Comparison

Strip Designer vs Trace illustration

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

Head to head
About

Strip Designer

Create your own comic books using photos, text, stickers, and drawings. Design custom layouts, add speech balloons, and apply filters to tell your stories. Export your creations as high-quality PDFs or share them directly with friends.

Highlights
  • 100+ page templates
  • Custom panel layouts
  • Customizable speech balloons
  • 3D warped text
  • 150+ stickers
  • Photo filters and effects
  • Drawing and masking tools
  • PDF export
Features
Read full description

Create amazing comic books with your photos and share with friends and family. Tell exciting stories with balloons, stickers, drawings, and warped 3D lettering. Strip Designer offers the complete comic creation experience on iOS and macOS. And no in-app purchases -- Everything is included! You'll begin by selecting one of the many included comic book page templates or create your own custom layout. Next, you'll add photos from the camera, your album, or create a drawing. Apply filters, or even paint on and mask your photos for atmosphere, style and retouching. Add balloons and text anywhere you want and in any direction and size. Play with the colors and fonts until you get the perfect look. Add stickers like "Boom", "Splash", or "Bang" to spice up the action -- Even create your own library using photos from your photo-album and the built-in masking and drawing tools. Use 3D warped text with thick borders and gradient color-fill to give your comic the extra super-hero feel. Download and add additional free fonts easily within the app, to give your text a unique look! While you work, you can freely pan and zoom to control even tiny details. Once you have finished your masterpiece you can save it to your photo album or share it with your friends. Use PDF to share entire comic books in high-quality. -- All from within Strip Designer. Key Features: • More than a 100 page templates with 1 to 9 photo cells • Multipage books • Create your own panel layout with up-to 12 cells or use one of the standard layouts • Many balloon types with customizable tails and heads • Balloons can have multiple tails and be combined • Flexible text options with per-letter colors and fonts • Adjust ballon size, rotation, color, and transparency • Add text (3D, warped, and perspective) for a superhero vibe • Use any iOS font or install additional fonts for unique touch • More than 150 stickers to insert for additional impact • Page effects to give your pages old look • Dropbox and WebDAV download/upload support • Export to PDF to create real comic books • Import PDFs (for both cells and custom stickers) • Control scale, position, and rotation of photos • Integrated drawing and masking tools to create your own drawings, paint on photos, or make your own stickers • Auto mask and feather photos (to remove background) • Many different cell styles • Photo filters • Fluidly pan and zoom to manage even the smallest details • Insert maps for additional context • iCloud sync across devices • Support for iOS's third party document providers • Layers view to lock or reorder layers • Shared iPad (for education) setup through MDM configuration No in-app purchases -- Everything is included! - What the reviewers say - "Strip Designer is worth every penny it costs, and then some. I would pay a couple more bucks for Lifestrips. It's stable, it's easy, it's fun, and for all that I couldn't come up with anything witty for my comic text, I love the look of my comics. Someone with a better imagination than I apparently have could really do fabulous things with this app. I rate it a solid five stars out of five.", Pamela Flora, iPhoneography - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "We were simply blown away by this application and the detail that has gone into the editing options and templates. We enjoyed the fact that a comic can be created very easily with photos and simple text effects, however there is real opportunities to really drill down into the editing options where the user can explore the apps true potential. There are many comic strip applications available on the Appstore but this is by far one of the best and great value for money. This app comes highly recommended by The Educational Appstore.", - See more at: http://www.educationalappstore.com/app/strip-designer#sthash.2KqjbU5Q.dpuf" --------------------------

About

Trace illustration

Transform your iPad into a digital tracing table for drawing or practicing characters. This app offers a simplified interface with options to disable image manipulation and maximize screen brightness for clear tracing. It's suitable for both children and adults looking to create art or learn writing.

Highlights
  • Digital tracing table functionality
  • Disable image manipulation
  • Maximum screen brightness option
  • Outline images
  • Practice hiragana and kanji writing
  • Child-optimized interface
Read full description

This is an application that allows you to use your iPad like a tracing table. - You can disable image manipulation (zoom in, zoom out, move, rotate) while the image is being displayed. - You can outline the image. - The brightness of the screen can be set to the maximum (it will be automatically restored after the application is closed). In addition to drawing illustrations, you can also display images of hiragana and kanji characters to practice writing them. The menus and other features have been optimized for children, but adults can also use the app without any problems. Please note Please do not use oil-based pens or any other pens that may smear on the back of the iPad screen.

Screenshots

Strip Designer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Strip Designer at every 2 months against Trace illustration's every 38 months. Strip Designer also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15 vs 17.6). Trace illustration's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $3.99). On review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Strip Designer costs $3.99 and Trace illustration $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Strip Designer ships an update every 2 months, Trace illustration every 38 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Strip Designer versus Trace illustration: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStrip DesignerTrace illustration
Price$3.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.9 (73 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews87.8% of reviews — better80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings73 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 38 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPad
Requires iOS15 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size97 MB10 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperVivid AppsKouichi INAFUKU

Customer experience

Strip Designer

All ratings73 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews336 reviews
Positive87.8%
Neutral4.8%
Negative7.4%

Trace illustration

Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Strip Designer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when trying to change comic name
  • Issues with photo import and orientation
  • Problems with text resizing in speech bubbles

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to create and save custom templates
  • Option to organize projects into folders
  • More advanced drawing/editing tools
  • Improved navigation for browsing past projects
  • Wireless printing or export options

Trace illustration

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Strip Designer

No in-app purchases

None

Trace illustration

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Strip Designer free?
Strip Designer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Trace illustration free?
Trace illustration costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Strip Designer or Trace illustration have ads?
Neither Strip Designer nor Trace illustration shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Strip Designer or Trace illustration?
Strip Designer ships an update every 2 months, and Trace illustration every 38 months. Most recently, Strip Designer was updated on September 26, 2026 and Trace illustration on September 15, 2026.

Other comparisons