# Value Study: art reference — user reviews > 197 indexed App Store user reviews of Value Study by Diem Limited, rated 4.80/5 from 3,268 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/value-study-art-reference/id1546616127/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/value-study-art-reference/id1546616127.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 2,895 · 4★ 266 · 3★ 42 · 2★ 21 · 1★ 44 ## What do users think of Value Study? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Easy to use - 🚀 Helpful for value studies - 💡 Allows adjusting number of values - 🎨 Useful for artists and painters - ⭐ Great tool for beginners - 👍 Simple and straightforward **Cons** - 🐛 Issues with accurately representing blue hues - 🔍 Difficulty finding/importing photos - 🤔 Unclear instructions/lack of tutorial **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes or fails to launch on some devices - Occasional issues with image processing **Most requested features** - Add ability to adjust value midpoint - Include color study/color adjustment options - Provide side-by-side comparison of original and simplified images - Add customizable grid overlay ## Newest reviews (20 of 197) ### 2/5 — Too complicated *2026-08-13, version 4.1.2* This app may be good for someone who is a tech wizard, but I’m an artist—this just confused me. ### 4/5 — Good Value Study ap *2026-07-07, version 4.0.0* Really like the app as long as it’s on no simplification. If I use the simplification part of the app, it’s very distorted. Without the simplification on it is a great app ### 4/5 — Small issue was sorted out very quickly! *2026-04-12, version 3.21.0* I had an initial glitch getting started but Shane took care of it quickly and I am more than satisfied. An absolute pleasure to work with. Over and above customer service. ### 5/5 — Love this app so much *2026-03-24* So incredibly helpful! I’m learning portrait painting in oil and knowing the values is crucial to my success. This app saves me a lot of time and guesswork. I appreciate that I can choose how many values my subject is broken down into. Great tool. Thanks for making it!! **Developer response:** Ah thanks, appreciate you leaving a review! ### 5/5 — Excellent resource *2026-03-11* In trying to work out the value tones this app is fantastic. I screenshot the outlines and then transfers them to my canvas. It’s sooo useful as I find it really hard to judge value and tone. Thanks for developing it! **Developer response:** Ah thanks! There’s a new Export feature which will help you save/print the outlines 😊 ### 5/5 — Fantastic *2026-03-10* Great app for studies , very simple but affective ### 5/5 — An artist dream App *2026-03-06* I can’t describe how happy I’m that I found this App. I’ve been looking for years for a tool that would deal with values, but also simplification and histograms. This app does all that. It replaces a number of different apps I used in the past to accomplish the same results. My only criticism is that it switches zooms when toggling between options. It also switches zoom levels when selecting a different value in the bottom gray scale. That’s a bit annoying, but I can live with that. A solid five star. **Developer response:** I appreciate this so much! Thank you! I’m working on improving the zoom/pan so it feels nicer to use. Update: I've fixed the zoom issues. ### 5/5 — Value Study’s value *2026-03-01, version 3.20.2* This application has proven to be an indispensable asset in my creative process, particularly in discerning the core value structure of my artistic projects. ### 5/5 — The BESTEST *2026-03-01, version 3.20.2* Just starting out with painting and this app is fantastic ### 5/5 — Highly recommended *2026-02-23* I normally do not write reviews unless worthy! I’m a beginner at painting with acrylics, and blocking in values can be a chore, but with this tool, you can focus on blocking in mid, dark and light values separately, or all together. I’m still learning the tool, but do appreciate the detailed overview of how to use each function, with the why you might want to use a specific function. Very user friendly, my go to app! Believe me, I have downloaded many apps that do not detail what is needed as this app does. I have one request, and that is when you toggle back and forth with the original colors and the histogram, it would be nice if whatever zoom % you are viewing would stay the same, eliminating re-zooming back to the area I am studying every time I toggle. Small request