Value Study vs culur
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Value Study
This app helps artists improve their skills by analyzing light and shadow in reference images. It allows users to break down tones step-by-step, from simple black and white to more complex value ranges, aiding in the understanding of depth and form. It's a tool to enhance traditional art studies.
- Step-by-step tone breakdown
- Highlighting areas of same value
- Focus on light, shadow, and form
- Greyscale value studies
- Works with reference images
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In art, value (or tone) refers to how light or dark a colour is. If you're learning to paint or draw, doing value studies is one of the best ways to improve. These small, loose sketches in greyscale help you understand where shadows fall and highlights appear—essential for capturing depth and form. Value Study is a simple, focused tool designed to help you see values more clearly in your reference images. Instead of just converting a photo to black and white, this app lets you break down tones step by step. Start with just black and white to map out the biggest shapes, then gradually add more values to refine your understanding. You can also highlight all areas of an image that share the same value, making it easier to see subtle shifts in tone. This is especially useful in complex references, like portraits, where different parts of the image might have the same level of shadow but look completely different in colour. Value Study isn’t here to replace traditional studies—it’s here to enhance them. Whether you're sketching, painting, or working digitally, this tool makes it easier to focus on the fundamentals of light, shadow, and form. Try it for free with all features enabled on sample images from Unsplash before deciding to unlock the full app with a low-cost yearly or lifetime purchase. All Value Study Pro upgrades count as lifetime purchase. Either option will unlock Value Study across iPhone, iPad and Mac. Annual: Auto-renews yearly. Lifetime: One-time payment, no fees. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
culur
Transform your personal photos into printable Color by Number pages in under a minute. Choose your colors and difficulty to create custom art from family, pets, or cartoons. Print, share, or save your creations directly from the app.
- Turn photos into Color by Number
- Printable art generation
- Customizable difficulty
- Unlimited creations
- Direct printing and sharing
- One-time purchase
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Turn any photo into a printable Color by Number quickly and easily! Enjoy endless hours of fun turning YOUR pictures into Color by Number masterpieces! What is culur? Culur is an app that allows you to turn your own images instantly into a printable Color by Number! Watch as your favorite pictures are transformed into artistic masterpieces before your very eyes! Effortlessly upload a photo from your phone and with a few easy clicks quickly create your customized Color by Number. Simply select the image you wish to color, your preferred set of colored pencils/crayons, your desired difficulty, and let culur do the rest! The entire process takes less than a minute with easy printing directly from the app. Create beautiful and customized Color by Numbers art of your family, friends, pets, and even beloved cartoons. Great for both adults and kids! What is a Color by Number? - Your picture is transformed into a colorless image that is split up into sections, each of which has a designated number. - A color legend is provided, specifying which color corresponds to each number on the image. - You color in each section as indicated to reveal beautiful colorful artwork, created by you! Unique Key Features: - Turn YOUR photos into a Color by Number in less than a minute! - Create UNLIMITED Color by Numbers. - Print/Share/Save your Color by Number directly in the app! - No subscriptions, in app purchases or hidden fees! - Works for all types of images including photos you took, scenery, cartoons, logos, picture of celebrities, etc YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO BUY A COLORING BOOK AGAIN!!! No other app allows you to turn YOUR photos into a Color by Number and print them directly from the app. This one-time purchase can translate into hours of entertainment for adults and kids, endless date night ideas, and countless activities with friends! Steps to use the app: 1. Upload or take a photo in the app 2. Select the set of colored pencils, markers or crayons you wish to use (i.e., 60 pack of colored pencils) 3. Select the difficulty 4. Select if the uploaded image is a cartoon or not 5. Generate your Color by Number 6. Print your Color by Number 7. Color and enjoy! We love feedback! Feel free to contact us at contact@culur.io
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Value Study at Free against culur's $4.99. Value Study also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 52%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). culur's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and chart position (#85 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads and device support 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
Value Study is free to download; culur costs $4.99 up front. Value Study sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per year. culur asks for nothing beyond the download.
Value Study holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Value Study has 3.4K ratings behind it against 144, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of Value Study's written reviews are positive against 52% of culur's.
Value Study ships an update fortnightly, culur monthly. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.
| Parameter | Value Study | culur |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.4K ratings) — better | 4.4 (144 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.0% of reviews — better | 52.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3.4K — better | 144 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #85 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Diem Limited | CULUR INC. |
Customer experience
Value Study
culur
User reviews
Value Study
From 3.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Helpful for value studies
- 💡 Allows adjusting number of values
- 🎨 Useful for artists and painters
- ⭐ Great tool for beginners
Room to improve
- 🐛 Issues with accurately representing blue hues
- 🔍 Difficulty finding/importing photos
- 🤔 Unclear instructions/lack of tutorial
culur
From 144 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for families and kids
- 💡 Unlimited art projects from photos
- 🚀 Quick AI art generation
- 👍 Fun and engaging activity
- 👍 Works for craft days
Room to improve
- 😞 Colors don't match picture
- 😞 Details are missing
- 😞 Results are too abstract
- 😞 Poorly designed
- 😞 Pictures are not detailed enough
Bugs and requests
Value Study
Reported bugs
2 issues- App crashes or fails to launch on some devices
- Occasional issues with image processing
Requested features
4 requests- 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
culur
Reported bugs
9 issues- Cannot find color palette
- Cannot save without colors
- Does not work on iPad
- Generated pic is terrible
- Colors are not matching
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- Details are not there
- Cannot actually use the app to color
- Generated PDF coloring book not sharp enough
- PDF loses sharpness when zoomed
Requested features
5 requests- More detailed pictures
- Ability to save paint by number without colors
- Improved color matching
- Higher resolution for generated PDFs
- More levels of detail in generation
In-app purchases
Value Study
- Value Study Pro$3.991 Year
- Value Study Pro (yearly)$6.991 Year
- Appreciation$2.99
- Value Study Pro (Lifetime)$9.99
- Generous boost$9.99
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- Value Study$17.99
- Amazing supporter$24.99
culur
No in-app purchases









