# impcat

> Miniature painting simulator with photorealistic results and color management. (iPhone/iPad app by Design Bench - Immersive Agency.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/impcat/id1496845136 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Design Bench - Immersive Agency](https://appshunter.io/developer/1496845135)
- Category: Productivity, Games, Role Playing, Simulation
- Price: $2.99
- Rating: 2.70/5 from 48 App Store ratings · 51 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 20 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2020-02-05
- Data updated: 2026-08-23
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/impcat/id1496845136/reviews.md

## What is impcat?

impcat (short for Interactive Miniature Painting Catalogue) is a simulator for photorealistic painting results on gaming and tabletop miniatures.

This tool gives you a variety of miniature images with individually customizable body sections, that you can paint with colours you own or perhaps wish to purchase. It works with predefined colour palettes, using names and values as promoted by their manufacturers.

To achieve a high quality result the system simulates a four step painting process:
Base colouring, layering, shading and highlighting.

Features:
- A set of 6 built-in miniatures, by Artel "W", with up to nearly 30 individually paintable sections
- A set of built-in colour palettes, as well as additional palettes from our DLC server (around 1000 paints to choose from, and growing)
- A file handling system for importing custom image and paint templates (visit impcat.de/faq for instructions)
- Access to a growing online library of free DLCs (visit impcat.de/about for full list of contents)
- An automated complement recommendation mode that lets you select a base colour and then automatically applies harmonizing layer, shade and highlight paints, which you can then customize at will.
- A photorealistic simulation of the applied paints.
- A shopping list generator that collects the data of all applied colours and gives you the links to the corresponding shop pages
- Saving and loading options for your colour configurations
- A colour creating tool, for creating opaque and metallic paints of any colour you like
- A colour mixing tool, for testing mix results of your paints
- A randomizer, for getting colour scheme inspiration by letting impcat ramdomly distribute a set of colours across the model

## Key features

- Photorealistic painting simulation
- Customizable miniature sections
- Manufacturer-promoted color palettes
- Automated color complement recommendations
- Shopping list generator
- Custom color creation and mixing
- Color scheme inspiration randomizer

## Chart rankings

- #31 in Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 51)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/impcat/id1496845136/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Great idea, poor execution (user has to do all the work)

*2026-06-18*

I was aware of the apps limited selection of models however you would think that over time they would increase said selection, I would understand if the app was free, but they are charging £3 meaning they should be providing a quite a bit more than they already do, and if you have to upload your own pictures, they could at least have somewhere where they have photos of models that they have taken themselves to perfectly fit their own criteria and that anyone with the app can access.

### 3/5 — Useful

*2026-01-18*

It’s a useful app, very annoying the in-app store doesn’t work for me. If you go on Reddit and look up the app then you should be good for SVGs to use. The colors the app has are very good and I’m happy with it overall.

### 1/5 — Nutzlos

*2025-11-12*

Dieses Programm bietet gerade mal ca. 20 Figuren.  Damit kann doch keiner etwas anfangen. 3€ für die Tonne!

### 1/5 — Pas de choix

*2025-06-21*

Impossible de choisir les figurines autres que celles présentes dans l’application

### 1/5 — Don’t buy it

*2025-06-04*

A few models are available, the app is laggy and you can’t event import a SVG without doing some custom work. It’s not good at all

### 1/5 — I just don't get it

*2025-05-11*

6 templates. Pay for everything else. Serves me right for not reading the description. Total waste of money for me. Deleted.

### 3/5 — Pretty Useful, if Fiddly

*2025-03-06*

Could we get a way to permanently toggle-off auto mode? I keep accidentally changing the whole scheme when I only wanted to change one layer.

### 3/5 — Landscape please!!

*2025-01-19*

Begging for a landscape mode, otherwise it’s an alright app, definitely needs more support overall though

### 1/5 — Massive Paywall

*2025-01-12*

If you want to buy this app to Test colors on often used GW models don’t! 

Marines ,tyranids and to be honest the most wanted are not in the default app. You have to buy this stuff for 50+ dollars/€ in this guys store in packs with 3 minis.

