# iPastels School/Office Edition — Sketch,paint,blend pastel/oil > Realistic digital pastel and oil painting app with lifelike brushes and textures. (iPhone/iPad app by Norbyte.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ipastels-schooloffice-edition/id1589311950 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Norbyte](https://appshunter.io/developer/331310753) - Category: Education, Graphics & Design - Price: $7.00 - Rating: 4.80/5 from 4 App Store ratings · 2 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 12.0 · 23 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2021-10-08 - Data updated: 2026-08-14 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ipastels-schooloffice-edition/id1589311950/reviews.md ## What is iPastels School/Office Edition? Do not download the School/Office Edition of iPastels if you already have the free version and have upgraded it to Pro (they are the same)! A painting app for all artists, whether you’re experienced or just starting out. This app lets you enjoy all the iPastels features without any in-app purchases or additional downloads, making it ideal for use with Apple School Manager, or for anyone who has restricted the use of in-app purchases on their device. Perfect for creating beautiful works of art or a quick sketch whenever and wherever you have a burst of inspiration. You can also try out ideas and compositions before starting on a new painting in real life, or practise and refine your skills, all without the added cost of art supplies. • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE • This app download is a Universal Purchase, which means it’s valid for the School/Office Edition of the app on all available platforms (iPad-iPhone-Mac)! • THIS PAID VERSION VS THE FREE VERSION • There is also a free version of iPastels that can be upgraded to Pro, and they both have the exact same features. Though we recommend upgrading the free version to Pro, this paid version is for those who can’t (due to using Apple School/Business Manager) or prefer not to make in-app purchases. Please note that due to technical limitations the School/Office Edition and the upgraded free version are completely separate and not interchangeable. If you have already purchased the Pro upgrade for the free version, that will NOT entitle you to download the School/Office Edition for free (or vice versa). But there really is no reason to own both versions anyway, since they are virtually identical, so just pick one and remember to download the same kind on your other devices. • LIFELIKE PASTEL SIMULATION • The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes, making a realistic pastel simulation possible. Painting tools include soft pastels, oil pastels, pastel pencils, smudge tool, and more. • REALISTIC PAPER/CANVAS TEXTURES • When creating a new picture, a unique, non-repeating paper texture is generated that will interact in real-time with the live-calculated strokes you paint. You can change the default-generated texture to, for example, canvas, which goes great with oil pastels! • PRECISE COLOR BLENDING • When painting, especially with soft pastels, use Smudge or the Cotton Swab to blend and smoothen the colors right on the paper, as you would in real life. With oil pastels, in addition to smudging, the blending is often done by the pastel sticks themselves (for best results, reduce the force or use a similar or lighter color). If you use an Apple Pencil, it will feel incredibly realistic if you use the stylus to draw and use your finger to Smudge (assigned as a 2nd tool)! • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • When you paint, the app measures how much of your finger is touching the screen and changes the stroke size accordingly. Apply just the corner of your fingertip for a thin line, or the whole fingerprint area for a broad stroke. A 2nd tool assigned to your finger will still use this feature, so don’t ignore it just because you have an Apple Pencil! • LEFT-HANDED? • Just swipe the toolbar over to the other side! • PARAMETERS CAN BE CHANGED LIVE • Use any buttons or controls to change/adjust color, size, force, simultaneously while painting. • METAL • The engine is based on Metal, with 128-bit color and floating-point arithmetic. • SWIFT • The app was developed entirely using Swift (earlier versions used C++). • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN PAINTING • SEAMLESS PATTERN EDITING MODE • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE • ## Key features - Lifelike pastel simulation - Realistic paper/canvas textures - Precise