Comparison

PaintMagic vs Art Reference

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

Head to head
About

PaintMagic

Features
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What is PaintMagic? PaintMagic turns your everyday photos into stunning, painterly masterpieces - right from your iPhone or iPad! Easily adjust paint strength, add realistic effects, and watch your images transform into artwork that’s perfect for profile pics, postcards, wallpapers, messages, stickers, WhatsApp, and more. All the magic happens on your device - no internet needed, no data uploaded, ever. Completely FREE to use: - No ads - No In-App purchase - No subscriptions - No sign-ups - 100% private Have fun creating - and don’t forget to explore the other apps too!

About

Art Reference

Features
Read full description

Art Reference: Value Study helps painters, illustrators, and traditional artists see any reference more clearly. Study values, simplify light and shadow, overlay grids, and paint side-by-side with your canvas. A value (or tone) is how light or dark a color is. Learning to see values is one of the fastest ways to improve your drawing and painting. But it's hard to read shadows and highlights through all the color. This app makes it effortless. SEE YOUR REFERENCE IN VALUES Instantly convert any photo to grayscale, or a 7-value posterized scale. Flick between levels of detail, start in simple black and white, then build up value by value to train your eye. CROP & FRAME TO YOUR CANVAS Match your reference's composition and aspect ratio to your canvas before your first stroke. GRIDLINES Overlay grids to lay in your under-sketch with correct proportions. CURATED COLLECTIONS Don't have a reference ready? Start with dozens of hand-picked photos across Animals, Architecture, Botanical, Figure, Landscape, Portrait, Still Life, Skulls, and Master Studies from the great painters. NO AI ART Every starter reference is a real photograph or artwork, attributed to the original artist with a link to their portfolio. No AI-generated images. And your own artwork stays private in your personal iCloud, never shared online, never used to train AI models. WORKS OFFLINE No connection needed. Perfect for the studio, plein air, or anywhere you paint. CLEAN, FOCUSED, NO ADS Just the reference tools you need.

Screenshots

PaintMagic4 screens
Art Reference4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Art Reference at none against PaintMagic's 1. PaintMagic's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. PaintMagic sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Art Reference asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
PaintMagic versus Art Reference: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaintMagicArt Reference
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 β€” better26.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size33 MB181 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJan NutbroekGil Osborne

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PaintMagic

One-time1
  • 10 Frames for Paintings$1.99
None

Art Reference

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PaintMagic free?
PaintMagic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Art Reference free?
Art Reference is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PaintMagic or Art Reference have ads?
Neither PaintMagic nor Art Reference shows ads.

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