Ink Marbling vs Traceline
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ink Marbling
Explore the ancient Japanese art of suminagashi on your iOS device. Create unique marbled patterns by interacting with a digital canvas, simulating ink on water. Save your designs as high-resolution digital art.
- Simulate ink flow on water
- Multiple interaction modes
- Customizable brush sizes and colors
- Dynamic visual effects
- Save and share creations
- High-resolution image export
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Description: Ink Marbling brings the ancient Japanese art of suminagashi (floating ink) to your iOS device. Create stunning marbled patterns by interacting with a digital canvas, simulating the delicate movements of ink on water. Whether you're an artist, a hobbyist, or just looking for a relaxing creative outlet, SuminagashiPainting lets you design unique patterns and save them as digital art. * Note that the first time you open the app after download the initial screen may remain for several seconds as the app loads key components. * Features: Free Flowing Creativity: Simulate the natural flow of ink on water with taps, drags, and swirls on the canvas. Multiple Interaction Modes: Single Tap: Drop ink of one color to create concentric ripples. Double Tap: Add secondary colors for dynamic designs. Tap and Drag: Draw flowing lines of ink using a simulated rake with one tine. Customizable Tools (select the "Gear" icon on the upper-left of the screen): Adjust brush sizes to control the impact of ink drops. Choose from a palette of vibrant colors or create your own. Choose how to initialize your canvas. Dynamic Effects: Watch as blobs and lines interact to produce beautiful marbled patterns. Experiment with adjustable ink viscosities and flow velocities. Save and Share: Export your creations as high-resolution images to your Photos library. Share your designs directly to social media or with friends. COMING SOON: Ad-Free Premium Version: Unlock an ad-free experience and exclusive brushes, effects, and colors with the premium upgrade.
Traceline
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Prop your phone above a sheet of paper and the drawing appears on it. Follow the lines with your pencil, and a portrait, a lettering piece or an Ottoman ornament takes shape under your hand. Trace on paper Pick a template or a photo and see it over your paper through the camera. Set the line opacity, move, scale, rotate or mirror it, then lock the screen so a stray touch never shifts the drawing. Hold the lock badge to unlock. Handheld with AR On iPhone and iPad, AR pins the drawing to the paper's surface, so it stays in place even when you hold the phone in your hand. Light box Lay thin paper on the screen and trace the glowing lines. Brightness goes up while the light box is on, and the camera is not needed. Your photos as sketches Turn any photo into clean line art on your device: Outline, Detailed, Shading or Grid, with adjustable detail and line weight. Remove the background to keep only the subject. Templates from pattern books Nearly a thousand line drawings traced from public-domain ornament books: tezhip and rumi scrolls, Islamic star and girih geometry, moresque and Cairo plates, borders, rosettes, Celtic knots, Gothic tracery, Renaissance and Baroque ornament, Byzantine and East Asian motifs. Each one shows its difficulty and roughly how long it takes. Step by step Step mode splits a drawing into stages, so you trace the big shapes first and the details last. Lettering Type a word, choose a typeface, bend it along a curve and trace it for a poster, a card or a cake. Timelapse Record your session and get a short video of the drawing coming together, cropped to the paper, with a before and after reveal at the end. Also in Traceline • Projects keep your finished pieces with a photo and the timelapse • Share an image from Photos or Safari straight into Traceline (iPhone and iPad) • Template of the day widget, a Live Activity timer and a Control Center button • Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac, in light and dark mode Traceline needs no account. Camera frames and photos are processed on your device. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://apps.cihat.dev/traceline/privacy-policy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ink Marbling at none against Traceline's 3. Ink Marbling also leads on iOS requirement (17.5 vs 26.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Traceline sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Ink Marbling asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ink Marbling ships an update every 4 days, Traceline weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ink Marbling | Traceline |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matthew Szenher | Cihat Salik |
In-app purchases
Ink Marbling
No in-app purchases
Traceline
- Traceline Pro Weekly3 Days trial$4.997 Days
- Traceline Pro Yearly$29.991 Year
- Traceline Pro Lifetime$39.99









