# ArtStudio for iPad -Paint&Draw — Painting drawing, photo editor

> Comprehensive sketching, painting, and photo editing tool for digital artists. (iPhone/iPad app by Sylwester Los.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/artstudio-for-ipad-paint-and-draw/id364017607 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Sylwester Los](https://appshunter.io/developer/294866851)
- Category: Photo & Video, Entertainment
- Price: $4.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 946 App Store ratings · 850 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 8.0 · 42 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2010-04-01
- Data updated: 2026-07-26
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/artstudio-for-ipad-paint-and-draw/id364017607/reviews.md

## What is ArtStudio for iPad?

*** This is the LEGACY version. ARTSTUDIO PRO, the successor to this app, is available now with many new features and improvements. Find it by searching for “Artstudio Pro” on the Mac/iOS App Store.

ArtStudio is the most comprehensive, sketching, painting and photo editing tool in the App Store. Completely re-designed from the ground up the new ArtStudio features a beautiful new user interface and a powerful new graphics engine to make creating works of art faster, easier, and more fun! Using advanced drawing algorithms this is the fastest and most precise version of ArtStudio to date.

See the videos: 
General: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sP1x1kgtgU
Photo features: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SfPXLbKMz8

Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/lucky_clan
Follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LuckyClanApps

Gallery:
http://flickr.com/groups/artstudioimages/

appsmile.com: 5/5
"This is what PhotoShop Mobile wishes it had been."

FEATURES:
- flexible canvas size, max: 2048x1536(iPad 1), 2592x1936 (iPad 2), 2448x3264 (iPad 3rd or newer), 3024x4032 (iPad Air2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Pro)
- support for any device orientation
- 16 tools: select, pencil, wet paintbrush, dry paintbrush, spray, dots, eraser, smudge, bucket fill, gradient, text, clone, heal, blur/sharpen, dodge/burn, eyedropper
- 450 HIGH QUALITY BRUSHES (150 free, 300 paid) divided into 30 groups
- custom brushes, max size: 500x500px
- select tool: rect/ellipse/lasso/magic wand/by color, add/sub/intersect, contract/expand/round corners/border/...
- text tool: over 150 system fonts, support of external TTF fonts (just upload .ttf file in iTunes using File Sharing), special text layer to easy edit text
- palm rejection
- favorites list to quickly access user's favorite brush settings
- fully customizable stroke settings: blur, flip, size, opacity, spacing, fadeout, squeeze, angle, speed-size, speed-opacity, random flip, scatter, jitter-spacing, jitter-angle, jitter-size, jitter-squeeze, jitter-opacity, jitter-hue, jitter-saturation, jitter-lightness
- symmetric drawing
- guidelines, grid
- shapes: lines, rectangles, ellipses, polygons (open, closed)
- layer options: add, duplicate, merge down/visible, delete, lock alpha, show/hide, link, name, reorder, opacity, blending modes
- layer masks
- layer/selection transformations: move/scale/rotate with multi-touch, flip, rotate left/right, fill/erase
- distort (skew, perspective etc)
- 21 layer blending modes: normal, multiply, add, difference, screen, overlay, hue, saturation, color, value, ...
- import from 'Camera Roll', camera, iTunes, clipboard
- export as JPG/PNG/PSD to 'Camera Roll', email, clipboard, iTunes
- multi-touch navigation with unlimited zoom
- undo/redo with almost infinite number of steps
- image resize (none, bilinear, bicubic, lanczos interpolations) , change canvas size, crop
- 40 filters: gaussian/motion/radial blur, sharpen, unsharp mask, add noise, render clouds, edge detect, border/vignette and more
- Elastify filter used to make incredible distortions
- adjustments: brightness/contrast/exposure, hue/saturation/lightness, color balance, temperature, shadows/highlights, CURVES, auto contrast/colors/white balance and more
- video tutorials

## IPHONE/IPOD VERSION AVAILABLE IN APP STORE ##

## Key features

- Flexible canvas sizes
- 16 drawing and editing tools
- 450 high-quality brushes
- Customizable stroke settings
- Layer and selection transformations
- 40 filters

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $4.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Splats | $0.99 | one-time |
| Pack 1 | $4.99 | one-time |
| Watercolors | $0.99 | one-time |
| Oils | $0.99 | one-time |
| Hair | $0.99 | one-time |
| Fur | $0.99 | one-time |
| Grass | $0.99 | one-time |
| Smoke | $0.99 | one-time |
| Fire | $0.99 | one-time |
| Trees | $0.99 | one-time |
| Markers | $0.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of ArtStudio for iPad?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Great app!
- 👍 Tons of brushes, easy layers, and smooth performance
- 👍 Feels like a full art studio right on my iPad
- 👍 Works great on iPad Pro and iPad Mini
- 👍 Powerful but still easy to pick up and use
- 👍 Excellent for drawing and editing
- 👍 Versatile and sophisticated
- 👍 Intuitive interface, similar to Photoshop
- 👍 Closest thing to having Photoshop on a mobile device
- 👍 Allows creating own clipart with transparent background
- 👍 Accurate, clear, and provides details like real art materials
- 👍 Relaxing and a joy to use
- 👍 Fantastic for photo editing and correction
- 👍 Allows editing photos, adding drawings, and more