but would be very helpful as I study values in a specific area of my photo. Thank you for creating this app. **Developer response:** Thank you so much! This request of yours should now be working 😊 ### 5/5 — I have learned so much! *2026-02-17* I encountered ‘Value Study’ by chance soon after it was released and have used it ever since. As an amateur artist striving to understand values and develop my painting, the App has been a fabulous companion on my journey. It is now a key part of my process, either as a short cut or a check of my own observation. Brilliant! ### 5/5 — Seeing the world anew! *2026-02-14, version 3.20.0* This app is great! I can't wait to draw using images from docs app! ### 5/5 — Love this app *2026-02-02* Thank you for helping me better understand value. I love it. It's helped my 'art' skills develop quickly. ### 5/5 — FYI *2026-01-11* This is a very useful app for artists. There is another app on the AppStore that opens when you write in Value Study to Find your app and it asked you to restore your purchase or update to see your photos in the app for 99cents. I only found you because I did another search. You all might want to look into that! **Developer response:** Interesting, I'm not sure which app that would be as I cannot see it myself. There's not much I can do about similar apps (and some are very good), but every positive review helps! ### 5/5 — Nice tool *2026-01-11, version 3.19.2* Works very well for me! 😀 ### 5/5 — From an artist *2026-01-09, version 3.19.2* So happy to have found this . Enormously helpful with planning my paintings . Designing with Notams is especially helpful ### 5/5 — An amazingly helpful app for Artist and art students *2025-12-29, version 3.19.2* I have been working with Value Study for a couple of years now and referred to all of my students. It is so helpful in learning how to see values. I totally recommend it to help in consolidating values as a preparation for paintings, drawings in studio and plein air. ### 5/5 — Fantastic tool for artists *2025-12-28* I love having this available in my pocket, and on my desktop, so that I can use it on reference photos I’ve taken on a nice large display. And it goes way beyond value studies. I used to draw grids on my photos manually, but this makes it quick and easy. Thanks very much for this Shane! **Developer response:** Oh thanks so much for your review! The grid feature is still very new so please let me know if there's anything I can do to make even more useful. ### 5/5 — Great app for artist *2025-12-22, version 3.18.0* The app i was searching for the whole time ### 5/5 — I love this app! *2025-12-18, version 3.18.0* I got this app many years ago and love it! I have issues with my eyesight and this app helps me a lot to continue to create as a professional artist! Thank you! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Not user friendly *2025-11-20, version 3.16.2* I can't figure out how to make this app do notan images. Wish I hadn't bought it ### 1/5 — How can you justify and Subscription? *2025-07-16, version 3.10.1* This is a tool. Not a service. Asking for a reoccurring fee is ludicrous when you can use a free version of photoshop to get the same results. The day we start paying a yearly fee for hammers and screwdrivers is the day I go out to a dock, watch the sunset with a bottle of wine, and empty my brains into the crystal clear water. ### 1/5 — Useless without paying *2025-04-25* You can only use with supplied reference images unless you pay. **Developer response:** Yes that’s correct! You can trial the app using the sample images for as long as you wish. The full usage of the app can be bought on an annual subscription or a lifetime purchase. That’s why it has to be a free download otherwise the annual subscription is not possible, and about half of all people opt for that. The preview lets you try all functionality of the app, so it’s a true “try before you buy”. Such a shame you don’t like this approach but I think it’s the fairest way of letting everyone try it without having to pay then refund if they don’t like it (though obviously welcome to do that too). ### 1/5 — No funciona *2025-04-01, version 3.8.1* Funcionaba bien pero se ha quedado parada y no consigo entrar ### 1/5 — not free *2025-01-03, version 3.3.2* i've been using this app for YEARS- for FREE!!!! just updated and now i have to pay!! nope. there are other apps, which are actually better, that ARE free. use those instead. ### 1/5 — Must pay to use app *2024-10-08, version 