Comparison

Grid Painter vs Wise Camera

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Grid Painter

Easily overlay a customizable grid onto your images to aid in accurate drawing and painting. Select photos from your library or camera, choose grid styles and sizes, and utilize various image filters for reference. Save, print, or share your projects.

Highlights
  • Overlay customizable grids on images
  • Select photos from library or camera
  • Choose grid styles and sizes
  • Image filters (grayscale, Notan, etc.)
  • Customizable canvas size
  • Save, print, and share projects
Read full description

GridPainter is the premium application to use compose your next masterpiece. It lets you quickly and easily place a grid onto an image for the purpose of using the grid technique of drawing and painting, the same method even Leonardo da Vinci used in his work. With the portability of our devices and access to thousands of images at our fingertips, more artists than ever are using them as a reference for drawings. With GridPainter, the process of drawing accurately from your device is easier than ever. Simply select the photo you wish from your photo library or using the "Open In" functionality in Messages or email, and the app will scale your image and place the "fourths" style grid over the top. From the toolbar on top you will find easy to use controls. -Select a standard canvas or customize your canvas size. -Customize your grid pattern from several different styles. -Crop We have also integrated some basic functions from our sister application NotanIzer so now you can -Look at you image in color, gray scale, Notan, 3 Level, 4 level, or Levels Everything is saved and you can work with your image in the app, or using the share menu, print, email, or export it to your photo library. To create a drawing from the photo, simply draw a grid of the same proportions on your drawing material as your selected final project size and grid size. From there you can easily transfer the image by drawing whats in each square, letting the grid take care of the proper scaling and framing within your picture. Great for when you need to draw a large drawing from a small reference photo, or for drawing complicated imagery. Features: -Select an image from your camera roll , import, or take a photo directly from the app -Choose final image size -Place a grid over the image using different grid types -Change the grid size -Change the grid color for best visibility over the image -Select any canvas size or automatically choose the aspect ratio or use the Golden Ratio -Scale and move your image to fit exactly where you want -Save the project for later revisions -Print or share your project with others

About

Wise Camera

Enhance your photography with artistic composition guides. This app overlays 15 visual guides onto your camera view to help you align subjects and elements for more impactful photos. Learn composition rules with detailed tips and examples.

Highlights
  • 15 artistic composition overlays
  • Guides for Rule of Thirds, Golden Ratio, etc.
  • Helpful tips and in-depth descriptions
  • Examples for each composition rule
  • Harmonic Armature and Dynamic Symmetry guides
Features
Read full description

"Every great photograph starts with mindful composition!" The Wise Camera app overlays 15 artistic compositions in the iPhone camera view. Photography composition is the first step to taking amazing photos. The Wise Camera app guides you to take beautiful photos by showing you how to align your scene's subjects and elements with artistic compositions. Artistic compositions have been used by artists for centuries and are now available to you easily and instantly with the Wise Camera app. For each composition rule, you'll find helpful tips and in-depth descriptions, guides, ​and examples. ​ The Digiguys Apps team has spent years studying artistic compositions and is so happy to bring this new Wise Camera app to you. Thousands of users worldwide use the 15 artistic compositions from the Wise Camera app to create beautiful art. 1. NEW Harmonic Armature! (preferred by photographers, painters, and sculptors) 2. Rule of Thirds 3. Symmetry 4. Phi Grid 5. Fibonacci Spiral 6. Golden Triangles 7. Vanishing Point 8. Framing Depth 9. Landscape Depth 10. Leading Lines 11. Lines and Patterns 12. Fill the Frame 13. Negative Space 14. Left to Right 15. Dynamic Symmetry (preferred by painters and designers) ... Of course, break all the rules, too! SUPPORT: For support, go to https://www.digiguys.com Q: Is the Wise Camera app free? A: The Wise Camera app is a freemium app. You get to use the first 2 composition rules for free. This means that you can take photos with the free composition rules. Q: How can I use all the artistic compositions? A: You can purchase the Artistic Compositions Package, which will give you access to all 15 artistic compositions. You only need to purchase the package once, and you will own the package, so no subscription is needed. Q: How can I purchase the Artistic Compositions Package? A: You can tap the Options button (the circle with three dots) at the bottom right corner of the screen, then tap Get Artistic Compositions Package. Q: Do I need a credit card? A: No, the purchase will be processed by Apple via your iTunes account. Q: I purchased the Wise Camera app in the past. Do I have to purchase the Artistic Compositions Package again? A: No, since you purchased the Wise Camera app in the past, you will have access to all 15 artistic compositions. You MUST do a Restore Purchases from the Options menu. Q: I would like to apply artistic composition to photos in my Photo library. Do you have an app for this? A: Yes, we have the Wise Photos app, which will let you apply artistic compositions to photos in your Photo library. You can download it here https://apple.co/2Yo20Fa Q: I am not a photographer. Can I still use the Wise Camera app? A: Yes, the Wise Camera app can also be used by painters and artists, not just photographers, if you're a painter in any medium, such as acrylic, watercolor, pastels, oil, ink, or even digital artists. You can use the Wise Camera app to apply artistic compositions to your paintings or drawings. Interior designers, landscape designers, and architects also use the Wise Camera app in their workflow. Read more about how to use the Wise Camera app for painting here.  Q: I want to suggest an artistic composition. How do I do this? A: In the Options, select Send Feedback. You can also go to our website for more information https://www.digiguys.com MORE APPS: Check out all our apps at https://digiguys.com FOR IN-DEPTH ARTISTIC COMPOSITION RULES: Check out our Astistic Photo site https://www.artistic.photo FACEBOOK PAGE: Join our Facebook Page for tips, ideas, support, and much more... be part of the community! https://www.facebook.com/digiguysapps

