# Arrette Scale sketch drafting — Hand drawn designs at scale > Freehand sketching app for professionals with precise scale and drawing tools. (iPhone/iPad app by Arrette, Inc..) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arrette-scale-sketch-drafting/id730151020 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Arrette, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/730151023) - Category: Productivity, Utilities - Price: $8.99 - Rating: 2.57/5 from 14 App Store ratings · 40 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 12.4 · 53 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2013-11-24 - Data updated: 2026-07-28 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arrette-scale-sketch-drafting/id730151020/reviews.md ## What is Arrette Scale sketch drafting? Rated #1 Technical App for Architects by ArchDaily! Arrette Scale for iPad is an app for designers who want to draw freehand while maintaining a measurable drawing scale like vector drafting tools. Architects, urban planners, surveyors, home remodelers, field archaeologists and dozens of other kinds of professionals will find this app useful. Unlike some other vector drawing tools, Arrette is simple to use. Arrette provides the platform to begin design work and generate ideas without moving too quickly to rigid straight lines and curves. We want to help you draw much as you would normally draw on paper, but to give you the extra tools and ways to share your work that make your life easier and make the design process simpler and more productive. The basic drawing structure is a familiar one - drawing layers which can be overlayed on a base image. The Grid keeps you aware of the size of what you're drawing, and the Edge helps you draw straight lines when you want. When you're ready, you can easily share drawings by email or save them to your device. We've designed Arrette to be extremely easy to learn. In about five minutes, you'll understand how to zoom and scale your canvas, draw lines, and load base images to work on top of. Our tools will seem familiar from other structured drawing applications, but every tool we've built has been simplified and optimized with scale in mind. Uses for Arrette: * An urban designer drafts plans for a new sub-division in a small town * A real estate agent snaps a photograph of a living space and begins to sketch out ideas for staging * A new home owner sketches the plan for an elaborate garden in the back yard * An archaeologist precisely records the provenience of a newly discovered artifact, including its location on an aerial map and the outline of its form * A construction manager notes progress on a work site, sending annotated precision-scale documents back to the general contractor live from the work site These are just a few of the ways that we have envisioned Arrette becoming an essential tool for many professionals. Arrette is the ideal tool for sketching because of its ease of use, preservation of scale, and flexibility in working with original source material such as other drawings, photographs, and maps. Included drawing tools: * Freehand drawing pens that scale like vector lines but are as easy to use as pencil and paper * An adjustable grid system that you can easily flip between the metric system and decimal feet * A straight edge tool for drawing perfectly straight lines or arrays of parallel lines * A circle edge tool for drawing arcs and circles of arbitrary, but precise radius * Distance and area measurement tools for measuring the lengths, perimeters and areas of arbitrary pathways in your drawing at precise scale * A lasso tool to select, move, copy and paste previously drawn lines * Layers, for separating out parts of composite objects or for adding new ideas to an existing document that overlay earlier designs * The ability to share Arrette documents with other users or to e-mail documents in PNG or PDF formats * An eraser tool, for revising your designs or removing objects from previous work * The ability to adjust the width of all lines globally even after the lines have been drawn * A color picker to choose from a variety of different pen colors for your drawing Base image imports: * The ability to load base images to draw on top of; base images respect their original scale and direction when the document is zoomed or panned * Import base images from Email, Dropbox, and Adobe Creative Cloud * Copy and paste from other apps that support JPG, PNG or PDF Document sharing features: * Send PDFs with scale and direction information to colleagues, clients, and other parties via email * Save your work to your Photo Gallery * Share raster versions of your work with anyone via email, Twitter, or Facebook ## Key features - Freehand drawing pens with vector scaling - Adjustable grid system (metric/decimal feet) - Straight edge and circle edge tools - Distance and area measurement tools - Lasso tool for selection and manipulation - Layer support for organized designs - Easy sharing via email or saving to device ## Recent user reviews (10 of 40) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arrette-scale-sketch-drafting/id730151020/reviews.md ### 1/5 — No SUPPORT *2021-03-22, version 1.4.34* I would love to write up a review. I have use this app with good success on many occasions. However I run into some snags that I would love to be able to get some help on. There is no contact information anywhere that I have been able to find on the Internet.HELP PLEASE?? ### 1/5 — Requires to be updated *2021-01-09, version 1.4.33* No Star, because it has lost it functionality. The New Base toggle is not attaching/importing a base image from the Photos/Albums library. To resolve the frequent crashing issue and “delayed response” of the toggle I thought it was my 6 years old iPad Pro. Now with my new iPad Pro it is