Comparison

Real Paint mixing tools vs Values at Play

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

Head to head
About

Real Paint mixing tools

This app helps painters compute opaque paint mixing recipes from images for various commercial brands. It supports multiple color spaces and offers different mixing strategies for precise color creation, reducing paint waste.

Highlights
  • Compute paint mixing recipes from images
  • Supports multiple commercial paint brands
  • Includes various color spaces (sRGB, CMYK, Lab, etc.)
  • Offers multiple mixing strategies
  • Exact and rounded recipe options
  • Import Optishade images for dental colors
Read full description

Painters can load an image, pick colors and obtain OPAQUE paint mixing recipes for several commercial paint brands. This is useful for art students, painters with color vision difficulties, and professionals working in painting conservation and restoration. It can also help reduce paint, time, and money waste. Optishade images can be imported directly from the Optishade by StyleItaliano app and used by technicians to create gum or dental colors for mockups. RealPaint includes many color spaces: sRGB, Display P3, CMYK, HSL, HSV/B, Lab, Lch-ab, Luv, Lch-uv, XYZ, xyY, and Munsell coordinates. Munsell coordinates are calculated from the original and extrapolated Renotation Data with high precision, even near the neutral axis. You can also check the color transformation error for full control over conversions. RealPaint includes one Ideal Paint set and many measured Paint Sets from well-known manufacturers: Createx, Daler-Rowney, Ferrario, Gamblin, Grumbacher-Chartpak, Golden, Liquitex, Maimeri, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Vallejo, and Winsor & Newton. Each Paint Set includes 8 paint bases. Once you select a Paint Line, you can purchase the 8 bases wherever you prefer and use them for all your paintings. The 6 colored bases in each Paint Set are optimized to cover the widest possible opaque color space, providing as many mixable colors as possible. Some sets also include phthalocyanine pigments because they offer a wider mixing gamut, although they may be more difficult for beginners. The apps in the “Real Paint mixing tools” family use measured spectral data from painted samples. A large portion of the RGB/P3 space can be mixed, but not every RGB/P3 color is physically achievable with real paints. This is not an app limitation, but a consequence of paint physics. However, many colors outside the RGB/P3 color space can also be mixed by manually adjusting paint amounts on the “Mixing” page. Paint recipes can be generated with several Mixing Strategies: “B and W + 2 Colors”: Black and White first create a gray, then 2 colored bases adjust Hue and Saturation. “B or W + 3 Colors”: 3 colored bases set Hue and Saturation, while either Black or White sets the Value. “At least one opaque”: shows all possible opaque mixing combinations. “No Black used”: shows opaque combinations without Black. “All bases at once”: calculates one recipe using all bases together. The result is usually not unique and opacity is not guaranteed, but it can be useful for color gamut testing. Each recipe can be Exact or Rounded: “Exact recipe” calculates each base amount with 0.01-unit precision. To obtain percentage values, enter 100 as the total amount. This is useful for weight-based measurements with a scale. “Rounded recipe” expresses each base amount as an integer and uses the smallest possible total amount. It is useful for volume-based measurements, such as drops, spoons, or squared paper with paint squeezed directly from tubes. Digital images usually do not fit entirely within the gamut of real paint sets. RealPaint can estimate an approximate desaturation value to adapt an image to the selected Paint Set and current mixing parameters. This heuristic value is approximate, but usually provides very good results. Please note that paint color may vary within the same tube or jar, between different batches, and when manufacturers change formulations over time. Always mix small test amounts first to make sure the computed recipes meet your needs! To learn how to use the app, watch the video tutorials on YouTube by searching for “Real Paint mixing tools”.

About

Values at Play

This app helps users practice identifying and analyzing values in art. It offers tools to create value studies, inspect specific color values, and find areas matching a chosen value. Users can import their own images for practice.

Highlights
  • Create value studies from images
  • Import custom images
  • Inspect Denman Ross and RGB values
  • Find points matching selected values
  • Colorized value studies
  • Full-screen value study viewing
Features
Read full description

Use "Values at Play" to practice seeing values in art. Practice with one of the images included in the app or import your own image. Values at Play includes: VALUE STUDY Create a Value Study for any image. Choose the number of values to include in the study, and the value study will be created within seconds! View the value study full-screen, and easily toggle between it and the original image. Create "colorized" value studies. IMAGE INSPECTOR Use Image Inspector to find the Denman Ross Value and RGB value of any point on an image. VALUE FINDER Find all the points on an image with the value you've selected. VALUES-TAC-TOE Drag the cross hair to a precise location on the image you've selected. Do you know the value at that point? If so, you're on your way to a "Values-Tac-Toe." If not, keep practicing.

Screenshots

Real Paint mixing tools4 screens
Values at Play4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Values at Play at Free against Real Paint mixing tools's $12.99. Values at Play also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). Real Paint mixing tools's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#92 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Values at Play is free to download; Real Paint mixing tools costs $12.99 up front. Values at Play sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Real Paint mixing tools asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Values at Play holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Real Paint mixing tools's written reviews are positive against 100% of Values at Play's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Real Paint mixing tools ships an update every 4 months, Values at Play every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Real Paint mixing tools versus Values at Play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReal Paint mixing toolsValues at Play
Price$12.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (19 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews82.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#92 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.515.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAI4res srlNeil Daly

Customer experience

Real Paint mixing tools

All ratings17 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive82.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative17.6%

Values at Play

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Real Paint mixing tools

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Values at Play

One-time1
  • Values at Play Unlimited$4.99

Questions

Is Real Paint mixing tools free?
Real Paint mixing tools costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Values at Play free?
Values at Play is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Real Paint mixing tools or Values at Play?
Values at Play is rated higher. Real Paint mixing tools averages 4.2 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Values at Play averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Real Paint mixing tools or Values at Play have ads?
Neither Real Paint mixing tools nor Values at Play shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Real Paint mixing tools or Values at Play?
Real Paint mixing tools ships an update every 4 months, and Values at Play every 5 months. Most recently, Real Paint mixing tools was updated on October 29, 2026 and Values at Play on October 24, 2026.

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