3.2.1* Just change the app's price on the store; very misleading. Subscription-based for $0.99 annually or $4.99 lifetime. Can't say if it's worth it or not as you're unable to do anything except view their examples after seeing it's all under paywall. Sticking to editing on the my phone instead of experimenting I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ### 1/5 — Unable to import a photo. *2024-08-16, version 3.0* I just paid for this app, but cannot use it: importing the photo is not working. .. ### 1/5 — Is there a video to show how to use it *2024-05-26, version 2.4.2* I don’t understand how to use this app ### 1/5 — App Doesn’t Start-Up *2023-01-18, version 1.6.1* I Love the idea of this app but unfortunately it does not start up on my phone. I have an iPhone SE running OS 15.6.1. Hopefully the developers can make the app work and I’ll write a brand new review. Just a note, downloaded the app selected he icon to start using the app and it opened to a white screen then closed. I force quit and re-opened, same result. Deleted the app and reinstalled and again white screen then the app closed. ### 1/5 — Good if you can locate your pic - search is horrible *2022-03-27, version 1.5* I’ve had enough of this app. Im moving on. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Wonderful app for artists. *2026-07-16, version 4.1.1* I use Value Study in designing my multi-block linocut prints. Shane, the developer has created an extremely useful tool, so much better than posterizing in other apps. And he is extremely responsive in adjusting to meet my needs as an artist. ### 5/5 — A Creator who Cares *2026-07-16* This is an excellent app for artists and photographers—it’s helped my paintings immensely, making compositional design much clearer and easier. I’ll add that I encountered a minor problem with live view crashes, I messaged the creator, and within a couple of weeks he fixed it—and emailed me personally to let me know. That kind of dedication is worth five stars in itself. ### 5/5 — Perfect app for learning *2026-07-05* I’ve found this app to be wonderful as a learning assistant. The value decomposition is a crucial tool for learning how to see what matters in a photo, and you can easily change how many values to decompose an image into. The second feature I find so helpful is the grid option. I also like that that secondary grid is diagonal (a feature I haven’t seen anywhere else), which helps you avoid confusion with the major grid axis. ### 5/5 — Great for adult learners *2026-06-18, version 3.22.1* I require this app from my students. Value study is not taught in many art classes. It is difficult to get students to see value in a colorful work of art. This app has given many of my students that “ Ah ha” moment. ### 5/5 — The BESTEST *2026-06-16, version 3.22.1* Just starting out with painting and this app is fantastic ### 5/5 — My “go to” tool *2026-06-15* Thanks for your thoughtful sharing of this app. I is my “go to” tool when I’m in the design process of creating my paintings. I was easy to learn and now easy to use. I’ve been using this app for years and it is a valuable tool saving me time and often allowing me to understand my work better. ### 5/5 — THIS IS THE BEST APP FOR ART *2026-05-20* This has been a daily STAPLE for over three years now. It immediately helped my art game and professionally now I RELY ON IT! A LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION OPTION!? YAS!🙏 🙌To the person who made this THANK YOU SO MUCH 🫡🤌May your pillow always be cool, may your caps lock never negate your last password request and may your sleeves never be damp after washing your hands. YOU’RE ICONIC AND WHEN I CAN I’LL DONATE **Developer response:** Oh wow, that’s a very positive review thank you so much! ### 5/5 — Fun and useful *2026-05-12, version 3.22.1* I am still mostly a beginner with visual arts. This tool has fascinated me and inspired me. I love doing value studies without color. It’s liberating. I can’t wait to use this app again and again. ### 5/5 — Great tool for artists *2026-05-01, version 3.22.1* Does an incredible job for learning values and includes a variety of tools to adjust values. Worth the price. Would love the addition of a copy and paste option when submitting photos. Besides that it’s perfect. ### 5/5 — Time saver *2026-04-16, version 3.21.0* Love this app. So easy to use and to follow when planning a particular painting!! --- *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 2026-09-04.*