color blending - Universal purchase across devices - Apple Pencil support ## Recent user reviews (2 of 2) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ipastels-schooloffice-edition/id1589311950/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Great *2025-04-18, version 5.6.3* Enjoyable app: I like the smudge tool and there are many colours to choose from. Would be great if they just made an app for all the tools (e.g. such as neon paint). ### 5/5 — happyducky *2024-06-02, version 5.6.3* this app is great its fun and not to hard to use when you get the hang of some buttons deserves 5 out of 5 anyways! ## Frequently asked questions about iPastels School/Office Edition ### What is iPastels School/Office Edition? iPastels School/Office Edition is a paid digital painting application that offers a realistic simulation of pastel and oil painting. It features lifelike brushes, textures, and precise color blending for artists of all levels. ### Is iPastels School/Office Edition free? No, iPastels School/Office Edition is a paid application. It costs $7.00 and is a universal purchase, meaning it can be used on iPad, iPhone, and Mac devices. ### Does iPastels School/Office Edition have ads? No, iPastels School/Office Edition does not contain advertisements. It is a paid application designed to provide an uninterrupted creative experience. ### What devices does iPastels School/Office Edition support? iPastels School/Office Edition supports a universal purchase across iPad, iPhone, and Mac devices. It is also compatible with iPod. ### How does iPastels School/Office Edition simulate real pastels? The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes that interact in real-time with unique, non-repeating paper textures. It also offers precise color blending techniques, including smudging and using the stylus with your finger for a realistic feel. ### What is the age rating for iPastels School/Office Edition? iPastels School/Office Edition has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for children aged 4 and above. ### How often is iPastels School/Office Edition updated? The latest version of iPastels School/Office Edition was released on December 25, 2023. Updates typically occur to improve performance and add new features. ### What is the difference between iPastels School/Office Edition and the free version? The School/Office Edition is a paid, standalone version that includes all Pro features without in-app purchases, making it ideal for environments with restricted IAPs. The free version can be upgraded to Pro via in-app purchase, but these two versions are not interchangeable. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 5.6.3 — 2023-12-25 [NEW] Added “Reset to Default” button to the Scrollable Palette Area menu (to open that menu, scroll the palette to its beginning and tap the largest of the three buttons that appear). [FIXED] A couple of rare user interface layout glitches. [FIXED] Some issues when tapping to add to the selection while dragging the thumbnails in Work in Progress (Gallery). [FIXED] Pasting multiple files in Work in Progress (Gallery) did not always select all the imported pics. [IMPROVED] The Apple Pencil menu now has a simplified setting for blocking finger/touch input. [IMPROVED] Some optimizations. [IMPROVED] A few minor things. ### 5.6.2 — 2023-12-03 [NEW] Added some selection options (like “Select All”) in Work in Progress (Gallery). Long-press the Multi-Select button or tap “Selected…” next to the buttons. [IMPROVED] Adjusted the spacing between the thumbnails in Work in Progress (Gallery). [IMPROVED] (for devices with attached hardware keyboard) Minor changes/additions to the keyboard shortcuts in Work in Progress (Gallery), and the shortcuts for Copy, Paste, Duplicate now work with layers if the Layers stack is open. [FIXED] Copy Layer was not always working properly. [FIXED] Some minor multi-select issues in Work in Progress (Gallery). [FIXED] A couple of drag & drop issues. [FIXED] Dismissing some types of alerts by tapping outside would sometimes block the painting tools (for both touch and Apple Pencil). [FIXED] A minor, rare user interface graphics glitch. [FIXED] Rotating the device could, in some very rare circumstances, cause the app to crash. [IMPROVED] Tapping or long-pressing a dial could result in an unintentional adjustment (especially if using Apple Pencil). [FIXED] A very improbable crash bug. [IMPROVED] A few minor things. ### 5.6 — 2023-11-12 [NEW] Color Modulators that can add a subtle (or not so subtle!), dynamic color variation to the painting tool you’re