InkPen: A Vector Based Drawing App for the iPad

Creating geometric shapes, organic forms and manipulating text. 

There are a number of apps out there that allow you to edit images and paint pictures digitally for the web, but when it comes to preparing images for print you are still dealing with a raster based image that become pixilated when it is enlarged. Creating images using programs like Adobe Illustrator creating vector based images, images created using paths rather than brush strokes can be enlarged without the image degrading.

Up to this point I haven't found a vector based drawing app that had a similar feel to Adobe Illustrator and included a layer option until Inkpad... and best of all it is FREE!!

Just like Adobe Illustrator, Inkpad lets you create anchor points that you can manipulate both geometric and organic shapes.  You can add text and bend it around shapes, combine shapes, add gradients and objects colors. You can also import images into Inkpad and use the brush tool to trace around them creating more free-form objects giving it more of a hand drawn feel. When you finish your work you can export it as a SVG file that is a vector based file format that can be used in Illustrator.

 Pros:

• You can create vector based images that you can work on on your iPad and move it over to Adobe Illustrator.
• The program easy to use.
• The program is FREE!!

Con:

• When opening images in Illustrator I have noticed a problem with the text part of the file. The letters came out jumbled, but the rest of the image usable.

Over all this a great program if you are looking for a vector based program to use on your iPad. Oh, did I mention it was FREE!!

5 out of 5 stars

Review of Inspire Pro for iPad

Inspire Pro gives you limited options when drawing.

Searching through Apps Gone Free on iPad I ran across this program and decided that since it was free for the day I would give it a shot. On first glance Inspire Pro reminds me a lot of Tayasui Sketches without the bar showing on the drawing tools.

Inspire gives you three primary options when it comes to drawing and painting 1) Wet Brush, 2) Dry Brush and 3) Eraser Tool. Under wet brush and dry brush you have a few options that involve a regular brush, airbrush, shapes, pencil and crayon. Beyond that each brush has a limited amount of sizes to choose from. You can adjust the size of the mark and the rotation giving you a small amount of flexibility, but that is about it when it comes to tools.

There is a great color pallette option, but that is about all that Inspire Pro has going for it. The app looks like it was developed to be used on the iPhone which makes sense, but it don't hold up when it came to the iPad.

Pros:

1. It will probably work great on an iPhone or iPod Touch to draw and sketch.

Cons:

1. The graphics used in the program are blurry and uninspiring.
2. Limited tool options and no layers make it something I don't want to draw on.
3. The $9.99 price tag is way to high for what you get (I could purchase Procreate and ArtStudio at that price point and be set for drawing tools.

 

1 out of 5 stars

 

ArtStudio App for iPad

I have read a lot or reviews with contrasting opinions trying to tell me which art program is the king of drawing programs for the iPad, Procreate and ArtStudio. Each program has its pros and cons, but today I am going to take a look at ArtStudio.

ArtStudio is a long standing app for the iPad. The program is advertized as a sketching, painting and photo editing program with a wide range of features. The program offeres over 450 brushes (only 150 of them are free), palm rejection, pressure sensitive styluses optimization, layers, masks, creating lists of your favorite colors, auto save, shapes, a wide range of tools, filters and the ability to export yoru work as a JPG, PNG and PSD file.

First Reactions: Bluetooth Stylus

ArtStudio has the most "Adobe Photoshop-like" interface of any program I have for iPad to date.

There are a lot of options that allows you to customize the program from activating palm rejection, programing gestures and what they do in the program, customization for multiple Bluetooth styluses, and the ability to adjust the layout. I tried going into the settings and setting up Wacom stylus which I was able to activate, but it requires you to go into the brush settings as well and enable the size and opacity of the stylus which was very confusing. I expected to see the brush settings under settings, but you have to double click on the pencil in the toolbar and go through a lot of options and the Stylus Pressure options are easily overlooked.

Selecting colors and saving them to your favorites.

 First Reactions: Drawing and Painting Tools

Like in Sketchbook Pro and Procreate, ArtStudio lets you create a number of layers, re-order them easily and re-name them so you can keep track of what is what. You can adjust their opacity, link them, duplicate and delete layers easily. You can use the pencil, brush, wet-brush, spray paint, dot, gradient and paint bucket to help you add a wide range of marks in a wide range of colors to your work. I found that the ability to manipulate your drawing and painting tools were limiting compared to Procreate, but was better than other Apps like Sketch Club and Sketchbook Pro.

First Reactions: Color Palette 

The color palette is where ArtStudio really shines in my opinion. I really like the layout, the ability to go between two sets of colors, Color1 and Color2, and the ability to save colors to a toolbar found on the right hand side of the screen. You could go back and forth from HSV and RGB color giving you a wider range of color options. This is also well integrated with the gradation option allowing you to use two colors, Color1 and Color2, as part of your gradation.

First Reactions: Photo Editing

Another area that ArtStudio shines is in its ability to edit and correct photographs. Similar to Adobe Photoshop, ArtStudio allows you to import photographs and correct the brightness/contrast/exposure as well as manipulate color balance through curves. The program also come with "auto" correct options for contrast, color and white balance that I found to be hit or miss.

ArtStudio is a great app for editing photographs on the go.

Pros:

1. Color Palette is very organized and allows you to customize your colors so you can access your favorites with ease.
2.  As far as iPad programs go ArtStudio allows you to correct photos with easy before you upload them to the web. Don't get me wrong, ArtStudio is not a substitute for Adobe Photoshop, but it is a very good option for mobile devices.

Cons:

1. Setting up a Bluetooth stylus was a lot harder than it needed to be and didn't seem to work as well as other programs like Procreate and Sketchbook Pro.
2.  Brush and Drawing Tools were a not as solid and making adjustments is more difficult than it is in Procreate and Sketchbook Pro.

Overall:

I would definitely recommend ArtStudio for someone who wants a very solid and well rounded art program that can be used for drawing, painting and especially photo editing you get a lot for only $4.99. If you are looking for something to sketch with or do digital painting I would still stick with Procreate.  

4 out of 5 stars