplicity, beautiful design, and the best thing about it – it’s price. I think I paid about $35-$40 dollars for it when I got it. Compared to some of the >$100 controllers out there, it is a bargain to say the least. The Powermate is pitched by Griffin Technologies as an external Volume Wheel, but it does so much more. You can program it’s settings through the included Powermate application to control any application on your computer either separately or globally. It works wonders with Photoshop. I use it to zoom in and out, and to control tool size – be it the brush or the clone tool, undo last command, and to instantly save my work (by press clicking the knob). It makes working with Photoshop a true breeze. If you do a bunch of video editing it also turns itself into an incredible video “scrubber” or jog wheel. You can quickly program the driver to execute any “key” command. These commands are connected to the active application window so you can have different commands for different applications. Once programmed, it becomes an integral part of the computer system. Plus I like when my friends exclaim “What the !?#! is that?”.  “Too cool tool control” (say that 10x fast).

Related posts:

1. Photoshop Tip: Instant Grabber Hand
2. Photoshop Tip: Show same image in 2 different windows
3. Photoshop Tutorial: Rotate View Tool – CS4 Only