using. [NEW] Multi-Select mode in “Work in Progress” (Gallery), for batch operations (e.g. delete) or drag and drop. [IMPROVED] Long-press outside to close multiple open menus at once. [IMPROVED] Better user interface for drag & drop in “Work in Progress” (Gallery). [IMPROVED] Added stabilizer for Apple Pencil and finger touch release coordinates, when using Geometry/Shapes, Eyedropper, or Layer Mover, for better precision. [NEW] A spinning wheel is now shown for some tasks, to indicate that the app is busy. [FIXED] When renaming a layer, a tap outside the Layers menu/panel will now end the renaming instead of closing. [IMPROVED] You are now allowed to delete the last picture in “Work in Progress” (Gallery). [FIXED] In some rare cases, presenting a menu or message could cause the app to crash. [FIXED] The cancel button was not working correctly for some picture/layer operations. [FIXED] Ending a painting stroke outside the picture could cause a crash if the selected layer was in Move Mode. [FIXED] Some minor issues with sliders in menus. [FIXED] Copy/paste hex colors wasn’t always working. [FIXED] A minor cosmetic problem with some menus. [IMPROVED] Some changes to the manual/help, to reflect recent improvements. [IMPROVED] Misc. other minor things. [FIXED] Some other issues. ### 5.5.1 — 2023-05-16 [FIXED] Tracing was sometimes not working. [NEW] Added new Apple Pencil 2 Double-Tap Action: Open/Close Tool Menu. [FIXED] A minor, barely noticeable graphics glitch. [FIXED] A few additional issues. ### 5.5 — 2023-04-19 [NEW] Two-finger tap Undo. Added an alternative set of gestures (tap the Settings button and check/uncheck the “Use 2-Finger Tap Undo” setting) for those who prefer 2-finger tap Undo over 3-finger-swipe Undo. [IMPROVED] Slightly less glare on the buttons. [IMPROVED] Changed some of the bottom row buttons in “Work in Progress”. [IMPROVED] Painting with active channel lock (e.g. alpha lock) now looks nicer when going to/from empty areas. [IMPROVED] Zoom Reset animation. [IMPROVED] (iPhone) Animations when toggling dial size. [FIXED] After editing the palette, a few of the colors would sometimes appear dimmed or translucent. [FIXED] A minor issue with Reset Zoom. [FIXED] The picture would sometimes flicker when starting or switching to the app. [FIXED] A few (potential) memory leak issues. [FIXED] Some minor graphics glitches. [FIXED] Rare crash bug (when adding a picture). [FIXED] A rare issue with the thumbnails in Layers could cause a crash. [FIXED] Improved stability. [FIXED] Some minor Undo description issues. [IMPROVED] Minor changes to some menus (Manual, Settings menu, Apple Pencil menu, Selected Picture menu, Layer menu, etc.) [IMPROVED] Misc. additional things. [FIXED] Misc. additional issues. ## Apps similar to iPastels School/Office Edition | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [GridMaker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gridmaker/id1154310963) | 3.3 (38) | $0.99 | Education | | [TattApp](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tattapp/id1390861857) | 3.0 (22) | $9.99 | Education | | [Comic Draw for Schools](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/comic-draw-for-schools/id1200843579) | 4.7 (62) | $9.99 | Education | | [Doodle • Art](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/doodle-art/id993420685) | 4.3 (69,671) | Free | Education | | [TraceMaster: Sketch & Trace](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tracemaster-sketch-and-trace/id1584559370) | 4.6 (55) | Free | Education | | [Inkwell: Learn to Draw & Paint](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inkwell-learn-to-draw-and-paint/id1516898245) | 4.6 (204) | Free | Education | ## More apps by Norbyte - [Downfall](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/downfall/id382003659) - [Daydream Doodler](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/daydream-doodler/id451982316) - [WowPaint](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wowpaint/id460815354) - [Crayon Maestro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crayon-maestro/id471925899) - [iPastels](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ipastels/id489302558) - [Lux Draw](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lux-draw/id492501837) All apps by Norbyte: https://appshunter.io/developer/331310753 ## Related topics [ipastels](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ipastels) · [pastel editor](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pastel-editor) --- *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 2026-08-14.*