Calligraphy Guidelines vs Stencil
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calligraphy Guidelines
Generate custom guidesheets for calligraphy practice or professional work. Tailor every aspect of your practice templates, from line styles and spacing to pen types and page layouts. Export your designs as high-resolution PNG or vector PDF files.
- Customizable guidesheet generation
- Support for various script styles
- Adjustable line styles and colors
- Multiple page layouts and orientations
- Instant preview of designs
- Export to PDF and PNG
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Calligraphy Guidelines is a comprehensive generator to design your guidesheets for daily handwriting practice or professional penman work and export them to PDF or high-res PNG formats. Productivity tool number one for every penman! No more buying expensive practice pads! Create and print worksheets on demand. A universal collection of adjustable settings in the application allows the creation of worksheets and templates for any script style Copperplate, Spencerian, Gothic, Italic, and so on. Note: Calligraphy Guidelines application is not for writing on your device. If you wish to train calligraphy using your device, then check out our application "Calligraphy: Cursive Writing". Customize every aspect of calligraphy rulers with the Calligraphy Guidelines app: * Choose Pointed pen or Broad pen guidesheets style. * Select one of 6 popular page layouts, such as A5, A4, A3, US Letter, US Legal and US Junior. * Choose Portrait or Landscape page orientation. * Define left, top, right, and bottom margins. * Select x-height size starting from 2mm. * Set Broad pen width starting from 2mm to 8mm. * Adjust spacing ratios for ascender, descender, and height of interline space. * Select your favorite style for ascenders, descenders, waistlines, and baselines from Solid, Dotted, and Dashed lines. Hide any of the lines using the Hidden style. * Choose a color for each type of line. * Define slant lines angle in diapason from 30 to 90 degrees for pointed pen; select color, and adjust repeating frequency for both pointed pen and broad pen nibs. * Watch your changes with an instant preview. * Export as a high-resolution 300 dpi PNG image. * Export, share or print as a vector PDF file. The free version without a subscription allows customizing all settings for both pointed pen and broad pen nibs and previewing the resulting guidesheet on the screen. With the subscription, you'll get access to exporting and printing vector PDF files with the designed guidesheet, and exporting high-resolution PNG files. *Calligraphy Guidelines Subscription* • Calligraphy Guidelines app requires a subscription to export and print PDF files, or export high-res PNG files. • Once your purchase is confirmed, you will be charged through your iTunes account. • The subscription will automatically renew. • You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal at any time in your App Store account, but at least 24 hrs before the end of the current period. Terms of use: https://calligraphy.app/guidelines/termsofuse/ Privacy policy: https://calligraphy.app/guidelines/privacy/
Stencil
Enhance your drawing skills with augmented reality guidelines. Customize and overlay guides onto photos or AI-generated images to create hand-drawn art for various projects. Improve your artistic abilities with ease.
- Augmented reality guidelines
- Customizable drawing guides
- AI image generation
- Import photos for tracing
- Hand-drawn art creation
- Improve drawing skills
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Bring ideas from your screen to paper. Stencil helps you trace images and lettering into journals, cards, postcards and other hand-drawn projects. Choose a doodle from the library, use a photo, or generate an image with AI. Add your own text and choose a lettering style to trace. Follow on-screen camera guidelines as you draw on paper, or register a printed reference image for AR drawing. Adjust your stencil’s placement and appearance to suit the page. Follow built-in drawing lessons and explore journal prompts for your next notebook session. Stencil supports English and ten additional app languages, including Arabic with right-to-left layouts. Stencil Plus is an auto-renewing subscription. Access to features and content may require a subscription. Available plans, prices and any trial eligibility are shown in the app before purchase. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Privacy policy: https://stencil-journal.web.app/privacy.html Terms of use: https://stencil-journal.web.app/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Stencil at 4.8 against Calligraphy Guidelines's 3.7. Stencil also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (125 vs 15). Calligraphy Guidelines's advantage is review sentiment (60% vs 42%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Calligraphy Guidelines sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Stencil sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Stencil holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stencil has 125 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of Calligraphy Guidelines's written reviews are positive against 42% of Stencil's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Calligraphy Guidelines ships an update every 3 months, Stencil fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calligraphy Guidelines | Stencil |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (15 ratings) | 4.8 (125 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better | 41.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 125 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 167 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Vladislava Rudetskaia | Studio Next Ltd |
Customer experience
Calligraphy Guidelines
Stencil
In-app purchases
Calligraphy Guidelines
- Guidelines Weekly$1.997 Days
- Guidelines Monthly$2.991 Month
Stencil
- Stencil Plus Monthly$8.991 Month
- Stencil Plus Quarterly3 Days trial$12.993 Months
- Stencil Plus Yearly3 Days trial$44.991 Year
Questions
Is Calligraphy Guidelines free?
Is Stencil free?
Which has better reviews, Calligraphy Guidelines or Stencil?
Do Calligraphy Guidelines or Stencil have ads?
Which is updated more often, Calligraphy Guidelines or Stencil?
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