**Cons**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently, especially with more than 2 layers
- 🐛 Glitches and distorts lines when saving or reopening files
- 🐛 Delayed response time, especially on older devices
- 🐛 Buggy with iOS 12, no longer gets support/updates
- 🐛 Crashes when deleting a layer or adding a new one
- 🐛 Crashes when importing photos, corrupting files
- 🐛 Brushes sometimes appear sideways after updates
- 🐛 Palm rejection issues with Apple Pencil
- 🐛 Autosave takes too long, disrupts workflow

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Crashes when opening files
- Crashes when adjusting sliders or moving/rotating layers
- Distorts lines and colors when reopening files
- Autosave corrupts files and causes data loss
- Pencil tool doesn't produce color, only erases

**Most requested features**

- Add more font options
- Implement video playback of drawings
- Add support for layers and layer editing
- Improve selection tools and allow resizing/rotating selections
- Implement more advanced features like curves, gradients, filters
- Add ability to import images from other sources
- Improve export options, including PSD with layers
- Implement palm rejection for Apple Pencil
- Add folders for organizing saved artwork

## Recent user reviews (10 of 850)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/artstudio-for-ipad-paint-and-draw/id364017607/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Great App!

*2025-08-23, version 5.105*

ArtStudio for iPad has quickly become my go-to for drawing and editing. Tons of brushes, easy layers, and smooth performance. It’s powerful but still super easy to pick up and use. Feels like a full art studio right on my iPad! Works great on my iPad Pro and my iPad Mini

### 1/5 — Where has my stuff gone ?

*2025-08-19, version 5.105*

Had this app for years and I keep going back to it. 
Opened it up recently and all the saved stuff has gone - there's nothing at all. 
What a waste of time and effort.

### 3/5 — Wonderful app, but VERY prone to crashing on iOS 18

*2025-08-09, version 5.105*

The app is a perfect all-rounder for drawing, and always has been for several years. However, after updating the iPad to iOS 18 earlier this year, a couple of issues that were never present on older firmware versions frequently arose while using the app:

1) Sporadic visual glitches when adjusting any sliders until hitting ok or cancel (Whether it be for alter brightness, contrast, colour etc.). Alternatively, it causes the app to crash altogether.

2) Selecting part of a drawing on one layer, then moving/rotating it lags for the app moment before appearing where I intended to position it. There have been times simply moving or selecting something also crashes the app altogether.

I understand that with ArtStudio Pro, this serves as a legacy version, but it would greatly make a more positive experience on latest iOS to fix these crashing issues.

### 5/5 — ArtStudio et iPad OS18

*2025-01-29, version 5.105*

Bonjour,
J’utilise –avec bonheur !- ArtStudio depuis une dizaine d’années (je dessine en direct dans des conférences et séminaires et l’app est très pratique, facile à utiliser et très complète).
L’app fonctionnera t-elle toujours si je passe à la version iPad OS18 ?
Merci de votre réponse.
Et encore bravo pour votre travail sur mon app préférée !

### 2/5 — App keeps crashing

*2023-11-21, version 5.105*

This app crashed all the time on my 32GB iPad so I upgraded to a 64GB iPad last year and it started crashing again not too long after so I recently bought a 1TB iPad and now it’s crashing again after only a few months of owning the iPad and I’ve only used like 65GB. I still have 911GB left in storage and the app still crashes when I try deleting a layer or adding a new one making me lose my progress that wasn’t saved. Restarting the iPad and updating it doesn’t help and it makes me wanna use a new app but I’ve been using art studio since I was 13 and can’t figure out how other apps I’ve tried work so it leaves me with no choice but to torture myself whenever I want to draw on my iPad.

### 5/5 — This app might be discontinued

*2023-11-01, version 5.105*

Hey, I really love this app and I still continuously use it but I’m afraid that it might not be compatible with newer IOS Updates, please update this app

### 2/5 — Used to be better

*2023-10-21, version 5.105*

A couple years ago I bought this for about $10….it had the big window and was perfect little app. At some point, maybe a version upgrade and it was all gone. Now tiny useless window.

Now they want you to subscribe at $12+ a year. For screwing my original good version and then wanting to charge me yearly I have to give it 2 stars. The pro is probably very good though.

