App Name: Sketchbook Pro
Price: 4.99$
Available at: Apple's "App Store" (a version is also available in the "Google Play" store)
Since getting my ipad when I registered for school, i wanted to find ways to make it more useful than the textbook reading machine they gave it as SO, I am often browsing the webs for different tips and tricks and ways to make this shiny tool even more useful in the design sense. As a result, I've become somewhat of an app-oholic... SO what better way to use my findings for good, so here it is:
App Review #1:Sketchbook Pro
Overview:
I've had this app for awhile and I can easily say it is one of my favourite drawing apps for the iPad. It starts you off with a brief tutorial to give you a basic understanding to the different tools available within the app. It partners with a desktop version of the program. (which I have NOT tried, but I have other favourites if i'm illustrating on my Desktop). I've also found it has a lot of necessary functions to throw together quick layouts of imagery, text, etc.
Pro's:
- LAYERS! this app lets you add layers on which to add different elements, toggle visibility, play with opacity, etc. Just like in my favorite Adobe programs!
- HUGE brush library. Seriously, you can access a LOT of different paint brushes with which to create certain effects.
- Text! The selection of type and fonts to choose from is great (hence why I tend to use this app to create quick layouts as it has more variety than a lot of others i've tried). And fonts are cool.
- Transform tools allow you to do all that fun stuff like rotating, flipping, cropping, scaling, and moving imagery and layers around your canvas to make sure you get the exact positioning you want
- it has a drawing mode that will symetrically mirror your image, which is a great feature is you are illustrating or using a lot of geometric shapes in your design
- the Price has come down since I originally got it (it used to be 9.99$), but honestly I have gotten my money's worth out of this app ages ago.
- Built in features such as the gallery allow you to browse your projects, save them to your devices, and share with the world by email or social media, so you can show your creations to everyone you know!
Con's:
- some of the features of this app cost a bit extra to unlock (i.e. different sets of brushes) so depending what kind of styles and effects you're driven to create, it could cost more than the original 4.99$
- you are somewhat limited in just how many layers you can add to your project, determined by your canvas size you select when you start a new project, so it really forces you to be smart with your layers and sometimes forcing you to merge or flatten layers earlier in the project than you would like
The "So What?"
Ultimately, I love this app (and maybe i'm biased). It has a clear and clean UI to work with and so many options to incorporate into your creations that you really are only limited by imagination. As with any new art medium, it takes significant practice to become a master and I am far from that stage yet and have still to learn a large portion of the brushes and effects, but the more I use it, the more I create, the more I learn to use the different tools in conjunction with one another in order to create the perfect drawing.
For the Price, if you are an avid doodler/sketcher/illustrator, it is definitely worth the money. It will never replace the precision of a hard-copy sketchbook and pens, but for digital illustration and painting, its a handy tool to have.
Recommended? YES
one example of a quick layout I threw together using Sketchbook Pro.