worse. ### 5/5 — Best design sketching app *2020-12-16, version 1.4.33* I’m an architect and I take work home all the time (apologies to my family...). On the way out the door I snap a photo of my current sketch and at home I can bring it into Arrette and put down any new ideas to explore in detail at work the next day. Since the app works at scale, I can sketch details without driving myself crazy the next day trying to make the furniture fit. ### 1/5 — Not ready for use *2020-10-02, version 1.4.31* Can't do much with this app....and the big problem is, there is almost NO instruction on how to use it. Save your money, or spend more on a more developed program. ### 2/5 — Good until it crashes *2020-06-13, version 1.4.20* Not worth using if I have to restart every 2 minutes. Crashes more than any app I’ve ever used. ### 5/5 — Lots of Uses *2020-03-14, version 1.4.20* I’m not a person that would typically use a design program. However, Arrette convinced me otherwise. I have used Arrette for landscape design, deck design, interior design, and measuring areas for projects. Just take a photo and work from there. It saves time, is simple to use with helpful tutorials, and ensures accuracy. Please keep this app simple and easy to use. ### 4/5 — Good app, good progression from trial to pro *2020-01-05, version 1.4.20* Their free version is Arrette Sketch. I used this for a couple months before I took the plunge and paid for the full Arrette Scale version. I’m glad I upgraded, though the Sketch app could be enough for some people. Anyway, I use this for working through design ideas and sending quick thoughts to my team by email. I occasionally send things to clients as well, though a few more output options (like vector PDFs) would make this app even more useful. ### 1/5 — Not good *2019-08-26, version 1.4.19* Non intuitive app with very limited resources. Not at all great for architects. Not even for non professional home projects. ### 4/5 — Some strong features, but missing functionality *2019-08-09, version 1.4.19* The scale, tracing and distance features are great strengths but some frustratingly basic functionality is missing: layer duplication, project duplication, and rectangular selection. ### 1/5 — I am obligated to write a review. *2019-05-17, version 1.4.18* I was initially looking to get a drafting app to help myself organize furniture for my new apartment. I have decided to construct an impartial review of the following app I have just purchased for $8.99. It does have its uses and setbacks as you will see listed below. Use this app if you would like to achieve the following: - Find incentive to throw your newly purchased Ipad against a wall. - Realize you have too much hair and would like to pull some out. - Trade places with a deathrow inmate who is about to be murdered by the state. - Decide that your eyes are not essential organs and you would like to proceed to gauge them out with a plastic fork. - GIVE MONEY AWAY TO INCOMPETENT APP DESIGNERS OUT OF SYMPATHY If you are looking to do something such as DOWNLOAD A SLIGHTLY NOT TERRIBLE APP, i'd suggest you look elsewhere in the app store. Thank you for reading my review. If I can get a refund on this app, I would very much appreciate spending my lunch money elsewhere ## Frequently asked questions about Arrette Scale sketch drafting ### What does Arrette Scale do? Arrette Scale allows users to draw freehand designs while maintaining a precise, measurable scale. It combines the ease of hand-drawn sketches with the accuracy of vector drafting tools, making it ideal for professionals who need to generate ideas and create detailed plans. ### What are the key features of Arrette Scale? Key features include freehand drawing pens that scale like vector lines, an adjustable grid system for scale awareness, a straight edge tool for precise lines, a circle edge tool for arcs and circles, distance and area measurement tools, a lasso tool for editing, and support for drawing layers. Drawings can be easily shared or saved. ### Is Arrette Scale free to use? Yes, the application is available for free. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned, suggesting a completely free experience for users. ### Who would benefit from using Arrette Scale? This app is designed for professionals who need to create scaled drawings, including architects, urban planners, surveyors, home remodelers, field archaeologists, and construction managers. It's also useful for anyone who needs to sketch ideas with precision, such as real estate agents or homeowners planning gardens. ### How easy is it to learn Arrette Scale? The app is designed to be extremely easy to learn, with users able to understand basic functions like zooming, scaling, drawing lines, and loading base images within approximately five minutes. The tools are simplified and optimized for scale, drawing familiarity from other structured drawing applications. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.4.39 — 2023-11-20 Adds a menu option to allow you to easily sort by your most recently modified Projects. ### 1.4.38 — 2023-10-20 Removal of legacy unsupported API code ### 1.4.37 — 2021-10-11 Minor UI tweaks to accommodate iPad 9th generation and iPad mini 6th generation models ### 1.4.36 — 2021-05-26 Minor updates for new iPad 12.9" and 11" M1 models. ### 1.4.35 — 2021-04-25 Tapping the drawing or erasing tools with the pencil locks those actions to the pencil. Tapping any tool with the finger will allow drawing and erasing functions by finger or pencil. ## More apps by Arrette, Inc. - [Arrette Sketch drafting tools](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arrette-sketch-drafting-tools/id866665125) All apps by Arrette, Inc.: https://appshunter.io/developer/730151023 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-28.*