### 4/5 — Merge layers is broken

*2023-10-18, version 5.105*

I can’t merge layers, because every time I tap the button, it kicks me out of the app and resets my progress. I would have given 5 stars, but the broken layer merge brings it to 4.

### 5/5 — Wonderful

*2023-09-21*

Wow, it’s great that they’re still keeping this app around. I purchased ArtStudio years ago and it is still on my iPad 4th Generation. I stopped using it only because I purchased the second version called Artstudio Pro and I love that one too. I have cartoon characters on the ArtStudio original app that I created and I’m so happy that I was able to save them to my camera roll for use in my own small comic strips at that time. I think it would be fantastic if there were a special app to place my cartoons in, made by the developers of Artstudio. But I understand that would be a whole other story. If I may, I would like to say that I use an app called Strip Designer for my cartoon strip creations. I do this for my own benefit and enjoyment. I wish I could publish them, but they’re probably not worth publishing anyway. That’s it for now. Get this or the Pro version of ArtStudio, l don’t think you will regret it. It’s a lot of fun, even if you’re not a professional artist or anyone in that field. Life is too short. Enjoy yourself!

### 5/5 — All singing all dancing

*2023-05-13, version 5.105*

Been using this for years for work and pleasure, easy to use fantastic results ,if I’m honest there’s nothing it doesn’t help with and everything can be done with this app….forget photoshop , the only alternative update to pro is your professional step up.

## Frequently asked questions about ArtStudio for iPad

### What can I do with this app?

This app is a comprehensive tool for sketching, painting, and photo editing. You can create digital art with a wide variety of brushes, manipulate layers, apply filters, and edit images with advanced tools.

### What are the key features of this app?

Key features include flexible canvas sizes, 16 distinct drawing and editing tools, over 450 high-quality brushes (with free and paid options), extensive stroke customization, layer and selection transformations, and 40 different filters.

### Is this app free to use?

The app is free to download and use, but it offers in-app purchases for additional brushes. This allows users to start with a free set of tools and expand their creative options as needed.

### What devices is this app compatible with?

This app is designed for iPads and supports various device orientations. The maximum canvas size varies depending on the iPad model, with newer models supporting larger dimensions.

### What are some common use cases for this app?

Common use cases include digital illustration, concept art creation, photo retouching, digital painting, and general graphic design work directly on an iPad.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 5.105 — 2019-01-18

- bug fixes

### 5.104 — 2018-10-08

- fixed brush preview on iOS 12

### 5.103 — 2018-03-02

This is the LEGACY version. ARTSTUDIO PRO, the successor to this app, is available for iOS and macOS with many new features and improvements.
Tap ArtStudio>Artstudio Pro item in top menu or search for "Artstudio Pro" on the App Store to find it.
What's new:
- added button to easily find Artstudio Pro on the App Store

### 5.102 — 2018-02-09

This is the LEGACY version. ARTSTUDIO PRO, the successor to this app, is available for iOS and macOS with many new features and improvements.
Tap in top menu ArtStudio->Artstudio Pro to open it on the App Store.  Or search for "Artstudio Pro" on the App Store.

### 5.101 — 2018-01-08

Artstudio Pro (iOS, macOS), the successor to this app, is available with tons of new features and improvements.
Tap in top menu ArtStudio->Artstudio Pro to open it on the App Store.

## Apps similar to ArtStudio for iPad

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Smartist: Art Preview on Wall](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartist-art-preview-on-wall/id1505234753) | 4.8 (8,504) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Pencil Sketch Photo Editor +](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pencil-sketch-photo-editor-plus/id680134923) | 4.5 (14,163) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Turn Photo to Sketch: Graphite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/turn-photo-to-sketch-graphite/id1455613240) | 4.8 (8,375) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Photo To Sketch - Drawing book](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photo-to-sketch-drawing-book/id421785759) | 4.2 (11,947) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [BeCasso: Photo to Painting App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/becasso-photo-to-painting-app/id1125534178) | 4.8 (8,117) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Affinity Photo 2 for iPad](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/affinity-photo-2-for-ipad/id1616823773) | 4.6 (2,246) | Free | Photo & Video |

## More apps by Sylwester Los

- [ArtStudio - Draw and Paint](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/artstudio-draw-and-paint/id354818333)
- [Top Camera - HDR, Slow Shutter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/top-camera-hdr-slow-shutter/id441450063)
- [Top Camera LITE](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/top-camera-lite/id463430049)
- [Noise Master](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noise-master/id489791020)
- [ABR/TPL/PAT Viewer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abrtplpat-viewer/id578217435)

All apps by Sylwester Los: https://appshunter.io/developer/294866851

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*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 2026-07-26.*