Camera Lucida™ vs Values at Play
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Camera Lucida™
This app uses your device's camera to superimpose a reference image onto your drawing surface, guiding your hand to create detailed art. It offers advanced features and tools to enhance your sketching and painting skills, making art creation easy and fun.
- AR image superposition for drawing
- Advanced image filters
- Zoom lock for detail
- Session save and restore
- Time-lapsed recording
- External USB camera support
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Draw Like a Pro with Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing One-Time Purchase: No subscriptions! Buy it once and use on your devices. Enhance Your Art Skills: Whether you're sketching with a pencil or painting with a brush, Camera Lucida™ helps you become a better artist. Unmatched Functionality: With 12+ years of development, Camera Lucida™ offers features that no competitor can match. Create stunning physical art using your iPhone or iPad's camera. Simply point your device at your drawing surface, and watch the screen to see your reference image superimposed over your work. It's more versatile than a light table, better than a projector, and easier to use than a traditional Camera Lucida™. How It Works: Place your iPhone or iPad between your eyes and your drawing surface. The app shows a virtual image on your screen, guiding your hand as you draw. This clever method makes it easy and fun to create detailed art. Top Features: • Buy it once for lifetime use. • Advanced Image Filters: See with an artist's eye. • Zoom in Lock: For ultra detailed drawing. • Session Save & Restore: Automatically realign your camera, sketch, and reference image. • Full Color Palette Control: Use your own paints, markers, and more. • Camera Adjustments: Use your device camera and adjust for different setups manually or with an in-app purchase to auto-adjust. • Time-Lapsed Recordings: Share your drawing process on social media. • Advanced Tools: Vertical split screen sliders, timed image fading, and more. • Video Tutorials: Watch tutorials within the app or on YouTube. • Comprehensive User Manual: Accessible from within the app. • Reliable Customer Support: Plus, an active user community for inspiration. • External USB Camera Support: For USB-C equipped iPads running iOS 17. Easy Setup: Secure your iPhone or iPad above your drawing surface using common household items like a stack of books or a vase. Tutorials are included to help you get started. Contact: For any questions or support, email cameralucida@bigidesign.com.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Values at Play at Free against Camera Lucida™'s $14.99. Values at Play also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 89%). Camera Lucida™'s advantage is ratings volume (1.9K vs 6) and chart position (#5 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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
Values at Play is free to download; Camera Lucida™ costs $14.99 up front. Camera Lucida™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Values at Play sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Values at Play holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Camera Lucida™ has 1.9K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Camera Lucida™'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Values at Play's.
Camera Lucida™ ships an update every 4 months, Values at Play every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Camera Lucida™ | Values at Play |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.9K ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.9K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #5 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Camera Lucida | Neil Daly |
Customer experience
Camera Lucida™
Values at Play
Bugs and requests
Camera Lucida™
Reported bugs
2 issues- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Occasional crashes or freezes
Requested features
3 requests- Ability to draw larger images
- More camera settings and controls
- Integration with other art apps
Values at Play
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Camera Lucida™
- Auto-Correct For Perspective$4.99
Values at Play
- Values at Play Unlimited$4.99
Questions
Is Camera Lucida™ free?
Is Values at Play free?
Which has better reviews, Camera Lucida™ or Values at Play?
Do Camera Lucida™ or Values at Play have ads?
Which is updated more often, Camera Lucida™ or Values at Play?
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