### 2/5 — Iffy for warhammer

*2025-01-04*

If you want to use this for warhammer minis I would be cautious. There is a subreddit you can look at to find a list of models they have for you to work with (which requires an entirely separate download and import) but the list is not all encompassing and is missing allot of models. In some cases there are fan made or proxy models that are so far off base that it’s useless if you wanted to see how your model would look. ( I’m looking at you, weird spider leg tyrant guard). If you can find your models in the mega link from the sub Reddit and go through the process of importing it then yea the app works pretty well but otherwise you more than likely aren’t getting a SVG and you just wasted 3$

## Frequently asked questions about impcat

### What does impcat do?

impcat is a simulator designed to achieve photorealistic painting results on gaming and tabletop miniatures. It allows users to virtually paint individual sections of miniatures with a wide range of colors and simulates a four-step painting process: base coloring, layering, shading, and highlighting.

### What are the key features of impcat?

Key features include a photorealistic simulation of applied paints, customizable miniature sections, built-in and downloadable color palettes, an automated complement recommendation mode, a shopping list generator, and tools for creating and mixing custom colors.

### Is impcat free to use?

The base application is free to download and use. Additional color palettes and miniatures are available through DLCs, which can be purchased.

### What kind of miniatures can I paint with impcat?

The app comes with a set of 6 built-in miniatures by Artel "W", each with up to nearly 30 individually paintable sections. Users can also import custom image and paint templates.

### How can impcat help me with my painting supplies?

impcat includes a shopping list generator that compiles all the colors you've applied to a miniature. It provides links to corresponding shop pages, making it easy to purchase the exact paints you need for your project.

## Version history (last 4 releases)

### 1.2.1 — 2026-01-08

Age restriction specifications update

### 1.2 — 2022-04-17

Version 1.2 introduces the following (visit https://www.impcat.de/2022/03/31/impcat-ios-1-2-update/ for full details):

Fixes:
- Significantly improved pinch-zoom behaviour
- Colour adjustments (of built-in palettes)
- Alphabetical order of colour palette selection list
- Improved image template quality
- Randomizer Auto Mode switch

Changes:
- Layout adjustments (including iPad optimization)
- Tutorial update
- AV paint palette structure

New Features:
- “Select” hub
- Import XLSX
- Find paint
- Edit “my Paints”
- Create colour sets
- Shifting paints support

### 1.1 — 2020-10-11

Fixes:
- Updated from UIWebView to WKWebView
- Layout adjustments of the Save and Load prompts
- Colour Mixer tool was modified for more realistic representations of mixed paints
- Metallic bug resolved: The Colour Picker tool now also gets the metallic intensity of the tapped section and applies it to the selected section(s)
- iOS Status Bar now merges with the UI: Dark background, light content

New Features:
- Image Selector now has an "import SVG" button for direct template imports from your device's storage
- Imported SVG templates (the ones without a preview thumbnail) are being listed alphabetically
- All colour palettes are being sorted alphabetically
- The first found colour list is now being activated on start-up, allowing you to set up a preferred default palette (e.g. by changing its name to start with an "a")
- Save and Load files are being listed alphabetically
- Image softener: Borders of individual sections no longer have super sharp edges, giving the rendering a more photorealistic result

Unresolved:
- No "Import XLSX" option for colour palettes: These still need to be manually copied into the "Colour-Palettes" folder in your Files app
- External URL links open a new Safari browser window, but reload the app when you return, erasing your entire paint session. Therefore the store links from the shopping list have been disabled, until this problem can be resolved

### 1.0 — 2020-02-04

No release notes.

## Apps similar to impcat

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Minimalist Launcher](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/minimalist-launcher/id6498880303) | 4.7 (3,447) | Free | Productivity |
| [UnTrap for YouTube](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/untrap-for-youtube/id1637438059) | 4.1 (483) | $4.99 | Productivity |
| [Uniformity](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uniformity/id6447277040) | 4.6 (69) | Free | Productivity |
| [Focus Hero: Goals & Habits](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focus-hero-goals-and-habits/id6465700009) | 4.5 (3,183) | Free | Productivity |
| [3D Model Viewer - AR & Print](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/3d-model-viewer-ar-and-print/id1631145223) | 4.4 (337) | Free | Productivity |
| [MEGA: Encrypted Cloud Storage](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mega-encrypted-cloud-storage/id706857885) | 4.6 (106,051) | Free | Productivity |

## Related topics

[miniature painter pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/miniature-painter-pro) · [simulations immersive](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/simulations-immersive)

---

*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 2026-08-23.*