Screenshots

Grid Painter4 screens
Wise Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Wise Camera at Free against Grid Painter's $2.99. Grid Painter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Wise Camera is free to download; Grid Painter costs $2.99 up front. Wise Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Grid Painter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Grid Painter holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 393 and 196 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Grid Painter's written reviews are positive against 71% of Wise Camera's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Grid Painter ships an update every 3 weeks, Wise Camera monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Grid Painter versus Wise Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid PainterWise Camera
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (393 ratings) — better4.5 (196 ratings)
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews — better70.7% of reviews
Number of ratings393 — better196
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#125 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerbigpantsgroup LLCDigiguys, Inc

Customer experience

Grid Painter

All ratings393 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews54 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral5.6%
Negative13.0%

Wise Camera

All ratings196 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative10.2%
Written reviews58 reviews
Positive70.7%
Neutral5.2%
Negative24.1%

User reviews

Grid Painter

From 393 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and navigate
  • 🎨 Great for drawing and painting accuracy
  • 📐 Helpful for grids and composition
  • 💡 Useful for value study and grayscale conversion
  • ⏱️ Saves time for artists

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Grid lines too thick
  • 🔄 Rotation issues with square photos
  • 🗂️ Cropping feature uses absolute values, not ratios
  • 🚫 Inability to print with grid
  • ⚠️ Cropping feature can freeze

Wise Camera

From 196 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Excellent for learning composition
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🖼️ Helps take better photos
  • 🚀 Saves time and effort
  • ✨ Inspires students

Room to improve

  • 💸 Expensive for overlays
  • 💰 In-app purchases required
  • 🚫 Not usable without purchase
  • intrusive purchase prompts
  • ❌ Paid app not worth it

Bugs and requests

Grid Painter

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • Cannot upload photos from desktop
  • Grid width too thick even at lowest setting
  • Photo library update message with no update available
  • Grid would not reset
  • App crashes when changing canvas to Landscape
Show 9 more
  • Resizing won't maintain aspect ratio and image disappears
  • Stop work after last update
  • Annoying bug: rotates square format photos with Notan/grayscale
  • Cropping feature only allows absolute values (inches), not ratios
  • Cropping feature freezes the page
  • Cannot get saved images back
  • Inability to print image with grid
  • Email developers function freezes
  • Crop feature does not work

Requested features

10 requests
  • Allow uploading photos from desktop directly
  • Lock canvas size and adapt photo to fit
  • Approximate color in levels section for palette preview
  • Sort projects
  • Different grid styles (isometric, diagonal)
Show 5 more
  • Select grid opacity
  • User-selectable number of rows and columns for grids
  • Add movable lines for grid customization
  • Combine multiple grids without screenshots
  • Geometrically sound grid drawing method (X through corners, etc.)

Wise Camera

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Doesn't function without purchases
  • Buying message blocks view
  • Can not use with photos already in photo app
  • Lines are permanent part of photos
  • Each function advertised with extra purchase
Show 6 more
  • Need to be able to rotate the grid
  • Bubbles when switching ratios
  • Camera roll doesn't work
  • Overlay turns 90 degrees and scales too large
  • Doesn't work on iOS 14
  • Can't work out how to remove guides

Requested features

13 requests
  • Ability to use all iPhone lenses
  • Add zoom feature
  • Flip grids to other side
  • Save images in all ratios (9:16, etc.)
  • Add cinematic aspect ratios
Show 8 more
  • Video mode support
  • Manual controls
  • More guidelines for photographers
  • Ability to use with existing photos
  • Start with full dynamic symmetry grid or make it more obvious
  • Rotate the grid orientation
  • Square picture option
  • Switch between different cameras

In-app purchases

None

Grid Painter

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Wise Camera

One-time1
  • Composition Rule Package$9.99

Questions

Is Grid Painter free?
Grid Painter costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Wise Camera free?
Wise Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Grid Painter or Wise Camera?
Grid Painter is rated higher. Grid Painter averages 4.8 out of 5 from 393 ratings, while Wise Camera averages 4.5 from 196 ratings.
Do Grid Painter or Wise Camera have ads?
Neither Grid Painter nor Wise Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Grid Painter or Wise Camera?
Grid Painter ships an update every 3 weeks, and Wise Camera monthly. Most recently, Grid Painter was updated on September 22, 2026 and Wise Camera on September 23, 2026.

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